Murder of Susan Mayo

April 02, 2022

On 17^th of June 2017, 60 year old Susan Mayo went missing from Wilmer, Alabama.

The Mobile County Sheriff’s office was not informed of her disappearance until a week later. They promptly put out a missing persons alert, requesting information and tips from the public regarding the missing woman. All activity on Mayo’s bank account and cell phone had stopped, leading them to believe that that she had met with foul play and they were fairly certain that she was no longer alive.

During the investigation, Mayo’s son (who resided with her at the family home at 6153 Glenwood Way, Mobile County, Alabama), was evasive and unhelpful, leading the local authorities to believe that 32 year-old Nathaniel Sebastian had a role in her disappearance, making him the prime suspect in the case.

Sebastian’s Facebook profile, which is still active, showcased his handyman skills, pictures of his on-again off-again girlfriend, multiple status updates about women blocking him online after he posted compliments, questions to his followers such as “Am I creepy?”, photographs of knives, guns and ammo, general selfies and short clips of him playing an acoustic guitar.

In his introduction, he described himself as: “very talented I know how to live well I like to create and build things anything really”.

The relationship with his girlfriend, who had seemingly broken up with him several times, came across as strained and complicated (as evident by the multiple status updates about her throughout the profile.)

In one post in late 2016, Sebastian writes:

“I love this woman I have been waiting for months now just one more and a half to go.it feels like an eternity with out here (sic). I want to marry her I been hesitating I was going to for a while but I let my family get to me I let them confuse me I lost it I all most completely thay still trying. I tell them that thar wrong I still in love with Karen I am not giving up”

A week later he announced that he was a now a father, and when questioned in the comments about the name of the child, mentions that the couple were in-between names after a debate with his mother.

Sebastian’s posts to the his social media account and the conversations that he had in the comments reveal that as time went on, the mother of their child broke up with him, took their baby and moved away with her parents. A conversation between Sebastian and a Facebook friend discuss how his girlfriend’s family lied to him about attending a funeral then moved to another trailer park. Sebastian then tracked them down, ripped their mailbox out of the ground and hurled it into their front yard.

“How (sic) wants a boyfriend?” the next status update asks.

Following this exchange, the posts become more dark. Images such as “sociopath’s, do you know one?” and “I am too insane to explain and you’re too normal to understand” are posted with no context. Strangely lit selfies of the 32 year-old making faces are littered throughout.

(Image: Aselfie posted around 2 months before his Mother, Susan Mayo went missing. Source)

There is no mention of his missing mother in the updates he posted around the time of her sudden disappearance. It was actually one of Mayo’s other children that filed the missing persons report and it is believed that Susan Mayo actually went missing around June 10^th, 2017 (if we are to take into account that Sebastian neglected to report her missing the day she did not return home).

The delay in making a report would become clear when Nathanial Sebastian came clean and admitted to investigators that he’d killed and buried his mother under the porch.

“OK my mama's under the front porch. Y'all got me” he told investigators at the scene as they prepared to search the area. The body of Susan Mayo was found on the 6^th of September, 2017, buried three foot down under the porch in a metal drum. The cause of death was determined as gunshot to the head.

Nearly all reports on this case online claim that Sebastian idolized serial killer John Wayne Gacy and said he mentioned him on Facebook as well as to the officers. I didn’t see any mention of the serial killer on any of Sebastian’s public posts, but I did find a quote from Captain Paul Burch here:

“He’s always said he was a fan of John Gacy, who was a serial killer who kept bodies underneath his home. So this isn’t surprising this is what happened here.”

Investigators also seemed to be confused about the motive of the murder and the family dynamic. This report states that, as we’re aware from the killers Facebook profile, Mayo and Sebastian’s girlfriend did not get along; nor did Sebastian get along with either of his girlfriend’s parents. Apparently, it was difficult for police to get near the property to begin with due to how rural the area was and how unfriendly and uncooperative the family was despite their “missing” family member. They found it hard to get a straight answer about anything (for example, how many children Mayo actually had). Also, the article highlights that Sebastian indeed had a temper and was accused of harassing his girlfriend’s parents and getting into some heated arguments with his own mother.

Sebastian was charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and possession of prison contraband. He had used his handyman skills to fashion a DIY handcuff key, which I suppose we can assume he was going to use to escape the police after arrest. The police found the homemade key in Sebastian’s mouth.

Sebastian’s 81 year-old grandmother, Doris Clark, was also arrested in relation to the murder of her daughter and charged with obstruction of justice. As she was questioned while being led to a police vehicle she looked distressed and responded to reporters’ questions saying that she knew nothing of her daughter’s murder.