Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - #6

I haven't been able to find any prints on file so far, i will continue looking.

Swamp Fox Trot said:

Looks like Coroner Bullock is out; it's surprisingly hard to find local news on this but it seems Shawn Ragin won the recent runoff election: http://raginforcoroner.org/

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A judge had previously found him to be unqualified for the office, which does not augur well for an improvement in the effectiveness of Sumter County law enforcement regarding this case. However his youthful perspective might be a good thing.

If Michael's dentist cannot be found, what about his insurance company. It might show if he suddenly made a lot of claims for dental work, and might help trace his dentist. Would his place of employment know?

run through the international criminal base for fingerprints and also through the GENEAOLOGY data base.:twocents:

The McMinns seem to be much paler, esp. the woman. Both the Does had olive skin. Also different earlobe shape for him.

The Lugones couple were probably killed by CORU . . . the anti-Castro terrorist group based in Miami that assassinated Orlando Letelier in September 1976 on behalf of DINA (Chile/Pinochet). CORU's leader Orlando Bosch was in Buenos Aires in 1975, soliciting business from AAA (Argentine Anticommunist Alliance). The Lugones couple were political rivals of Admiral Massera, who also ordered hits on personal enemies in Paris and elsewhere. CORU also helped recruit U.S. mercenaries for Angola; they probably signed up Lonnie Henry, who apparently was a paratrooper just back from 'Nam, and who likely only had one little part in a highly compartmentalized plot. These Bay of Pigs vets were all CIA trained (at Fort Benning, Fort Jackson, Fort Bragg) and quite sophisticated; in fact Luis Posada Carriles was head of Venezuela's state security agency at one point. These guys did hundreds of terroristic bombings---for which they claimed credit---and who knows how many covert acts. They were also protected by U.S. Republicans, particularly the Bush family, which made extensive FBI cases against them go away.

In short, CORU had known connections to both Argentina's junta, which likely ordered the hit, and N.C. mercenaries, such as the one found with the murder weapon.

Good luck getting any law enforcement activity on this, after the FBI had to throw out reams of evidence against these guys. President George H.W. Bush actually pardoned Bosch in 1990. There is no official agency investigating this case anymore. The Sumter County sheriff doesn't even have a file on it. The Argentines aren't going to want to admit that Scilingo lied (re a baby being born at ESMA detention center) since his testimony has been involved in so many cases. There simply isn't any political will to prosecute this, not at this late date. Even if there were, what good would it do the families? They know their children were killed by the junta.

The Mcminns just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Their olive toned skin could be explained by having a tan. I can not tell one way or another about his ear lobes. There is not good photos of the John Doe or Michael that I could say with any certainty one way or another. I am going to get better photos of the Jane and John Doe that could be helpful for comparisons.

Have we ever gotten an answer about whether or not Jock was circumcised? I'm trying to rule out Mitchel Weiser and Bonita Bickwit.

Thirty-six years.

Swamp Fox Trot said:

Thirty-six years.

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It's time for them to have a name, and for their family to know what happened. Thank you SO MUCH Swamp Fox for posting a reminder that today is the anniversary of their death.

necco said:

Have we ever gotten an answer about whether or not Jock was circumcised? I'm trying to rule out Mitchel Weiser and Bonita Bickwit.

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I was wondering the same thing. If Jock was uncircumcised, it would almost certainly rule out Mitchel Weiser or pretty much anyone of the Jewish faith.

My hunch has long been that they were Francophone, based on their styles and names. 'Jock' is pretty close to how Francophones pronounce 'Jacques' (zhawk).

I would have figured that if Canadian, though, two young people like these would have been noticed as missing and some connection would have been made. Likewise if they were French.

It's a real long shot, but I wonder if they might be from St. Pierre et Miquelon? The communication between SP and other LE is likely minimal, and many residents migrate when work is scarce (so it would be possible to be missing and unnoticed as such).

For reference --

Saint Pierre and Miquelon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just read Robert Cottingham's 12 August 2012 (Sunday) story on the McMinn theory in The Item. No mention of the Argentine angle.

Tear Drop said:

The Mcminns just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Their olive toned skin could be explained by having a tan. I can not tell one way or another about his ear lobes. There is not good photos of the John Doe or Michael that I could say with any certainty one way or another. I am going to get better photos of the Jane and John Doe that could be helpful for comparisons.

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No tan lines? And the pix are plenty adequate to demonstrate different earlobes.

Swamp Fox Trot said:

Looks like Coroner Bullock is out; it's surprisingly hard to find local news on this but it seems Shawn Ragin won the recent runoff election: http://raginforcoroner.org/

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Shawn Ragin was removed do to lack of qualifications Harvin Bullock is back in!

JesusisLord said:

Shawn Ragin was removed do to lack of qualifications Harvin Bullock is back in!

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I saw that, I guess we can expect four more years without progress on this case.

Swamp Fox Trot said:

I saw that, I guess we can expect four more years without progress on this case.

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I saw that also.... was heading her tonight to post the exact same sentiment. I am not giving up, however. We need to strategize.

Maybe I am being harsh; the real difficulty in working the Lugones angle is getting info from Argentina.

:what:
Maybe they are in some sort of crime base and were running from someone?

I have read a copy of the statement provided by the man at the KOA campground who allegedly shot pool with the John Doe. In his statement, he never claimed to have actually had contact with the John Doe that year, but a year prior. He only claimed to have seen John Doe in the summer of 1975. There were three receipts of people with Canadian addresses. These three people were named Jacques Desjardins, Jacques Galvin and Peter Franks. Apparently these people were unrelated due to different dates of stay. It looks like he was trying to find receipts that had the first name Jacques or similar initials and had Canadian addresses. It appears the police followed up these leads, but nothing ever panned out. All the records David Batson provided were dated 1975. Obviously this makes this lead very shaky in my opinion.