SC SC - Justin Turner, 5, Moncks Corner, 5 March 1989

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This happened on the same small street in which I grew up and it has haunted me for quite some time. I was 11 years old at the time and Justin was the same age as my little sister.

Here is the most detailed article I can find to date. This pretty much explains it. I would like to add some fact if I may. *Mods, I am assuming it is alright to add my own personal known facts. Please feel free to steer me in the right direction as this is my first thread topic. Thanks!

I cannot remember how many days Justin was missing. (not many)
My parents own a pond and LE dragged the bottom of the pond.
His home was down a small dirt driveway and his stepmother told LE he had went to catch the bus.
LE searched a camper on the property.
They searched that exact same camper the very next day and found Justins cold body. It was colder than you would expect even post mortem. Almost as if it had been chilled.
Justin was strangled and sexually abused.


Below is pretty much everything else known in the case..which is sad :(
Please help find justice for Justin. This is one of those cases that this community still speaks about. Anyone who lives here or lived here knows exactly who Justin Turner was. I need to find a pic. He was blonde, average/skinny, and caucasian.

Files on 1989 slaying case found

MONCKS CORNER - Police plan to examine documents from a former Berkeley County coroner in an attempt to glean more information in the 1989 slaying of a 5-year-old Moncks Corner boy.

A number of old files, including one devoted to the death of Justin Turner, were found last week among the possessions of former Coroner William Smith Jr.

Mr. Smith died last month. Family members discovered the documents and called current Coroner Wade Arnette, who immediately gave the Turner file to the State Law Enforcement Division.

"I don't know if these are duplicates or additional, but there was a portion pertaining to Justin Turner," Mr. Arnette said.

The child's body was found March 5, 1989, inside a pickup truck camper outside the home he shared with his father and stepmother. An autopsy showed he had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Mr. Smith held a coroner's inquest in which Justin's parents refused to testify but resulted in a murder charge against Pamela K. Turner, the boy's stepmother.

The charges were dropped in 1990 because of a lack of evidence. Victor Turner, the boy's father, was not charged

http://old.chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/01/24/oth_203034.shtml
 
Also can a Mod help me out. What/Who can we sleuth? The step mom was charged and the charges dropped due to lack of evidence. Can we sleuth her?
Thanks!
 
She's been listed in the news as a POI /Suspect so yes she can be sleuthed. You can always send us a pm if you have a question. With as many posts as we have at WS, questions directed to mods within threads might be missed.

It would be good to find as many news articles as possible. Review the known facts and go from there.

I'm curious to know why the boys mother was charged.. and other details of the case.

Will have to look into this case.
 
Here is an article about Justins case. It says he was on his way to go to a neighbors house a few hundred yards away to wait for the school bus early friday morning. He was missing two days before his body was found Sunday in the camper near the home he had lived in with his dad and step mom. LE had searched the camper on Saturday and Justin was not in the camper Saturday. Someone had to have brought him back to the camper, imo, hoping since it was searched once it wouldn't be searched again.

According to this article, step mom claims to have been in the shower when Justin left the house and stated his father was at work.

Photo of Justin at link. Very cute kid. Hopefully he gets the justice he deserves.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...4562,1158039&dq=justin-turner+strangled&hl=en
 
Found a snippet available. The article itself is only 209 words long.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

December 23, 1989

STEPMOTHER OUT OF JAIL AFTER BOND IS POSTED (headline).

The following article might be one to order IMHO.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

December 23, 1989

(What caught my eye was the synopsis of the article that was below the link above, it's not available for view if you click on the link and read the opening sentences of the article):

Justin was found dead March 5 in a camper near his Berkeley County home An autopsy showed the boy had been strangled and sexually assaulted

----------------the above are all pay per view links----------------

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=2986,1521527&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=6258,2049785&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=6632,2065545&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en
(NOTE: this link is a bit off center when you open it, look for the yellow highlighted area and move the page over there) Very interesting article, appears to be a feud between family members?

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=1874,5483114&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=2906,8794437&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=2602,8926236&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=1852,5468582&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en
NOTE: Picture of StepMom at link

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=2148,868618&dq=pamela-turner&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...1,5631900&dq=pamela-turner+not+indicted&hl=en
No Indictment.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...9,4648270&dq=pamela-turner+not+indicted&hl=en
Intersting not directly related but mentions both parents.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...7,6201787&dq=pamela-turner+not+indicted&hl=en
Charges dropped

That's all I could find for the moment, hope that helps. I am sorry I didn't provide an outline of what's available in each article but I have to go bed LOL it's almost 2 AM here :)
 
Thanks Kat, I corrected my post to say Camper near home he resided in with his dad and step mom.

Lots to read up on this case...... I am still wondering what evidence LE had to charge the step mom.
 
Me too Cubby, it's been 21 years and we've had so many advances in forensics I wonder if they would take another look at Justin's murder.

There are reports of evidence found peppered throughout those articles but they aren't specific details.

As I scanned last night (I didn't read all of the articles word for word because it was very late and there were so many) I did wonder why the push for the SM as the murderer?

Of course women can sexually assault children as often as men. It still makes me wonder what they have that suggests to them that she is the one that sexually assaulted him.

Before I hit that particular piece of evidence (if it is accurate) I thought to myself---well, we have the classic scenario of a step parent that either accidently or intentionally murdered a step-child but that one bit of information gave me pause.

I think that this particular murder needs to be reinvestigated (if possible) by LE. As everyone knows there is no statute of limitations on murder and if she is guilty and commited these acts against Justin she needs to be held accountable. If she didn't, then the person who did needs to be.

All JMHO.
 
I agree Kat. It almost makes me wonder if LE made mistakes initially investigating this murder. I don't have any facts to base that on, just an initial feeling with skimming the articles like you did.

I have more reading and research to do on this case, but perhaps the OP or one of us can call LE and ask if they can give us any insight as to whether the case will be re-opened etc.

Justin kind of reminds me of my son. The blonde hair, blue eyes. Justin deserves justice. I know if it were my son (god forbid), I'd go to not only the ends of the earth but the ends of the solar system to get justice for him. Justin deserves that too.
 
Last night when I was reading one of the articles Justin's Mother spoke to media by phone and said (after the charges were dropped IIRC) "This will never be over for us".

That hit me right in the heart.
 
I couldn't adjust his picture much because it was pubished in black and white and printed in a newspaper and then scanned to the internet. I thought it important to have his face here while we look at his case.

Justin Turner aged 5

JustinTurner.jpg
 
This happened on the same small street in which I grew up and it has haunted me for quite some time. I was 11 years old at the time and Justin was the same age as my little sister.

Here is the most detailed article I can find to date. This pretty much explains it. I would like to add some fact if I may. *Mods, I am assuming it is alright to add my own personal known facts. Please feel free to steer me in the right direction as this is my first thread topic. Thanks!

I cannot remember how many days Justin was missing. (not many)
My parents own a pond and LE dragged the bottom of the pond.
His home was down a small dirt driveway and his stepmother told LE he had went to catch the bus.
LE searched a camper on the property.
They searched that exact same camper the very next day and found Justins cold body. It was colder than you would expect even post mortem. Almost as if it had been chilled.
Justin was strangled and sexually abused.


Below is pretty much everything else known in the case..which is sad :(
Please help find justice for Justin. This is one of those cases that this community still speaks about. Anyone who lives here or lived here knows exactly who Justin Turner was. I need to find a pic. He was blonde, average/skinny, and caucasian.

Files on 1989 slaying case found

MONCKS CORNER - Police plan to examine documents from a former Berkeley County coroner in an attempt to glean more information in the 1989 slaying of a 5-year-old Moncks Corner boy.

A number of old files, including one devoted to the death of Justin Turner, were found last week among the possessions of former Coroner William Smith Jr.

Mr. Smith died last month. Family members discovered the documents and called current Coroner Wade Arnette, who immediately gave the Turner file to the State Law Enforcement Division.

"I don't know if these are duplicates or additional, but there was a portion pertaining to Justin Turner," Mr. Arnette said.

The child's body was found March 5, 1989, inside a pickup truck camper outside the home he shared with his father and stepmother. An autopsy showed he had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Mr. Smith held a coroner's inquest in which Justin's parents refused to testify but resulted in a murder charge against Pamela K. Turner, the boy's stepmother.

The charges were dropped in 1990 because of a lack of evidence. Victor Turner, the boy's father, was not charged

http://old.chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/01/24/oth_203034.shtml

Can someone look at this and see if I'm determining the age on this entry for Justin?

The above link has this at the bottom:

"From the Friday, January 24, 1997 edition of the Augusta Chronicle"

Is that indicating that the above article was republishing of news from the Augusta Chronicle that was originally published on the date I snipped?

(I had to get my bearing through google maps, now I know where Moncks Corner is, I previously lived in Augusta GA for 3 years well over a decade ago).
 
4BB found StepMom entry in intelius. It's her. Male relative first name the same as Justin's fathers name as reported in media.

Middle initial for PT is K

Here are the towns associated with her:

Goose Creek, SC
Ladson, SC
Summerville, SC
Waco, TX


I'll dig around later this week and see what we come up with :)

ETA: This does not prove is she is still alive, just gives an area to start looking for info.
 
IMHO, some members of Justin Turner's family knows about what happened than they're telling -- at least that was the opinion of the late newspaper reporter Mary Bailey. She worked at The Berkeley Independent (Moncks Corner, SC) 1988 - 1992 and covered the murder investigation in greater detail than the out of town media.

I wonder what happened to Mary's files and notes on the Turner case?

Mary continued following the Turner case until her death in 2001. Privately, she told me she thought parts of the investigation and collection of evidence was botched and thus unable to be used in court. Berkeley County Sheriff's Detective Sidney Wrenn, who headed the initial investigation, might dispute her contention.

The newspaper's online archives are fairly recent, but the Berkeley County Library has issues from 1989 through the '90s on microfilm. It's possible the library put clippings of the stories in their vertical files.
 
Welcome to WS dixierose! Glad you joined the convo :)
 
It seems it would be someone who knew that the camper was searched when Justin's body was placed in there.

Another thought I had is why was he allowed to leave the house when the stepmother was in the shower and no other adult in the house? It may be just me but my son isn't allowed to leave the house if I am in the shower, yes I am very over protective and with good reason.

This little boy needs justice.
 
Oh my goodness!!! I am in tears. I checked this thread for a while and there was no response so I assumed it got buried...then I decide to check again and here you all are!!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to help Justin.

I can tell you that he had to walk down a dirt driveway to get to his bus stop. His bus stop was not in view of his home.

Rumor alert ~ I was told that there was evidence he was molested with a glass Coca Cola bottle (???)

How in the world did you find all of this information? I have googled and found little/nothing!
 
If memory serves...Justin has blonde hair, blue eyes, and in that black and white picture, was wearing a yellow shirt

I have put in an email to the Sheriffs department asking what I could do and what information was still available. I will report back as soon as I hear something.
 
I find it very hard to believe that someone unknown to the family, or outside the family, or the neighborhood was involved. They lived at the end of a dirt road. Anyone who didn't 'belong' would most likely have stood out at the time. Then there is the matter of the camper being searched and the body being found there later. What I wonder though is what motive the SM would have even had? The family said she was sweet to Justin.

I wonder if there is other evidence the coroner had that wasn't in the 'official report' for some reason? This poor little guy deserves justice!
 
Bump

Just wondering if the Sheriff's department responded. If not, this might take a bit of pushing to get them to respond, since it's been so long.

I wonder if Justin's murder case is Active, Inactive or Closed.
 
One thing each of us on this forum could do is send a note to the newspaper in Moncks Corner -- The Berkeley Independent -- to suggest they do an article on this infamous case.

The anniversary of the murder -- March 5, 1989 -- is coming up and would be a good time to run an article.
 

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