FL FL - Glynn Jernigan, 78, Fort Walton Beach, 13 Dec 1984

Thirty-two years after a Christmas tree salesman was bludgeoned to death near Fort Walton Beach, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is officially closing the case due to the death of the murder suspect in a Texas prison.

The body of 78-year old Glynn Jernigan of Marianna was found early December 13th, 1984 in one of his cars at a Christmas tree lot near Racetrack Road and Jackson Street. He had been beaten to death with a hammer. Another of his vehicle’s had been stolen and was located in Navarre.

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During Investigator Bob Grappone’s initial interview with Wesson in 2011, Wesson didn’t deny responsibility for Jernigan’s murder but said he did not remember the incident.

However in a letter to a family member, Wesson wrote that he had been working with the old man and drinking and they got into an argument. He said the old man struck him with something and that he took the item and began hitting him with it until the victim was not moving, and then he fled.

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Jernigan was found to have 17 lacerations to his head from the hammer, a fractured skull, lacerations to his left hand and other wounds.

Although Wesson presented his case as self-defense, Grappone noted that Wesson was in his mid-30s and the victim was "a frail man" in his late 70s, the release said. He said Wesson “would have no problem protecting himself without beating the man to death.”

Investigator Grappone and the FDLE continued investigating the incident and were preparing to submit the case to the State Attorney’s Office when Wesson died in prison in June 2015. On Feb. 9, 2016, the OCSO and the State Attorney’s Office agreed the investigation of Jernigan's death could be closed with Wesson's passing.

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