FL FL - Hiram Ross Grayam, 47, Gifford, 11 April 1968

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5067380,00.html

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY</B> — In the spring of 1968 in Vero Beach, it was common for milkmen to deliver fresh milk in glass bottles to your front porch, or for Fuller Brush salesmen to ply their trade at your door.
Only 38,000 people lived in the county then, State Road 60 was a dirt road and people flocked to the windows of Matthews TV shop downtown to witness the advent of a modern marvel — color television.
It also was a time of unrest across the nation. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was slain by a sniper April 4, 1968, triggering arson fires, looting and fighting in predominantly black Gifford, according to Press Journal accounts.
It was in that era Hiram Ross Grayam drove his milk truck for Borden Milk Co. His customers said he was an amiable man who might chip in out of his own pocket if you couldn't pay the whole week's milk bill.

Obviously, nothing can change the past, but it would be wonderful if this senseless murder could be solved even at this late date.

From May 2010:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/special-report-law-enforcement-agencies-in-river

Karen and Larry Grayam will never stop looking for whoever robbed and fatally shot their father Hiram Ross Grayam 42 years ago... Their father's 1968 death is the county's oldest unsolved homicide...

In April 1968, Borden Milk Co. milkman Hiram Ross Grayam was on his route in Gifford when he was forced into a wooded area and fatally shot. The killers also robbed him of about $66...

A witness, who heard gunshots, told deputies about black men leaving the area in a 1950s-model Chevrolet.

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What was Gifford race makeup back in 68? The route he was taking. Was it a black area, white area or mixed?
Anyone know?

Posted: Dec. 16, 2009

Murder Mysteries: Detectives in Indian River County working cold cases, hoping to solve killings, di
UNSOLVED CASES IN INDIAN RIVER COUNTY

The following is a list of victims of unsolved homicides and disappearances in Indian River County with the person's age and date of death.

Hiram Ross Grayam, 47, April 11, 1968

His Find A Grave memorial has a great photo. He looks like such a kind man.

Hiram Ross Grayam (1920-1968) - Find A Grave...

:+:MrTT:+: said:

What was Gifford race makeup back in 68? The route he was taking. Was it a black area, white area or mixed?
Anyone know?

Click to expand...

I'd say it was predominantly African American and to this day, that is the general consensus. My in-laws lived in Vero Beach their entire lives and it was always known as a high crime area.

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/florida/gifford

He shows up in a general search on Ancestry but I don't have a subscription.

Name Hiram Ross Grayam
Birth 18 Aug 1920
Death 11 Apr 1968 Gifford, Indian River County, Florida, United States of America

Hiram Grayam - Ancestry.com

April 11 2024
"We now can close the case and thank you, sheriff,” said Larry Grayam, the son of Ross Grayam.

Ross Grayam was an Army veteran who delivered milk in Indian River County and was last seen in his milk truck with two other men before being found dead with gunshot wounds in Gifford in 1968.

Now, investigators say Thomas Williams, who died eight years ago, was one of Grayam's killers.

Deputies say they eventually got the information they needed from people close to Williams, but this break in the case started in 2006 when WPBF 25 News did a story on the then 38-year-cold case.

"If Mr. Williams were still alive today, we would absolutely be making an arrest in this case without a doubt,” said Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers.''

by Dylan Huberman, April 11th 2024

56 years later, deputies have identified Thomas Williams as Hiram 'Ross' Grayam's killer. (IRCSO)​

“2006, that was the first time we really got the information about Thomas Williams being potentially involved in this," Sheriff Flowers said. "Thomas Williams wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper after he saw the coverage that was happening, saying that he had been accused of the murder, but he denied having knowledge of it, that he wasn’t involved in it.”

'However, over the last two years, his ex-wife and a friend of his sister came forward.''
“These folks said I would have never said anything to you before, as long has he was alive, he was a threat to me and my family, we would have never told you, but the fact that he is now dead gave them the courage to come forward," Flowers stated. "Two independent witnesses, who both say this guy confessed to killing the milkman to them, independent of each other, (they) don’t know each other.”

From the article:
"The sheriff’s office believes they have an idea of who the second man who participated in the killing was, and are asking Gifford residents who may know something to call them or Crime Stoppers, to fully wrap up this case."


This case is so sad. I hope that having some answers brings the family some peace.

rleigh123 said:

From the article:
"The sheriff’s office believes they have an idea of who the second man who participated in the killing was, and are asking Gifford residents who may know something to call them or Crime Stoppers, to fully wrap up this case."

Click to expand...

The killer, Thomas Jefferson Williams Jr. was a Vietnam vet and according to a newspaper article had previously committed an armed robbery. The Palm Beach Post, Fri, Feb 3, 1967, page 47 (Source: Newspapers.com) reports that Leonard Russ Clark of 1308 North 16th St and Thomas Jefferson Williams, Jr., (DOB 8 Dec 1947) of Gifford, FL, were arrested for an armed robbery of a dry cleaners store in Fort Pierce, FL. A pistol was recovered from under the seat of their car.

Williams was home on leave from the Army and was scheduled to return to his company Thursday, Feb 2, before shipping out to Vietnam. Apparently, Williams wasn't overseas for more than a year before returning stateside and killing Grayam, 11 Apr 1968, right after getting back from Vietnam.

Clark later pleaded guilty to the armed robbery and was sentenced to a year according to The Miami Herald Wed, Feb 14, 1968, Page 77 (Source: Newspapers.com)

Ironically, the St. Lucie News Tribune, Wed, Aug 13, 1969, Page 2 (Source: Newspapers.com) reports that Williams' partner in crime, Leonard Russ Clark, was himself fatally shot in January of 1968 outside Gifford High School.

IMO, I find it an injustice that Grayam, a WWII Purple Heart recipient, isn't buried at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, but his killer is. I also can't understand how someone who committed an armed robbery was allowed to remain in the military and wasn't dishonorably discharged.

Thomas Jefferson Williams Jr. (1947-2016) - Find a...