GUILTY SC - Homer, 72, & JoAnn Staton, 69, Taylors, 23 Oct 2009

SuziQ

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The body of an elderly South Carolina man, who was reported missing along with his wife last week, was found in a wooded area near Belton, S.C., authorities said.
Homer L. Staton, 72, of Taylors, South Carolina, died of blunt force trauma to the head, the Anderson County Medical Examiner announced today. Police have classified the case as a homicide investigation. They also continue to search for the victim’s 69-year-old wife, Jo Ann M. Staton. The couple was last seen Friday afternoon in Greenville County.
On Saturday, their 2007 Black Toyota Camry was located in Anderson County. Investigators said there were bloodstains on the interior of the car. Mrs. Staton’s purse was also inside the vehicle.

More at link:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/27/husband-found-dead-in-woods-wife-still-missing/
 
The search is on today for a Taylors woman whose husband was found beaten to death in a secluded area of Anderson County a day after the couple was last seen eating at a buffet restaurant three miles from their Pebble Creek home.

Ten investigators today are working the case they consider a homicide and are still hoping that 69-year-old Jo Ann Staton could be alive, Anderson County Sheriff’s Lt. Garland Major said.
“Obviously her husband was killed, but we have nothing to indicate she is dead,” Major said.

More at link
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/art...ssing-Taylors-woman-alive-as-search-continues
 
FYI....I just wanted to tell you guys that the meth problem around here is like a cancer, and it's spreading. We're getting absolutely nothing new about this case now from all three local stations. I'm going to go by there tomorrow and see if there is any searching going on for Mrs. Staton. It really upsets me that no efforts are being made to find volunteers to search the woods for this poor woman. The 2 on that map is WAY too close to my house.

Anyway, here's a map of the area where poor Mr. Staton was found.....
Staton.jpg


This is Mr and Mrs Staton.

MrMrsStaton.jpg


This is their car, found Saturday on Horton Rd, Belton SC...

StatonCar.jpg



Here's the last article I found...
http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/body_found_in_anderson_county/28678/


Most direct route between Mr Staton and his car? RT 413 to Level land Rd (state route 41). I'm guessing that they dumped him, then 'lost' his wife enroute to dump the car, and then dumped the car. I have every confidence that robbery will be the motive. There's something BAD in the water here lately or something.

By the looks of that car, the way the wind was over the weekend and with the leaves coming down, unless LE cleaned off that car it hasn't been sitting there long. My guess, that car has been there since shortly after Mr and Mrs Staton were last seen. Their 'last seen' is about a half hour/little less (north) from the locations I put on the map.

My two cents, this is local boys......

here are the local news stations....

http://www2.wspa.com/

http://www.wyff4.com/index.html

http://www.foxcarolina.com/index.html
 
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2009/oct/28/staton-family-mourns-brother-prays-his-missing-wif/

snipped*
The last time Fred Staton, 74, heard from Homer was Oct. 17, seven days before his body was found in the woods near Asaville School Road in Anderson County. An autopsy performed by the Anderson County Coroner’s office found he had been beaten to death.

Homer’s wifem JoAnn Staton, 68, was still missing as of Wednesday afternoon. The Statons were believed to have been together before their disappearance.

“I saw them nearly every Saturday and Sunday, if the weather was good,” Fred Staton said. “He and JoAnn would visit the ... (flea markets) and swing by the diner for a late lunch or early dinner.”

The diner is Staton’s diner, on S.C. 24 in Anderson County. Fred Staton opened the meat-and-three restaurant in the early 1990s, he said.

“Homer bought scrap gold,” Fred Staton said. “It was something for him to do. We’ve both always been workers. We don’t like to sit still.”

“I don’t know if the gold is a motive in Homer’s death,” he said. “He probably had $35,000 worth of jewelry on him, that he wore himself. He wore a Presidential Rolex, an 18-carat gold necklace, a couple of nice rings and some bracelets

“It’s like whoever did it knew him,” he said. “They definitely had to have known the person. He was very, very careful dealing with stuff like that. He’d never meet anybody at his house or in a sketchy place.”

Anderson County sheriff's Lt. Garland Major said the laptop computer belonging to Homer and JoAnn Staton was taken from the couple’s Taylors condominium over the weekend by investigators. It is being studied by computer forensics investigators hoping to find information that might lead them to the person, or people, responsible for Homer’s homicide.

Major said records from the couple’s cell phones also are part of the investigation.

Ten investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s office are working to locate JoAnn Staton, Major said.

“The family wants closure,” Major said. “We are receiving a steady stream of leads, and are following up on every one.”

BBM
 
Our town is a lil small. Our newspaper online is a PDF file so it's kinda hard to copy and paste from.... here's the site address

http://www.bhpnc.com/main1.pdf

This was taken on Horton Rd, Belton...
StatonDogs.jpg


(no, I didn't take the pic...it came from the link above)
 
Shutterfly, thank you so much for the updates. I pray LE can solve this case soon.
 
http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/body_found_in_anderson_county/28678/

Anderson Deputies Arrest Man in the Death of Homer and Jo Ann Staton


"Investigators say an elderly couple was murdered for cash and jewelry.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office says Homer and Jo Ann Staton were killed and the man who did it has been arrested.

After finding Homer Staton’s body Sunday night, more than a dozen investigators have been searching for his wife and answers.

This morning the Sheriff told News Channel 7 that 29-year-old Matthew Brandon Fullbright of Belton had the information they needed.

He’s being charged with two counts of murder and armed robbery after telling them where to find the body of Jo Ann Staton.

To give you a timeline, the couple was last seen alive Friday night at a restaurant on Wade Hampton Boulevard in Greenville.

But investigators didn’t know they were missing until Saturday, after their car was found with blood inside it on Horton Road in Belton.
Then on Sunday a man walking a dog on Asaville School Road near Bear Creek Road found the body of Mr. Staton.

The Sheriff says they discovered that Homer and Jo Ann, who were in the jewelry business, had a meeting set up with Fullbright Friday night.

Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper says that’s when Fullbright robbed and killed them, “I believe they had done business before. He was familiar with the Staton’s as buying and selling jewelry, so that’s why he was able to set up a robbery scenario.”

Investigators tell us they’re still trying to piece together what happened where.

But the Sheriff Skipper says they do believe the couple was robbed and attacked off Waterside Drive where Mrs. Staton’s body was found late Wednesday night.

When the couple met with Fullbright, investigators say he produced a blunt intrument and robbed them of money and jewlery.

He then struck both of them.

Sheriff Skipper says he doesn’t know why Mr. Staton’s body was moved, and then their black 2007 Toyota Corolla dumped at another location.

Investigators say both of them died from blunt force trauma.

The Sheriff also says they have not identified a murder weapon in the case but at this point they do believe Fullbright acted alone.

Our coverage partner the Anderson Independent Mail reports the Sheriff’s Office is investigating phone records and a laptop computer taken from the couple’s condo..."


We don't PLAY around here guys...... GO LE!!!!!
 
Fullbright.jpg


Matthew Brandon Fullbright 29 of Belton, SC


Arrested for armed robbery and murder in conncetion with the deaths of Homer and JoAnn Staton.

BTW, it isn't made very clear but LE foud JoAnn's body last night. Info from the public lead them to Fullbright. They found her at 10:45 pm last night after Fullbright told LE where she was.

I'll post the booking report as soon as I get it.
 
So glad this man has been found and charged with murder.

RIP Homer and JoAnn Staton.
 
http://www.wyff4.com/news/21467763/detail.html

*snipped*

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. -- Police said Thursday it was a tip from a murder suspect's family member that inevitably led them to arrest Matthew Fullbright in connection with the deaths of Chip and JoAnn Staton, a Taylors couple who were beaten to death over the weekend.

Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper said that Fullbright robbed and killed the Statons sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. Skipper said that Fullbright is an acquaintance of the couple, who bought and sold gold. Skipper said robbery was Fullbright's motive.

The sheriff said that Fullbright, 29, who is from Belton, has no previous arrest record and is only known to have traffic violations.

Officials found Jo Ann Staton's body along Waterside Drive in Iva. Investigators said that Fullbright had met the couple on Waterside Drive, but didn't specify the location of the meeting. The couple's Toyota Corolla was found off Horton Road in Belton Saturday. The car had blood stains on the interior.

On Sunday, Chip Staton's body was found off of Asaville School Road in Anderson County.

Anderson County coroner Don McCown said the Statons died from blunt force trauma. An autopsy will be performed on Jo Ann Staton on Thursday.

Skipper said, "(Fullbright) said he had a seller that wanted to sell a large quantity of jewelry. They met, got in the car together, and he was directing them to a place to where this guy was supposed to be to a home to sell."

Skipper said that at this point, he believes Fullbright acted alone.

Detectives said that they learned Fullbright was connected to a grand larceny case in Belton.

Belton Police Chief David Dockins said, "We received a complaint earlier this week from a family member that had lost some valuables."

According to a police report, Kathryn Fullbright told officers that she has had trouble with her stepson, Matthew Fullbright, stealing items from her home.

Fullbright was charged with stealing $1,100 in cash along with $1,500 worth of jewelry, coins, tools and electrical supplies."
 
From January 2012:

http://www.wyff4.com/Verdict-Reached-In-Couple-s-Bludgeoning-Deaths/10079518

Matthew Fullbright was convicted of two counts of murder and armed robbery in the deaths of Homer and JoAnn Staton.

Fullbright was sentenced to two life sentences for the murders and two 30-year sentences for the robberies, sentences to run consecutively.

From August 2012:

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/19182285/charges-against-2nd-suspect-in-statons-deaths-dropped

Charges against the second man charged in the beating deaths of a Taylors couple three years ago were dropped Thursday...

On Jan. 27, Fullbright was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of armed robbery in connection with the couple's death. At the trial, investigators said that Ramirez's role in the case could not be proven.

On Thursday, 10th Circuit Solicitor Chrissy Adams said that phone records indicate that Ramirez was not involved in the murders. She said there also is no physical evidence that ties Ramirez to the crime.
 

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