Identified! Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - Pamela Buckley & James Freund #9

[Reannan]

I found the text in the media section of this forum, by mistake I closed the tab, so can't link it directly, but here is the text :

"sheriff parnell says the (.357) gun has been traced to a 1974 theft of several weapons in durham, north carolina..."

Source:
Clipping from The Index-Journal - Newspapers.com

First, I want to say I am THRILLED that we have names for our victims! I have followed this case for literally decades, and I have ALWAYS felt this crime should have been solved because they recovered the murder weapon! I do not recall ever having seen where this murder weapon had been stolen in 1974 from Durham, NC. I am searching, but has anyone else found a news article about that theft? Was it from a private home? A gun store??

 

[Betty P]

First, I want to say I am THRILLED that we have names for our victims! I have followed this case for literally decades, and I have ALWAYS felt this crime should have been solved because they recovered the murder weapon! I do not recall ever having seen where this murder weapon had been stolen in 1974 from Durham, NC. I am searching, but has anyone else found a news article about that theft? Was it from a private home? A gun store??

Yes, go back a few pages and you'll find a couple of links from back then. They discuss the history of the murder weapon. It just mentions it was part of some robberies that took place there.

 

[Kiranerys]

I think it's a bit fishy that one brother owned the gun, it was allegedly stolen, it allegedly passed through a few hands, and somehow found its way to the other brother's car with the serial number filed. That's a bit of a stretch to believe. It's more likely that one brother needed to get rid of the gun, the other brother filed the serial number and tucked it under the seat in his car, and police found it.

I'm catching up so someone may have already said this,but I agree. I think its much more likely that Lonnie was supposed to dispose of the gun for his brother and he possibly put it under his seat and forgot to get rid of it.
It would be great if we had any idea about the people Jimmy may have been associated with at the time.

 

[Reannan]

Possible motive? In trying to find the source of the murder weapon, which was stolen in 1974 from Durham, NC, I found the following from the BATF about the HUGE crime syndicate that was operating in that area regarding untaxed cigarettes... it was worth a quarter of a million dollars back then!! Allegedly, the vehicle that was involved in the murder 'went down to a nearby tobacco barn to turn around' after they were killed. What if the victims pulled off the road for the night to sleep and this "van" was scheduled to make a huge pickup from the tobacco barn, but found these victims were camping for the night there on the side of the road. They were witnesses at this point in time, so they were murdered. Their motorcycle... or whatever vehicle they were in was removed along with their belongings. The van then continued to the pickup site, got the contraband and was back on I-95 off to deliver the goods to whatever mobsters were in control of this crime. Why would the van have "gone down to the tobacco barn to turn around" after the murders, unless the tobacco barn had been their original destination? At least I have a scenario in my mind that sort of makes sense now... links below: (Not sure why the first link to the google book link isn't a hyper link... if you copy and past it into a new tab, you should be able to see it).

Cumulative Bulletin - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms


21 Aug 1986, 11 - The Item at Newspapers.com

 

[shellbee]

Possible motive? In trying to find the source of the murder weapon, which was stolen in 1974 from Durham, NC, I found the following from the BATF about the HUGE crime syndicate that was operating in that area regarding untaxed cigarettes... it was worth a quarter of a million dollars back then!! Allegedly, the vehicle that was involved in the murder 'went down to a nearby tobacco barn to turn around' after they were killed. What if the victims pulled off the road for the night to sleep and this "van" was scheduled to make a huge pickup from the tobacco barn, but found these victims were camping for the night there on the side of the road. They were witnesses at this point in time, so they were murdered. Their motorcycle... or whatever vehicle they were in was removed along with their belongings. The van then continued to the pickup site, got the contraband and was back on I-95 off to deliver the goods to whatever mobsters were in control of this crime. Why would the van have "gone down to the tobacco barn to turn around" after the murders, unless the tobacco barn had been their original destination? At least I have a scenario in my mind that sort of makes sense now... links below: (Not sure why the first link to the google book link isn't a hyper link... if you copy and past it into a new tab, you should be able to see it).

Cumulative Bulletin - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms


21 Aug 1986, 11 - The Item at Newspapers.com

Does anyone know when tobacco is harvested? A tobacco barn is where tobacco is hung to cure after harvest, correct? I wonder how long the curing process takes.

ETA: Air curing takes 4 to 8 weeks.

 

[Reannan]

Does anyone know when tobacco is harvested? A tobacco barn is where tobacco is hung to cure after harvest, correct? I wonder how long the curing process takes.

ETA: Air curing takes 4 to 8 weeks.

Late July or Early August is what I remember my parents talking about... it was always REALLY hot when the tobacco was harvested.

 

[shellbee]

Late July or Early August is what I remember my parents talking about... it was always REALLY hot when the tobacco was harvested.

The reason I asked is I wondered if the barn's owner thought P & J were messing with his curing tobacco crop and shot them, but that's crazy. <modsnip, unrelated case>

 

[Reannan]

The reason I asked is I wondered if the barn's owner thought P & J were messing with his curing tobacco crop and shot them, but that's crazy. Of course it's crazy to shoot a kid wearing a hoodie and eating Skittles as he walked through the neighborhood, still happened though .

They were shot in a professional manner, which is why the whole illegal cigarette smuggling business resonates with me. I REALLY want to know where that gun was stolen from, and how it ended up in the hands of Lonnie George Henry. He died in 1982, and it looks like most of his family died as well... his wife had family in SC, but I can't find a connection closer than at least an hour away from where Pamela and James's bodies were found:
Lonnie George Henry (1918-1982) - Find A Grave...

 

[Betty P]

They were shot in a professional manner, which is why the whole illegal cigarette smuggling business resonates with me. I REALLY want to know where that gun was stolen from, and how it ended up in the hands of Lonnie George Henry. He died in 1982, and it looks like most of his family died as well... his wife had family in SC, but I can't find a connection closer than at least an hour away from where Pamela and James's bodies were found:
Lonnie George Henry (1918-1982) - Find A Grave...

I've wondered if James and Pamela were taken from another county to their murder location in order to commit the murders in a different jurisdiction. In those days there were a lot of jurisdictional issues in murder investigations, not always cooperation or communication between law enforcement agencies.

Something to think about.

 

[LadyL]

Just a random thought here, but have to bring it up.
Before I became a member of WS, I read the sad story of Sharon Marshall on My Space (who was ID-ed as Suzanne Marie) Sevakis.It brought me to WS.

A few days ago, when searching, I came across a PM picture of Pamela, wich seems only to excist/posted in/on MySpace. Haven't seen it published in msm, and before FB, Twitter and all other SM, I do think My Space was the first SM, where stories, like these were shared to gain attention into solving the mystery. The PM picture of PB is in my point of view, good quality.
Just thought, it was worth a mention to bring it up.
Unfortunately, I haven't kept up on my space,but have bookmarked the picture.

what is PM?

 

[worm]

I've wondered if James and Pamela were taken from another county to their murder location in order to commit the murders in a different jurisdiction. In those days there were a lot of jurisdictional issues in murder investigations, not always cooperation or communication between law enforcement agencies.

Something to think about.

I’ve often thought about how close this was to the county line and if that was a factor somehow in this.

 

[shellbee]

what is PM?

Post mortem.

 

[Reannan]

I’ve often thought about how close this was to the county line and if that was a factor somehow in this.

I have researched connections between the NC man, Lonnie George Henry and South Carolina all day... he had the murder weapon when he was arrested for a DUI a few months after the murder. His wife, Doris Horne Henry, was originally from South Carolina and had a sister living in the Pageland area of SC, which is close to the NC border, but at least an hour and a half away from where the bodies were found. I TRULY believe Lonnie knew who killed them, and I believe his brother knew who killed them, but both of them are dead now. Still digging... NEVER going to give up on knowing what really happened in this case. It should have been solved back then, but if it involved illegal activity, like untaxed cigarette smuggling (a HUGE crime syndicate industry), local officials were probably involved. Fine... whatever.... at this point, we deserve the TRUTH!!!

 

[shellbee]

I have researched connections between the NC man, Lonnie George Henry and South Carolina all day... he had the murder weapon when he was arrested for a DUI a few months after the murder. His wife, Doris Horne Henry, was originally from South Carolina and had a sister living in the Pageland area of SC, which is close to the NC border, but at least an hour and a half away from where the bodies were found. I TRULY believe Lonnie knew who killed them, and I believe his brother knew who killed them, but both of them are dead now. Still digging... NEVER going to give up on knowing what really happened in this case. It should have been solved back then, but if it involved illegal activity, like untaxed cigarette smuggling (a HUGE crime syndicate industry), local officials were probably involved. Fine... whatever.... at this point, we deserve the TRUTH!!!

It's my opinion that the answer lies in how they met and where they were for the nearly nine months they were "missing."

We know that Pam was reported missing in Colorado. I'm curious to know who made that report. I wonder if Pam fled Colorado because she was afraid of someone. Maybe Pam's family knew where she was initially and didn't share that info with Pam's ex husband. Is it possible her ex reported her missing because he wanted a divorce and the missing person's report was required to establish the date of the last time he saw Pam?

 

[Betty P]

It's my opinion that the answer lies in how they met and where they were for the nearly nine months they were "missing."

We know that Pam was reported missing in Colorado. I'm curious to know who made that report. I wonder if Pam fled Colorado because she was afraid of someone. Maybe Pam's family knew where she was initially and didn't share that info with Pam's ex husband. Is it possible her ex reported her missing because he wanted a divorce and the missing person's report was required to establish the date of the last time he saw Pam?

Im unclear on who reported her missing. I thought it was her familywho made the report. Is there a link for this info so we know? TIA

 

[Valiant]

Possible motive? In trying to find the source of the murder weapon, which was stolen in 1974 from Durham, NC, I found the following from the BATF about the HUGE crime syndicate that was operating in that area regarding untaxed cigarettes... it was worth a quarter of a million dollars back then!! Allegedly, the vehicle that was involved in the murder 'went down to a nearby tobacco barn to turn around' after they were killed. What if the victims pulled off the road for the night to sleep and this "van" was scheduled to make a huge pickup from the tobacco barn, but found these victims were camping for the night there on the side of the road. They were witnesses at this point in time, so they were murdered. Their motorcycle... or whatever vehicle they were in was removed along with their belongings. The van then continued to the pickup site, got the contraband and was back on I-95 off to deliver the goods to whatever mobsters were in control of this crime. Why would the van have "gone down to the tobacco barn to turn around" after the murders, unless the tobacco barn had been their original destination? At least I have a scenario in my mind that sort of makes sense now... links below: (Not sure why the first link to the google book link isn't a hyper link... if you copy and past it into a new tab, you should be able to see it).

Cumulative Bulletin - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms


21 Aug 1986, 11 - The Item at Newspapers.com

Cigarettes aren't manufactured in tobacco barns. All a tobacco barn does is dry or cure the tobacco after harvest. Once cured, the tobacco is then processed at a different facility into cigarettes or other tobacco products. There is no taxation of the tobacco as a raw product (as in what is stored in a tobacco barn) so there would be no indication at that level if the eventual final product would be a legal taxed cigarette or a bootleg untaxed cigarette.
Tobacco barn - Wikipedia

 

[killarney rose]

Tobacco is harvested in late July - early Aug. it then goes through the curing process and is sold sometime from mid to late fall.
I fail to see how the couple being killed in an area that grows tobacco would be related to some type of illegal cigarette activity. Because the tobacco is just a raw product at the place it was harvested. It must still be cured, graded and sold to a cigarette company. Then made into a product. I think where they were found has nothing to do with the tobacco crop or production.

 

[Reannan]

This is new.. at least to me: " A man and woman were seen by a hermit living in the woods of Sumter County in South Carolina. The two were dropped off together on Lynches River Road."
How police identified the Sumter County Does 40 years later – Film Daily

 

[worm]

This is new.. at least to me: " A man and woman were seen by a hermit living in the woods of Sumter County in South Carolina. The two were dropped off together on Lynches River Road."
How police identified the Sumter County Does 40 years later – Film Daily

I’ve seen that before too, and also “area residents” reporting shots.

I’ve thought, and wondered more about Henry and that gun. It would just make sense, and we have seen before, that people generally avoid something like that if they knew it was involved in a crime. Depending on how much they know of the crime, people go to great lengths to get rid of weapons. It just seems careless of him to file numbers and toss this under the car seat.

 

[shellbee]

Im unclear on who reported her missing. I thought it was her familywho made the report. Is there a link for this info so we know? TIA

I'm unclear too. That's why I wrote in the form of a question. Everything I've read says she was reported missing from Colorado Springs by a family member but that's as specific as reports have been.