GUILTY NC - Tim Hennis on trial in the '85 Eastburn murders, Fort Bragg

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I read up on this, and it's a weird one. There's evidence to convince me he didn't do it--mainly the trail of bloody footprints in men's size 9--when he wears a 13. But DNA supposedly doesn't lie. Also, his lawyers tried to convince a witness he saw someone else that night, but they didn't explain away the white Chevette.
 
I just watched this movie the other day. I remember hearing of it. I think the babysitter was alittle suspicious. JMO I remember people saying Hennis was not seen but some other guy in a white van, who knows. Very sad case.
 
I remember this movie. It's been a long time since I saw it but I remember thinking that they had the wrong guy. I guess if they have DNA that matches this guys then he must be guilty. I'm going to see if my library has this book.
This will be an interesting case to follow.
 
I also watched this movie the other day on Lifetime. In the movie a man was brought forward at the 2nd trial of Hennis, was a man who claimed to be the man that was walking down the street that night, and he looked exactly like Hennis. Was this mentioned in the book, I didn't know if it was dramatized for the movie, or if the mystery walker actually did look like Hennis? In the beginning of the movie, I thought Hennis was guilty, but as the 2nd trial (or appeals trial?) I thought he wasn't guilty. I also wondered though, to anyone who read the book, did the ATM information come up? At the end of the movie, I was also left to wonder if the lady who was getting phone calls, ever got any more calls and what ever happened to the babysitter. I thought she was "different"- of course realizing that movies do let us "see" people and it can kind of color our opinion. Thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to answer questions I've posted about the book!
 
Boyz_Mum said:
I also watched this movie the other day on Lifetime. In the movie a man was brought forward at the 2nd trial of Hennis, was a man who claimed to be the man that was walking down the street that night, and he looked exactly like Hennis. Was this mentioned in the book, I didn't know if it was dramatized for the movie, or if the mystery walker actually did look like Hennis? In the beginning of the movie, I thought Hennis was guilty, but as the 2nd trial (or appeals trial?) I thought he wasn't guilty. I also wondered though, to anyone who read the book, did the ATM information come up? At the end of the movie, I was also left to wonder if the lady who was getting phone calls, ever got any more calls and what ever happened to the babysitter. I thought she was "different"- of course realizing that movies do let us "see" people and it can kind of color our opinion. Thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to answer questions I've posted about the book!
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Hi,
It's been awhile since I read the book, and I just dug it out to look at it again. The mystery walker guy (there's a picture of him in the book), does look very similar to Hennis--you could definitely see how people would mistake the two--they could be brothers, they look so similar. The ATM was used supposedly during the time Hennis was on duty at the military base (and other people testified that they saw him on base while the ATM transactions were occurring). However, I think they also found a woman who testified that she saw Hennis at the bank/atm around the time the card was used (but one could say that it was the look alike mystery walker). I don't know anything else about the babysitter, other than the early suspicions from the crimalinalist the defense team brought in who was on the Jeffrey MacDonald case. The woman who was receiving the threatening phone calls finally came forward after Hennis was on death row, and she testified in some of the later hearings that led to his sentence being overturned. I would also be interested to know if the phone calls continued even after her testimony, but that isn't covered in the book.
After I read the book, I came to the conclusion that Hennis didn't do it, but it just seemed like something wasn't quite right--too many coincidences--and I found myself really wondering about his innocence. Now if they have matched his DNA to the crime scene all these years later, I think that it absolutely was him, although I did read some comments related to one of the news articles I read this week where some people thought maybe the original sample was either mistakenly contaminated with Hennis' blood, or some people even thought that maybe it was on purpose. I'm really not one who accepts conspiracy theories easily. Now I'm really thinking that Hennis probably did it, and just got "lucky" twenty years ago.
 
Thanks Kaybee! When watching the movie (it was 4 hours long), I had to rewind and rewatch and even still missed some things! A part in the movie explained that in a rape kit, there were sperm present, and the PI said something to the effect of the sperm being alive, so I am guessing that this is the DNA they have on file? What I kind of wonder about though is what if the "samples" given by Hennis were mixed up with the rape kit samples? Could evidence be mishandled that way?

I hope that the woman who recieved the threatening phone calls was able to live in peace after all this was over. The babysitter was questionable in her behavior (as potrayed in the movie) but the movie had twists that I didn't expect, like the babysitter working as an informant to the narcotics officer. I do realize that real life can be stranger than fiction!

I wonder if any other crimes occured of a similar nature in that area, or around any of the other central players in the situation. There was the fellow that identified Hennis, who was also in the neighborhood that night, and it was later "found" that he had been drinking and then with the other mystery walker who looked much like Hennis, discredited his testimony. I wonder if the court martial will bring these people forward for testifying?

I do hope they can solve this, it was/is a baffling mystery!
 
Good morning everyone! I'm so glad there is more interest in this case! I haven't ordered the book yet - going to do that today. Can't wait to read it and discuss it with all of you.

I too wonder about a mix up with the DNA collected from Katie Eastburn and Tim Hennis. :waitasec: I don't necessarily believe in conspiracy theories either, but I do think it's possible that a mix up was done on purpose in this case. From the movie (don't know if this is really the case or not) they insinuate that the Fayetteville Police never looked beyond Hennis for any other suspects. It appears that they were out to railroad him from the start. Who knows. I'm anxious to see what comes of this court martial and DNA proof.

Another thing - Do you think it's possible for a man to commit this type of brutal killing on not only a woman, but her two small children as well and live out a normal life with children of their own? I just can't wrap my head around that. I know it could happen, but I'm having a hard time with it in the Hennis case.
 
Hi NewMom! When you finish with reading the book, would you let us know what you think? I was glad you started this thread, as it happened I had only heard about it when I watched the movie, this week.

It is hard to figure a person committing a crime of this nature and then just living a normal life afterward, it doesn't seem possible.

Thanks Kaybee for the topix link!
 
NewMom2003 said:
Good morning everyone! I'm so glad there is more interest in this case! I haven't ordered the book yet - going to do that today. Can't wait to read it and discuss it with all of you.

I too wonder about a mix up with the DNA collected from Katie Eastburn and Tim Hennis. :waitasec: I don't necessarily believe in conspiracy theories either, but I do think it's possible that a mix up was done on purpose in this case. From the movie (don't know if this is really the case or not) they insinuate that the Fayetteville Police never looked beyond Hennis for any other suspects. It appears that they were out to railroad him from the start. Who knows. I'm anxious to see what comes of this court martial and DNA proof.

Another thing - Do you think it's possible for a man to commit this type of brutal killing on not only a woman, but her two small children as well and live out a normal life with children of their own? I just can't wrap my head around that. I know it could happen, but I'm having a hard time with it in the Hennis case.
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Hi everyone & NewMom!,
I'm also glad there is a renewed interest in this case. NewMom, I also have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that Hennis could do something so awful and then live a normal life (as far as we know) with his wife and child(ren).

But then I think of a case that happened in the town I grew up in. This man killed his wife and two sons in a rage (there is speculation that the wife was leaving him), cleaned up the crime scene, rented a storage locker and put their remains in there. He moved away to another state, was happily married and was a great stepfather to his new wife's children. After many years (maybe even a decade later), the newer wife decided to stop paying for the storage locker back in Washington state. The storage locker was auctioned off and the winning bidder opened the locker, only to be horrified by finding three skeletal remains in garbage bags. Everyone who knew the man was dumbstruck--he was such a great husband and stepfather and an upstanding member of society. So I guess it's possible that even a "normal" and "loving" person can have some major skeletons in their closet.

In rereading the early parts of "Innocent Victims" there is mention from an ex-girlfriend of Tim Hennis' saying that he dropped by her house unexpectedly the night of the murders and had told her that his wife had left him and took their baby girl with her. In the past he had made passes at this ex-girlfriend and complained about his marriage, so there was some speculation that he went over to the ex-girlfriend's house to get lucky, didn't get the vibe, and decided to pop by Katie Eastburn's house to see if she was interested.

The other argument I think of is when I think of what type of person could do this, is that who ever actually killed the Eastburns decided not to kill the youngest daughter who was still a baby/toddler. Maybe the baby wasn't killed because the killer figured she was too young to testify, but experts actually ended up hypnotizing the young girl once she was able to talk, and she said that the killer said, "I can't kill anymore", or something to that effect. Whoever killed the Eastburns left the baby's crib full of toys and perhaps was responsible for leaving a bottle of milk there for her as well. So maybe if Hennis is the guy that did this, his motive was sex. Maybe Katie Eastburn spurned his advances, and maybe things got out of control, which required him to silence any witnesses who could identify him. But Hennis loved his baby daughter according to all who knew him, and maybe once the severity of his actions settled in, he just couldn't kill the Eastburn baby because it reminded him of his baby girl. I don't know.. . . maybe I'm reaching too far, but when I think about how someone who seems normal and loving to his own family could do wipe out a mother and her two daughters, this is what comes to my mind. I have also heard forensic psychiatrists describe "triggers" that can set into motion a series of horribly violent events. Two "triggers" that I can directly remember is loss of a job, or loss of a relationship.

I'm not a forensic scientist (that would be my dream job!), but I do have 12 years experience analyzing clinical samples for several large pharmaceutical companies. It is a HIGHLY regulated environment, and I would imagine that the standards for the crime lab are even more stringent. It would take a major goof-up/carelessness to cross contaminate lab samples from my experience. Doesn't mean it has never happened because when someone is analyzing thousands of samples, mistakes can be made. The practice at the companies I've worked for was to have multiple aliquots (portions) of patient sample. If the first result shows an unexpected result, the second aliquot is tested to ensure that the original sample was not comprised during the testing. Again, I'm not in forensics, and I haven't done DNA testing (except for a few experiments in college a LONG time ago) but I think it would be a big time OOPS if someone was careless and didn't change pipet tips in between samples or somehow allowed transfer. I would imagine they would keep a pretty big physical distance between original test samples and crime scene samples to ensure nothing gets contaminated. I would be interested to hear any feedback about the practices in forensic labs from anyone who has experience in that area.

Now, if someone wanted to purposely cross contaminate the samples, that depends on how secure these samples were kept (were the crime scene samples stored with the test samples? were they locked up and under limited access?). I would hope that anyone sincerely concerned with justice would not purposely compromise the evidence, but in the article I posted earlier, it seems the defense attorneys are claiming that not only was the evidence not carefully cared for (bags ripped open), but also someone "on the inside" was apparently stealing guns from the warehouse. I do agree that the prosecutors pretty much zeroed in on Hennis from the get-go, and from the article it seems like they have always convinced of his guilt, acquittal none withstanding.
 
Wow kaybee, thanks for the information. That is so interesting about the handling of samples.

That is just horrifying what happened in your home town. What happened with the father? Is he in prison?

I just ordered the book so I can't wait to get it, read it, and discuss it with all of you.
 
There is a "quiz" about the Eastburn murders at this link. Even if you don't answer the questions, if you "submit answers" the answer key has a lot of information about the case.

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz.cfm?qid=135516

I read "Innocent Victims" many years ago and was really haunted by it. The quiz answer key discusses a set of 3 postcards sent over the years to people involved in the case by a "Mr. X" who takes responsibility. One was sent to Hennis in prison. The other detail from the book that I've never been able to forget was that the child who survived was saying "hide from the burglar" afterwards. Which made me wonder if her mother had told her that. It's such an upsetting case. If it is Hennis... That would seem to challenge a lot of what we think about stranger-crimes this violent. It would be very odd to do something this bad once and then lead and exemplary life for the next 22 years, right?
 
NewMom2003 said:
Hennis now is 49. He remains the only suspect in the May 9, 1985, murders of Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and two of her three daughters — 5-year-old Kara Sue and 3-year-old Erin Nicole — in their Summer Hill Road home. A 22-month-old was found alive in her crib.

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=270086

Does anyone have any insight or opinions on this case?

I've seen the movie and I'm trying to hunt down the book.

This is a very interesting turn of events. I can't find much on the internet. I wonder what DNA evidence they have.
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I just started reading the book yesterday. I'll post more on this case as I progress in my reading. From what I gather so far, he was convicted and then his conviction was overturned.
 
NewMom2003 said:
Hennis now is 49. He remains the only suspect in the May 9, 1985, murders of Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and two of her three daughters — 5-year-old Kara Sue and 3-year-old Erin Nicole — in their Summer Hill Road home. A 22-month-old was found alive in her crib.

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=270086

Does anyone have any insight or opinions on this case?

I've seen the movie and I'm trying to hunt down the book.

This is a very interesting turn of events. I can't find much on the internet. I wonder what DNA evidence they have.
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From the link above:

Robert Bittle, an investigator with the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, testified at the military hearing that DNA evidence found on Mrs. Eastburn’s body is that of Hennis. The evidence was turned over to military authorities a year ago for possible federal prosecution. Hennis cannot be tried again by the state for the crimes.

On Friday, the commander of Fort Bragg decided that Hennis should face a court-martial. He could be sentenced to death.
 
gigi103 said:
There is a "quiz" about the Eastburn murders at this link. Even if you don't answer the questions, if you "submit answers" the answer key has a lot of information about the case.

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz.cfm?qid=135516

I read "Innocent Victims" many years ago and was really haunted by it. The quiz answer key discusses a set of 3 postcards sent over the years to people involved in the case by a "Mr. X" who takes responsibility. One was sent to Hennis in prison. The other detail from the book that I've never been able to forget was that the child who survived was saying "hide from the burglar" afterwards. Which made me wonder if her mother had told her that. It's such an upsetting case. If it is Hennis... That would seem to challenge a lot of what we think about stranger-crimes this violent. It would be very odd to do something this bad once and then lead and exemplary life for the next 22 years, right?
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Thanks for reminding me of the "Mr X" postcards. In the book (I flipped ahead to this section) it says that there were similar crimes committed in nearby proximity to Fort Bragg. In 1987, a 23 yr old mother (in Fayetville) had her throat cut after being bound and raped--her two year old son was left crying in the house. They believe the killer answered a classified ad about a water bed to get into the house. In 1990, a woman in Charlotte had her throat cut and her 13 month old son was also left crying in the house. Shortly after the Charlotte murder, Jerry Beaver (one of Hennis' lawyers) received an anonymous postcard from northern NC which stated "Ah, history!"
The Mr. X postcards certainly are intriguing--they are very taunting and remind me of things the "Zodiac" was sending to news editors. Some people believe that the writer of these letters revealed his identity with a series of initials (WHJR) which matched a suspect that the defense team had not known about--a man who worked at a local supermarket who came to work with scratches on his face around the same time as the Eastburn murders. WHJR told his girlfriend that he could see the Eastburn's house from his porch, and also on the night of the murders he was supposed to go out with his girlfriend and when she went to his home, nobody answered the door after repeated knocking--he claimed he fell asleep and didn't hear her. There was also a rumor circulating around town that Katie Eastburn was seen arguing with a man in the parking lot of the supermarket just days before her death. However, the paper woman who received threatening phone calls after the Eastburn murders and may have seen the killer, said that WHJR was not the man she saw outside of the Eastburn residence the morning after the murders.
There are so many weird things--possibly red herrings--that make this case so difficult to come to a stable conclusion about. But the one thing (assuming it wasn't contaminated) that doesn't lie is the DNA. If the crime scene samples were intact and the DNA matches Hennis, then I would be satisfied that they got their man. The big BUT is that how do we know for sure that someone didn't mess with the evidence? As I said before, it takes an awful lot of convincing for me to believe in most conspiracy theories, but I'm not saying that it would be impossible to monkey with evidence if you had a corruption within LE.
The youngest daughter (I just reread this part of the book) did tell examiners information that led them to believe that either her sisters or her mother had told her to be quiet and hide from the burglars. Then she made a statement where someone (presumably the killer said), "Shh. Be quiet. I can't kill anymore." She was shown multiple 8x 10 pictures of men (Hennis was one of them), and she pointed to one and said "I don't like that man". During the next interview, she growled when she saw one of the men in the pictures. Unfortunately, the examiner didn't know which one was Hennis (apparently she was blinded for objectivity), but the little girl didn't pick the same man each time, so the evidence wasn't used.
As far the question about leading an exemplary life after committing something this atrocious? I would say that it's possible (like the case in my home town that I mentioned in an earlier post). I'm also not trying to make any additional accusations, but do we know for sure that Hennis has lived in an exemplary manner? There are lot of people who do really heinous things but seem to be "good citizens" from the outside looking in (BTK killer, John Wayne Gacy, to name a few).
 
Thanks gigi and kaybee for bringing up the postcards from Mr. X. I had forgotten about the "initials" that they found (or thought they found) in the writing. I remember that part of the movie, and the police mentioned a name but it didn't seem that they went very far in checking that person out. The previous post by kaybee explains it well. I do suppose I should buy the book.

Thanks also, kaybee for the information about the other murders in that area, I believe Hennis would have been in jail during the 1987 crime, and not sure about the 1990 crime? Had either of those murders been solved?

I have a couple of stupid questions regarding a court martial, if anyone can answer them? Can the same lawyers represent Hennis in a court martial or does his representation have to come from within the "armed services"? And, is a court martial conducted like a trial? Do they call in witnesses and/or subpeona (sp?) people to testify?

The case has left a lot of questions in my head, normally, I kind of go with my first gut reaction but this one didn't go that easy on me. I feel so badly for Mr. Eastburn and the "baby", for having to have this in front of them (again), and do hope that justice is served.
 
Jeana, how is the book?

Mine isn't here yet. :banghead: I can't wait for it.:banghead:
 
NewMom2003 said:
Jeana, how is the book?

Mine isn't here yet. :banghead: I can't wait for it.:banghead:
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Man, I'm telling you with school starting, volleyball tryouts, band booster meetings, football booster meetings, football scrimages, shopping for endless supplies, the lists of which keep coming every day, having meet the team nights, feed the team nights, PTA and the continual shopping for just the right outfit for my daughter, I've only been able to get in about 20 pages a day. So far I have no opinion, but there's an "oh, REALLY" moment in the book every so often. LOL You may not have your book yet, but you'll probably get it finished before I do!
 
LOL :)

I know my days of running around and doing all that are coming soon. :)
 
I received my book Saturday and am halfway through it. I have to say that (just from the book) I don't see why he was brought to trial in the first place. I may change my mind further into the book, but I'm leaning towards this man being innocent. This is truly a heartbreaking, but fascinating case.

I'm very anxious to see what DNA evidence they now have. I'm still feeling like they've railroaded an innocent man.

I think they should also look at the babysitter again. I feel like she was involved somehow and I think it's absurd that she wasn't investigated back in 1985 and 1986 (unless she was and I haven't gotten that far in the book). I don't believe that Jeffrey MacDonald masterminded the Eastburn murders from prison, but I think the obsession Julie the babysitter had with him needs to be looked into.

I'm hoping that someone like Dateline or 48 hours will do an episode on this case, especially since it's been reopened.

I found this website this morning and wanted to share. Lots of good information here.

http://www.fayobserver.com/hennis/Hennis-1_content.html
 
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