SC SC - Justin Turner, 5, Moncks Corner, 5 March 1989

[ISarahlouise]

i’m not made up on who’s guilty in this case tbh.

yeah there are things about the step mother that could point towards her being guilty but i feel like they had tunnel vision on her pretty early on

 

[Kell1]

Sounds like it was basically solved but something was botched.

 

[Shade13]

I know it's rare, but is it a possibility she was molesting him and was afraid he was about to speak out?

 

[sallye818]

Newly-submitted DNA could help solve 5-year-old Moncks Corner boy's 1989 death

Berkeley County investigators say newly-submitted DNA evidence could help solve a 30-year-old cold case. "I’m pretty hopeful," said Lt. Dean Kokinda, who's leading the investigation into the death of five-year-old Justin Turner. Sheriff's Deputies say Turner went missing on March 3rd, 1989...

abcnews4.com

Wonder what ever came of this DNA that was submitted to LE for testing?

 

[sds71]

Father, stepmother charged with murder in 1989 death of 5-year-old son

Berkeley County Sheriff's Office officials Wednesday announced the arrests of the father and stepmother of Justin Turner, a 5-year-old found dead in 1989.Pamel

abcnews4.com

 

[SouthernMom]

This happened on the same small street in which I grew up and it has haunted me for quite some time. I was 11 years old at the time and Justin was the same age as my little sister.

Here is the most detailed article I can find to date. This pretty much explains it. I would like to add some fact if I may. *Mods, I am assuming it is alright to add my own personal known facts. Please feel free to steer me in the right direction as this is my first thread topic. Thanks!

I cannot remember how many days Justin was missing. (not many)
My parents own a pond and LE dragged the bottom of the pond.
His home was down a small dirt driveway and his stepmother told LE he had went to catch the bus.
LE searched a camper on the property.
They searched that exact same camper the very next day and found Justins cold body. It was colder than you would expect even post mortem. Almost as if it had been chilled.
Justin was strangled and sexually abused.


Below is pretty much everything else known in the case..which is sad
Please help find justice for Justin. This is one of those cases that this community still speaks about. Anyone who lives here or lived here knows exactly who Justin Turner was. I need to find a pic. He was blonde, average/skinny, and caucasian.

Files on 1989 slaying case found

MONCKS CORNER - Police plan to examine documents from a former Berkeley County coroner in an attempt to glean more information in the 1989 slaying of a 5-year-old Moncks Corner boy.

A number of old files, including one devoted to the death of Justin Turner, were found last week among the possessions of former Coroner William Smith Jr.

Mr. Smith died last month. Family members discovered the documents and called current Coroner Wade Arnette, who immediately gave the Turner file to the State Law Enforcement Division.

"I don't know if these are duplicates or additional, but there was a portion pertaining to Justin Turner," Mr. Arnette said.

The child's body was found March 5, 1989, inside a pickup truck camper outside the home he shared with his father and stepmother. An autopsy showed he had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Mr. Smith held a coroner's inquest in which Justin's parents refused to testify but resulted in a murder charge against Pamela K. Turner, the boy's stepmother.

The charges were dropped in 1990 because of a lack of evidence. Victor Turner, the boy's father, was not charged

http://old.chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/01/24/oth_203034.shtml

Step-Mom and Father have been arrested and charged in this case.

Sheriff: Father, stepmother strangled 5-year-old Berkeley Co. boy to death

Court documents released by the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office allege the father and stepmother of a 5-year-old boy killed him and hid his body in a camper on their property while the community searched for him.

www.live5news.com

 

[lostintime56]

I actually never thought this day would happen. The town has grown and changed a lot. I really feel like the truth will come out now.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The prosecutor did say Victor was heard by family saying, “Well, they got us now,” after some evidence was removed from their home. The prosecutor also mentioned video from Channel 2 that was shot as Victor discovered his son’s body in 1989. She said the fact that Victor knew exactly where to look when he found the body is part of the evidence in this case.

“He hasn’t tried to go anywhere in the last 34 years or so they’ve lived at Lake Greenwood. He does have serious health conditions. He has COPD, congestive heart disease and emphysema. When he was arrested, he was taken out of hospice care, and he has spent the last almost month in the Berkeley County Detention Center where he doesn’t obviously get the treatment and medication he needs,” the attorney said.

SC man granted $50K bond weeks after arrest in 1989 cold case

Bond was granted Thursday for a father accused in the 1989 death of a 5-year-old Berkeley County boy.

www.wspa.com

 

[Dark Shadow]

Sounds like it was basically solved but something was botched.

It was botched, not solved. BCSO suffers from Belief Perservance.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Victor Lee Turner and Megan Renee Turner appeared in a Berkeley County courtroom on Thursday morning after their attorneys asked for a hearing to try and get the murder charges dismissed.

Attorneys spent much of the morning discussing why they believe the charges need to be dropped, saying 35 years is way too long of a wait to prosecute a case with no new evidence, especially since a grand jury and multiple sheriffs and solicitors have looked at the case over the years.

But they also presented a new theory that a serial killer may have played a role in Turner’s death. The defense team said they recently learned about the serial killer, who is believed to have arrived in Charleston the same day Turner went missing.

Father, stepmother accused of killing South Carolina 5-year-old in 1989 want charges dropped

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) — A father and stepmother accused of killing their 5-year-old son more than 30 years ago hope to have the case against them dismissed. Victor Lee Turner and Megan…

www.wbtw.com

 

[Dark Shadow]

Interestingly, Berkeley County Sheriff's Office was informed in 2008 by the FBI about serial killer Richard Evonitz and was instructed by the FBI to "review all unsolved abductions, sexual assaults, and/or murders that occurred the time-frame Evonitz is documented to have been in your jurisdiction." Berkeley County Sheriff's Office declined to do so.

There is also a SLED letter from the scientist doing the DNA sent to the Prosecutor saying the detective was told there was no DNA match to the step-mother. He asked her what would it take to have a match. He was also told (telephone call) that the leash from the Turner home was not the murder weapon.

MSN link below.

MSN

 

[Dark Shadow]

The DNA in this case will most likely be the reason it gts solved , but the entire story from the parent(s) are suspect IMO

According to the SLED scientist doing the DNA, there was no match to the step-mother. There is no new evidence....prosecutor admits this is just a new look at the evidence. They do not have any new evidence. The SLED agent also said the detective asked her what would it take to have evidence against the step-mother.

 

[TwinkieDefense]

March 22, 2024 article

UVA professor explores possible serial killer link in unsolved Justin Turner murder case

A University of Virginia professor is providing insight into a bombshell dropped in the Justin Turner case last week.

abcnews4.com

[…]

Enright wants to make it clear she hasn't confirmed Evonitz was involved with Justin Turner’s murder, but she felt she had to speak up when JustinTurner’s dad and stepmother were charged.

[…]

Enright says the evidence they have collected from law enforcement has helped them link the serial killer to 7 different cases in 7 different states.

[…]

 

[Dark Shadow]

 

[Richard]

Looking at the serial killer Evonitz and considering him as a potential suspect is necessary in this case. If not eliminated, the possibility of his involvement would pose a "reasonable doubt" in the case against the parents.

 

[Dark Shadow]

CRIME HUNTER: Is serial killer real sex murderer of Justin Turner, 5, and not his parents?

Justin Turner, just 5, was found sexually assaulted and strangled to death in the tiny hamlet of Monck's Corner, SC in March 1989.

torontosun.com