Thanks for all your posts, sorry about your dad. Indeed a very strange story... what I find weird is that your dad lived in a very quiet place, doing his thing so to say, and suddenly there is a lot of going on, a robbery, an accident, threatening phone calls and finally a murder by an unknown persons according to the second wife...why would she say that, being a witness, hearing a shot outside. What made that LE ruled murder out and saying it was a suicide....(had to laugh about your dukes of hazard thing on Reddit) how can the gun not be near his body after he killed himself. And if he was murdered by someone from the "outside" what could be the motive/a motive? Who gained by his dead? Do you have thoughts about that? Not to mention the strange note in a gun which was not used at the scene....hmmm :thinking: I have to read everything again....
Okay, the following stuff that I'm going to throw out here is all hearsay. Meaning they are things I've heard from people that lived down there who were part of the family. I'm not sure if they cling to this because it could've been profitable had it been true or if it is true. But here goes:
As for the gun not being near his body after he killed himself, this is one of those things the the family believes proves he couldn't couldn't have shot himself and then flung the pistol 30 to 40 feet away from his body. Granted, that does sound unlikely no matter how well you planned it. It does sound more like the first person to the body may have kicked it that far OR the would be murderer after pulling the trigger for the kill shot, put the deceased Harley's finger in the gun, shot another bullet off, reloaded an extra back into the chamber of the revolver. This will explain the powder burns and use a revolver. Easier to police the brass.. But if one were trying to make it look like a suicide, why fling the gun 30 to 40 feet away?
There's another bit of information/hearsay that I've heard was that State, that county, that city city had a strong drug running system coming up from Mexico into the states. Ostensibly, I could understand if my father was trying to help the disabled veterans get over the war, and if they were addicted to drugs and they were easy to come by, going to the authorities to try to get some kind of task force or extra work going on that. If he asked for help from the wrong bad Apple police officer, perhaps they'd think,"well, here's a guy we don't need around."
On the flipside(even though I know he did not drink or do drugs) perhaps he was part of the would be drug running operation. If This is the case, maybe a partner profits with him, and again, POOF!
Again, knowing in researching his past with this whole Vietnam experience as well is a childhood witnessing some nasty things, occam's razor tends to lean towards a suicide. There's just enough of the shadow of doubt for this to still driven me nuts. You mean out of been a good man, he may have been arrogant and a liar… but from the people that knew him firsthand they all said he was determined. Not that type to take one's own life. He was told he would not walk again after his spinal injuries in Vietnam. Yet he told all the doctors he would and by God, he did.
I didn't know him, but it just seems like a lot of work in a lot of pain to get back walking from something like that only the off one's self 15 years later. That note was written by a traumatized kid. I know most people, and when I was 19 I didn't consider myself a kid. But now, at age 44, I consider a 20 year old a kid. :
Also, the note itself is hearsay. It is clearly information written down from what his mother told him. That note being found 32 years later is amazing, it's quite astounding, and for someone like me who appreciates synchronicity it's a little romantic in a way. But it doesn't change the fact that he's just quoting his moms telling of the story. The only thing new is the allegations that the police/sheriffs department had something to do with it. And if that's the case, down there in Hazard County, it seems as though that is something they could do pretty easily. I think when I manage to get someone to request the police records for me (so that my name Smith isn't on it) and they turn out "lost" or destroyed… that will really raise both my eyebrows.
End of "Thoughts"…
you can see why this keeps me up at night when it gets back into my brain. Just enough stuff to want to track it all down but quite a bit of work for one guy who's not a investigator!
acs
