AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #3

[somequestions]

If Barrentine committed the murders of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, what was his motive?

If Barrentine assisted the murderer and he had to drive the murderer somewhere, couldn't he just say he was forced at gunpoint to drive the person somewhere before going home?

I think most theories are based on speculation that are based on what we think happened. I don't know where J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett went after leaving the Big Little gas station in Ozark, AL on the night of July 31, 1999. I don't know what happened to them. And I don't know who murdered them. But I could speculate all day long and with this case and others, I have.

Until there is some actual evidence to back anything up, all you have is what you think. And to most people, especially police investigators, that does not mean much.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Agree much speculation .... IMO I believe that Barrentine knew something about what happened to the girls but I do not know believe he committed the crime.

 

[morf13]

Can we make a little list of 'suspect' vehicles associated with the crime?

 

[morf13]

Bulldog- What about these murders points to a “sex offense”?

Other than the “semen” on J.B.’s shirt.
(Which was found on J.B.’s clothing three months after the murders, after it had been sitting in the Ozark evidence room.)

Crime scene photos, and autopsy’s clearly show neither of the girls had been sexually assaulted. If this were a sexually motivated murder- why weren’t they sexually assaulted?

Not all sexually motivated murderers need to sexually assault the victim to achieve sexual satisfaction. The Golden State Killer bashed a victim's skull in and then masturbated on her dead body leaving semen, but did not rape her. (and possibly did this to more than one of his victims)

 

[CoolJ]

Not all sexually motivated murderers need to sexually assault the victim to achieve sexual satisfaction. The Golden State Killer bashed a victim's skull in and then masturbated on her dead body leaving semen, but did not rape her. (and possibly did this to more than one of his victims)

Do you suspect the girls were the victims of a serial killer?

 

[morf13]

Do you suspect the girls were the victims of a serial killer?

No

 

[Bulldog23]

Can we make a little list of 'suspect' vehicles associated with the crime?

I am all for that. I have heard of 4 trucks:

First, there was the shirtless guys who followed them from Tumbleton/ Haleburg (a friend reported that JB told her about the truck and guys at the Headland gas station.) This came from JB's sister and not a Mainstream media source. I do not know the color of this truck.

Second, there was a small, tan truck that was reported to be following them in Headland when the Headland officer saw them. (It seems like that was reported on a discussion board IIRC and not a mainstream media source.)

Third, there was the white (or light colored) truck sitting at the gas pumps in Ozark. No one exited the vehicle and they did not pump gas. (This was in a MSM source, I think.)

Fourth, there was the black truck that Johnny B said hit his car on Herring the night of the murders.

Anyone know of any other vehicles that were possibly involved?

 

[morf13]

I am all for that. I have heard of 4 trucks:

First, there was the shirtless guys who followed them from Tumbleton/ Haleburg (a friend reported that JB told her about the truck and guys at the Headland gas station.) This came from JB's sister and not a Mainstream media source. I do not know the color of this truck.

Second, there was a small, tan truck that was reported to be following them in Headland when the Headland officer saw them. (It seems like that was reported on a discussion board IIRC and not a mainstream media source.)

Third, there was the white (or light colored) truck sitting at the gas pumps in Ozark. No one exited the vehicle and they did not pump gas. (This was in a MSM source, I think.)

Fourth, there was the black truck that Johnny B said hit his car on Herring the night of the murders.

Anyone know of any other vehicles that were possibly involved?

I'd like to know more about the one with the shirtless guys personally

 

[Bulldog23]

Me too. The only problem with the shirtless guys is that only one girl at the Headland gas station said it happened. I think the story is that this girl overheard JB tell Bookie about the shirtless guys at the gas station, but, in his video, Bookie said he didn't remember it. I know some sleuths doubt it really happened. I think it probably did. I don't think Jacqui would have mentioned it in her video unless she thought it happened and was important. Did anyone ever hear any a description or color for the shirtless guys' truck? I don't remember if Jacqui gave a color or not.

One other note about this, the boys following the girls supposedly happened in the Tumbleton/ Haleburg area, therefore it was out of OPD's jurisdiction. That would make investigating the incident a little more tricky, and I wonder if OPD only focused exclusively on what happened in Ozark early in the investigation, neglecting some good leads that come from the girls' evening before arriving in Ozark. This is an assumption on my part and may not be correct.

If we could identify the girl who said JB told her about the shirtless dudes, maybe someone could try to contact her and get more details.

 

[aegis100]

Just received confirmation of a witness statement from a girl who saw them talking to Bookie at the Headland gas station, and tells OPD she heard the girls say that they were frightened by “two shirtless guys”.

OPD has a witness statement regarding the two shirtless guys according to Ms. Silver. I would be interested to know the details of this statement and if it included information such as color of the truck, description of the boys or if any of that was provided by J.B. and Tracie. So Bulldog it sounds like OPD at least talked to the girl enough for a statement to be typed up. If and when any follow up was done is questionable. It would be great if this girl, now woman, would come forward to assist.

 

[Bulldog23]

Thanks for the reminder, Aegis. I hope that lead was followed thoroughly.. to be followed and frightened by two guys on the same night they were executed... I’m very interested in the color of that truck, and I wonder if the girls told their friend that detail?

 

[aegis100]

I read witness statements from several people outside the store around 11:30-one of them was from a man who worked at Gilland Chevrolet, just got off work and was trying to buy beer- but the store was closed - he drove a truck as well. That truck could have very well been his work truck- but I don’t know.

Bulldog, I don't know if we should include this truck in the count total or not. If this is the white truck seen at the pumps why is he parked at the pumps if he is there to buy beer? Why is he not seen getting out of the truck? If he realized the store was closed why sit there so long?

 

[TedMac]

Bulldog, I don't know if we should include this truck in the count total or not. If this is the white truck seen at the pumps why is he parked at the pumps if he is there to buy beer? Why is he not seen getting out of the truck? If he realized the store was closed why sit there so long?

BBM...I have thought a lot about why the driver was there. Just a guess on my part, but perhaps he was rendevzousing with someone? Maybe a married man meeting a girlfriend or a man meeting a married woman? Again, just a guess.

Or perhaps, he was meeting someone to buy drugs or even two people meeting to go on a fishing trip or meeting someone for work related purposes.

 

[morf13]

BBM...I have thought a lot about why the driver was there. Just a guess on my part, but perhaps he was rendevzousing with someone? Maybe a married man meeting a girlfriend or a man meeting a married woman? Again, just a guess.

Or perhaps, he was meeting someone to buy drugs or even two people meeting to go on a fishing trip or meeting someone for work related purposes.

Could be many reasons, good and bad why the guy may be there

 

[Islands]

On another pages I read about the best friend of the judges grandson who supposedly was questioned about the girls years ago. And an ex family member of his has said lately he has been arrested for another crime. Does anyone have any information about him we can discuss?

 

[Bulldog23]

BBM...I have thought a lot about why the driver was there. Just a guess on my part, but perhaps he was rendevzousing with someone? Maybe a married man meeting a girlfriend or a man meeting a married woman? Again, just a guess.

Or perhaps, he was meeting someone to buy drugs or even two people meeting to go on a fishing trip or meeting someone for work related purposes.

Spivey said some months after the murder that they were still looking for the driver of the white truck and said something like.. that might be the key. I believe a few months after that, he said the white truck had been located and the driver cleared.

 

[morf13]

Spivey said some months after the murder that they were still looking for the driver of the white truck and said something like.. that might be the key. I believe a few months after that, he said the white truck had been located and the driver cleared.

Be good if we could verify that

 

[SavageMarkIII]

Be good if we could verify that

This link is from an Ozark news archive. The article in the upper right hand corner has Spivey saying the white truck/owner were located.

Ozark Alabama News - August 5, 2001

There are definitely other articles regarding the white truck/owner being found in Delaware, I remember them from Dime Detectives posts on the first Thread, but so many of the articles are no longer available (broken links) due to the age of the articles and how the different media sources archive their articles. Some make archives easily available and some don't.

 

[Bulldog23]

We were discussing Barrentine's possible involvement. This is a quote from Lanier Beasley, JB's father:

"I don’t know what his involvement was but he does know something about what happened that night. I just want whoever killed J.B. and Tracie to be found."

This was one year after the murder. Barrentine had been released by the grand jury at this point. Though I don't know this for sure, I am betting Mr. Beasley knew more than we know. I think if we had access to the videos of his interviews and investigative notes from Mr. and Mrs. Barrentine, we could determine whether or not Johnny was involved. Johnny was connected to a self-described Person of Interest at one point.

I'm going back through the links on Dime Detective's post on page one of thread one to see if anything else jumps out at me. I invite you to do the same.

 

[Bulldog23]

After reviewing the rest of the articles, the only thing that stood out to me is the difference in the way the girls' families perceive the investigation. I think that Tracie's family have been skeptical about OPD's effort to solve the murders. JB's mother had this to say, "We have used psychics...they have not left any stone unturned...to tell you the truth. They aren’t like ‘oh we aren’t going to do that’...they do it." Interesting.