FL FL - Kingfish Boat Ramp Murders, Holmes Beach, 1 Aug 1980

CrimeSolver

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This is a strange case because there is virtually no data on it available publicly, and because it remains unsolved. To the former, one would think a quadruple murder warrants continued interest, and to the latter, one would think a crime this brazen in a fairly busy area quickly leads to suspects, or at least composite drawings and vehicle info.

This rinky-dink website is the only mention I could find of the crime: www.goldstarclub.com/news.html?ID=58
Friday, August 1st 1980
Kingfish Boat Ramp Murders click here for more

Dr. Juan Dumois, Eric Dumois age 13, Mark Dumois age 9 and Robert Matzke The Kingfish Ramp Murders. A person approached the Dumois vehicle, pretending to have an injury and asked for a ride. The subject got in the car with the Dumois family and Rober Matzke, then shot and killed all four.


Friday, August 01, 1980
Dr. Juan Dumois, Eric Dumois age 13, Mark Dumois age 9 and Robert Matzke

On the date of August 1, 1980, five people were shot, four of them fatally in the City of Holmes Beach. This case remains under investigation by the Holmes Beach Police Department.

Dr. Juan Dumois, 47, his sons Eric, 13 and Mark, 9, and local resident Robert Matzke, 60, were murdered by an unknown assailant. Dumois’ brother in law, Raymond Barrows, 54, was also shot but survived. Barrows died of natural causes in 1982.

On August 1, 1980 at 5:00p.m, Dumois, his sons, and Barrows returned from a fishing trip and loaded their boat at the Kingfish Boat Ramp. After pulling away from the ramp, they were approached by a white male on a bicycle. The subject stated that he had injured his ankle and asked for a ride. He then loaded his bicycle into the boat and got in the back seat of Dumois’ station wagon with the children. Dumois pulled out and proceeded westbound on Manatee Avenue from the ramp. The subject immediately opened fire in the vehicle striking all of the victims in the back of the head with a .22 caliber weapon. The vehicle then jackknifed on the north shoulder of Manatee Avenue just west of the boat ramp. The subject then got out of the vehicle and rode westbound on Manatee Avenue on his bicycle.

Matzke, working in his yard at a nearby condominium, observed what had taken place and pursued the subject to the parking lot of a nearby grocery store. Matzke and the subject exchanged words, and he was shot in the head by the subject.

Witnesses then observed the subject load his bicycle in a tan colored vehicle at the grocery store and leave eastbound on Manatee Avenue.

This case is still under investigation by the Holmes Beach Police Department, and if anyone has any information as to the identity of the suspect they are asked to call CrimeStoppers at toll free 1-866-634-TIPS (8477)or Det. Sgt. Nancy Rogers or Chief Jay Romine of the Holmes Beach Police Department at 941-708-5804.
The Gold Star Club is offering a reward of $5000 for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this crime.
Reward posted July 19, 2000


A couple of years ago I e-mailed the police dept. and encouraged it to approach AMW with this case; I didn't even get the courtesy of a form response. I also e-mailed AMW, asking it to profile this case, and received an answer that the show could not do a story on this; I don't know why.
I was vacationing in Siesta Key a couple of months ago, and drove north to the scene of the crime on Anna Maria Island. There is, of course, nothing much one can glean from the scene, but it's interesting for a crime buff anyway. Here are a couple of maps of the site:
An overview of the area:​
A closer satellite view of the area surrounding Kingfish Boat Ramp (it's not a very good image, but it's the best I could find gratis (it seems one can no longer save Mapquest of GoogleMaps images)):​
The yellow line represents the approximate (best guess) path of the Dumois's car from the ramp to where it veered off road. The red line represents the approximate path of the suspect from the accident site to the grocery store, where he shot the fourth victim. The blue line represents the suspect's escape route from the crime scene.​

It would be nice if someone more in-the-know could give us further details. The paltry info I found on the internet is the extent of my knowledge. An interesting final note is that the only other "Dr. Juan Dumois" who comes up after a Google search is someone who lives not far from where this took place. Maybe he's a relative.​
 
If AMW based their decision not to run that story on the above article one can understand why. The wording is confusing, to say the least. First, it states that the Dumois' were loading their boat after returning from a fishing trip, which is odd. Then the article proceeds to tell how the suspect asked for a ride and then loaded his bike on the boat before climbing into the station wagon with the family. Why would he leave the bike on the boat? Anyway, the answer to that question quickly becomes irrelevant when we learn that the suspect left the first crime scene on his bicycle which apparently had been magically transported from the boat to the station wagon. Put yourself in AMW's shoes ;)
 
DBinMA said:
I'm not a boater but I believe by loading up the boat they mean hooking up to the car. This would mean putting the bike in the boat and getting into the car would put both the suspect and the bike in the same place.
That's right. The description from the website is perfectly clear to me too. After the subject shot everyone in the car and the car jacknifed, he got out, grabbed his bike from the boat (which is on a trailer), and pedalled westbound towards his own car. There he was confronted by Matzke, whom he shot before getting into his car and driving eastbound on Manatee.
It's a very odd murder scenario, which says to me it was either premeditated or, to the contrary, the guy was high and flying by the seat of his pants.
 
DBinMA said:
I'm not a boater but I believe by loading up the boat they mean hooking up to the car.
.:doh:

Man do I look like an idiot now. I had not noticed the "up" after "loading". The whole thing makes sense now.
 
KarlK said:
.:doh:

Man do I look like an idiot now. I had not noticed the "up" after "loading". The whole thing makes sense now.
Not a problem:)
 
I'm bumping this thread because I would really like to find out more about this crime. Does anyone have an inside track to Fla. law enforcement? I was hoping someone with some knowledge about, memory of, or connection to the case would chime in.
Given that the crime can be found on literally only a single page on the entire internet (aside from this thread), maybe the whole thing is a hoax; or it was solved long ago. If any of you have a subscription to Newspaperarchive, maybe you can check Tampa/Sarasota papers for August 2nd, 1980.
 
CrimeSolver - just to let you know, this crime is not a hoax; it did actually occur. I would be glad to go over the details with you. It is still an open case.
 
xgumshoe, can you share what you know here in this thread? I am not a member of L.E. or any other investigative agency, so there's no sense in sharing it privately, other than for my own recreational interest; and I assume that after this length of time without a resolution there's little cause for retaining hold-back.
Is there a named suspect? I imagine a composite was made based on the recollections of Barrows and the other witnesses. Is there any remaining evidence that might contain DNA, such as hairs, cigarette butts, sweat, skin cells, etc.? There must have been suspect fingerprints found somewhere on the car, door handles, boat, or trailer. Is there a more specific description of the suspect's car?

I would love to see a TV program devoted to unsolved cold cases such as this. Anything that might jog the right person's memory or conscience (a girlfriend who is now an ex, perhaps?) is helpful.
 
I will contact you privately, can't get this to accept the reply
 
I want to thank xgumshoe for providing a more detailed description of the events of that day. I have omitted certain parts I was asked not to include:
xgumshoe said:
.....According to Barrows, the perpetrator approached them as they were loading the boat. He said that he had hurt his leg and asked if they could give him a ride. They agreed and he placed the bicycle in the boat then got in the car on the drivers side back seat with the kids. As soon as Dumois drove off, the perp started shooting, Dr. Dumois, then the children, then Barrows, close range, .22 cal gun (never recovered) The car veered off the right side of the road and crashed into a small tree in front of the condos (where Matzke lived), the boat skidded around and jacknived ending up next to the drivers side. The perp had trouble getting his bike out of the boat, but finally got it and rode westbound in the parking lot of the condos. I can only assume that this is what Matzke observed. There was a driveway out of the condos that crossed Manatee Ave. and headed directly into the Foodway store parking lot. (The corner looks quite different now) Matzke was retired military, he got in his convertible and went to the Foodway where the perp was already loading the bicycle into his car (describe as brown, bronze, or gold colored Plymouth<I think) Matzke confronted the perp, people inside the store saw (but did not hear) them arguing, then saw Matzke's sports car crash into another car. This is because the perp shot him. The perp then got in his car and drove away eastbound, back past the original scene and back over the bridge...The cops responded to the scene that was called in as a bad car accident, the crime scene was trampled by helpers and passerbys, who were trying to save the lives of the injured, and did not know at first that it was a homicide...(a) bloody fingerprint found on the back seat was never identified...And of course they were also responding to another accident at the Foodway (Matzke) Typically there is only one officer on duty at a time at this small department. Dumois was a doctor in Tampa; I do not know if the Juan Dumois in Tampa in any relation to him. Anyway, that's the info I have. Like I said before I am considering looking at the case again (if they will let me) I can possibly obtain some photos or the composite drawing of the perpetrator. I am glad that you have an interest in this case so that innocent victims are not forgotten! Let's keep in touch.

From xgumshoe's account, the map I marked in my initial post is somewhat innacurate. The car veered off the road farther west than my map indicates. And the markers that indicate where the perpetrator went to his car, shot Matzke, then drove away, are surely inaccurate as well.

One of the reasons I find this case galling is that someone could commit this crime in broad daylight, with numerous people watching, and get away with it scot-free without ever even being identified. Of course, the crime scene was compromised by well-intentioned passersby, and the bloody fingerprint may have belonged to one of them.
xgumshoe, do you know if the fingerprint has been run again and again over the years? That's undoubtedly the most significant clue you have. What about the car? I assume detectives tried their best to get witnesses to positively ID the model, and then ran registration checks. Given the theory you conveyed to me, maybe it was a rental. I don't know, I'm just a layman imagining how I might investigate this.
 
The fact that the suspect drove back past the scene suggests that he did not know that there was another bridge off the island and perhaps not familiar with the area.
 
True, he could have driven south on Gulf Dr. N. and crossed at Cortez Rd. W. or continued south through Longboat Key, but perhaps he wanted to get off the confined island chain as fast as possible to facilitate his escape.
Also, that he took the opportunity to commit the crime in the middle of the day in a fairly busy area, suggests he may not have been a professional.

Are there any extant photos of the victims? It's too easy to view them only as auxiliary aspects in relation to the crime and criminal. I don't know if it is possible to post photos here at Websleuths. I have seen photos posted by others, but have not been able to post ones myself in other threads here.
 
The fact that the suspect drove back past the scene suggests that he did not know that there was another bridge off the island and perhaps not familiar with the area.

Maybe he wanted to drive by the scene again as some sort of sick self gratification or to make sure that he finished the job right?


I grew up in Pinellas County and remember this story, I was only 14 at the time but still remember it.

Why is there so much hush hush and secrets about this case?

Also, I wonder when the last time was that they ran the lone finger print that they could not match back then. If it was 1980 maybe they could run it again.
 
Also, I am wondering why there is no description of the suspect on the goldstar website.

It is just a really strange case, not much info and the victims being a doctor and his sons you would think there would have been more publicity IMO.
 
I grew up in St. Petersburg and I would have been around 16-17 when this happened. I remember seeing the pictures on TV for several days.

Has anyone contacted the St. Pete Times to see what info they have?

Maybe he wanted to drive by the scene again as some sort of sick self gratification or to make sure that he finished the job right?


I grew up in Pinellas County and remember this story, I was only 14 at the time but still remember it.

Why is there so much hush hush and secrets about this case?

Also, I wonder when the last time was that they ran the lone finger print that they could not match back then. If it was 1980 maybe they could run it again.
 
I found a few articles in various newspapers from the time discussing the murders.
It appears that LE were worried that the killer might try to locate Barrows, so he was moved to an undisclosed hospital under guard.

The killer was described as a "white male, 35 to 38, around 6' tall, weighing 155 to 160 pounds. He had bushy, dark brown hair, short sideburns, green eyes and fair skin. He was believed to be wearing a white tennis outfit with red and blue trim. "

Reminds me of Franklin Floyd (except for the green eyes)...He would have been 37 when this happened, used the alias Kingfish Floyd at one time (that would suit his sense of humor) and he used a .22 when he killed Cheryl Commesso.


 

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