http://www.wdsu.com/article/cold-case-32-years-later-children-seek-closure-in-dads-death/2728942
http://www.wdsu.com/article/cold-case-daughter-searches-for-father-s-killer-35-years-later/3384685
On July 13, 1981 my sister turned 7……it would be the last time we would ever be able to celebrate that day without holding a bit of sadness in our hearts. I am the youngest of 5 children at the time ranging in age from 12-22 months. 6 months prior we had moved from Atlanta to the New Orleans Southern Baptist Theological Seminary campus family housing. My 31-year-old father George "Ed" Abshire was pursuing his Masters in Divinity while supporting his family as a night manager at a Bonanza Steak House. As a baby of only 22 months this entire scene has been relayed to me by other family members. We were awoken to our mother asking us to gather in the living room. Several of our seminary friends were there which was odd for that time of morning. My mother pulled me on her lap and sat my siblings down in the floor in front of her & started to speak in a low soothing tone. “I have some glad news and some sad news”, she said. “The glad news is Daddy has gone to heaven to see Jesus; the sad news is he won’t be coming home to us anymore.” As my older siblings cried and asked several questions my mother reassured them we would be fine but that their only responsibility was to keep his memory alive for “the baby” as I was too young to remember what a great dad he was. When my father arrived at work the previous afternoon he was requested by the day manager to witness the termination of an employee Randy Pittman. Mr. Pittman (18) had been complained about for pushing his work off onto another coworker and then threatening to assault him if he told management. As Pittman left the property he vowed to return and carry out his previous threats. My mother called the restaurant’s office phone around midnight to request my dad bring home some milk for “the baby” and he said he was just finishing up and would be heading home. When my mother awoke just past 3am and found he was not home she called the campus security office. They started calling local hospitals and the NOPD to inquire if he was involved in any accidents. They could offer no information. At daybreak my mother and a campus security officer drove to the restaurant and found our family station wagon still in the parking lot. When my mother started it with her extra set of keys she knew he had not had car trouble. They immediately called New Orleans Police Dept. Upon entry of the building my father’s bloodied body was found just inside the back door. He had his white undershirt pulled over his head from behind and 13 stab wounds to his upper back and neck area. There was a hidden floor safe which was “defeated” (meaning my father did not open it and was likely already dead) and $4k was missing. Restaurant management said that there was a regular safe in full view which held only a few hundred dollars. Very few knew about the hidden floor safe where the bulk of the cash was held so this again indicated an employee. My father’s keys were taken which indicated familiarity with the security doors which had to be opened with a key from the inside or outside. In the initial report an employee stated that she had called out to my father as she left that the back door had been propped open in order for the 1 remaining employee to empty the trash. This is how the police suspect they entered. In the days following the murder, my father’s best friend informed my mother that some strange things had been happening in the days leading my dad’s murder. Two of his tires had been slashed while parked at the restaurant. He had been forced off the road by a dark sedan on his way home from work. My father had told his best friend that he had “something big” to tell him but he couldn’t tell him over the phone or at the restaurant. He had also not told my mother because he didn’t want to scare her.
During this time in New Orleans the police department was extremely corrupt. Their salaries were among the lowest in the nation. They often took bribes and worked after hours as security at strip clubs or other unsavory establishments to supplement their income. It came to be that several officers were indicted in the early 1990’s in an FBI undercover sting in which several officers were indicted for providing security for drug lords. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/08/us/9-new-orleans-police-officers-are-indicted-in-us-drug-case.html It was proven during this trial that officers had been providing security for several local drug dealers who were running large amounts of product through legitimate mostly cash businesses. One of these indicted and later convicted officers was the responding officer to my father’s murder. This would not be as suspect except that within a year of his death the entire case file was lost except for the initial report from that officer. All physical evidence, autopsy reports, follow up interviews, etc….LOST. My mother received a letter from the original detective in 1983 stating this was due to major internal issues with the department. In 2000 I inquired and was told it was lost in an evidence room fire in the late 80’s. I inquired again in 2007 and was told it was lost in Katrina. The only remaining police report and other information can be found in the following link:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Ix7srBpQMhelJkN3hBNlJKU3ZDM1p3ckhXeW9rcG4zNU9Z/view?usp=sharing
I started contacting the NOPD in 2000 to inquire about the case and to keep it alive. Finally after being tossed around to 3 different detectives the case landed on the desk of a very devoted detective who I fully trust. The detective tracked down the original suspect Randy Pittman and found that he had just been paroled for an aggravated robbery committed a few years after my father’s murder. While on parole he was arrested for accessory to murder and accessory to attempted murder of two teens in New Orleans who got into an altercation with his roommate. His roommate called and asked him to bring a gun to the scene of the altercation which he did and the roommate shot and killed a 14-year-old boy and wounded his 16-year-old brother. The roommate pled out and was given 17 years hard labor in the LA Dept. of Corrections. Mr. Pittman held out for trial and all charges were dismissed on a technicality. While in jail awaiting trial, the detective questioned Pittman about my father’s murder and his only response was “is this going to be added to my charges”. He offered no further information.
Also during my time trying to keep this case alive I contacted the Vidocq Society and they agreed to take the case. However, they only operate as volunteer outside consultants and the NOPD would have to give their permission for Vidocq to join the investigation. The NOPD brass refuse to accept this world-renowned society’s FREE assistance. I can’t think of any reason they would not want the help to clear such a cold case. In my opinion the publicity would be amazing. Please help spread the word about this case. I want to find some type of justice for my family. My sister I mentioned in the news segments has since passed in August 2017. I will never stop. I will never give up. I will never never never quit.
http://www.wdsu.com/article/cold-case-daughter-searches-for-father-s-killer-35-years-later/3384685
On July 13, 1981 my sister turned 7……it would be the last time we would ever be able to celebrate that day without holding a bit of sadness in our hearts. I am the youngest of 5 children at the time ranging in age from 12-22 months. 6 months prior we had moved from Atlanta to the New Orleans Southern Baptist Theological Seminary campus family housing. My 31-year-old father George "Ed" Abshire was pursuing his Masters in Divinity while supporting his family as a night manager at a Bonanza Steak House. As a baby of only 22 months this entire scene has been relayed to me by other family members. We were awoken to our mother asking us to gather in the living room. Several of our seminary friends were there which was odd for that time of morning. My mother pulled me on her lap and sat my siblings down in the floor in front of her & started to speak in a low soothing tone. “I have some glad news and some sad news”, she said. “The glad news is Daddy has gone to heaven to see Jesus; the sad news is he won’t be coming home to us anymore.” As my older siblings cried and asked several questions my mother reassured them we would be fine but that their only responsibility was to keep his memory alive for “the baby” as I was too young to remember what a great dad he was. When my father arrived at work the previous afternoon he was requested by the day manager to witness the termination of an employee Randy Pittman. Mr. Pittman (18) had been complained about for pushing his work off onto another coworker and then threatening to assault him if he told management. As Pittman left the property he vowed to return and carry out his previous threats. My mother called the restaurant’s office phone around midnight to request my dad bring home some milk for “the baby” and he said he was just finishing up and would be heading home. When my mother awoke just past 3am and found he was not home she called the campus security office. They started calling local hospitals and the NOPD to inquire if he was involved in any accidents. They could offer no information. At daybreak my mother and a campus security officer drove to the restaurant and found our family station wagon still in the parking lot. When my mother started it with her extra set of keys she knew he had not had car trouble. They immediately called New Orleans Police Dept. Upon entry of the building my father’s bloodied body was found just inside the back door. He had his white undershirt pulled over his head from behind and 13 stab wounds to his upper back and neck area. There was a hidden floor safe which was “defeated” (meaning my father did not open it and was likely already dead) and $4k was missing. Restaurant management said that there was a regular safe in full view which held only a few hundred dollars. Very few knew about the hidden floor safe where the bulk of the cash was held so this again indicated an employee. My father’s keys were taken which indicated familiarity with the security doors which had to be opened with a key from the inside or outside. In the initial report an employee stated that she had called out to my father as she left that the back door had been propped open in order for the 1 remaining employee to empty the trash. This is how the police suspect they entered. In the days following the murder, my father’s best friend informed my mother that some strange things had been happening in the days leading my dad’s murder. Two of his tires had been slashed while parked at the restaurant. He had been forced off the road by a dark sedan on his way home from work. My father had told his best friend that he had “something big” to tell him but he couldn’t tell him over the phone or at the restaurant. He had also not told my mother because he didn’t want to scare her.
During this time in New Orleans the police department was extremely corrupt. Their salaries were among the lowest in the nation. They often took bribes and worked after hours as security at strip clubs or other unsavory establishments to supplement their income. It came to be that several officers were indicted in the early 1990’s in an FBI undercover sting in which several officers were indicted for providing security for drug lords. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/08/us/9-new-orleans-police-officers-are-indicted-in-us-drug-case.html It was proven during this trial that officers had been providing security for several local drug dealers who were running large amounts of product through legitimate mostly cash businesses. One of these indicted and later convicted officers was the responding officer to my father’s murder. This would not be as suspect except that within a year of his death the entire case file was lost except for the initial report from that officer. All physical evidence, autopsy reports, follow up interviews, etc….LOST. My mother received a letter from the original detective in 1983 stating this was due to major internal issues with the department. In 2000 I inquired and was told it was lost in an evidence room fire in the late 80’s. I inquired again in 2007 and was told it was lost in Katrina. The only remaining police report and other information can be found in the following link:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Ix7srBpQMhelJkN3hBNlJKU3ZDM1p3ckhXeW9rcG4zNU9Z/view?usp=sharing
I started contacting the NOPD in 2000 to inquire about the case and to keep it alive. Finally after being tossed around to 3 different detectives the case landed on the desk of a very devoted detective who I fully trust. The detective tracked down the original suspect Randy Pittman and found that he had just been paroled for an aggravated robbery committed a few years after my father’s murder. While on parole he was arrested for accessory to murder and accessory to attempted murder of two teens in New Orleans who got into an altercation with his roommate. His roommate called and asked him to bring a gun to the scene of the altercation which he did and the roommate shot and killed a 14-year-old boy and wounded his 16-year-old brother. The roommate pled out and was given 17 years hard labor in the LA Dept. of Corrections. Mr. Pittman held out for trial and all charges were dismissed on a technicality. While in jail awaiting trial, the detective questioned Pittman about my father’s murder and his only response was “is this going to be added to my charges”. He offered no further information.
Also during my time trying to keep this case alive I contacted the Vidocq Society and they agreed to take the case. However, they only operate as volunteer outside consultants and the NOPD would have to give their permission for Vidocq to join the investigation. The NOPD brass refuse to accept this world-renowned society’s FREE assistance. I can’t think of any reason they would not want the help to clear such a cold case. In my opinion the publicity would be amazing. Please help spread the word about this case. I want to find some type of justice for my family. My sister I mentioned in the news segments has since passed in August 2017. I will never stop. I will never give up. I will never never never quit.
