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

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shadowangel said:
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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​
Thanks for posting that. Fills the vacuum of information that's out there, in terms of a description of the killer.
 
I thought the description a little strange...His eye color is known, but what he was wearing is unclear. (?)
 
I read about this case a while ago and was immediately struck by the total lack of information on the web about it. Four people, two of them children, and a retired military are murdered and it just goes cold?? Why isn't this on AMW? Where is the information on the case? Composite drawings? Is the car still around? The boat? The fingerprint? Where's the family (wife, exwife? mom?) The killer could have turned around and driven by because he lived in that direction? Has anyone confirmed with Manatee County that it really did occur? I know some of y'all are saying you have memories of it but is Manatee County sooo busy they let this cold case go belly up?
 
Anubis said:
I read about this case a while ago and was immediately struck by the total lack of information on the web about it. Four people, two of them children, and a retired military are murdered and it just goes cold?? Why isn't this on AMW? Where is the information on the case? Composite drawings? Is the car still around? The boat? The fingerprint? Where's the family (wife, exwife? mom?) The killer could have turned around and driven by because he lived in that direction? Has anyone confirmed with Manatee County that it really did occur? I know some of y'all are saying you have memories of it but is Manatee County sooo busy they let this cold case go belly up?
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That was my feeling too. I don't know what the deal is with the resources or abilities of the local police dept., but the case doesn't seem to be much of a priority. And, as I wrote at the top, AMW had no interest in the case, or declined for other undeclared reasons.
Tragic that a crime of such a magnitude can be allowed to go unpunished like this. Now it's likely too late for justice.
 
I found several articles about the case in different newspapers of the time. Pics were included of the station wagon/boat trailer accident scene (with someone being removed on a stretcher).
The incident occured, I can't speak as to why there wasn't more coverage.
 
There are so many questions that need an answer if LE wanted to solve this case.

1) like anubus said, there should be a composite sketch of the suspect.
2) Why where the victims in Holmes Beach boating. They where supposed to be from Tampa, there are many other places they could have gone boating/fishing from like Courtney Campbell causeway.
3) was the latent finger print ever checked?

IMO I think this could involve the mob. Why would this suspect park at a store. Ride his bike to the causeway and shot the victims then go back for his vehicle and leave driving by the crime scene.
I believe it was a hit and this was not random. It does not say it was a robbery. If not mob then someone who had a grudge with one of the victims. Like I said this was not random and I have not seen any reference to the family pushing LE to solve this and LE does not seem to be actively persueing this case. JMO
 
Well, it's nothing sinister, just somewhat confidential (being theoretical) from an investigative standpoint, and mildly eye-opening. However, I'm no member of law enforcement, so perhaps xgumshoe would be willing to share the same information with you in a PM or email. I promised not to reveal certain aspects of our correspondence myself, even though there's nothing particularly revelatory.
 
I wonder what type of doctor Dumois was. This, to me, sounds like this person was waiting for him to get back to land, then approached. I wonder if if was a former patient or husband of a patient? Father of a patient?

It strikes me as someone with a grudge.
 
reportertype said:
I wonder what type of doctor Dumois was. This, to me, sounds like this person was waiting for him to get back to land, then approached. I wonder if if was a former patient or husband of a patient? Father of a patient?

It strikes me as someone with a grudge.
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It diffinately sounds planned and that there is a connection between atleast one of the victims and the perp. He parked down the road in a shopping center, rode his bike to where the victims picked him up, and then drove back by exiting the main land which would have been out of his way if he was from Bradenton or Palmetto or even Hillsborough or Pinellas. This was done IMO to make sure the job was done and to get some sort of gratification about doing this.

IMO, it could be mafia related, retaliation like you said, money related, or drugs, or a combination of 2 or more.

This could be why there is not alot of info out there.

I believe he could have been a pediatrician in Tampa from doing some research.
 
Sleuthster said:
It diffinately sounds planned and that there is a connection between atleast one of the victims and the perp. He parked down the road in a shopping center, rode his bike to where the victims picked him up, and then drove back by exiting the main land which would have been out of his way if he was from Bradenton or Palmetto or even Hillsborough or Pinellas. This was done IMO to make sure the job was done and to get some sort of gratification about doing this.

IMO, it could be mafia related, retaliation like you said, money related, or drugs, or a combination of 2 or more.

This could be why there is not alot of info out there.

I believe he could have been a pediatrician in Tampa from doing some research.
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Yep. I agree. I lean toward retailiation or drugs or money rather than mafia. I can't see a mafia hitman using a bicycle or being less-than-efficient, but I don't know that much about them.

I wonder what that suspect looks like? I wonder if he resembles the sketch.
 
Thanks should go to Shadowangel who led me to google news. Wow, am I addicted now. Spent all day looking up old stories.

I emailed the chief in Holmes Beach to see if they ever ran the finger print again after the inital crime. Have not heard back yet.
 
Found some more info...it seems that there is some interest in the local community in closing the case after all. I think they either did not have the resources to do anything about it at the time they were asked, perhaps.

http://www.goldstarclub.com/news.html?ID=58
 
Bluecat, is that new??? It is also in the first post on page 1, unless I am missing something here. This case is just baffling.
 
Alot of you wanted to hear from someone that actually knows something about this case so here it is. This case will be very hard to solve do to the fact there is very little evidence left that could be used in the courts. Any evidence that was collected at the scene simply laid in a closet in the basement of the Holmes Beach PD where almost anyone could handle. The case has not really been worked since the mid 80's. Sure if a lead came in someone might make a few calls and might even write a short report but that would be it. The local police just were not and still are not able to handle anything as important as this case was. There was and still may be a suspect in the case but I don't feel free to talk about that part. I can say that there was so much confusion the day of the killing that nobody had a clue what was going on. The bodies ended up at different hospitals and were thought to be from a car crash so even evidence from the bodies was lost. Blood and other body fluids need to be stored in paper bags or the like. This was not the case here. Everything was pretty much tossed into a plastic bag and tagged. I feel the same as many of you do, this case could be and should have be solved many years ago.
 
itcouldhappen said:
Alot of you wanted to hear from someone that actually knows something about this case so here it is. This case will be very hard to solve do to the fact there is very little evidence left that could be used in the courts. Any evidence that was collected at the scene simply laid in a closet in the basement of the Holmes Beach PD where almost anyone could handle. The case has not really been worked since the mid 80's. Sure if a lead came in someone might make a few calls and might even write a short report but that would be it. The local police just were not and still are not able to handle anything as important as this case was. There was and still may be a suspect in the case but I don't feel free to talk about that part. I can say that there was so much confusion the day of the killing that nobody had a clue what was going on. The bodies ended up at different hospitals and were thought to be from a car crash so even evidence from the bodies was lost. Blood and other body fluids need to be stored in paper bags or the like. This was not the case here. Everything was pretty much tossed into a plastic bag and tagged. I feel the same as many of you do, this case could be and should have be solved many years ago.
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Hi, this case has interested me for quite some time as you can see by my posts on this thread. Do you work for LE? Is there a way that LE could pull the stuff out of the closet and maybe run the latent finger print? Was the fingerprint salvaged?? It is the only real piece of evidence that I can find in this case.

Can Manatee Co Sheriffs office look into this or is it beyond their jurisdiction?

I would love to see it looked into again. There may be something in the evidence room that could provide additional details.

If you do not want to devulge something you can also send me a message on here.

Thank you for your information and anymore assistance you can provide.
 
I found an interesting link
http://kong.lib.usf.edu:8881/R/X4B8...t_id=137677&local_base=GEN01&pds_handle=GUEST

Click on the image, it will pull up in another window where you can zoom in or out on the crime scene photo. The perp suposively put his bike in the back of the boat, right? There is something on the ground below the back of the boat. I can't tell what it is. The boat was pretty damaged and it could be part of it.
 
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