Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - #6

[Triss]

Also, a car was seen leaving....must of been at least two killers...one to drive, and one to keep an eye on our victims. No sign of ligature marks....

I too think that more than one person was involved in the couple's death. I assume that one of the victims would try to run or fight after witnessing the other victim being shot. That makes me think they were either held at gunpoint by more than one person or there was just one killer and he tied them up, but I couldn't find anything online about the victims having any marks on their bodies from a rope.

 

[T rex]

The reason he is known as Jock is a misleading one and perhaps involves a little incompetence too. The witness said his name was Jack. LE decided that it was probably Jock or Jacques and more or less changed his statement.

I posted this not too long ago and since then I've been searching for the source of that information. I remember reading it although it has been some years ago and I think it was a direct quote of one of the investigators. However, I have not been able to find it and everything else I'm finding contradicts what I said in this post. (dont ya hate it when you have to sleuth yourself?) So maybe the witness did say Jock or maybe one day I will find what I'm looking for. I definitely don't want to post anything that's not correct, atleast not knowingly. Old cases and long threads can be frustrating sometimes. I would apologize to the LE in this case for calling them incompetent but...nahhh, there's other good reasons for making that claim.

 

[Laughing]

I posted this not too long ago and since then I've been searching for the source of that information. I remember reading it although it has been some years ago and I think it was a direct quote of one of the investigators. However, I have not been able to find it and everything else I'm finding contradicts what I said in this post. (dont ya hate it when you have to sleuth yourself?) So maybe the witness did say Jock or maybe one day I will find what I'm looking for. I definitely don't want to post anything that's not correct, atleast not knowingly. Old cases and long threads can be frustrating sometimes. I would apologize to the LE in this case for calling them incompetent but...nahhh, there's other good reasons for making that claim.

BBM

uhm, JHMO, a murder weapon missing from an evidence room does seem to require some 'splainin'.

 

[BlackCloud]

1) a man arrested with a weapon used to kill to people and he get away without any problem (something maybe never happened since the Fall of Costantinople)
2) the same gun disappears into thin air
3) and last but not least 43 years without justice
I can only imagine how powerful must be whoever can do all this.... (or how unskilled must be those who had to investigate these murders over the years)

 

[MadMcGoo]

Since the certificate of death for Henry’s son was posted here, something about it was nagging at me. The name contained the suffix “Jr” but the first and last name are not that if Mr Henry. It’s not particularly common for that to actually be the case. I’m not convinced that Mr Henry or any of his children (I’m sure he had more than one) were involved in this crime. Another thing that has always made me question the theory, some articles state that he was found with the murder weapon. On the other hand, several state that the firearm he was in possession of was “consistent with” the murder weapon. In my experience, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was proved to be the actual weapon used to kill these Does. For reasons unknown to us, his arrest and the handling of the firearm were not taken as seriously as they probably should. IMOO from what is publicly known.

The other things that I haven’t been able to shake is the watch John Doe was wearing and this Sebring race t-shirt. So of course I did some more digging. I decided to set aside my theory that Stephen and Linda are The Mystery Couple and focus more on the specifics of the personal details and items found with the Does. It may have paid off...or I could have just found another dead end. Either way, it’s worth mentioning.

From 1972-1976 (1971 if you include the year prior to Bulova’s sponsorship) there was a Canadian racing series, “Mosport’s Bulova Championship 1972-1976”. You guessed it...Bulova was a huge sponsor for the entire series! Apparently the watch/clock maker was in its prime during and around these years.

One PDF I found about the article contained a photo of a few of the racers. One in particular really caught my eye. Danny Burritt, around 23 years old at the time. As it turns out he was quite popular and in 1973 won the race and received, essentially, a trip to Europe as part of his prize. I’ve done a little searching for him to find out if he’s alive, well, missing, and haven’t found much. He was involved in an accident during the first race he participated in upon arriving back from Europe. (74/75 I can’t recall) Other than that I’ve not found much about him. Something else came up and I just haven’t had the time.

Hopefully these links work for everyone. Like I said it could be another rabbit hole but there were too many “coincidences” for me to ignore...

Mosport’s Bulova Championship Series 1972-1976
(PDF)

Motorsport Magazine

As always, THANK YOU all!
•MMcG•

 

[T rex]

Since the certificate of death for Henry’s son was posted here, something about it was nagging at me. The name contained the suffix “Jr” but the first and last name are not that if Mr Henry. It’s not particularly common for that to actually be the case. I’m not convinced that Mr Henry or any of his children (I’m sure he had more than one) were involved in this crime. Another thing that has always made me question the theory, some articles state that he was found with the murder weapon. On the other hand, several state that the firearm he was in possession of was “consistent with” the murder weapon. In my experience, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was proved to be the actual weapon used to kill these Does. For reasons unknown to us, his arrest and the handling of the firearm were not taken as seriously as they probably should. IMOO from what is publicly known.

The other things that I haven’t been able to shake is the watch John Doe was wearing and this Sebring race t-shirt. So of course I did some more digging. I decided to set aside my theory that Stephen and Linda are The Mystery Couple and focus more on the specifics of the personal details and items found with the Does. It may have paid off...or I could have just found another dead end. Either way, it’s worth mentioning.

From 1972-1976 (1971 if you include the year prior to Bulova’s sponsorship) there was a Canadian racing series, “Mosport’s Bulova Championship 1972-1976”. You guessed it...Bulova was a huge sponsor for the entire series! Apparently the watch/clock maker was in its prime during and around these years.

One PDF I found about the article contained a photo of a few of the racers. One in particular really caught my eye. Danny Burritt, around 23 years old at the time. As it turns out he was quite popular and in 1973 won the race and received, essentially, a trip to Europe as part of his prize. I’ve done a little searching for him to find out if he’s alive, well, missing, and haven’t found much. He was involved in an accident during the first race he participated in upon arriving back from Europe. (74/75 I can’t recall) Other than that I’ve not found much about him. Something else came up and I just haven’t had the time.

Hopefully these links work for everyone. Like I said it could be another rabbit hole but there were too many “coincidences” for me to ignore...

Mosport’s Bulova Championship Series 1972-1976
(PDF)

Motorsport Magazine

As always, THANK YOU all!
•MMcG•

It sounds interesting and like it might be worth looking into. I never knew Bulova sponsored a racing series. They were probably trying to mimic Rolex who often times sponsored IMSA.

As for Henry's son(s), I was reading way back in our #3 thread and a poster claimed to have Lonnie Henry Jr's obituary. So I thought it must be the same person as Charlie Henry and I thought it was fixing to get cleared up but then another poster comes on and makes a reference to "Henry's other son" ??? so right back to the confusion. I haven't been able to find anymore discussion about but I'm still looking. I have read this entire thread before but it's hard to remember things.

 

[MadMcGoo]

It sounds interesting and like it might be worth looking into. I never knew Bulova sponsored a racing series. They were probably trying to mimic Rolex who often times sponsored IMSA.

As for Henry's son(s), I was reading way back in our #3 thread and a poster claimed to have Lonnie Henry Jr's obituary. So I thought it must be the same person as Charlie Henry and I thought it was fixing to get cleared up but then another poster comes on and makes a reference to "Henry's other son" ??? so right back to the confusion. I haven't been able to find anymore discussion about but I'm still looking. I have read this entire thread before but it's hard to remember things.

It does get confusing! I am constantly having to go back through and reread! I’m going to have to go back through my ancestry/newspaper account and see what I actually found. I’ve “clipped” a lot of things since then I remember finding Charlie but I don’t think I was able to determine whether or not he was Henry Jr. I had also wondered how much of an “accident” the two boy’s drowning was. Seemed a little strange that 3 boys the same age would happen to have such a tragic accident and one of them make it out alive. JMO but I have no clue about any circumstances surrounding their deaths. I’d like to think authorities looked into all of these things a little more than we think they did.

I’m going to see what else I can find on the Bulova racing series. If nothing else I’ll have learned something new!

 

[T rex]

I’ve searched high and low for a Bolova watch that matches the one found on Jock Doe. Similar, I’ve found. Exact, I have not. I did come across this though and it struck me as odd. I know the myth is that your watch stops when you die but that just isn’t in the case except under extreme trauma, etc. sometimes the first responders or medical examiner may manually stop a watch to mark a certain time, but what are the odds that two identical watch faces (identical and rare) display the exact same day of the week and numerical calendar day? Is it possible the photos being circulated are just an example of what the watch looked like? I can’t think of another logical explanation other than extreme coincidence, which I don’t personally believe in much.

Just thought I would share...
1- Jock Doe’s watch
View attachment 200343
2. Ebay auction listing (exact face)
View attachment 200342
3. Ebay auction listing (Roman numerals v. ||||•||•||•||||), Day/Date different than Jock’s)

View attachment 200346
4. Ebay auction listing (||•||•||•||) pattern varies from Jock’s and photo 2, as does Day/Date)
View attachment 200347

•MMcG•

I haven't been able to find an exact match for this watch either and I have looked at a lot of them over the years.
I have also considered the possibility that it could be a counterfeit. I'm not saying that it is, I'm just saying when I look at it something seems a little off. It doesn't seem to have the craftsmanship of a Bulova. I'm posting a link to a Popular Science article from 1971 about the fake watches from this time period.
When I look at this particular watch I see that the 12 o'clock and the 6 o'clock do not line up across the center of the dial. It also looks as if the accutron symbol, which only half of can be seen, may be a little crooked. The word accutron is hard to make out but it seems like some of the letters could be out of proportion but it's very hard to tell due to the glare. I also read somewhere that the second hand on a watch can be a giveaway to a counterfeit. If the second hand doesn't reach the second hash marks or extends beyond them then it's likely a fake. It has to be just right. It's hard to tell about this watch when it comes to that. It's hard to make out the hash marks. I can't decide if the second hand and the minute hand are reaching the same point on the dial or if the second hand is just a little longer.
I'm not sure if LE in this case ever had someone actually examine the movement in this watch or not. If they did and it's what it's suppose to be then that's what it is but if they just got the information on this watch from the company when they called in the serial number then this alone may not be enough because counterfeiters often put real serial numbers on their fake products.

Popular Science

 

[Triss]

Very interesting, thank you for your post, T Rex! It never crossed my mind Jock's watch could be a counterfeit. Perhaps the couple wasn't as wealthy as I initially thought.

 

[Sweetluv]

Since they were traveling, maybe the watch and other jewelry items were purchased at a second hand store or flea market.....which would make the initials on the ring incorrect for our John doe.

 

[Triss]

Their DDP profiles still say "undergoing testing". I wonder how long it'll take.

 

[JovanSrna]

The best and most relevant information on the current phase of each of their cases is their pinned Facebook post. ''Undergoing testing'' is practically an umbrella term for pending cases.

 

[BlackCloud]

To me undergoing testing is an umbrella but not for "pending cases".
I think this definition means nothing more than "actually we're doing nothing..."

 

[MadMcGoo]

I posted this not too long ago and since then I've been searching for the source of that information. I remember reading it although it has been some years ago and I think it was a direct quote of one of the investigators. However, I have not been able to find it and everything else I'm finding contradicts what I said in this post. (dont ya hate it when you have to sleuth yourself?) So maybe the witness did say Jock or maybe one day I will find what I'm looking for. I definitely don't want to post anything that's not correct, atleast not knowingly. Old cases and long threads can be frustrating sometimes. I would apologize to the LE in this case for calling them incompetent but...nahhh, there's other good reasons for making that claim.

I was reading some of the threads I hadn’t seen on here before and found this one that reminded me of you post! Then I had to remember where I had seen your post But I finally found my way back here!

I don’t remember ever seeing anything about a PI working the case but apparently that was who got the “Jacques” thing started. From I’m understanding. Anywho, here’s the thread...it’s the last comment on there!

Media Links - No Discussion

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Does anyone know exactly where this happened? I've seen posts in several threads referring to real-time photos but all of the links are dead.

In checking online maps, Locklair Road (now more commonly Locklear) is a frontage dirt road slightly more than a mile in length. I-95 ramps are available at the north end of Locklair but not the south. If a trucker discovered the bodies it makes sense to me he knew of the dirt road and wouldn't have traveled too far down it before pulling over to rest. Therefore it seems logical the bodies were near the north entrance to Locklair.

The only photo I could find was Sumter Daily Item from August 9, 1976, including a front page photo of deputies evaluating the bodies, which were blanked out in the phot0.

That link is here: The Sumter Daily Item - Google News Archive Search

From that photo it appears that law enforcement is blocking access on Locklair just inside a tree line on the left side. I have tried to locate the spot on current maps but without great confidence or success. The closest I can find is this Google Maps link below. I realize the scene looks vastly different. But it is entitled to look different after 36 years. The photo is from 2012.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lynches+River+Rd+&+SC-341,+South+Carolina+29080/@34.0120281,-79.9899502,3a,60y,238.1h,82.74t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRa20dRioVJjsgLZO1jeCEg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x88ff867e474c4f73:0x44e70c488448b3f7!8m2!3d34.0132808!4d-79.9633506

If you turn the Google Maps link around you will see the spot is roughly 50 yards from the north turnoff onto Locklair. That makes sense given the truck driver scenario and IMO there are also some similarities in the two photos. The tree line ends at left. When authorities were blocking traffic in 1976 the greatest need would be from the long end, where drivers entering Locklair at south would have no idea anything had happened. Hence the two patrol cars in the middle of the road. The right side doesn't look at all the same but greater need for farming land could have caused trees to be removed, changing the identity drastically. In both photos there is a ditch just right of the road then an elevated area. If you rotate the Google Map right there are surface roots on the elevated area that look very similar to the close up photos of the victims.

Unlike Google Maps, I found one site that enabled me to traverse Locklair throughout. No other segment looked similar or sensible.

I might be way off. But I thought someone here might know.

 

[Sillybilly]

Please continue discussion at Thread #7.

This thread is now closed.