Very Strange Story/Note from 1985 Found in Butt of Gun

[Fukiyama]

allfalldown, have you looked into becoming a VERIFIED INSIDER? That is where the mods contact you in real life so they can ascertain you are really you.

 

[allfalldown]

Hello! I do not know what the Verified Insider thing is - but I'd be open to it. Moderators?

Thanks for your kind advice and message.

acs

 

[allfalldown]

Just wanted to keep you all appraised. I'm currently digitizing and trying to get a good synopsis (better than what you have) ready so this makes more sense. It is keeping me up to 3-4AM and I still have to work!!

Thank you all for your interest and kind thoughts.

 

[allfalldown]

Both sons are commenting. I wish them luck.

Hello, thanks for your kind words.

I just wanted to clarify, I am Harley Arlen "Sam" Smith's first born son. Bill was my fathers step-son, at this point I'm past that stuff but to me it is still an important thing to note. Bill was 9 years older than me or so at the time, I was 12.

 

[allfalldown]

One observation I made from one of the newspaper articles was that his wife called the police department to ask them to check the Shamrock station where he worked because he hadn't made it home yet. That seems odd to me but maybe she lived far away or didn't have a vehicle. Why would she think he would still be at the station because it would seem more likely he had an accident on the way home.

I'm sure it means nothing, it's just something that struck me as odd. IMO

Yes, information I have is that he had called her 10-15 minutes before he was attacked (closing the store) so they knew he should be on the road soon home. I have never looked up the distance/time from the store to his home so the timing may be interesting how long she waited to call back, knowing he had notified her that he was on his way home.

Which is something that even today, if I got off work at the same time every night, I don't think I'd notify my wife I were on my way home? Only if I weren't? I don't know.

Thank you for your observation!

 

[allfalldown]

Puzzled again...there was another gun (or guns), at least the one with the note in it, in the house and they where stolen a few days after Smith died. Why borrow a revolver from your mother-in-law to shoot yourself with?

The bullet went according to the Sheriff in on the right site of the head, the gun was placed directly to the head.... the bullet was not found...then there would be an entrance and exit wound other wise the bullet was still in the head. But he was still alive for at least 15 minutes (the moment deputies arrived)....I'm not an expert, but that seems almost impossible.....how convenient that the bullet was not found...nothing to compare with...

The gun was not near the body....could be moved by persons who assist him according to the sheriff...at what time where they called in.. when did they arrive at the scene? You would think before the police came, otherwise they would have secured the place and possible evidence....

Regular patrol was in the neighborhood 5 minutes before the incident and didn't see a vehicle in the area...Deputies came after 15 minutes at the scene/responded after 15 minutes. They were called in by the mother-in-law. Where was the patrol car?

Beside the second wife, other people spotted a vehicle (witnesses are famous for not recalling the facts right) but nobody could give a good prescription...but I think at least there was a vehicle, why making that up? The patrol didn't see a vehicle but was in the area 5 minutes before the incident.

The shooting took place outside the property fence....Smith fell down in the street and was found on the Ruin Road. Also wondering...would you go out in the street to shoot yourself?

The Sheriff mentioned something about a motive for suicide...'he was going through psychological changes' How could they know that? According to LE there were several motives for suicide, but they didn't want to discuss that. But no indications for marital problems, about financial problems they didn't know at that moment (but why make plans to build a mall, if you have serious financial problems) and also LE said they were not sure if somebody could collect insurance money if it was a suicide. Why stating that and not look further into that? ....Maybe somebody didn't want them or him building a mall or wanted to have the building land for other purposes?

The second wife went with him to the hospital, so they didn't took tests for checking if she could be the shooter. I'm not an expert but how long afterwards could this still be tested. No follow up. Was she cleared?

What about the robbery at the service station? Was there any money taken? He was grabbed from behind, handcuffed and stabbed. There had to be at least two persons, because LE says "a third person, a woman with short red hair" but leaving out a description of the other two...

I just have read the first newspaper article and some comments on Facebook, so many questions are rising....

Two more things (and I'm going to post all these documents as soon as they're digitized to get all the info I can find out there):

It is heresy by the 2nd wife, but she said the weapon returned to her after the death was different than the weapon he carried out. WTF?

Also, there is mention of someone finding a casing (the neighbors and family searched where the police didn't) but if a revolver was used, it would not eject a casing. That casing could have been anything from years ago.. or from a semiautomatic that does eject brass.

Clearly, if a suicide, Harley didn't shoot himself, remove the spent casing from the revolver and chuck it. Nor would a murderer. (Simple logic?)

Also, the Smith house burned down in 1989 - I have that document too - apparently the stuff the 2nd wife auctioned off (advertised as $1M and 3 homes) that didn't sell she had to get rid of and get insurance for? There aren't a lot of reports of arson in that area. Murder? Yes, arson, no? This is the one that really rings alarms in my brain.

I promise to get these articles, letters, and documents up as soon as they're presentable. Meaning not upside down or sideways and legible.

I have some interesting letters. Oh boy, if you like weirdness, hang in there kids.

Here is an ad of the auction I have in hand. I have ads with the values, those will be uploaded with the other documents, hopefully in a week or two and then you can have a better synopsis of what was going on.

Best,

acs

 

[allfalldown]

Thank you Adam. I feel for you....It's hard to dig everything up....I will totally respect it if you 'back down' but at the same time I don't see you do that because it was with you for so long. The least I can do is support you.

I definitely have a line where it will burn me out but I burn longer and harder than most. I figure 3 months will seal this up for my heart and soul - that is a long time to be on fire but I gotta Press On.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post here, I really do appreciate it.

acs

 

[allfalldown]

Allfalldown, please check your inbox under notifications at the top, if you don't mind. Thanks!

Sorry it took me so long to get to this. I get about 50 emails a day, not to mention notifications from Reddit, FB and here on replies.

Thanks for sharing your experience and advice with me. As you'll read in my rely to your great message, I'm going to whip it all out for the world to see and decide. I can't let one family or one Hazard County PD be the end-all, say-all.

I'm a shortwave radio listener. I like to listen to London, China, Japan, Australia and other countries news every night as America's is broken. Getting info from all sources lets you at least center up on what sounds about right. I think here, me posting everything will be cathartic and I can't think of a way it could possibly hurt me. I'm pretty fearless, except sharks.

So if I die by being eaten by a shark (or die at all) please sleuth your *advertiser censored* off because you'll know where to start!!

acs

 

[allfalldown]

Sorry to read here about what you have gone through and continue to go through Allfalldown!
Forgive if asked before, but what was the value of his estate? Was there a will?

If there was a will it was either hidden, never notarized officially or there wasn't one.

If there was one but wasn't filed, it'd have been in his documents which presumably was destroyed. Quickly or in the weird fire 1.5 years later when the 50% of the house burned down due to "possible incinderism" i.e. arson.

No need to forgive you, you may ask anything you want of me. My life is an open book here - I have only the truth to gain, and nothing to lose.

Thank you for your kind interest and thoughtful question.

acs

 

[allfalldown]

The gun-butt note; really strange..... who found it? What's the history of that gun's ownership? Trying to think as a gun owner if I would ever hide a note in that way... I wouldn't, thinking the use of cleaning fluids would make the note illegible.

Occam's razor - while suicide fits on the one-hand; might not all the events that happened in the weeks before his death fit a razor saying the simplest explanation is that they are all related....

Steve - a complete stranger found it 32 years after it being stuffed in there by a ~19 year old who just lost his loving step-father. Apparently that rifle was stolen from Bill (Harley Smith's step son) after the murder and he'd forgotten about the note in all this time. It apparently bounced around pawn shops for a few years before being gifted to the current owner who was cleaning/restoring it. Thus the note in a place that doesn't get broken down very often was found.

Thanks for your thoughtful question and taking time to offer here for me. It means a lot.

Best,

acs

 

[allfalldown]

That is a very cool memento to have.

Do you think it might work to write it as a series of shorter stories, one from each point of view? I'm not very good at writing my personal experience directly, so if it had happened to me, I'd probably write it as a mystery. It's usually easier when I filter it through a couple of layers of fiction.

I'm a pretty dang good writer. I got it all upstairs. I could write it without referring to a dang note I've been on this so long.

But in the last two weeks I have learned some things that I didn't know of before so maybe there is more to know before I rush off and write a story.

And here's the cool old briefcase! Thanks for your nice words and ideas, I appreciate your time, truly.

acs

 

[EllieBee]

Adam, thanks for joining us here at WS.

I am sorry for the loss of your dad; seemingly twice in your young life.

My hinky meter is on high alert regarding Nikki. Just sayin', the milk ain't clean, there. But that is just my gut feeling based on what I have read thus far.

Please let us know if we can help you in any way. You would be amazed at the talent in this "room".

 

[allfalldown]

Adam, thanks for joining us here at WS.

I am sorry for the loss of your dad; seemingly twice in your young life.

My hinky meter is on high alert regarding Nikki. Just sayin', the milk ain't clean, there. But that is just my gut feeling based on what I have read thus far.

Please let us know if we can help you in any way. You would be amazed at the talent in this "room".

Thank you for your interest, kind words and welcome!

It is weird that she has been a blind spot, as I was very young and never cared for her as she willingly broke up my family (albeit with my dad's complicity). But yeah, the Hazard County police down there (joke name) certainly did not do full due diligence in this case - including not testing her hand for residue. There is some distance to go still on this one.

I would love to have help filling FOIA requests for police reports down there and would even pay for the help. I'd rather not have my name on the request unless that is the only way they'll give them up. But it is just a simple suicide, right? No big deal, nothing to hide!

I will be posting a boatload of docs here in a week or two. Letters, emails, all the articles I have found - reports from the fire department and the autopsy. I'll clearly mark that one so people don't stumble into something they don't want to read! I only did it because I had to. I suggest never reading a loved ones or friend's. It is humbling and very, very sad.

Again, thank you for your kindness and warm welcome. Nikki has some truths she is hiding and some untruths she's perpetrating that I will lay out when the documents are ready to share so there is some context. This is my first time doing anything like this so I hope to put together something better than anyone else has, including the Aztec PD, the Sheriffs down there and any detectives that worked the case.

I have my thoughts but I'm very interested in what people that are just exposed to the documents and back story think.

And any dang help I get will be thanked in prayers and what Universal Karma I can send out before I lay me down to sleep every night!

Best,

acs

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Yes, information I have is that he had called her 10-15 minutes before he was attacked (closing the store) so they knew he should be on the road soon home. I have never looked up the distance/time from the store to his home so the timing may be interesting how long she waited to call back, knowing he had notified her that he was on his way home.

Which is something that even today, if I got off work at the same time every night, I don't think I'd notify my wife I were on my way home? Only if I weren't? I don't know.

Thank you for your observation!

I agree, I think it would be unusual to notify your spouse everyday that you're on your way home, especially when you get home at the same time everyday. I agree with you that the timing on those phone calls would be interesting. I can't even imagine calling the police if my hubby was 10 or 15 minutes late even when I know when he's expected home.

It would be good to also have the police report from the station "robbery". You made a suggestion in an earlier post about him possibly stabbing himself. I say anything is possible but IMO that doesn't seem likely. Would he stab himself then handcuff himself with hands behind his back? He wouldn't need to be in handcuffs to say he was robbed.

Maybe one of our seasoned sleuthers could offer advice on obtaining police reports.

 

[ninij9]

I definitely have a line where it will burn me out but I burn longer and harder than most. I figure 3 months will seal this up for my heart and soul - that is a long time to be on fire but I gotta Press On.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post here, I really do appreciate it.

acs

Allfalldown,

Whether or not you actually get to solve your father's death, I truly hope you write a book or film a doc. I think it would be hugely therapeutic for you. I think you will find a large audience for your research as well. I for one will keep up with you as long as you post here and would be more than willing to plunk bucks down to read about your journey.

This is about you as much as it is about your father. My wish for you is that you find great peace at the end of your story.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[allfalldown]

I agree, I think it would be unusual to notify your spouse everyday that you're on your way home, especially when you get home at the same time everyday. I agree with you that the timing on those phone calls would be interesting. I can't even imagine calling the police if my hubby was 10 or 15 minutes late even when I know when he's expected home.

It would be good to also have the police report from the station "robbery". You made a suggestion in an earlier post about him possibly stabbing himself. I say anything is possible but IMO that doesn't seem likely. Would he stab himself then handcuff himself with hands behind his back? He wouldn't need to be in handcuffs to say he was robbed.

Maybe one of our seasoned sleuthers could offer advice on obtaining police reports.

Agreed, even Pre cellphone.

As for police reports, I need to file a freedom of information act. I'm lobbying friends to do it so a "Smith" name isn't on it. Mostly in order to make sure they don't "disappear". Too many weird things and charges of corruption/ineptitude.

Thank you for your thoughts and help!

acs

 

[allfalldown]

I agree, I think it would be unusual to notify your spouse everyday that you're on your way home, especially when you get home at the same time everyday. I agree with you that the timing on those phone calls would be interesting. I can't even imagine calling the police if my hubby was 10 or 15 minutes late even when I know when he's expected home.

It would be good to also have the police report from the station "robbery". You made a suggestion in an earlier post about him possibly stabbing himself. I say anything is possible but IMO that doesn't seem likely. Would he stab himself then handcuff himself with hands behind his back? He wouldn't need to be in handcuffs to say he was robbed.

Maybe one of our seasoned sleuthers could offer advice on obtaining police reports.

I endeavor to get them all!

acs

 

[allfalldown]

Allfalldown,

Whether or not you actually get to solve your father's death, I truly hope you write a book or film a doc. I think it would be hugely therapeutic for you. I think you will find a large audience for your research as well. I for one will keep up with you as long as you post here and would be more than willing to plunk bucks down to read about your journey.

This is about you as much as it is about your father. My wish for you is that you find great peace at the end of your story.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I have a lot more to learn about the police departments down there, and the general culture. I do know that the state in 1985 at the 40th the worst murder rate in the country. Not something to brag about.

acs

 

[ninij9]

I have a lot more to learn about the police departments down there, and the general culture. I do know that the state in 1985 at the 40th the worst murder rate in the country. Not something to brag about.

acs

I hope we don't need to tell you to be very careful in your quest.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Fukiyama]

Allfalldown, here is the link to the verification process. Just sent an email with the required information.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...n-Process-for-Professional-or-Insider-Posters