Project Cold Case Database I think she was looking forward to just having it settled. The 'Monster Of Florence' Case And Why It May Be Reopened - All That's I dont agree with that. Tom had sent it to lead investigator Kenney Boone, hoping Boone could trace it back to the jealous would-be boyfriend and thus solve the case! RightrightSheriff Boone: At the time I think the fire was set, right before it was called in at 12:28.Morrison: So, if that was a deliberately set fire, you can put him right hereSheriff Boone: I can put him in this street. Fri 25 Mar 2022 12.21 EDT Last modified on Fri 25 Mar 2022 12.43 EDT Families of victims of a serial killer who terrorised Florence in the 1970s and 80s are demanding a new investigation into one. SLED Headquarters 4400 Broad River Road Columbia, SC 29210 Phone: 803.737.9000 To Pat Moug, they were evidence that Tom Morgan had staged those items to direct attention away from his own guilt. Weve tried to give the family closure, and were trying to find the suspect, and you have these two people saying different things.. And their suspicion grew. And you know, it bothered me. About 26% of Grand Strand and Pee Dee 2021 homicides remain unsolved And at the time they said wed like you to keep it quiet. Nine years after Jennifers death, her father, Jim, was tending her grave, clearing away weeds. She was just that kind of kid, you were just drawn to her. Here it is. Our family is very tight, we are very close knit. HARTSVILLE, S.C. -- Author Beverly Spears discussed her new book, "Unsolved: A Murder in the Solid South," at the May meeting of the Old Darlington District Chapter of the South Tom Morgan: Sounded good with me. Through further examination of the crime scene, it became evident to investigators that someone used gasoline to set the blaze in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence. Now, family members are finally opening up about the gruesome crime with hope the case will finally be solved. Morrison: In your circumstances, this new wrinkle has entered the scene. Pats movie audience is eating out of his hand. That was histhat was his background.Morrison: The acting detective?Tom Morgan: Yeah, he worked on the SWAT team. Punam and Vinaben checked in with family weekly on Skype, usually when Jai would come and go from the home for custody arrangements. But he was a fellow officer. . Tom Morgan: I just had an interesting conversation with my father the other night. As for the business of not yet being fully eliminated as a suspect, Chris is reported to have told a friend "Im tough, I can take it. His name is David Deitz. But even as Tom says he tried to dampen the anger that was eating him up, he kept finding what looked like evidence. Tom Morgan: When I got that letter, I called him that day. The thing that made the story suspicious, said the Morgans, was that when Chris told it, just one day after Jennifers death - no one knew she was dead before the fire. As a man whod gone to the media to criticize the police, whod written a script and made a movie in an effort to re-start an investigation. But then Ethan loses his temper and accidentally kills her, and that part is Toms speculation. But Jennifer, like the center of any Movieland mystery as you will see hides her secret well. Is it gonna be tomorrow? South Carolina Crime Stoppers View Source Square with arrow pointing upper right. According to our research of South Carolina and other state lists, there were 34 registered sex offenders living in Florence, South Carolina as of May 01, 2023. We stopped again during the scene at Jennifers old trailer park. The Murdaugh Murder Mystery Deepens in South Carolina - New York Times All that mattered was Jai, for Punam and my sister, that's all they cared about, said Ramesh Patel, brother of Vinaben Patel and uncle of Punam Gopaldas. And that is how Tom Morgan found himself attached to the state police poligraphy machine. Whether it was perceived or acted on, I dont know.Morrison: What do you mean unhealthy?Pat Moug: Well, thats as far as Im gonna go. Murder Info. On Saturday, October 8, 1988, Alice Haynsworth Ryan was found dead on the kitchen floor of her home, 16 Woodland Way in Greenville, with multiple stab wounds. Tom Morgan: Around her birthday or the date of her death we would come out and find flowers that were laid here. It wasnt even political. It simply states where murders occurred most frequently on an absolute and rate basis. Jim Morgan: It just takes time for it to really sink in and say yea you know it really is true and you know youre never gonna see her again. Tom Morgan: Finally when I did talk to him his response was, its not illegal to put a ring under a headstone. But Pat Moug was right about one thing: Kenny Boone did not cooperate with a fellow police officerthe one from Livonia, Michigan. And it wasnt just flowers the family found but couldnt explain. Boone was so suspicious, he put a polygrapher on standby, then started his interrogation. The story was based on fact, but Tom had made some significant changes to real events and added lots of speculation. But Scott had questions of his own. Tom Morgan: Yeah, yeah. Is anybody saying anything? To Tom, it showed how deeply shocked his dad was by Jennifers death. But we still talked and kept it close.Morrison: And did you intend to begin a full-time relationship when you graduated?Snowden: Thats hard to say. Very ambitious. It was a shoestring budget. Though he does claim Tom didnt even have the courtesy to tell him he was dumped. It was he, said David, who left the bracelet and the ring at the grave, as tributes to a good friend. Besides, all Tom knew about making movies is that he didnt know anything about making movies. I dont.Morrison: Why would it be white? Kenny Boone put his suspect, Chris Woodson, into a car, and drove him the 90 miles from Florence, S. C. , to Columbia, where a polygrapher was waiting at the headquarters of the state police, or sled as they are called. If youre Pat Moug, you make a movie. Question: Why do you think theyre so reluctant?Pat Moug: I dont know if its because Im an outsider perceived outsider as opposed to perceived fellow police officer. Youre boyfriend is he your family? He agreed to read his script and said he liked it. Id like to get everybodysMorrison: Tell us everything you know.Tom Morgan: Yeah. Odd that after that long a period of time that someone would come and obviously felt this tremendous remorse, or whatever their feelings were, would have to come back to the gravesite and put this under their headstone. SLED - South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Did you fly into Charlotte? Main Page; Discuss; All Pages; Community; Interactive Maps; Recent Blog Posts; Netflix series. She was not a small girl. And you know what they say about first impressions. HORRY COUNTY, SC (WBTW) - Since 1978, the Criminal Investigations Division of the Horry County Police Department reports there are 49 unsolved homicides. Pat speculates that Tom lingered at his parents house in Myrtle Beach for several days after a family reunion ended, and then - on his drive home to Charlotte, stopped off to kill his sister. I thought it was great. Why would a woman likely fighting for her life hold on to a thing like that? That was my opinion at the time. Tom Morgan: One of the first questions to them was whyd you pick this whyd you pick this case now? A cop zeroes in Ethan Im gonna catch the person who did this. Jim Morgan: Before we ever met him, he would call 25-30 times on a Saturday when she came home from college.Kerry Morgan: Clingy, protective, stalky like he just stalked her.Morrison: How long did this go on?Jim Morgan: Six months, yeah probably six months. The murders of teen sweethearts Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patricia Kalitzke had gone unsolved for more than 60 years. Thats the time when Pat suggested Tom knew too much about the killingthat he knew things only the murderer would know. Tom Morgan: I had to see that trailer burned. Jim Morgan: We found a bracelet at Jennies grave.Kerry Morgan: String bracelet, made with beads laying on her.Morrison: Right on the stone?Kerry Morgan: Yes. Sheriff Boone: Tom couldve been gettin that information from the family cause at that point, you know, I tried to keep the family kind of up to date on what was going on, what was taking place, kind of where we were going. We felt we couldn't talk about certain subjects and if we had, then we would lose our rights and it would have a detrimental effect on custody of the child, Patel told WMBF News. Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone discusses some of the evidence photos from the Jennifer Morgan murder case at his office in this 2008 file photo. Get Alerts Map; Browse By State; Submit a Crime Tip Square with arrow pointing upper right. Among Brothers was set in a college fraternity. Three of them, actually. FLORENCE Delmae Elementary School students held signs and cheered principal Roy Anne Jolley Monday as she was paraded around the schools bu, FLORENCE, S.C. -- One person was taken to a Florence area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries Sunday afternoon following a two-car cra, FLORENCE, S.C. Students from Wilson High School placed first among schools from North and South America in an engineering contest, winning t, Vera Nicole Godwin has been caring for patients at McLeod Regional Medical Center for five years. And Id love to be able to solve it today. And lo and behold the detective has this milky white substance in the vagina.Morrison: But arent you taking two and two and coming up with five?Pat Moug: No, I dont think so. And he said, we can arrange tointerview some people that knew my sister too.Morrison: So he was keen on being interviewed.Pat Moug: Yes. Ghosts and paranormal activities are pretty normal in a . Pat Moug: I believe that a police officer from another state should be able to work with police officers in other states to take a murderer off the street. Mind you, Jennifers father had been feeling that way since two days after the fire when he came here to the trailer park to pick up her car. The watch, Boone discovered, had been a gift from Scott Snowden. Tom, the budding screenwriter, still doesnt believe the sheriff and still suspects the fraternity boyfriend. I told a lot of people that. Those apparent contradictions for example, about where he was when his sister was killed. Unsolved Murder Files; Unsolved Mystery Files; Legend Files; Suggested Cases; The Investigators . In fact, in that hidden camera interview, Tom tells Pat he was at work in North Carolina, 170 miles away, on the day of the fire. And at the heart of it, a brothers regret that he hadnt paid more attention that last weekend to the incessant calls of that fraternity boy. Where is she? Summoned to the scene was a young detective named Kenny Boone. A mother has been trying to phone her daughter, her daughter Jennifer, at the mobile home park which was her off-campus. Well, youve heard about him already. I had complete confidence that they were doing all the right things. The audience knows virtually nothing about the story, beyond the selectively-prepared case that Pat is presenting to them. But early on it didnt look like that precaution would be needed. A Mother and Son Are Found Murdered, Deepening a Mystery in South Carolina. I can remember it just like it was yesterday, Boone said. I put everything I found in here, she told us. It was an accident, after all. Chris Carlson - staff, AP. Tom Morgan: He said at that time I was gonna be sorry. Well the man thats there is Tom Morgan. There were approximately 17,721 homicides in South Carolina between 1980 and 2019, according to the Project: Cold Case website for unsolved homicide statistics. But you know, to me, until someones convicted, everyones still a suspect. Pat Moug: The detective from Florence county would not return any of my calls. But, as we took a stroll through Jennifers woodsy trailer park, the sheriff gave us some graphic reasoning for his view that the murderer was none of the suspects youve heard about, but someone else altogether. Pat Moug, the actor-cop from Livonia, Michigan is out there with his own cinematic point of view that Tom may have killed his sweet sister, helped out by his own father and brother. Then there was Pats suspicion that Tom knew too much about the murder if he wasnt around to witness it. A banker from Charlotte, N.C., named John Schwert heard about the script, loved it, and offered to finance Toms film. Pat Moug: Then I showed it to a criminal profiler, a lieutenant from the Michigan State Police, a criminal psychologist who worked with Michigan State Policeand some FBI agents. I was in Charlotte visiting friends and just drove the rest of the way down. It was August 9, 1976, on a deserted road in Sumter County, SC, when a trucker happened upon the scene of the murders. Hed reverted from filmmaker to cop. This person who was so in love with her would come and instead of shedding one tear or even saying Im so sorry. Crime in Florence, South Carolina (SC): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map All Cities South Carolina, South Carolina smaller cities, South Carolina small towns Florence main page US Crime Crime rate in Florence, South Carolina (SC) The murders of John Timmons, 56, Tion Gore, 37, and Shannon Gainey, 25, on Cromer Lane in Florence County on August 16, 2010, still remain unsolved.Florence County deputies were called to the home on Cromer Lane around 5 p.m. that evening after neighbors f And I just sat there and I just said dad what are you talking about? Morrison: What were the questions?Tom Morgan: Were you there when Jennifer Morgans trailer caught fire. Boone sent the body to the forensic pathologist. First Pat implies Tom may have launched some sort of sexual attack on his sister. Then, because a couple of accomplices to the crime in Toms fictional movie script seemed to resemble Toms father and brother, Pat suggests that the real father and brother may have helped burn Jennifers body. A struggled ensued, and the suspect strangled or suffocated Morgan to death, Boone said. Tom Morgan: And he, oh, by the way, happened to be a police detective in Michigan. Now, nearly a year after Jennifers death, Tom felt frantic about evidence that might have been missed and opportunities lost. Tom had no idea the whole thing was a ruse. In the years since, investigators have sent information on the Morgan murder to a group of retired FBI agents who profile cases for other agencies. I moved down here after she died, guess what I didnt, I moved down here in f in October. Morrison: That was what initially tweaked your suspicion?Moug: Yes. I would go to the gym and I would lift weights and I would run and I would do all of these things to just try and exhaust myself in hopes that night I would be able to sleep and not think about God what happened that day?. Florence County double murder victims' family speaks out, Coroner: NC college student hit, killed by car in Myrtle Beach, PHOTOS: Damage reported after Sunday storms move through Grand Strand, Police: 1 dead, another hurt after shooting reported at Horry County bar, Coastal Carolinas Jerrod Clark, Lance Boykin sign with NFL teams, [email protected] - (843) 839-9623. He goes in and he kills her. Of course Tom now had to call Pat Moug up at the Livonia, Mich., police department and tell him the news. She fought him off quite a lot, Patel said about Gopaldas' relationship with Hiral. This database currently consists of unsolved homicides from 50 Florida counties, 46 U.S. states, and 3 international countries. There You Have It - The Places With The Most Murders In South Carolina For 2021. Pat recalled that the Florence county investigator, Kenny Boone told him that an unidentified substance may have been found in Jennifers body. There's new DNA technology [investigators] are saying they are very excited with it, and they'll be applying those techniques, Bhav Patel told WMBF News. Victims of these crimes and their families should be afforded justice, that's why this crime should be thoroughly investigated.. Back then, Snowden was Jennifers special boyfriend. And we had - for years - been asking some, well, difficult questions. Investigator Boone alerted the polygrapher. It was still going on, they said, the weekend before Jennifers death as the family gathered for an early Thanksgiving. And he was stillhe was still actively involved with the police force. We think the person thats responsible for this had to be in the home to use the telephone or break in or some other motive.. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Or how could this have happened? Or whatever.Morrison: He was speculating, too.Tom Morgan: Everybody was. Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. If it wasnt in the report - and it isnt - it didnt exist.(from Bold as a Lion)Pat Moug: Tom I know you were at your sisters accident, Jens accident.Tom Morgan: No I wasnt.Pat Moug: Tom I know you were at your sisters accident, Jens accidentTom Morgan: No I wasnt. Of course Tom had not forgotten this was the same state police agency which once admitted it lost the file on the murder years before. It happened on makeshift sound stages around Charlotte, N.C. Florence County, SC Area Cold Cases Crime Map Trends Analytics Cold Cases Missing Persons Daily Archive Name Janice Wessinger Age 47 Cause of Death Homicide Info Homicide Agency South Carolina Crime Stoppers View Source Name Christopher Jordan Age 23 Cause of Death Murder Info Murdered Agency South Carolina Crime Stoppers View Source Name Unsolved Mysteries Wiki. Itll soon be time for that part of the story. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Independent Contractor (Newspaper Carrier), Delmae Elementary principal paraded around for 70th birthday, Canada makes new contract offer to striking public workers, Scott Cook no longer East Clarendon A.D., has re-applied to remain football coach, One person injured in Sunday afternoon Florence crash, Wilson High School engineering students place first in international competition, Head-on collision kills four in Marion County, Vera Nicole Godwin, RN, BS, McLeod Regional Medical Center Day Hospital, Kara Hanley, BSN, McLeod Regional Medical Center Cardiovascular Surgery, Trinity Collegiate announces junior marshals, ushers, Concert highlights similarities between Lake City, Canadian town, Florence police investigate South Irby Street shooting, State championship coach Southard set for Saturday reunion at West Florence, Trinity Collegiate baseball coach Michael Rogers wants to retire on high note, Coward manhunt ends in arrest of man wanted by Delaware, Mattel introduces first Barbie doll representing a person with Down syndrome, Ukrainian soldiers get targeted by rockets while digging trenches near Bakhmut, Scientists launch new study into humans after realizing spiders lose eyesight due to malnutrition, Analysis: Mom and pop safe as First Republic Bank fails, Biden vows banking system is 'safe and sound'. In his fictional movie script, Tom had put himself at his sisters home just before the murder bringing ice cream. Working on it. Brother: something you wouldnt know much about right? So, had the state police decided to teach him a lesson? "I mean, how do the police keep you informed of anything newYeah, um we dont often get updates. Both knew who gave her that watch. It was just after 12:30 p.m. By the time the fire department arrived, the intensity of the blaze had roasted one end of the mobile home. As ahis ideas for the film or whatever. Boone worked as an investigator on the original case 20 years ago. Surely, he thought, somebody at least owed him an explanation. I am truly sorry.. You know why? All the old impatience, the frustration, the crazy feeling, came flooding back the minute Toms parents found that fraternity ring at Jennifers grave. The undercover road. That included any fibers, hairs or fingerprints that might lead to a suspect. And so the killer Kenny Boone: Used the fire to cover up any additional evidence that might have been there. So what about that substance? There was, however, one very curious discovery. Morrison: Youre pretty angry about this.Kerry Morgan: Angry that my son will be hurt, yeah. The reason Tom was hauled in for questioning was because somebody had offered new evidence that suggested the real suspect all along should have been Tom Morgan. Deputies found both women stabbed to death with Jai by his mother's body. We would do anything to bring her back.Morrison: The key argument that Pat Moug makes isyou put yourself in this moviemaybe because youre a narcissistic sociopath who needs to get to taunt peopleto get as close as you can to the crime. All along, something Tom told Pat had made him very suspicious. Pat Moug: Right now if he was in our state, I believe I have enough evidence for probable cause to arrest him. You know its like these bits and pieces of conversation that hes just drawn out to make this into a cowellMorrison: To make it look like a lie?Tom Morgan: To make it lookyeah. I was just like this isnt right. And, it worked. I hadI, I loved my sister. Snowden: I was there for five, maybe ten minutes. Six years later, triple murder in Florence still unsolved | WPDE Hardly a confession. In the film the visitor is her brother; in real life it was Chris Woodsons rival, Scott Snowden. And when he brought the young man in for questioning, his suspicions only intensified. Why not make a promotional video about Toms project? Days after the murder, Hiral Gopaldas was arrested for murder. But there it was. Well, yes, in fact, someone did the South Carolina State Police. The old policemans trick of using a lie to get at the truth. And that was this: Based on nothing more than his own analysis of a fictionalized story, Pat surmised in his very public film that Jennifers father and brother helped Tom get away with her murder. Cold cases and unsolved crimes in Darlington County, SC. It says, the file could not be located, but that the agency would continue to search for these missing records.. What do you do? Hed found milk jugs scattered about, which smelled not of milk, but of gasoline. As the story progresses, the fraternity boy has an argument with Jennifer. But Pat would not be directing. On November 18, 1978, an off-duty employee of the Burger Chef, a local fast food joint in Speedway, Indiana, found the restaurant's back door wide open. Though at first what he said didnt seem to make sense. Tom said hed been living in Michigan when Jennifer was murdered, when in fact, a few weeks before she died, Tom moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was two nights before she died. Listen, Tom. Morrison: What did it seem like he was doing?Kerry Morgan: Wanted to know if anybody thought he did it. And when they were finished he sat waiting, somewhat impatiently, to be dismissed. Theres no reason to put yourself at a murder scene of an unsolved homicide. She was a few months from her college graduation and a degree in marketing. (from the movie) Ethan: Im Ethan by the way.Jennifer: Im Tiger Woods.Ethan: You are definitely NOT Tiger Woods. Many, though theyd never met Tom Morgan were now deeply suspicious. I would pick up the phone to the point that it was annoying.I said youve got to do something about this relationship. Ethan: What does it look like? We loved my sister. Gradually what emerged was a screenplay about one young mans terrible, deadly, mistake. Well, not exactly because now, on they go, these three contending investigators, down their opposing paths. Kerry Morgan: Tom was a protector, Tom always wanted to take the role over his dad; wanted to know who she was seeing what she was doing, taking care of her.Morrison: So you felt you could go to bed at night if she was out because Tom?Kerry Morgan: Tom was right there waiting for herExactly. He can sketch a diagram of Morgans mobile home. There was no forced entry and nothing was taken, Patel told WMBF News. Jennifer: get out Ethan: (flashbackscannot hear what he says). She was very close to freeing herself from the day-to-day tensions she had, Patel continued. One more thing. Tom Morgan: And he said your sister died today in a fire and I dont want you to come home until tomorrow and he hung up the phone. At least once, Boone said, investigators thought they were close to someone confessing to Morgans murder. All these years, Pat suggested, Jennifers whole family may have been involved in a massive cover up. And here is a version of the awkward true scene the Morgans remembered so vividly the day after Jennifer died when the real fraternity boy, Chris, came by their house and offered that theory that sounded more to the family like a cover-up. Scott Snowden: I gave it to her as a gift for Christmas, maybe her birthday. The film ends with some wishful thinking by Tom. Morrison: He must have had a motivation to to that.Tom Morgan: All I can do is go back to the day that he told me when i said that he wasnt gonna make the film that Id be sorry. So he took his frustration to the next level of law enforcement, the state police. You know, does this mean something?. The Morgan family also knew about Chris Woodson. Ill just say that.Morrison: Was there a guard around the place?Jim Morgan: No, I was told they would be guarding and watching the property, but there was no one around. MISSOULA It's a notorious cold case that still haunts the town of Florence and the family and friends of the three women murdered that day. Bold as a Lion had raised some very serious questions but were they legitimate?