AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #1

[Wondergirl]

When the bodies bled out, the blood would have just dropped out of the bottom of the car in a manner consistent with gravity and a stationary object. Instead, the police observed that the blood sprayed along the bottom of the car in a manner consistent with wind impacting the blood as left the car. This would not happen if the girls had been killed at the final resting place of the car.

Thank-you very much, I need to finish reading the threads.

 

[DimeDetective]

#2. I believe the sexual assault was done post-mortem.

If the semen was found on J.B.'s bra and panties, but, she was found fully clothed, that means the perp disturbed her clothing to access the undergarments. That indicates a fetish component to the crime, to me.

Very interesting.

The only thing is, LE have stated throughout the investigation that they believe the girls were shot while in the trunk. Wouldn't it have been difficult to maneuver the body to disturb the clothing while curled up with the body of Tracie in the trunk? Do you think the perp shot the girls in the trunk, removed J.B.'s body, committed post-mortem sexual assault, then replaced J.B.'s body in the trunk? One thing that would support this is that Tracie was the first one into the trunk.

What if there were originally 2 people in the white truck? and 1 leaves and gets in the back of the girls car. If the girls get into the car from the front, they never see anyone in the back seat until too late. The other perp is in the white truck waiting up ahead on the road to follow them. Would the angle of the camera at the station show if someone left the passenger side of the truck? Was it a streaming video or just pics snapped every minute or so? If it wasn't a continuous feed, then it might not have been caught on film.

Also, one other question I had was whether the water on the girls pants was equally present on the front of the pants as the rear? If it was more absorbed on the front, I would question whether the girls were forced on their knees at some point. The angle of the bullet entry should have told LE the position the girls were in at the time of death. I haven't seen such details reported anywhere.

BBM.

Great questions. Our lack of information on these and many other important aspects of this case brings to mind this quote from Chief Spivey in "Ten Years, No Answers in Ozark's 'Most Complex' Murder Case," The Dothan Eagle, August 2, 2009:

Spivey said the department gets calls on a weekly basis from people with tips in the case. Much of the information has not been disclosed.

“There are some things that only we in law enforcement and the perpetrator know. That information will not be released until this case is solved,” Spivey said.

http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/article_02c22cbf-dee6-5a21-8207-b17b9cec60c6.html

Finally, can someone clarify this for me... I thought that I read that after JB and THs murder, another murder occurred at this same site. THen I read a post that made it seem like a murder had occurred at this site PRIOR to the JB/TH murder. Can someone please correct me? Thanks.

From the Chronology of Events:

Eugene Eutsey, a 24-year-old Barbour County man, was in a prison work release program in Montgomery and was working on a cleaning crew at Rave Motion Pictures, a movie theater on Vaughn Road in Montgomery, early on the morning of May 1, 2002. The cleaning crew was being supervised by 42-year-old Melva Johnston, who was reported missing at the same time that Eutsey also went missing from the work site. Eutsey was arrested by Enterprise Police at around 3:00 Saturday morning. They said that he was riding a bicycle through downtown Enterprise. After he was arrested, Eutsey eventually told police where Johnston's body and car could be found. The missing woman’s Pontiac Grand Am was located on Herring Ave. in Ozark, while her body was found behind the Rave Movie Theater in Montgomery.

Eutsey was cleared of any involvement in the Beasley-Hawlett murders through DNA testing.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040409090629/http://www.wiregrass.com/ozark/chronology.html

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Just thinking about why the girls may have stopped. They had been driving around for quite some time, in a place they didn't know---Wouldn't bodily functions have at some point forced them to pull over? The store they found was closed, and I'm guessing there isn't anywhere else to "go" in that area. Then, while pulled over, a vehicle pulls up behind them...And from here you can insert your own scenario of fake police cars (or at least the girls' belief that it was a cop that had pulled up beside them).

In that scenario, and not being a girl I'm asking the question honestly, would they have "gone" together or would one have more likely stayed with the car? And would there have been dew on the grass at that time of night?

I have been wondering about a reason the car was stop soon after leaving the payphone. It never occurred to me one time, that perhaps after calling home, getting directions and leaving for hoem that one or both of the girls had to pee really really bad. They seemed not to be concerned about there safety. They stopped at a closed business got out of the car and used the phone, had a chat with the witness, didn't seem nervous or concerned about anything other than finding there way back home.

If they were able to stop there, it is possible that perhaps the passenger had to pee bad, and so the driver found what seem like a secluded spot for her friend to get out and go pee while she waited in the car.
That truck, if it did leave before the girls, he could have been near by and watched as the girls left and stopped soon afterwards and the one get out. At this point he could have just parked his truck where it was, where he was waiting and watching the girls leave the phone area. He got out of his truck and walked up to the driver with gun in hand ordered her to unlock the door, and got in the back on the drivers side. there they sat until the friend returned from taking a pee. Later he return the vehicle where the woman was left before two years earlier or so in hopes a serial killer would been blamed for both murders. He than walked back to where his truck was parked and left the area.

Even if the driver seen the man approaching the vehicle what was her options, drive off and leave her friend NO. She didn't have time to think, just react to the situation more on impulse than thinking about what to do.

MISTAKE...
I thought the first murder occurred before the two girls, now i see it was after. I apologize for any confusion for stating that. I got the dates confused.

 

[Wondergirl]

What was the motive for this crime?

Their manner of death appears both quick and matter-of-fact, in addition to being callous and heinous.

Death was not the purpose of the crime.

Why drive the vehicle to THAT location, away from the murder scene?

Why leave the vehicle in plain view (as others have asked)?

Why no attempt to make it look like a robbery?

TOD was very quick from time of last seen.

The beginning of this plot happened at the store, I believe. I also believe what another poster suggested - that the original victims were the mother and daughter, until J.B. and Tracie came along.

The motive was not murder.

The killer was not a first timer, and had no problem with two victims.

The killer only had one sexual assault victim, that we know. Why?

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

The grease stain found in the backseat if it was left by the killer perhaps he worked a second shift job that would involve himself being in contact with grease. Such as a mechanic of some kind. Or machine operator.

Though with as many LEOs that worked on this case they have probably gone over everything one could think of inside the box. Perhaps its time to start thinking way outside the box.

 

[SCHMAE]

I have not read every post so please forgive any redundancy ! First off Dime Det . Amazing job putting this together. Thank you so much. I've never heard of this case and am now very intrigued !
I wonder if the LE spoke to the kids at that party that the girls never made it to ? It didn't strike me initially reading the time line but when I got to the post about ' what would make the girls stop their car' I thought immediately a FRIEND from school or possibly someone they thought was a FRIEND from school. Perhaps they see a guy walking and think it looks like johnny doe from biology class and stop to give him a ride , finding out too late that it's not the same person . OR when they called the party to say they are lost and try to get better directions, perhaps a party goer ' friend' from school overheard this OR even whoever took the call said ' oh no they're lost , can someone go find them and follow them back here so they can find the party'. Someone volunteered and had no intention of getting them back to the party? So the girls are relieved to see Johnny Doe pull up and he says follow me and then OH no, my car just broke down , let me get into yours. Just throwing it out there and if someone already commented this, sorry again. mooo

 

[SCHMAE]

You have no idea how many times I've wished I could talk to Marilyn Merritt and her daughter.



Here you go, I believe this is the first photo you're referring to:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KsodAAAAIBAJ&sjid=W6YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4171,732017&hl=en

And then I'm thinking the crime scene photo(s) you're referencing of the wet jeans and the muddy shoes appeared in very brief flashes during the "factual" first portion of the Haunting Evidence episode.

Perhaps shes' on FB and has been willing to talk about the case since?

 

[SCHMAE]

A few questions:

#1. How did the authorities rule out the girls being murdered at the recovery location? I keep coming back to video, I don't know how else they could do that.

#2. I believe the sexual assault was done post-mortem.

If the semen was found on J.B.'s bra and panties, but, she was found fully clothed, that means the perp disturbed her clothing to access the undergarments. That indicates a fetish component to the crime, to me.

Good thinking . I'm wondering if perhaps there was an attempted rape but the girl/girls were fighting too much and it got interrupted so they were killed, then the perp thinks he's gone to all of this trouble, he's going to go ahead and ' do his thing' even though it was not how he originally intended.. or something along those lines. mooo

 

[Veidt]

I'm reading through the comments about the truck and while I suspect it was involved, it's also possible that it had nothing whatsoever to do with the case. It's been mentioned before that J.B. and Tracie went to the store because they didn't know it was closed. I don't know if Merritt and her daughter managed to arrive while the store was still open and how long they were there, but they either a) managed to still buy whatever they wanted to buy (soda, IIRC) and the store had just closed when the girls arrived, or b) they too thought the store was going to be open.

In either case we see that it's possible that someone else too would think that the store was going be open but they got there and it was closed, or they couldn't afford to buy anything, or simply just wanted to stop. During long road trips it's not uncommon for people to make stops just to rest, especially if it's late at night, to avoid falling asleep at the wheel. This could also explain why the truck was never found, if it wasn't a local they could have never heard of the case or not made the connection between the random stop they made and the place in the news.

I still think that Merritt and her daughter saw the vehicle but didn't think of it at the time and don't remember it now. Especially if they went into the store and the truck arrived meanwhile, they would haven't seen it moving.

As to how long the truck was there, it sounds more likely that by "between" LE meant at any point between those times and not that the truck was there during the whole time period. But if we assume it's not related to the case, then someone stopping for a nap could explain why it was there for half an hour or more.

Just thinking about why the girls may have stopped. They had been driving around for quite some time, in a place they didn't know---Wouldn't bodily functions have at some point forced them to pull over? The store they found was closed, and I'm guessing there isn't anywhere else to "go" in that area. Then, while pulled over, a vehicle pulls up behind them...And from here you can insert your own scenario of fake police cars (or at least the girls' belief that it was a cop that had pulled up beside them).

In that scenario, and not being a girl I'm asking the question honestly, would they have "gone" together or would one have more likely stayed with the car? And would there have been dew on the grass at that time of night?

There's no universal answer about what girls do/don't do. I know that for myself personally it would depend on the location. I would probably go with my friend but stay a bit more distant while she went behind a tree or some bushes and did her business, or if I could have a good angle of the area while in the car, I would remain there and honk as a signal if I noticed someone else.

I do think that if they stopped for that reason, it was probably somewhere very deserted or they went into some kind of back road. And I agree with whoever says that the chances of someone finding them if that was the case (and hurting them to boot) was very slim. Except I think that maybe they were being followed and didn't know it, or those very slim chances really happened. Think about it, there's so many cases where the chance of anything going wrong was slim but people did end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time purely by chance or someone who was keeping an eye on the victims seized an opportunity.

Clearly the "oversize tires" OR "4 wheel drive" information DOES NOT come from the security photo released.

Where does that info come from, and "normally" if a truck has oversize tires it is ALSO 4 wheel drive, so that is just baffling.

The oversize/4X info indicates to me that the truck could have been offroading.

If the driver of the truck was offroading in the mud somewhere, and suggested to the girls to try it, then maybe they took up the offer, as a little something different for a birthday adventure, since their original plan had gone so wrong?

Locals, are there offroading/mudding trails in the vicinity of the store? Is it a past-time in that area, the way it is north of the border?

That's a very good point about offroading. Thanks for pointing that out. As to how the police knows, they may have found truck wheel prints by the store that could have belonged to it, or they may be saying this based on the security camera. We can't see the wheels in the picture but it's possible that being there and comparing it to the footage of other types of vehicles they could figure out an approximate height for the wheels.

 

[Veidt]

I have not read every post so please forgive any redundancy ! First off Dime Det . Amazing job putting this together. Thank you so much. I've never heard of this case and am now very intrigued !
I wonder if the LE spoke to the kids at that party that the girls never made it to ? It didn't strike me initially reading the time line but when I got to the post about ' what would make the girls stop their car' I thought immediately a FRIEND from school or possibly someone they thought was a FRIEND from school. Perhaps they see a guy walking and think it looks like johnny doe from biology class and stop to give him a ride , finding out too late that it's not the same person . OR when they called the party to say they are lost and try to get better directions, perhaps a party goer ' friend' from school overheard this OR even whoever took the call said ' oh no they're lost , can someone go find them and follow them back here so they can find the party'. Someone volunteered and had no intention of getting them back to the party? So the girls are relieved to see Johnny Doe pull up and he says follow me and then OH no, my car just broke down , let me get into yours. Just throwing it out there and if someone already commented this, sorry again. mooo

I don't think that a friend from school could have overheard their phone call. Unless they made a second one after they hung up the call (to one of their mothers) which Merritt overheard - and I doubt that as they were about to go home by that point - a boy would have been witnessed with them. If he was threatening them at gun point he would not have let them abandon the car without him at the B/L store much less when they were people around. But it doesn't sound impossible to me that they found someone who was or who they thought was a friend.

From researching, it is possible that the killer parked the car where it was found hoping the killings would have been blamed on the person whom killed another woman about two years earlier, and left her car parked almost in the same area, same spot as the two girls were found. In fact when the killer of the first woman was caught, he admitted to it. carjacking i believe it was, but he denied killing the two girls.

<snip>

I know that the case you're referring to happened later but this made me think... what if the killer(s) was trying to get someone else blamed by parking there? I do think there was a reason why the car was not found at the original crime scene. Maybe it happened on the killer's property or near his house and he didn't want to get any attention. Or maybe they made a deliberate choice to put the car there. Someone a few pages back pointed out that the street's name (Herring) could be a reference to red herrings but what if that's a coincidence, but the killer did indeed have a reason to park the car there? Could he live in the area and didn't have a car so after killing them he drives over? Could he have gotten hurt (not as in bleeding but maybe a sprained ankle or something) while trying to keep the girls under control? Or indeed this was meant to be related to someone else who lived in the area, a message perhaps or a way of getting someone they disliked to be blamed or to put the attention on someone else.

I have a question about the grease stain in the back...any chance at some point...either when they called friends at 10:30 or home at 11:30, someone got into the vehicle when the got out of the car to make the call. A grease stain in the seat behind the driver, could be someone who sat right there with a gun and told them to drive. While Merritt reports everything seemed fine, I guess it alludes ro gives an impression that no one was threatening them at the time. Is this her guilt speaking or hindsight? I do wonder if it was typical for Tracie to say, "I love you Mom". What is the possibility someone got into their vehicle the first time they made a call and forced them to drive while he figured out what to do? The second call made, could have be a result of one girl saying, if we are not home at this time...the cops will be called. Did both girls get out of the vehicle at Big/Little? Was one in the car with a perp at gunpoint? In situation like this most young girls would be very compliant. This was before the run like hell, or drop to the ground to prevent abduction, yell Fire, etc time...Ideas?

I believe both girls got out of the vehicle at the B/L and also that if there was a perp with them, he would not have let them get out of the car near other people (see above). But I do wonder if someone could be lurking near the B/L and then when the Merritts drive off they immediately get into the car and threaten the girls.

 

[DimeDetective]

Really great questions, Wondergirl. Here's what I'm thinking at this point:

What was the motive for this crime?

In my mind there's a good chance this was a random and possibly botched sex crime with murder as a natural extension of the attempted sexual assault, but I also can't discount the (smaller) chance that this was personal, likely directed at J.B.

In my mind these two do not overlap.

If personal, the details of the sexual assault lead me to believe that what was done to J.B. may have been more to humiliate and degrade her before her death. This would explain the "detached" quality of the sexual assault.

Their manner of death appears both quick and matter-of-fact, in addition to being callous and heinous.

TOD was very quick from time of last seen.

I tend to agree with you. Other than the single gunshots to the head and a scratch on Tracie's arm, the girls were uninjured. I don't think the girls were alive for long after crossing paths with their killer. He doesn't seem to have particularly enjoyed himself in committing these acts. ITA: quick, matter-of-fact, and, I would add, sloppy. A great deal of time wasn't taken while the girls were alive or after. He did it and got out of there.

Except for the Herring Avenue step.

Death was not the purpose of the crime.

Depending on the motive, I can see it both ways:

If this was random, the sexual assault (which likely turned out to be a failure in the mind of the killer compared to his original plan or fantasy) was meant to be the centerpiece of the crime. The abduction would've been a means to that end, and the murders would've been a necessary final step to eliminate the witnesses.

If this was personal, the murders are at center stage in the mind of the killer, and the sexual assault is meant to be a taunting, humiliating build-up to the murders.

Why drive the vehicle to THAT location, away from the murder scene?

Others have suggested this was a move to draw attention away from a murder site that could've given some clue to the killer's identity, and I think this is a solid theory.

Was the killer thinking that two crime scenes would make it harder for LE to catch him, and so the move to Herring was meant to muddy the waters of the investigation?

Why leave the vehicle in plain view (as others have asked)?

This could be tied to motive.

In the random, botched sexual assault with murder as a necessary evil scenario, the killer finds fault with himself and disappointment in the reality of his actions. He hasn't planned well, perhaps isn't very intelligent, and once the sexual assault is completed, both the murders and the exit from the scene are very hasty. It was all about the sexual assault.

In the personal scenario, this shows a complete lack of regard for the victims. There is no thought whatsoever put into how the bodies are left. After the shootings, the killer simply shuts the trunk and walks or drives away. The only wrinkle here is the mystery of why he transported the bodies to Herring from another location.

Why no attempt to make it look like a robbery?

I believe this is connected to the other evidence left behind at the crime scene that shows risky and reckless behavior on the part of the killer. You've got DNA and a palm print left at the scene. The killer took the risk of driving the car himself to a different location after the murders. The killer's movements and choices in the aftermath of the sexual assault and killings shows a complete lack of concern, other than the planting of the car and bodies on Herring. The killer shows arrogance or a lack of intelligence or both.

To say that nothing after the sexual assault and murders seems staged or calculated is fair, except for one thing: Herring Avenue.

 

[LR1]

I have a question about the grease stain in the back...any chance at some point...either when they called friends at 10:30 or home at 11:30, someone got into the vehicle when the got out of the car to make the call. A grease stain in the seat behind the driver, could be someone who sat right there with a gun and told them to drive. While Merritt reports everything seemed fine, I guess it alludes ro gives an impression that no one was threatening them at the time. Is this her guilt speaking or hindsight? I do wonder if it was typical for Tracie to say, "I love you Mom". What is the possibility someone got into their vehicle the first time they made a call and forced them to drive while he figured out what to do? The second call made, could have be a result of one girl saying, if we are not home at this time...the cops will be called. Did both girls get out of the vehicle at Big/Little? Was one in the car with a perp at gunpoint? In situation like this most young girls would be very compliant. This was before the run like hell, or drop to the ground to prevent abduction, yell Fire, etc time...Ideas?

I think the report of the sighting at 10:30 in headland came from an actual police officer. I guess its possible someone could have took control of them there even though that location 431 at 10:30pm on a sat night would still have a good bit of traffic. They were known to have used the phone there and it would have been 1 1/2 after TH reportedly got of work. The call was made to a friend reportedly to get/clarify directions to the party near Haleburg. I think it was one of the mothers who stated they just could not understand the directions. They would have got this info from the friend that was called. Its not clear to me by that wording as to whether they made the attempt to find the party that would've been an estimated 15-20 miles east of headland or not. My guess is that they did. Their next known location the b/l store in ozark around 11:30, later and somewhat more isolated would seem more likely to be the place where they would have been targeted. This is where, if we knew what direction the truck left in we could make a better determination as to whether or not it was involved. clearly if it went west there's more of a chance it was involved than if it went east. I could easily see the grease stain being left there by the perp, from reports she was known to keep her car clean. If it was somewhere on down the road that they were confronted I can see stopping to relieve themselves as others suggested a possibility. they also could have stopped somewhere to make another phone call. I've even considered the possibility of them returning to the same b/l store to make another call.

 

[DimeDetective]

I don't know if Merritt and her daughter managed to arrive while the store was still open and how long they were there, but they either a) managed to still buy whatever they wanted to buy (soda, IIRC) and the store had just closed when the girls arrived, or b) they too thought the store was going to be open.

Respectfully snipped.

I've always thought Marilyn Merritt and her daughter stopped and bought soda at an outdoor Coke machine in front of the store.

 

[DimeDetective]

Think about it, there's so many cases where the chance of anything going wrong was slim but people did end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time purely by chance or someone who was keeping an eye on the victims seized an opportunity.

Good point!

I know that the case you're referring to happened later but this made me think... what if the killer(s) was trying to get someone else blamed by parking there? I do think there was a reason why the car was not found at the original crime scene. Maybe it happened on the killer's property or near his house and he didn't want to get any attention. Or maybe they made a deliberate choice to put the car there. Someone a few pages back pointed out that the street's name (Herring) could be a reference to red herrings but what if that's a coincidence, but the killer did indeed have a reason to park the car there? Could he live in the area and didn't have a car so after killing them he drives over? Could he have gotten hurt (not as in bleeding but maybe a sprained ankle or something) while trying to keep the girls under control? Or indeed this was meant to be related to someone else who lived in the area, a message perhaps or a way of getting someone they disliked to be blamed or to put the attention on someone else.

Excellent theories! Very sharp thinking, Veidt.

 

[Veidt]

Respectfully snipped.

I've always thought Marilyn Merritt and her daughter stopped and bought soda at an outdoor Coke machine in front of the store.

Thank you for your posts.

I didn't know about the Coke machine. In that case, I take back what I said about the store being open, but I do think that IF the truck is not related to the case, it's probably someone who wasn't local and stopped thinking it would be open (like the girls) or just to rest for a bit, eat some snacks they had in the car, etc.

There's NO way that the truck is from someone unrelated who is from the area IMO, someone who had nothing to fear would have come forward, unless it wasn't publicised enough. The only way I can think that someone innocent was in there and heard the news but said nothing was if they were wanted for other crimes or were afraid of being wrongly accused.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Why drive the vehicle to THAT location, away from the murder scene?

Edited by me to focus on this one question.
From looking at all the photos that members went and took at the scene which were priceless and fantastic on a cold case. Everything is very close in distant. From the payphone, the highway to where they were found, the members stressed just how close the areas of interest and discussion were so close to each other.

Perhaps this is the area the girls stopped to allow the one to use the bathroom and they were abducted from this site. As you look at the crime scene photo of the detectives looking in the trunk. The girl could have parked just like that and maybe left the headlights on so the passenger could get out and walk up to and pass the trees you see there to use the bathroom. While setting there waiting the killer came up on the drivers side and more or less forced his way in to the back seat. I believe that is the side the grease was found, behind the driver...That distance from the payphone to where they were found is short. just a quick turnoff it looks like. If the killer was in the truck watching them leave the payphone he was not far from them in distance when they made that fatal stop. He returned the vehicle to the area it was originally in and parked it the same way as the girl did. And then walked back to his truck and left the area.

 

[CoolJ]

Forgive me for the long post, I tried to shorten it a bit but, a lot I wanted to say.

We don’t have a lot of hard facts in this case. We have a lot of “reported facts” but they all seem to be contradicted somewhere. I have made a list of questions/observations/oddities that I would like others to elaborate on. We can all throw out theories, which is great, because odds are, one of them is going to be close to the truth. But to get down to 2 or 3 very viable theories, we need more facts. So yes its great to have theories, lets focus on sleuthing out the facts and the truth should begin to work itself out. It always does… the truth leaves clues.


1. who goes to get milk at 11:30pm (obviously possibly, but a bit odd)
2. Who takes 2 hours to get milk? (extremely suspicious)
3. Was Barrantine gone for 15 minutes or 2 hours? Why is there 2 distinctly different reports of this?
4. Did Barrantine go to police himself or did his wife turn on him because of his odd behaviour?
5. Is the report that Barrantine was looking to get video surveillance from the B/L store factual?
6. Did Barrantine have information about what the girls were wearing and “other details” of crime scene as has been reported? If he did then he obviously has more information?
7. What was Barrantines true mental status… what is “mild mental retardation”?
8. Did the Merritt witness say they left before the girls? How did they see which way they left if that is the case?
9. Merritt and her daughter were at the B/L Store to get a soda, but it was closed?? (this is odd isn’t it?)
10. When did Merritt report what they had witnessed?
11. Did Merritt report anything with regards to white truck?
12. What is the order/timeline of the 3 (the girls, the Merritts, the white truck) entering the B/L store and leaving the B/L store?
13. Did LE run a check for registered white pick-up trucks within the local communities? Do they have a list of registered owners? Even if the total pool is in the hundreds, it has been 14 years, they should know who’s truck that is by now.
14. If the reports of the white truck having oversized tires are accurate, I would think it wouldn’t take too long to ask around as to who’s truck that might be… How thoroughly did LE dig into this ?
15. Something is a little bit hinky/odd about the girls leaving for a party at 10pm to an area they had know idea of the location when they were planning on being home 90 minutes later. So their plan was to drive there, socialize, and drive back all by 11:30pm? Odd isn’t it? Also in this line of thinking, they apparently called friends at the party while in Headland at 10:30pm to say they wouldn’t be able to make it?? They had given up already? Doesn’t sound like they could have much of a chance to actually look that hard for the party at this point.
16. It was a field party? Yet they called friends? As in called a cell phone? Hmmm… 1999, thinking back now, not too many had cell phones back then, especially high school aged kids…. Also back then I question if a rural area such as this would even have service.
17. So, where were they from 10:30-11:30pm? They had already decided at 10:30pm they weren’t going to the party, could they have been lost and just happened upon the B/L store in Ozark or did they go to Ozark for a reason?
18. Did the girls have a map with them? Was the map accurate? ( were they given a “bad” map)
19. Was the “palm print” a hand print with finger prints? Or was it a glove print?
20. Did grease stains in car match grease on Barrantines gloves?
21. Did the girls have boyfriends?
22. How close were the girls? Best friends since childhood? Or just recently became friends?
23. Were the girls always together, did either of them have friends who would be considered closer? Were they just 2 of a group of friends?
24. Anymore info about Hawlett? Don’t have much info on her. Why is there not much info on her?

So, for theories, How about this:

Girls were on way to party, they meet up with a couple of boys (maybe leaving the party, maybe they had already planned to meet these boys somewhere), maybe these boys are driving a white truck. I could see the conversation going something like this:

Boys – “what are you girls up to tonight?”
Girls – “heading to our friends party?”
Boys – “yea, we just left, party is lame, we are going to a real party in Ozark, wanna come?”
Girls – (thinking these boys a pretty cute, and in reality that is why they are going to a party anyway, to find boys) “yeah sure, sounds like fun, but I need to stop somewhere to call my mom”
Boys – yea, just follow us, there is a store with a payphone close to where we are going”

So, girls follow white truck to B/L store. Truck parks by pumps to make it seem like they are there for a reason. Girls park by phone, make their call and then follow white truck. White truck parks somewhere, girls get out, boys say “follow us through the woods, this place we are going is awesome, it’s a little muddy, but it’ll be worth it. They take the girls to someplace, quite possibly somewhere that is well know to them, do whatever it is they do to the girls, maybe they “couple up” at this point ,maybe they are making out with them, maybe one of the boys goes to far and demands oral sex and I will refrain from getting too descriptive hear, but we can all imagine how the semen ends up on her, skin, bra and panties. J.B is probably freaking out now, and from descriptions of her it seems she would be the type to kind lash back. Boys know they are in trouble now, and there is only one way to get out of this clean, they need to silence the girls. Maybe it is not until now that one of the boys gets his 9mm, tells the girls to get in the trunk and kills them. Maybe the whole point of killing them in the trunk is to hide the crime scene because this crime scene without a doubt would give them away.

Maybe, at some point here, Johnny Barrantine becomes involved, maybe he knows these boys, maybe not. But he somehow becomes part of this. Maybe in the days that follow the killer(s) who sees Barrantine as a pretty naïve fellow, get him to concoct a story that will divert attention from them. But Barrantine ain’t too bright so he gets a little goofed up when telling the story – black truck instead of white, scary dude with tattoos (in his mind maybe all bad people have tattoos, so it seems in his head to be a pretty good lie). Maybe the Merritt mother daughter, didn’t see anything, maybe they weren’t even there (buying a soda at a closed store?), maybe they are running interference/decoy for someone else. Afterall, you have to think that if killer(s) is/are local that in the days that follow they would be making sure to tie up loose ends i.e getting Barrantine to concoct a story, see if he can get hands on surveillance tapes, get Merritt to concoct a story. Maybe 8 months later, after Barrantine seems to have been cleared, they need to make sure LE are looking in the wrong places still, so now they get someone( a woman, always has to be a woman, they make better witnesses) to say they heard screams that night in a certain area. So they go to this area beforehand and shoot a round from the 9mm and hide the shell casing, but not too well as it needs to be found. Only problem is they have to buy a new brand of bullets but what the hell, the cops will be able to figure out it came from the same gun.

Looking at the facts(which are very limited)-combining it with the reports that I find very odd, this is just one theory that I came up with.

I think this theory can tie in with many of the theories that are out their i.e . Barrantine gets involved somehow… maybe he really was going for milk and the B/L store was one of his tops looking for milk, maybe he already knew the boys, maybe he IS one of the boys. Maybe the judges son is one of the boys. Maybe they never intended to go to THE party. The thing with rumours in small towns, is that they often have some truth to them, either they start from the truth and evolve, maybe bits and pieces are truth or sometimes they are completely made up as a diversion.


Just some things to think about. I am not tied down to any one theory, but putting facts and oddities and questions together, this is what I have come up with.

 

[jenstar]

I looked for Marilyn Merritt on FB and it seems that they didn't have a profile. Using google search I found there was one Marilyn Merritt that lived in Ozark, she was married to a Clifford. All of cliffords addresses point that he lives in Florida now.
Here's Marilyns Obit. if she was from Ozark
http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/di...ilyn-Wilson&lc=2230&pid=160468575&mid=5272399

 

[killarney rose]

Wow- great sleuthing this morning!

MR TT I can see the girls quickly pulling into dark Depot Ln for an emergency potty break after finding the B/L closed. It makes sense that the killer might have accosted them there if he was in the white truck and following them..

We don't know which directions MM gave the girls to getback to Hwy 231. If she gave them directions via Hwy 123/Union Ave, what if going on the theory they needed a bathroom, or were still confused, they stopped at this B/L store which is located about halfway between downtown Ozark and Hwy 231? They could have met with the killer there.

RE: Dime Detedective's post #271- My DH and I discussed pretty much the contents of your post early this morning. ITA agree with all you have said in it.

I'll add to it that I believe the car being left on Herring means one thing. The killer had ties to that neighborhood and left the car on foot.


CoolJ- excellent questions. Myself, I have still not dismissed Barrentine as being involved in this. Nor have I dismissed the rumors of the prominent son and a friend. Barrentine could've been meant to be their fall guy. My DH and I dicussed this in depth this morning- LOL I have him interested now that I dragged him to Ozark with me the other day!

 

[Veidt]

<snip>
8. Did the Merritt witness say they left before the girls? How did they see which way they left if that is the case?
9. Merritt and her daughter were at the B/L Store to get a soda, but it was closed?? (this is odd isn’t it?)
10. When did Merritt report what they had witnessed?
11. Did Merritt report anything with regards to white truck?
12. What is the order/timeline of the 3 (the girls, the Merritts, the white truck) entering the B/L store and leaving the B/L store?
<snip>
15. Something is a little bit hinky/odd about the girls leaving for a party at 10pm to an area they had know idea of the location when they were planning on being home 90 minutes later. So their plan was to drive there, socialize, and drive back all by 11:30pm? Odd isn’t it? Also in this line of thinking, they apparently called friends at the party while in Headland at 10:30pm to say they wouldn’t be able to make it?? They had given up already? Doesn’t sound like they could have much of a chance to actually look that hard for the party at this point.
16. It was a field party? Yet they called friends? As in called a cell phone? Hmmm… 1999, thinking back now, not too many had cell phones back then, especially high school aged kids…. Also back then I question if a rural area such as this would even have service.
17. So, where were they from 10:30-11:30pm? They had already decided at 10:30pm they weren’t going to the party, could they have been lost and just happened upon the B/L store in Ozark or did they go to Ozark for a reason?
<snip>
19. Was the “palm print” a hand print with finger prints? Or was it a glove print?
20. Did grease stains in car match grease on Barrantines gloves?
<snip>
24. Anymore info about Hawlett? Don’t have much info on her. Why is there not much info on her?

<snip>

Snipped by me to avoid making this a huge post.

Your questions about Barrantine and how close the girls were are very good. I'm curious about the grease stain too. To reply to your other questions:

8. I believe it's been mentioned before that Merritt and her daughter said that they left before the girls. They gave the girls directions and hung around until Tracie made the phone call to her mother. Then they believed it was safe enough to leave. It's also been reported (I don't know if it was by the witnesses or what) that the girls left right after them, presumably because the call had been quick. This means that the witnesses probably knew which way the girls went because they had just given them directions and maybe saw the girl or the head lights a few feet behind them before losing them.

9. Not odd. IIRC the girls thought it would be open too. I asked if the store had closed right after Merritt and her daughter bought the soda or if they too had gotten the opening hours wrong. Dime Detective replied to one of my recent posts (page 11) and clarified that there was a soda machine outside the store and this what they were there for.

10. I read in this thread (I think it's around the second or third page) that the witnesses came forward soon after they heard about the case. Dime Detective has a case file type post at the beginning of this thread that may be helpful to you, it's on the second or third page.

11. This is a question people have been asking for the past few pages. I don't believe that anything to that effect has been reported. The big question here is why, maybe they said something about it (such as being the source for the tire information) and the media didn't report it, or they just didn't see or notice the truck.

12. The timeline as to when the truck arrived has been debated because LE gave a time frame and it's been read in different ways - that the truck was there that whole time or that it could have been arrived there at any time during that period. I think that the Merritts arrived before the girls. I also think they would have noticed a truck driving into the parking lot so I assume it's probably white truck, then the Merritts, then girls if the witnesses were there before the girls were. If they arrived later, it could be white truck, Merritts, girls or Merritt getting there first and then the white truck and the girls arriving more or less simultaneously. As to leaving, I believe it's been reported that Merritt left the store and J.B. and Tracie left after them, with the security tape showing the white truck leaving between them. DD has a timeline on page 3.

15&16. Not that odd, to me at least. It's possible that they wanted to be at the party for as long as they could, you know? It was J.B.'s birthday party. I think it's also possible that J.B. waited for Tracie to leave work because nobody else would give her a ride, but that Tracie (because of her curfew) was going to leave earlier with friends with a similar curfew. The party was a field party at the house of one of their friends who lived in a rural area. I was confused by this too until I read DD's case file post. They were calling their friend's house.

17. Ozark was north of Dothan as was their friend's house, except the house was closer. It sounds very likely to me that they were indeed lost, or maybe decided to at least drive around and chat. I don't know where you got that at 10:30 they decided not to go for the party? The theory is that it's likely that they decided that they wouldn't go because they had to turn back and were lost anyway, but I don't think it's known with absolute certainty. From what Tracie's mother said I agree they were probably already set on not going to the party but we don't know exactly when they made up their mind. I do believe that either way, whether they were still trying to find the party or go back to Dothan they were still lost and ended up in Ozark.

19. I would like to know if there were fingerprints too... it's possible that there were no fingerprints but that it's a print of the palm area minus fingers IMO.

24. I'm not sure but I think it might be simply that Hawlett's family chose to handle their grief privately. It doesn't mean that the relevant details were not shared with LE or that anything shady was going on, just that giving secondary details to the press may have been more than they could handle.

I seriously recommend reading DD's posts in this thread (everyone's too but DD has made at least a couple of timeline/information posts and seems to have devoted a lot of time to this case... you can find one on page 1 and another on page 3).