The Beasley-Hawlett Murders The Daytona Beach Killer:
Connected?
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Were the Beasley-Hawlett murders the work of an early serial killer? Did the girls cross paths that night with the man now known as The Daytona Beach Killer?
I've been researching unsolved homicides that could possibly be connected to the Beasley-Hawlett murders. While some of us feel that whoever killed J.B. and Tracie may have done it before, I think many of us feel that whoever killed the girls very likely did not stop there. And, as no similar crimes have been committed in southeast Alabama in the years since, the killer must have moved on.
The Daytona Beach Killer first caught my eye as a possible connection based simply on geography and timeframe. From there I discovered many more points of interest that strengthened the theory that J.B. and Tracie could have been murdered by the DBK. Here's what I've found so far; points of interest to the Beasley-Hawlett murders are bolded:
THE DAYTONA BEACH KILLER: FOUR MURDERS
Between December 2005 and December 2007, four women were found murdered in Daytona Beach, Florida:
1. Laquetta Gunther, 45, was found in an alley on December 26, 2005.
She had been shot once in the head, execution-style. The killer's DNA was recovered from the scene. No attempt was made by the killer to conceal the body.
2. Julie Green, 34, was found on January 14, 2006.
She had been shot once in the head, execution-style. Though no DNA was found at the scene,
no attempt was made to conceal the body. Tire tracks belonging to a 2003 Ford Taurus or Mercury Sable were found at the scene. LE later located the exact tires that had left the tracks.
3. Iwana Patton, 35, was found on a dirt road on February 24, 2006.
She had been shot once and it appears she may have struggled with her killer.
No attempt was made to conceal the body. DNA was recovered from the scene and was later found to be a match to the DNA recovered from the scene of the Laquetta Gunther murder.
A shell casing was recovered from the scene that allowed LE to identify the make and model of pistol used. Ballistics linked the weapon to the Gunther and Green murders.
Although a 9mm was used in the Beasley-Hawlett murders and the weapon used in these three murders was found to be a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson Sigma Series VE, this discovery immediately led LE to wonder if the murders had been
committed by a police officer or a former police officer. (More on this below.)
4. Stacey Charlene Gage, 30, was found January 2, 2008. LE believed she had been killed about three weeks earlier, on December 11, 2007.
She had been shot once in the head, execution-style. Immediately LE noticed that circumstances surrounding the Gage murder were "eerily similar" to the unsolved Gunther-Green-Patton homicides. A year later, on January 23, 2008, LE formally announced that Stacey Charlene Gage had indeed been murdered by the same man who killed Gunther, Green, and Patton.
Gunther, Green, and Patton were believed by LE to have worked as prostitutes in the Daytona Beach area. The discovery of a link between the Gage murder and those of Gunther, Green, and Patton brought LE to a new conclusion: because Gage had no criminal record involving prostitution but she did have a history of drug problems, LE now believed that what linked the victims was more than likely the fact that they all
voluntarily accompanied their killer,
possibly in a vehicle. (For more on this, see killer's profile below.)
THE I-10 CONNECTION
The four linked murders detailed above are among 28 unsolved homicides in Florida alone that have been connected to serial killings by the FBI. The Bureau suspects that many or all of these murders may have been committed by long-haul truckers. An astounding 19 of these murders occurred along Interstate 4 between Tampa and Daytona Beach, a distance of only 140 miles.
With this I-4 fact in mind, I wanted to check for any popular trucking routes that might lead a trucker to the Dothan/Ozark area. The most obvious link was Interstate 10, the southernmost transcontinental highway in the U.S., stretching from Jacksonville, FL to Santa Monica, CA.
The first interesting fact I discovered is that most of I-10 in Florida travels through some of the least-populated areas in the state. This led me to think that perhaps a long-haul trucker/serial killer might really favor this particular stretch of I-10, which would be long on remote, isolated spots.
That's when I noticed that, traveling along I-10, exactly between Marianna, FL and Chipley, FL, I-10 is intersected by
U.S. 231, the same route J.B. and Tracie left the Big/Little Store in search of on the night of July 31, 1999. Roughly 40 minutes north of the intersection of I-10 and U.S. 231 lies Dothan, Alabama hometown of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett. Continue following 231 north for another 20 minutes and you will find yourself in a rural, isolated area with a low population: Ozark.
THE KILLER'S PROFILE
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the profile of the suspect, as generated by profiler Tom Davis, is as follows (all points of interest to the Beasley-Hawlett case bolded):
- Probably in a dysfunctional relationship with a woman.
- Has little control over the relationship, which may be the catalyst for his attacks.
- Victims were chosen at random.
- Victims are a substitute for a close female interest.
- Most likely clean-cut man who is employed.
- Articulate and well-groomed.
- May seem "normal."
- Good social and verbal skills.
- May also have a volatile temper.
- Average guy from an average neighborhood.
- The killer is said to seek out "substitute victims" in order to relive his rage. He seeks out women from whom he can easily gain confidence. These are women from "high-risk" lifestyles. The murderer made no apparent attempt to hide the bodies, suggesting that he did not plan the disposal of his victim, opting instead to leave them in the area of his attacks.
SUSPECTS
Among several specific one-time persons of interest who have since been ruled out, I found two parties included on lists of potential suspects in the Daytona Beach killings especially alarming in light of the details of the Beasley-Hawlett case:
- Law Enforcement Impersonators.
- Man in a Truck. Reporters from WESH 2 News spoke to a woman who said she was walking down the street in January of 2006 when a truck pulled up next to her. "He pulled over. I thought he was going to ask a question, but he pulled a gun on me and says, 'Get in,'" Nelita Ramos said. She said that she was taken to an alley on Beach Street where the man put the gun to her head. The man reportedly told Ramos she was going to die. After a few hours, during which she begged for her life, Ramos was let go.
THEORIES
Two strong theories held by LE in the case of the DBK are of particular interest when looking for connections to the Beasley-Hawlett murders:
- The killer is LE or former LE. The Daytona Beach News Journal ran a story on March 22, 2006, in reference to the (at that time) three unsolved murders. The story included the following:
Talk around the city that a former cop is the serial killer behind the unsolved murders of three women is not farfetched, a Daytona Beach police captain said Tuesday. "All theories are open right now, including that it could be a former cop," said Capt. Brian Skipper, who oversees the detectives involved in the investigation. "It could be anybody, from any department, from any city."
On April 22, 2006, local police confirmed that police officers were questioned in the slayings.
Many of the area law enforcement agencies issue a .40 caliber weapon to their officers.
- The killer is an out-of-towner. Iwana Patton, the third victim, was killed on February 24th, 2006. Stacey Gage was killed approximately (according to pathologists) December 11, 2007. That is nearly two years between the third and fourth victims. Could the killer have been a visitor to Daytona Beach?
Ozark-Daytona Beach: Did a serial killer roaming the Southeastern U.S. cross paths with J.B. and Tracie?
I'll continue to research and post any items of interest related to a possible DBK connection.
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