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

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zuli said:
I found that in 1999 :
"Also, in 1999, while Lavergne was serving in the Army at Fort Polk he sexually assaulted a woman in Evangeline Parish. He was driving a '93 Ford pickup with La. license plate of S074500. (Note: Police collected DNA (sperm from a washcloth) at the scene. This evidence may have been what helped them connect Lavergne to Pate.)

in April, Lavergne married Lainey Vasseur in September 1999. Lainey left him after several assault incidences. They divorced after he went to jail in October 2000 for the assault on Parish.
" http://www.missingpersonsofamerica.com/2012/07/will-more-victims-be-found-connected-to.html

The 1999 arrest report is there (horrible reading) and no color is given for his '93 ford pickup (page 4) : http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/804...randon-Scott-Lavergne-1999-Arrest-Updated.pdf

regards
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They have BSL's DNA and fingerprints on file now though, and should have had it since he went to jail in 2000, so surely if he was responsible for this then they would have their perp by now
 
CoolJ said:
Also there is a descrepancy in his time gone to get milk. Earlier I read he was away from home from 11pm-1am to get milk. Then I read in the CoE that his wife said he was gone for 15 minutes. We need to know the correct answers to those questions.
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bearx said:
Maybe I mis-read a post, but was one girl placed in the trunk and shot before the other girl was in the truck?
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Just wanted to confirm that the archived MSM story, "A Killer Still Walks Free" from The Birmingham News, January 20, 2000, contains information related to both of the above quotes:

That same night, Johnny Barrentine came home shortly before 1 a.m., visibly upset.
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First into the trunk, [Miss Hawlett] had been shot once in the temple.
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https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/alt.true-crime/p4SW7h5_jjQ

The CoE was the first and only time I've seen the information that 1) Barrentine was only gone for 15 minutes that night, and 2) the police actually arrived at Barrentine through his wife, rather than the original story that Barrentine voluntarily came forward with information on September 1 after being encouraged by an acquaintance to "go to authorities and collect the reward."
 
DimeDetective said:
Just wanted to confirm that the archived MSM story, "A Killer Still Walks Free" from The Birmingham News, January 20, 2000, contains information related to both of the above quotes:





https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/alt.true-crime/p4SW7h5_jjQ

The CoE was the first and only time I've seen the information that 1) Barrentine was only gone for 15 minutes that night, and 2) the police actually arrived at Barrentine through his wife, rather than the original story that Barrentine voluntarily came forward with information on September 1 after being encouraged by an acquaintance to "go to authorities and collect the reward."
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It would be interesting to know how the killer got both girls in the trunk, especially if he was alone. I guess maybe by pointing a gun at one, the other one became compliant? Idk.
 
Following are my notes on the Chronology of Events; my comments are in italics:

  • From the beginning, LE have maintained the girls were shot in the trunk, then their bodies were driven to Herring. One theory I've seen discussed on message boards is that LE are confident in this fact because blood under the car that had leaked from the bodies in the trunk above appeared to have blown back against the underside of the car, pointing to the car being driven after the murders.

  • Chief Spivey believed from early on, based on forensic evidence, the killer was more than likely local. What forensic evidence could lead one to this conclusion?

  • Investigators ruled out the murders as being gang-related, since there was no evidence to support this theory. KR and other locals: Is gang activity common in Ozark?

  • A lot of streets and avenues were able to be eliminated by LE as the murder site. This may strengthen the possibility that the murder site was one of the areas repeatedly searched: 123 or Depot Lane.

  • Hypnosis and psychics were used in the investigation.

  • Chief Spivey stressed that out of state leads do not indicate that a local suspect has been ruled out.

  • A possible grease stain on the back seat of J.B.'s car was compared to grease stains on gloves in the glove compartment of Johnny Barrentine's truck. Though it never appeared in MSM print that I've found, clearly this grease did not lead LE to the conclusion that Barrentine had been in J.B.'s car.

  • Johnny Barrentine walked into the Video Warehouse in Ozark and asked the clerk if he could rent the video taken by security cameras at the Big/Little Store the night of the murders. Barrentine gave as his reason for this inquiry that a fight had taken place at the store and he "wanted to see about what time it was." The clerk at Video Warehouse reported this bizarre request to police, which led them to Barrentine's wife, then Barrentine himself. This supports Barrentine's claims that, from the beginning, he was conducting his own investigation into the murders in an effort to score the reward money. It also clearly illustrates Barrentine's mental limitations.

  • It was reported that semen was found on J.B.'s dress. It was also reported that semen was found on J.B.'s skin, bra, and panties.

  • When the DNA evidence was discovered months into the investigation, LE was forced to go back and collect DNA from all previous persons of interest interviewed.

  • A 9mm bullet (not fired) was found at the area LE searched on 123. It did not match the bullet brand used in the killings, but according to Spivey it is common for people to use mixed brands of ammo. Based on date and location, the 123 site appears to be the location LE focused on after the witness came forward in March 2000 to report that she'd heard screams and gunshots on the night of the murders. What, then, led LE to search the Depot Lane area?

  • Spivey felt all along that more than one person was involved in the killings. If so, this could be a big plus toward the case eventually being solved: one keeps his secret better than two.

  • America's Most Wanted contacted Spivey in June 2000, and a 6-minute segment on the murders aired on AMW in August 2000. Previously I had only found it reported that the case was featured on AMW in 2007; clearly the segment was aired in 2000 and re-aired in 2007.

  • The AMW segment featured a reenactment of the crime: the girls were "chased through the woods," and focus was on the white pickup truck. The Blair Witch Project, a megahit horror film where young people are chased through the woods by an unknown/unseen presence or assailant, was released in theatres nationwide on the day before J.B. and Tracie were murdered. In the film and its surrounding lore, the car belonging to the missing filmmakers was discovered parked along an isolated road near the woods. The story of the missing students in the film was passed off to the public as being a true missing persons case, and the film's groundbreaking internet marketing campaign and a television documentary familiarized the public with the details of the case well before the film's release.

    Earlier in July 1999, Summer of Sam, Spike Lee's film about "the Son of Sam" David Berkowitz and the effect of his murders — most of which involved two female victims/two victims in a car — on New York City in the summer of 1977, opened in theatres across the country.

    In June 1999, The General's Daughter starring John Travolta was released in theatres nationwide. In the film, Timothy Hutton plays an Army Colonel who rapes and murders a young female Captain.

  • More than 26 leads were phoned in following the AMW airing.

  • When the perpetrator of a 15-year-old Texas double murder case was captured, his DNA was tested related to the Beasley-Hawlett murders. Spivey noted this was "a long shot," but they were checking out any and every potential lead. So often people complain that LE "aren't doing enough" or "aren't doing anything"; I would point to this (and many other examples of local investigators traveling out of state — including to Michigan, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Wisconsin) as an example of how exhaustive this investigation has been. Among the many rumors of LE involvement and/or a cover-up in this case, I've yet to come across anyone giving LE the credit they deserve for conducting such a dogged and thorough investigation.

  • In January 2001, J.B.'s mother Cheryl Burgoon appeared on The Maury Povich Show to talk about the case. No tips were called in after the show.

  • Eugene Eutsey, though cleared in the murders of J.B. and Tracie, did use the same spot on Herring Avenue to ditch a car after a murder. I'd never heard of this kind of copycat criminal. Seems likely Eutsey had heard of the Beasley-Hawlett murders, was aware that the killer was never caught, and concluded that Herring Avenue near James Street was a good place to leave a car after a murder to avoid being apprehended.
 
It's so interesting that nothing came of the DNA via the semen.
 
I would love to see that DNA tested against military personel on file that have been at Ft. Rucker...not saying it is possible, just that I would like to see it done. I still think the killer could have been a soldier.

Dime Detective- thank you so much for laying out all this information in such a concise, easy to read manner.

Couple of responses to your post-

What evidence leads Spivey to believe the killer is local? I would love to know that myself. It would help us amatuers as we ponder on the case.

Ozark gang activity- I can't remember what if any was going on in 1999. Don't hear anything about it these days. But of course, in certain neighborhoods, there will always be thugs and wannabes......

What led to Depot Ln being searched as a possible murder site? Perhaps a tip called in or something one of the suspects might have said when they were being questioned?
 
The only thing I can come up with as far as LE thinking the person is local:
they believe the crime scene is in a secluded place that only locals know how to access in the dark or there are some sort of shoeprints leading away from the crime- the perp walked back into town/ back to a house without getting into a car (leading LE to believe that he lived in the area). Those are my best guesses.
 
deca said:
The only thing I can come up with as far as LE thinking the person is local: they believe the crime scene is in a secluded place that only locals know how to access in the dark
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From "2 Missing Girls Found Dead in Car," The Albany Herald, August 3, 1999:

The police chief said the girls were found on a road about a mile from downtown. Only a few houses are on the road and none are near where the car was parked.

"If you are not from Ozark, how did you wind up there?" Spivey said.
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=orpEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jrYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1248,495685&hl=en
 
Here are some actual print news stories about the case, as found in the Google News Archive:

 
DimeDetective said:
Question:

Why would the killer keep the keys?
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We don't know for sure he did. He could have tossed them into woods.
If he did keep them, one of two possible reasons.........souvenir, or to prevent someone else coming by from driving off in it......Better question why remove the keys from the ignition......To make it appear it was abandon, appear broken down perhaps.

Were the doors locked?......I don't remember reading that part.

All that driving, I was surprised her license was found on the dash and not the floor.
If she was pulled over, and placed her id on the dash, or was told to place it on the dash.
 
Reckless and Risky Behavior on the Part of the Killer​


  • This crime almost certainly involves several steps: getting the girls to stop their car, abducting the girls, exiting the car with the girls, possibly marching through a wooded/wet/muddy area with the girls, sexual involvement to some degree with the girls or just J.B., ordering the girls into the trunk, shooting the girls, driving J.B.'s car to Herring Avenue, returning to his own vehicle or to his home. The girls' estimated time of death was between 12:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. Bottom line: this crime took time. During at least some of these steps the killer risked being spotted by a witness or LE. He had no control over other vehicles suddenly coming upon him during the steps that involved/took place near roadways.

  • No attempt was made to alter, conceal, or destroy evidence. The bodies were left to be discovered. A hasty exit by the killer after the shootings contradicts the above point — that the killer risked capture by committing a multi-part crime over some period of time. If the killer took his time with the girls until the shootings, then wanted to rush away, why the extra step of driving the car/bodies to Herring Avenue? If the shootings took place in a fairly isolated area such as 123 or Depot Lane, why not leave the car and the bodies there? What is it about Herring Avenue that led the killer to risk taking this additional step? Was his car parked near Herring? Did he live near Herring? What advantage does the killer have in leaving the car and bodies at Herring that is worth the risk of leaving the car and bodies at Herring?

  • The killer likely drove J.B.'s car to Herring Avenue. Although it is apparent that no foreign DNA was found in the car (as none has ever been mentioned in MSM reports), how did the killer know for sure he wouldn't leave more DNA behind in the car? Again, as above, why risk leaving more evidence as to his identity behind just to get the car and the bodies moved over to Herring?

  • The killer left a palm print on the trunk lid.

  • The killer left his DNA on the body of one of the victims.

  • The killer used a firearm on a late quiet night in a small town, potentially drawing attention to himself.

  • If local, the killer's choice of Herring Avenue — a little-known back road in Ozark — as a dump site points to his being local.

  • The killer drove J.B.'s car away from the murder site with the bodies in the trunk. Why not shoot the girls and leave them on the ground at the murder site and drive J.B.'s car back, sans bodies, to his car or other place of safety? Why was Herring part of his route of escape?

  • The killer may have left his own vehicle behind for an extended period of time after forcing the girls away from the original point of abduction.

  • If the killer did in fact pose as a police officer in order to lure the girls into his trap, why leave J.B.'s license on the dashboard? He took the keys; why not take J.B.'s license too? Why reveal his means of tricking the girls into stopping? Though this doesn't point directly to his identity, it does reveal something about the killer.
 
I wonder if the girls were placed in the trunk in an unknown location (location #1) and began screaming, tried to escape OR the perp changed his plans with what he was going to ultimately do with the girls so he pulled over at location #2- opened the trunk, shot the girls then dropped the car off on Herring Rd. Perp walks back to his parked car or into town to his house.

Or he put them in the trunk in location and immediately murdered them then planned to hide them somewhere and changed his mind.

This would explain why the perp did not leave the bodies at the murder site- he was initially going to take them somewhere else (for ransom or additional torture of some sort) so the murder site was somewhere unplanned and spontaneous.

So to sum it up either 1) He felt it was safer leaving the car where he did rather than murder site. 2) he needed to leave it there to access his car or house
 
DimeDetective said:
Reckless and Risky Behavior on the Part of the Killer​


  • This crime almost certainly involves several steps: getting the girls to stop their car, abducting the girls, exiting the car with the girls, possibly marching through a wooded/wet/muddy area with the girls, sexual involvement to some degree with the girls or just J.B., ordering the girls into the trunk, shooting the girls, driving J.B.'s car to Herring Avenue, returning to his own vehicle or to his home. The girls' estimated time of death was between 12:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. Bottom line: this crime took time. During at least some of these steps the killer risked being spotted by a witness or LE. He had no control over other vehicles suddenly coming upon him during the steps that involved/took place near roadways.
  • No attempt was made to alter, conceal, or destroy evidence. The bodies were left to be discovered. A hasty exit by the killer after the shootings contradicts the above point — that the killer risked capture by committing a multi-part crime over some period of time. If the killer took his time with the girls until the shootings, then wanted to rush away, why the extra step of driving the car/bodies to Herring Avenue? If the shootings took place in a fairly isolated area such as 123 or Depot Lane, why not leave the car and the bodies there? What is it about Herring Avenue that led the killer to risk taking this additional step? Was his car parked near Herring? Did he live near Herring? What advantage does the killer have in leaving the car and bodies at Herring that is worth the risk of leaving the car and bodies at Herring?
  • The killer likely drove J.B.'s car to Herring Avenue. Although it is apparent that no foreign DNA was found in the car (as none has ever been mentioned in MSM reports), how did the killer know for sure he wouldn't leave more DNA behind in the car? Again, as above, why risk leaving more evidence as to his identity behind just to get the car and the bodies moved over to Herring?
  • The killer left a palm print on the trunk lid.
  • The killer left his DNA on the body of one of the victims.
  • The killer used a firearm on a late quiet night in a small town, potentially drawing attention to himself.
  • If local, the killer's choice of Herring Avenue — a little-known back road in Ozark — as a dump site points to his being local.
  • The killer drove J.B.'s car away from the murder site with the bodies in the trunk. Why not shoot the girls and leave them on the ground at the murder site and drive J.B.'s car back, sans bodies, to his car or other place of safety? Why was Herring part of his route of escape?
  • The killer may have left his own vehicle behind for an extended period of time after forcing the girls away from the original point of abduction.
  • If the killer did in fact pose as a police officer in order to lure the girls into his trap, why leave J.B.'s license on the dashboard? He took the keys; why not take J.B.'s license too? Why reveal his means of tricking the girls into stopping? Though this doesn't point directly to his identity, it does reveal something about the killer.
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As far as Herring. One would think as a theory, it is in the area where they were p[ulled over after leaving the b[p........as far as we know, they did not stop anywhere else but were heading homne...If they were p;ulled ovedr, she got the liecnse out and waited for him to approach, when he did she seen him comning up towards the widnow, she cracked it, or could have rolled it up to a crack if her air was not working...she expected to show the license , in stead he stuck a gun in the window and told her to turn off the car and give him the keys......she did, and he went back to his vehicle and turn his vehicle off and the lights off, locked it up and left it there, went back to the girls got in the backseat and gave the keys to the driver and told her to drive to wherever they went...Later on brought it back to the area of herring, so he could retrieve his vehicle......But not in that particular area..........Just guessing.
 
Kemberly Lorin Ramer

KemberlyRamer.jpg

Opp, Alabama is about 45 miles southwest of Ozark. On the night of August 15, 1997, 17-year-old Kemberly Ramer vanished from her home in Opp.

Though MSM reports are a total mess when it comes to reports of that night's timeline, it is known that Kemberly attended a softball game that evening, then spent time at her boyfriend's house with her boyfriend and other friends, then drove the five minutes home. An online post by Kemberly's mother states that Kemberly would have been alone in the house at the time.

Kemberly's car was found in the driveway and there was possible evidence of a struggle in her bedroom. Her personal belongings were left behind, including her glasses, contacts, jewelry, and money. Foul play is suspected. Her boyfriend and all family members have been ruled out as suspects.

Kemberly has never been found.

***​

Similarities to the Beasley-Hawlett case:

  • Both crimes took place in SE Alabama.
  • Both crimes took place in August.
  • All three victims were 17 years old.
  • All three victims had dark hair.
  • All three victims had been driving shortly before the crimes were committed.
  • All three victims were about to start their senior years of high school.
  • Some MSM timelines state 11:00 p.m., 11:45 p.m., and 12:00 midnight as key times in the Ramer case. Beasley and Hawlett were last seen alive at 11:30 p.m.
  • The victims' valuables and belongings were left behind and untouched in both cases, leading to the belief that robbery was not a motive.
  • The victims in both cases were last seen alive getting into their vehicles and driving away.
  • In the Ramer case, two tips were called in directing LE to the location of Kemberly's remains, leading to a search of a rural lake on Kemberly's birthday. J.B. Beasley was murdered on her birthday.

Sources
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/ramer_kemberly.html
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-543872

WS Thread: AL AL - Kemberly Ramer, 17, Opp, 15 Aug 1997 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community
 
It never crossed my mind these cases might be connected. Uncany similarities.
 
Dime Detective, your posts are excellent! Giving me a lot to think about. The possibility that the above case could be connected to JB & Tracie's murders is eerie!
 
killarney rose said:
It never crossed my mind these cases might be connected. Uncany similarities.
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The two crimes are a) seemingly random and b) only two years apart.

And despite the most obvious difference in the two cases — that Kemberly Ramer was likely abducted and has never been found while J.B. and Tracie were murdered, abandoned on a roadside, and found very quickly, I can definitely see a scenario where the same person may have attempted an abduction of J.B. and Tracie and found himself overwhelmed/outnumbered with two victims instead of one. In this scenario he may have panicked and changed or aborted his original plans/method.

It's important to consider that in the Kemberly Ramer case, the "possible" evidence of a struggle in her bedroom was, according to her parents, that a picture frame was on the floor and her bed was "a little more rumpled than usual." There was no sign of forced entry. It's very possible that Kemberly never made it into the house that night. She could've been followed home and abducted from her vehicle outside. This would be another similarity to the Beasley-Hawlett case.
 
If it is the same killer in both ses then that means we have a serial killer in the area- a local. Has he stopped?
 
Here is an excellent video from a 2010 news report on the 11th anniversary of the crime. It features intimate, heartbreaking interviews with Tracie's parents, Carol and Mike Roberts, that bring tears to my eyes every time I watch it. I hope this video will inspire and drive you to dig into this case and offer your time and energy to help in any way you can. It certainly does that for me.

http://dothanfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=118405

One other note: Around the 1:08 mark, if you notice a passing car going right to left behind the reporter, that's James Street, about 30 yards from the memorial/where the car was found on Herring.
 
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