AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #2

[TedMac]

If the killer deposited the semen on the Victim after they were killed, this is more typical of what you see with certain serial killers,which puts this in a whole separate category if it's the case

I don't think it was after they were killed. It was found on her undergarments and not on her pants or shirt. So, the killer would have had to kill them in the trunk of the car and then dress her. Seems like a lot of extra work. I think he probably did it while she was outside the car and stripped to her undergarments. Later he allowed her to dress and ordered her into the trunk where she was killed.

I often wondered if he didn't do what he did to both of them and just finished the act on JB. According to LE the semen was on her only. MOO

 

[killarney rose]

He was actually arrested and charged with the killings only to be released later and the charges dropped. When interviewed by LE, he admitted to killing them. He later recanted his story and said LE coerced or tricked into confessing. Most people feel that he did not kill J.B. and Tracie, but probably saw something that evening and it involved the two victims as he was able to correctly the clothes they were wearing. Since he now deceased, we will probably never know his true involvement. I will add this...the DNA found on J.B. was tested and it was not his.

I have always believed that he was not the killer but he saw something or became inadvertently involved.

 

[morf13]

The Guy likely couldn't perform, and best he could do was masturbate. Maybe had a history of fails with Women and/or impotency issues. I can only imagine how scared these two Girls were at the hands of this murdering pervert

 

[morf13]

I wonder if 2 People could be involved? If he pulled them over, and got in the car with him, he likely would have had to have left his car(if he was driving one)at the scene on the side of the road, thus making it more likely his car would be witnessed. I know in the Haunting Evidence, they psychic thought the attacker drove ahead of them, parked his car, then flagged them down. I guess anything is possible

 

[TedMac]

I wonder if 2 People could be involved? If he pulled them over, and got in the car with him, he likely would have had to have left his car(if he was driving one)at the scene on the side of the road, thus making it more likely his car would be witnessed. I know in the Haunting Evidence, they psychic thought the attacker drove ahead of them, parked his car, then flagged them down. I guess anything is possible

It is possible and no one knows for sure. It certainly would have made it easier for the perp(s) to capture and keep control of them.

 

[somequestions]

I had an idea as to why J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett's car was parked perpendicular that night. Maybe it was habit? When I was a kid I used to help another family member deliver newspapers and we would park the car and then deliver the papers and return to the car. It usually was a central location so we could fan out. It is a total guess but a newspaper carrier would know the roads in Ozark.

I really do not believe the Haunting Evidence sequence of events. I cannot understand why a kidnapper would hang out at a store that is closed and stick around with two witnesses possibly being able to ID his truck(Ms. Merritt and her daughter). It also looks like when I traveled it on Google Earth that Broad Street has curbs on both sides making it difficult to pull to the side of the road.

What do you think? Do you think they made it to the main road(State Road 123 or U.S. 231)?

I also do not think they were misleading their parents. You have two witnesses at separate gas stations(one over the phone, the other in person Ms. Merrit) who claim they were lost and looking for directions. There is always the possibility it could be some clever ruse to gain time(We were lost and that is why it took us so long to get home), but I do not think so. If they had other plans in Ozark, why not drive directly to Ozark?

Until someone can figure out how they encountered their kidnapper and where, this is going to be a difficult case to solve. Leaving the car on Herring and walking north would be risky because if a citizen or police drive past they are going to see the car and then the person. So I think based on the possibilities of where the girls could have driven to encounter a main road that the killer either lives directly east or south of where the car was parked. That is my best guess.

 

[iluvmua]

He was actually arrested and charged with the killings only to be released later and the charges dropped. When interviewed by LE, he admitted to killing them. He later recanted his story and said LE coerced or tricked into confessing. Most people feel that he did not kill J.B. and Tracie, but probably saw something that evening and it involved the two victims as he was able to correctly the clothes they were wearing. Since he now deceased, we will probably never know his true involvement. I will add this...the DNA found on J.B. was tested and it was not his.

Johnny Barrentine is desceased? I can't find his obit anywhere.

 

[TedMac]

Johnny Barrentine is desceased? I can't find his obit anywhere.

He died earlier this year and I believe is was due to complications of stomach cancer.

 

[iluvmua]

Anybody know about the 3 pigs pub and grill that was supposedly next to the gas station?

 

[somequestions]

One thing I do not understand is if a man marches two females to a place that is muddy and wet, wouldn't his socks, shoes, and pants be as wet and muddy as theirs are? The driver's side area where the gas pedal and brake pedal are would be muddy if that was the case. I have not read anything about this, but I thought it was an important question.

 

[TedMac]

Anybody know about the 3 pigs pub and grill that was supposedly next to the gas station?

Not much except it was near the Big/Little Store where JB & Tracie made their phone calls from. It was the last time they were seen alive except by the killer. There was also an old train depot there.

 

[TedMac]

One thing I do not understand is if a man marches two females to a place that is muddy and wet, wouldn't his socks, shoes, and pants be as wet and muddy as theirs are? The driver's side area where the gas pedal and brake pedal are would be muddy if that was the case. I have not read anything about this, but I thought it was an important question.

You would think so, unless he managed to somehow avoid the water they ran or walked thru. We've wondered if they were actually marched thru a creek or pond or if they ran thru it on their own in an attempt to escape. Either way, you are correct. There has been no discussion on whether or not there was any mud or sand in the driver's side of the car.

 

[somequestions]

If that is true it makes me think Johnny Barrentine has nothing to do with the crime. If J.B. Beasley's boyfriend's DNA does not match and Barrentine's does not match, I think he probably knows nothing. If you knew that you were not the actual criminal, but had information that might help bring resolution to a case, would you not reveal it if you knew you were going to die of cancer?

 

[somequestions]

I think based on the way the killer's clothing had to look, muddy shoes and pants, that whoever it was that killed J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett was working or had just got done working at the time when this happened. Whatever job it was I think it involved dirty shoes so probably either construction or lawn care to name a few. I know the main suspect was a mechanic, but was he still wearing his work clothes when he left the house that night? I am just brainstorming about all this. It could be some military guy or college student who did not care about his clothes. There is no right or wrong answer. In cold cases like this one, all you can really do is try to come up with ideas.

 

[KellyellenburgAL76]

anyone feel like this is more than a coincidence? Occam's razor theory here? I really really really like this guy for the crime. Dna or no dna match.

Police investigate possible link to murder of dothan teens
http://www.wiregrass.com/ozark/news.html
investigators are performing dna testing on a work release
prisoner, after he admitted to murdering a montgomery woman by beating
her and ditched her car last week in ozark, at the same location on
herring ave. Where the two dothan teens were found murdered almost
three years ago.

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.

Police say eutsey probably wanted johnston's car to escape from
his work release program. Eutsey confessed to the murder and he was
taken to the montgomery county jail without bond.

Eutsey is now a suspect in the murder of two dothan teenagers almost
three years ago in ozark. Ozark police chief tony spivey said eutsey
has relatives and friends in ozark and was known to visit the city
frequently around the time of the murders of tracey hawlett and j.b.
Beasley in the summer of 1999. Spivey also said there were some
similarities in the murders in ozark and the montgomery murder, which
weren't going to be released at this time. Ozark investigators
traveled to montgomery last and questioned eutsey. He denied any
knowledge of the ozark murders but a dna sample was sent to the lab to
be checked against dna from the double murder. Eutsey is considered a
suspect until the dna results come back, which will be in about four
to six weeks. So far, more than 100 people have been dna tested in the
case without a match.

Eutsey's criminal record includes three felonies, with one of
them occuring while he was on a work-release job in barbour county.
Eutsey allegedly stole a car in feb. 2001 while in the work-release
program in barbour county. Eutsey is serving a 15-year sentence for
theft, unlawful breaging and entering and burglary, and had only been
in prison for less than a year before being placed in the montgomery
work-release program.

There is still a $45,000 reward being offered for information in the
ozark murders.

good info but i cant find where he is incarcerated or a photo of him can you help

 

[TedMac]

If that is true it makes me think Johnny Barrentine has nothing to do with the crime. If J.B. Beasley's boyfriend's DNA does not match and Barrentine's does not match, I think he probably knows nothing. If you knew that you were not the actual criminal, but had information that might help bring resolution to a case, would you not reveal it if you knew you were going to die of cancer?

Barrentine was able to accurately describe the clothes that both girls were wearing. You would think that he would want to disclose what he knew once he became aware that he was dying. We don't know if LE talked to him when he was in the hospital or not. His credibility was gone after all the false stories he told originally. He first said he killed them, then he said he was with a guy he didn't know that was covered in tattoos and that guy killed them. Then lastly, he accused one of his neighbors of killing the girls. All of the stories were not true.

Early on in the investigation, Chief Spivey cautioned that this was not a sex crime and the DNA found on JB may not belong to the killer.

MOO... I don't believe that Barrentine is the killer. I do however believe that he saw them that night because he could identify their clothes. Where he saw them and under what circumstances is unknown.

 

[KellyellenburgAL76]

there was a three pigs in headland, i dont next to but close. im curious to know how much effort was put into researching the first store in headland was done. there is a semi fuel also at that store. something tells me that headland store was open and there would be more potential suspects there that at the closed store in ozark. my parents have lived in headland since 1993, they would have the occassional parties including kinsey folkes and there is someone that comes to mind that at the time had a dark supped up truck tinted windows with a police light on the dash used in kinsey rescue fire response, wierd character, once at my moms party we heard just down the road another party going on as well, that he thought would be funny to turn on and pull down the drive to scare everyone into thinking the cops were there. came from good family that would allow him the money to purchase a gun like the 9mm. just a thought however. he always freaked me out when he was around. what if someone followed them or targeted them from that location???

 

[somequestions]

Something I wanted to know is when you watch the Haunting Evidence episode, are they actually showing real crime scene photos or are they just good re-creations? The reason I wanted to know was I re-watched the episode about this case and I saw something very quick when medium John Oliver was talking to the Deputy Chief. There are flashes and one of them is of presumably one of the girls wearing a white shoe with mud on it. But if you look closely you can see her skin like she is not wearing socks. And the shoes, depending on whether they are single or double knotted, look tied so perfect. I can not tell how the shoe laces are knotted. For someone walking through an area with briars and mud, I am very surprised the shoe laces stayed as neat as they did.

 

[KellyellenburgAL76]

re-creation for sure. i think both girls were wearing jeans but you are right on the shoes being neat, they were new. the knotting not sure on its accuracy however. i do wonder why willing showed that the truck was a ram on the show; was it just used out ease or did they get more detailed than just dark colored truck with tinting hmmm.

 

[LR1]

Always good to see new members chiming in, welcome all.


If there's one thing I'm almost certain of in this case, it's that Barrentine had nothing to do with these murders. If you search his full name many of the old articles are still viewable and its clear to me he was looking to make a quick buck and hadn't a clue how much trouble he was getting himself into. He never admitted killing them. His stories, because they were multiple, was that he was present when it went down. With who depends on which story he was telling at the time. What kills me is the time it took to clear him. Four months and even then he wasn't publicly cleared. I guess he brought it upon himself. If not for the lab finding the DNA old Johnny might have spent his remaining years on death row if not executed. Thankfully the Grand Jury chose not to indict, I think they only took one day. I would need to know what they were wearing and exactly how he described their clothing in order to nail this down permanently. lucky guesses do happen, even from someone with a 7th grade education level.