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

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How events transpired in the case of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett is what makes it interesting. In the Haunting Evidence episode the killer is watching and planning an abduction.

I did not understand how someone planning on a specific car coming towards them has good enough eyes to be able to identify it coming towards them in the dark.

Why two victims? It seems unnecessary to abduct two. Why kill them? The obvious answer to this question is that the killer must have thought they could identify him somehow, but it is a bit strange since the crime happened at night. For example, if the killer is from California passing through he would be gone before an accurate description could be made.

Why use the victims car? This again seems strange if it is a planned abduction. And the thing with the full gas tank the day before now being empty is a real mystery. Maybe the killer siphoned out their gasoline?

I have looked up other cases similar to this and the one similarity when it comes to the car and bodies found in the trunk is that killer usually parks the car either close to where the victim lives or close to where they live. That could be a reason for the license being out. He might have been looking to see where the girls lived in town. The killer would not know they are from out of town. But then there would probably be fingerprints on the license.

It would not come as a surprise to me if when an arrest is made that the killer lives very close to where the car was found that night.
 
I agree about the killer living close by.

If the killer was behind the car, he would have known the girls were from out of town. Their car had a Houston county tag, with them being from a Dothan. Ozark is in Dale county.
 
The car being on empty despite being filled up the day before

My thoughts on this are, what do they mean by the day before? The day before they were found or the day before they went out? Saturday or Friday? That was never clear to me. It was also said somewhere that JB went to see her father either Friday or Saturday, I think her father lived in Troy, If she went there and back on the day before that's a hundred mile round trip which might explain some of the missing gas. I don't remember if they mentioned the low gas level on the haunting evidence show or not. It was mentioned in a early reporting and then from what I remember not mentioned again so there may or may not be something to it, we really don't have enough details as far as when and where she filled up to make that judgement.
 
somequestions said:
How events transpired in the case of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett is what makes it interesting. In the Haunting Evidence episode the killer is watching and planning an abduction.

I did not understand how someone planning on a specific car coming towards them has good enough eyes to be able to identify it coming towards them in the dark.

Why two victims? It seems unnecessary to abduct two. Why kill them? The obvious answer to this question is that the killer must have thought they could identify him somehow, but it is a bit strange since the crime happened at night. For example, if the killer is from California passing through he would be gone before an accurate description could be made.

Why use the victims car? This again seems strange if it is a planned abduction. And the thing with the full gas tank the day before now being empty is a real mystery. Maybe the killer siphoned out their gasoline?

I have looked up other cases similar to this and the one similarity when it comes to the car and bodies found in the trunk is that killer usually parks the car either close to where the victim lives or close to where they live. That could be a reason for the license being out. He might have been looking to see where the girls lived in town. The killer would not know they are from out of town. But then there would probably be fingerprints on the license.

It would not come as a surprise to me if when an arrest is made that the killer lives very close to where the car was found that night.
Click to expand...


BBM Very good questions. I really liked your explanation about the licenses being out. I had never thought of that. All of the following is just MHOO:

I have done a lot of research on this case and feel the this was not a random killing. The killer was known to the at least one of the victims. It was not planned. The girls were headed to a field party and got lost. They may have given up on finding the party and decided to go somewhere else. The killer was there and was able to gain control of them once they stopped. I also think that Johnny Barrentine was there and saw them. That is how he was able to successfully describe the clothing of both girls. The killer left with both girls and killed them somewhere away from where they were abducted. The motive may have been jealousy, rejection or something along that line. I think that only one was the intended victim and the other was killed because she was present and witnessed everything.

The victim's car was probably used to transport the killer back to his vehicle or at least near his vehicle. There are some things about this I do not understand. Why put the girls in the trunk of the car to kill them? Could it be the killer thought it would muffle the sounds of the gunshots and maybe their screams? Why drive to Herring Ave with two dead bodies in the trunk? The killer was taking a huge chance by doing this. Why were the girls put in the trunk of the car before being killed? Maybe to make them more controllable? They had mud on their clothes and their pants were wet from knee down. Had they tried to escape? Why were the girls kept in the trunk of the car after being killed? Why not leave them in the area where they were killed? Could it be that the killer was seeking to hide clues at the scene such as his foot prints or perhaps something else? Or could it be the killer was afraid that the place they were killed could be linked to them? By that I mean the land they were killed on belonged to the killer's relatives or a maybe even a place the killer was known to frequent?

These are questions that have really puzzled me. I agree the killers' car or residence was near Herring Ave. Again, this is MHOO. I welcome differing opinions and constructive criticism!
 
LR1 said:
The car being on empty despite being filled up the day before

My thoughts on this are, what do they mean by the day before? The day before they were found or the day before they went out? Saturday or Friday? That was never clear to me. It was also said somewhere that JB went to see her father either Friday or Saturday, I think her father lived in Troy, If she went there and back on the day before that's a hundred mile round trip which might explain some of the missing gas. I don't remember if they mentioned the low gas level on the haunting evidence show or not. It was mentioned in a early reporting and then from what I remember not mentioned again so there may or may not be something to it, we really don't have enough details as far as when and where she filled up to make that judgement.
Click to expand...

This would mean JB had driven through Ozark just the day before. How could this relate to the case? Did she not recognize the city because on Saturday they came in the back way?
 
I think 16 years is a long time to wait for something to happen in a murder case and it has to be hard not to let it consume you if you are a family member of the victim.

I do not know what the correct answers to the questions are because there are so many different scenarios that could have occurred in this case. I think the one thing that is at least a decent guess is that the killer lives close to where the car was found.

So if you were a websleuths detective in 1999 one of the best things to do would be to have a group of 4 people go to where the car was parked and each of them walk in a different direction and when someone asks what they are looking for you tell them to listen because if you had just committed a double homicide would you want to walk in front of a house with the dogs barking at 12- 3 am in the morning. Then see if any of these people that have dogs saw anything strange that night. Did police do this to find potential witnesses?

After 16 years though it is unlikely any of those dogs are still alive, but maybe a witness is. That is why time is so difficult in a murder case. People move, witnesses die, the area changes. Maybe that provides some sort of clue as to where the killer walked after he left the car.
 
TedMac said:
The victim's car was probably used to transport the killer back to his vehicle or at least near his vehicle. There are some things about this I do not understand. Why put the girls in the trunk of the car to kill them? Could it be the killer thought it would muffle the sounds of the gunshots and maybe their screams? Why drive to Herring Ave with two dead bodies in the trunk? The killer was taking a huge chance by doing this. Why were the girls put in the trunk of the car before being killed? Maybe to make them more controllable? They had mud on their clothes and their pants were wet from knee down. Had they tried to escape? Why were the girls kept in the trunk of the car after being killed? Why not leave them in the area where they were killed? Could it be that the killer was seeking to hide clues at the scene such as his foot prints or perhaps something else? Or could it be the killer was afraid that the place they were killed could be linked to them? By that I mean the land they were killed on belonged to the killer's relatives or a maybe even a place the killer was known to frequent?

These are questions that have really puzzled me. I agree the killers' car or residence was near Herring Ave. Again, this is MHOO. I welcome differing opinions and constructive criticism!
Click to expand...

These are good questions, I think they are the obvious questions when trying to make sense of it all. Another one I'll throw on the pile is, why were their purses and DL left out in the open for anyone who might come along that Sunday morning to notice and which in my mind would throw up all kinds of red flags as to something being not right with this picture. It's as if whoever did this took no steps to delay the discovery that the murders had occurred. He/she/they did everything short of leaving the trunk open for anyone who comes along to see. They're either really brave or really stupid or possibly both.
 
killarney rose said:
This would mean JB had driven through Ozark just the day before. How could this relate to the case? Did she not recognize the city because on Saturday they came in the back way?
Click to expand...

If they were truly not familiar with their location at 11:30 when they made the phone call then I think its likely they did arrive there the back way. I don't like to site the haunting evidence show as a source of good info but the route they showed with the lines on the map where they turned north around Napier field and made their way to Oz, that way makes the most sense because that route would require several different twists and turns in order to come out on 27 which would eventually take them to the B/L store. A direct route from Headland to the B/L store would not have took an hour to drive so there's a little time that is unaccounted for.

Having said that and at the risk of repeating myself I still can't get past the possibility that they might have known exactly where they were because of the close proximity of the school. When I was their age you could have blindfolded me and dropped me off near a high school the next town over from where I lived and I would have know exactly where I was and how to get home. The hwy 27 route to the store however might have indeed been unfamiliar to them thus leaving them in need of directions back to 231.

I don't think they made the attempt to find the haleburg party location, I think they brushed it off and went to plan b. Whether this plan b was a location in Ozark or some location between Headland and Ozark is a question that needs to be answered. They might not have intended to end up in Ozark but they obviously and purposely headed somewhere in that direction.

I was thinking about something a poster said awhile ago when asked what young people did on the weekends, where they hung out, and one of the answers stuck with me because we used to do the same thing in the small town I grew up in. Cruise or hang out in parking lots. Usually the larger ones beside the main road was a gathering place for teens and young adults. I was thinking its at least a possibility that a place like this is where they might have encountered the person/s we're looking for. With the sighting from the cop in headland we know they were possibly doing something similar, out cruising, in this case not parking lots but the town square.
 
LR1 said:
If they were truly not familiar with their location at 11:30 when they made the phone call then I think its likely they did arrive there the back way. I don't like to site the haunting evidence show as a source of good info but the route they showed with the lines on the map where they turned north around Napier field and made their way to Oz, that way makes the most sense because that route would require several different twists and turns in order to come out on 27 which would eventually take them to the B/L store. A direct route from Headland to the B/L store would not have took an hour to drive so there's a little time that is unaccounted for.

Having said that and at the risk of repeating myself I still can't get past the possibility that they might have known exactly where they were because of the close proximity of the school. When I was their age you could have blindfolded me and dropped me off near a high school the next town over from where I lived and I would have know exactly where I was and how to get home. The hwy 27 route to the store however might have indeed been unfamiliar to them thus leaving them in need of directions back to 231.

I don't think they made the attempt to find the haleburg party location, I think they brushed it off and went to plan b. Whether this plan b was a location in Ozark or some location between Headland and Ozark is a question that needs to be answered. They might not have intended to end up in Ozark but they obviously and purposely headed somewhere in that direction.

I was thinking about something a poster said awhile ago when asked what young people did on the weekends, where they hung out, and one of the answers stuck with me because we used to do the same thing in the small town I grew up in. Cruise or hang out in parking lots. Usually the larger ones beside the main road was a gathering place for teens and young adults. I was thinking its at least a possibility that a place like this is where they might have encountered the person/s we're looking for. With the sighting from the cop in headland we know they were possibly doing something similar, out cruising, in this case not parking lots but the town square.
Click to expand...

BBM I believe their original plan was to go to the field party because JB called a friend who was there and told her that she had something to tell her when she arrived. I also believe that they gave up on that idea not long after that and went to plan B as you mentioned. Plan B was probably another in party in Ozark not far from Herring Ave. That is where the killer was able to get control of them. I also think that was where Barrentine saw them. He lived not far from there.
 
LR1 said:
These are good questions, I think they are the obvious questions when trying to make sense of it all. Another one I'll throw on the pile is, why were their purses and DL left out in the open for anyone who might come along that Sunday morning to notice and which in my mind would throw up all kinds of red flags as to something being not right with this picture. It's as if whoever did this took no steps to delay the discovery that the murders had occurred. He/she/they did everything short of leaving the trunk open for anyone who comes along to see. They're either really brave or really stupid or possibly both.
Click to expand...

BBM This gave rise to the theory that a Police Officer or a Police Impersonator was responsible. Possibly the killer was looking for something in their purses-something that may have a clue to his identity, such as a phone #, address or maybe even a name. I don't know if this case will ever be solved, but if it is, don't be surprised that the killer was known to at least one of the girls. MOO.
 
TedMac said:
[/B]

BBM Very good questions. I really liked your explanation about the licenses being out. I had never thought of that. All of the following is just MHOO:

I have done a lot of research on this case and feel the this was not a random killing. The killer was known to the at least one of the victims. It was not planned. The girls were headed to a field party and got lost. They may have given up on finding the party and decided to go somewhere else. The killer was there and was able to gain control of them once they stopped. I also think that Johnny Barrentine was there and saw them. That is how he was able to successfully describe the clothing of both girls. The killer left with both girls and killed them somewhere away from where they were abducted. The motive may have been jealousy, rejection or something along that line. I think that only one was the intended victim and the other was killed because she was present and witnessed everything.

The victim's car was probably used to transport the killer back to his vehicle or at least near his vehicle. There are some things about this I do not understand. Why put the girls in the trunk of the car to kill them? Could it be the killer thought it would muffle the sounds of the gunshots and maybe their screams? Why drive to Herring Ave with two dead bodies in the trunk? The killer was taking a huge chance by doing this. Why were the girls put in the trunk of the car before being killed? Maybe to make them more controllable? They had mud on their clothes and their pants were wet from knee down. Had they tried to escape? Why were the girls kept in the trunk of the car after being killed? Why not leave them in the area where they were killed? Could it be that the killer was seeking to hide clues at the scene such as his foot prints or perhaps something else? Or could it be the killer was afraid that the place they were killed could be linked to them? By that I mean the land they were killed on belonged to the killer's relatives or a maybe even a place the killer was known to frequent?

These are questions that have really puzzled me. I agree the killers' car or residence was near Herring Ave. Again, this is MHOO. I welcome differing opinions and constructive criticism!
Click to expand...

I concur with most of your thoughts here TedMac. I have always had the feeling this was not random. One of the aspects of this case that really leads me to believe that is: I have a hard time believing the girls were planning on being home by 11:30. It was JB's Birthday on a weekend night in the middle of the summer and they had only left after 10. IMO they either had plans in Ozark or they went looking for someone one of them knew in Ozark after they couldn't find the field party.
I still have the feeling this case is very solvable, someone just needs to talk.

Have we confirmed Johnny Barrentine has passed away?
 
TedMac said:
BBM I believe their original plan was to go to the field party because JB called a friend who was there and told her that she had something to tell her when she arrived. I also believe that they gave up on that idea not long after that and went to plan B as you mentioned. Plan B was probably another in party in Ozark not far from Herring Ave. That is where the killer was able to get control of them. I also think that was where Barrentine saw them. He lived not far from there.
Click to expand...

Anyone know where the store was that Johnny B went for milk? My feeling is that somewhere between his home and the store he went for milk is where the girls ran into their killer.
Could there have been a hangout of sorts at this store or somewhere in between?
 
CoolJ said:
I concur with most of your thoughts here TedMac. I have always had the feeling this was not random. One of the aspects of this case that really leads me to believe that is: I have a hard time believing the girls were planning on being home by 11:30. It was JB's Birthday on a weekend night in the middle of the summer and they had only left after 10. IMO they either had plans in Ozark or they went looking for someone one of them knew in Ozark after they couldn't find the field party.
I still have the feeling this case is very solvable, someone just needs to talk.

Have we confirmed Johnny Barrentine has passed away?
Click to expand...


BBM Yes, a few pages back someone put up a link to his obituary. I believe he died from the complications of stomach cancer.
 
CoolJ said:
Anyone know where the store was that Johnny B went for milk? My feeling is that somewhere between his home and the store he went for milk is where the girls ran into their killer.
Could there have been a hangout of sorts at this store or somewhere in between?
Click to expand...

BBM I have never read anything that stated where he actually went for the milk or if he even got the milk. Some have theorized that it was the Little/Big Store and that is where he saw the girls. However, when JB & Tracie made their calls from the payphones there, the store was already closed.
 
http://www.southeastsun.com/home/article_0ed6fb76-add8-58c9-aead-6dd9aee83212.html

According to Huggins(ABI), Barrentine was able to describe the girls' clothing and other items consistent with the girls and the crime.

However, in the Aug. 5 bond hearing, Barrentine took the stand to say that he made up the stories because he was trying to get the substantial reward money which had been offered for information in the case.

Barrentine, who had lived in Ozark for several years and was residing on Young Street with his wife and son, said he went to Ozark Police Chief Tony Spivey several days after the murders to tell him of a rumor. He gave Spivey a name and was told that police had already checked out the rumor and that the man Barrentine named was not a suspect.

Also several days after the murder, Barrentine reportedly said, he and his wife and brother-in-law went to the scene on Herring Street where the Beasley car was found Aug. 1. Barrentine said they were looking for something that might help the police solve the case.

Barrentine told McLauchlin(judge) that he never picked up a tatood man and that he didn't see anything the night of the murders. He said he went to the BP about 11 p.m. to get milk for the little boy.

Barrentine said he was tired and sleepy when he told the story to police in the Aug. 31 interview at the police station. He said he was interviewed for more than four hours and was not told he could go to the bathroom or could leave at any time, as police had testified in the Sept. 20 hearing.

Barrentine said police "tricked me" into telling the story.
 
LR1 said:
http://www.southeastsun.com/home/article_0ed6fb76-add8-58c9-aead-6dd9aee83212.html

According to Huggins(ABI), Barrentine was able to describe the girls' clothing and other items consistent with the girls and the crime.

However, in the Aug. 5 bond hearing, Barrentine took the stand to say that he made up the stories because he was trying to get the substantial reward money which had been offered for information in the case.

Barrentine, who had lived in Ozark for several years and was residing on Young Street with his wife and son, said he went to Ozark Police Chief Tony Spivey several days after the murders to tell him of a rumor. He gave Spivey a name and was told that police had already checked out the rumor and that the man Barrentine named was not a suspect.

Also several days after the murder, Barrentine reportedly said, he and his wife and brother-in-law went to the scene on Herring Street where the Beasley car was found Aug. 1. Barrentine said they were looking for something that might help the police solve the case.

Barrentine told McLauchlin(judge) that he never picked up a tatood man and that he didn't see anything the night of the murders. He said he went to the BP about 11 p.m. to get milk for the little boy.

Barrentine said he was tired and sleepy when he told the story to police in the Aug. 31 interview at the police station. He said he was interviewed for more than four hours and was not told he could go to the bathroom or could leave at any time, as police had testified in the Sept. 20 hearing.

Barrentine said police "tricked me" into telling the story.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the "Refresher." Unfortunately, Barrentine told so many falsehoods concerning this case his credibility as a witness was ruined. It is sad he didn't come forward and just tell what he saw and what he knew or maybe even what he heard. He probably could have provided useful information that would have aided the investigation. It is a good chance he said what he said in an attempt to collect the reward. Who knows? If he had told the truth and he really did know who the killer was, maybe he would have ended up collecting the reward if it had led to an arrest.

I don't believe Barrentine was the killer or even saw the murders. But, if the ABI investigator is correct in him being able to identify the girls clothing and "other things consistent with the girls and the crime", then he saw them at more than a passing glance. But where he saw them and under what circumstances he saw them is something we will probably never know.

As far as him going to the BP about 11 p.m. and getting milk, did he really do that? Did he bring milk home? If so, did he get it at the BP? He has lied so much, I am skeptical of anything he said unless it is verified by someone else.
 
can someone post a link of their facebook page? I can't find it
 
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