AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #3

[Tinala]

I have read almost the whole thread tonight and my brain is now full of information that I have to process for a while.

A question- where did the poster Thinblueline go? Tbl is not a member anymore it seems.

Oh rest assured he is still here just going by another name now I believe.

 

[Bulldog23]

First, Ramrod, welcome to the board. It is always nice to have a local’s perspective.

There were certainly some law enforcement officers in and around Ozark who turned out to be really bad guys. Chris Ford at the DCSO and Driggers, chief of Level Plains, are two that come to mind. (Both attested for inappropriate behavior towards minors). The cracked window, drivers license on dash, the fact that they stopped for someone -when friends and family said they were street smart. These are circumstances that definitely could lead one to think a LEO might be involved. The dark blue truck is interesting also.

One more thought, it would be nice for an LEO to post on this board with contact info for tips and such. Shaun Smith (ABI) posted several years ago, but my understanding is he is no longer working this case.

 

[Bulldog23]

I still cannot understand why anyone thinks that J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett were involved in some type of situation where they were followed.

I do not think J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett had a plan about where they were going to go that night. Whether they got lost on the way to the party near Haleburg when they stopped at the gas station, a BP in Headland(often confused with the second gas station they stopped at, the Big Little in Ozark, AL), they do not seem to know where or what they are going to do next. So the only way anyone could murder them would be to follow their car around all night and stop and wait at the same places they stopped at. That seems kind of ridiculous doesn't it?

I think it is more likely that they either stopped for someone in authority(or who they thought was authority) or they stopped somewhere that night and ended up meeting their murderer. And this only occurred after they left the Big Little gas station in Ozark, AL.

A witness gave a statement that the girls had been followed and “pinned in,” causing them to become frightened, earlier that evening. It is such a stretch to think whoever was in the “hunting” truck backed off in Headland only to follow them to a more isolated location near Ozark?

 

[CuriousD]

Does anyone know who wrote this or whe

re it came from? If this has any truth to it then it could very well explain WHY. Rumors here have always been somewhat similar to this.

 

[Ramrod19]

Does anyone know who wrote this or whe

re it came from? If this has any truth to it then it could very well explain WHY. Rumors here have always been somewhat similar to this.

First time I have seen it. I see the file name is "retired-police-officer-s-notes-on-the-murders-of-jb-beasley-and-tracie-hawlett-1[1]". Seems to me that Peterman retired not long after the murders and was replaced by Henderson.

 

[Bulldog23]

Curious D and Ramrod,

I think most of us on the board know who the writer is. If I’m not badly mistaken, the writer is no other than our former poster, ThinBlueLine. (I’m not going to use his real name here; it was all over the HCR blog). This letter was posted on the blog back then. He was placed on time out (or maybe suspended?) by Websleuths for posting unsubstantiated theories recently, I think.

I must tell you that most of us who seriously follow the case do not think any of this is credible. This is my opinion only, but I believe that the writer of the blog was a guy with an axe to grind- he was busted for marijuana and decided to prove all area LEOs were crooked . To back it up, he found an eccentric elderly guy who had a theory about the girls’ murders that involved big drug deals and judges, etc..

I think the blog writer used the old guy. No credible journalist would have published this letter, or the theory, without evidence- which was obviously sorely lacking.

My opinion is that if there was anything to the Henry County Repory/ ThinBlueLine theories, Marlos Walker, or the ABI, or the FBI would be all over it. This is all my opinion.

 

[Ramrod19]

First, Ramrod, welcome to the board. It is always nice to have a local’s perspective.

There were certainly some law enforcement officers in and around Ozark who turned out to be really bad guys. Chris Ford at the DCSO and Driggers, chief of Level Plains, are two that come to mind. (Both attested for inappropriate behavior towards minors). The cracked window, drivers license on dash, the fact that they stopped for someone -when friends and family said they were street smart. These are circumstances that definitely could lead one to think a LEO might be involved. The dark blue truck is interesting also.

One more thought, it would be nice for an LEO to post on this board with contact info for tips and such. Shaun Smith (ABI) posted several years ago, but my understanding is he is no longer working this case.

Isn't Chris Ford the one taken out of play by an act of God?

 

[Bulldog23]

Isn't Chris Ford the one taken out of play by an act of God?

I think he finally went away for child molestation. He also had a stand off with police in the Wiregrass at one point. I think it involved domestic violence.

 

[killarney rose]

Former police officer sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing Opelika girl

 

[Ramrod19]

I think he finally went away for child molestation. He also had a stand off with police in the Wiregrass at one point. I think it involved domestic violence.

 

[somequestions]

A witness gave a statement that the girls had been followed and “pinned in,” causing them to become frightened, earlier that evening. It is such a stretch to think whoever was in the “hunting” truck backed off in Headland only to follow them to a more isolated location near Ozark?

I just cannot understand why if someone was following J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett why they would not kidnap them earlier on the way to Skipperville or Ozark since the roads look very desolate. Kidnapping them inside of Ozark, AL seems rather strange to me. Also, since there are railroad tracks next to the Big Little gas station in Ozark, AL where did any of these "followers" wait at in terms of location(while they were talking to Ms. Merrit and her daughter)? The guy in the truck on the security footage was cleared by police.

It just seems like to me whatever happened to J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett stemmed from wherever they went after leaving the Big Little Gas Station in Ozark, AL on the night of July 31, 1999. None of us knows the answer to that question so we try to elaborate that their murders must be related to something or some place or some person that they happened to run into earlier in the evening.

And it is all just speculation. If J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett did not know what decisions to make as to where they were going to go that night, how could anyone else know? I just think that it is better to speculate about what may have happened after they left the Big Little gas station approximately sometime after 11:38pm on the night of July 31, 1999.

 

[Catmommy]

Agree. It was an opportunistic offense by an opportunistic assailant. One who was familiar with the locale.

 

[Catmommy]

Very probably a stranger to both girls - though not the area. No connection to the victims so no leads for LE to chase = remains unsolved.

 

[CuriousD]

I think he finally went away for child molestation. He also had a stand off with police in the Wiregrass at one point. I think it involved domestic violence.

Chris is the one who had a stand off at Oates Estate appts after he broke in and supposedly was gonna kill the mother of his child. He USED TO BE an officer but was releaved of duty after an injury on the job. He and his baby's mother had split and he just went over the edge. He had gotten a police scanner and went to the parents of his baby's mothers house and had duct tape and a can of gas with him. He then fled back to Oates Estate appts, where the swat team had to go in and get him. Before they did, he stabbed himself in the side. The child molestation was a seperate offense not related to the stand off

 

[CuriousD]

Very probably a stranger to both girls - though not the area. No connection to the victims so no leads for LE to chase = remains unsolved.

My only hang up on him or her being a stranger to the girls is, why or where would he or she come in contact with them? It's been said that JB was very street smart. If they had just called home and asked for the quickest way back, pulled out headed in the right direction, I just have a hard time believing that someone just came across them and killed them for no reason. Don't get me wrong, I know ANYTHING is possible. If it's true that OPD will NOT work with CJ and will NOT run the DNA in other databases, my question is WHY NOT?? If the DNA isn't related to the crimes then they can at least eliminate it for facts. If it is related then they can be pointed in the RIGHT direction. I believe at this point anything would help. Thoughts on why not?

 

[killarney rose]

Big egos in a small town inexperienced police department. I believe the girls stopped for whatever reason after they left the Big Little. They believed they were safe but were accosted by the killer(s).

Small chance OPD might be protecting someone-(judges relative).

 

[CuriousD]

Big egos in a small town inexperienced police department. I believe the girls stopped for whatever reason after they left the Big Little. They believed they were safe but were accosted by the killer(s).

Small chance OPD might be protecting someone-(judges relative).

That seems likely. I don't think they went straight towards home. I think they decided to go by somewhere OR was pulled over. I don't see two teenage girls stopping for a hitchhiker or anything of that nature at that time of night. Nobody will know unless the LE starts thinking outside the box and trying something different that is IF they WANT it solved.

 

[CuriousD]

Has anyone heard or know WHEN Shinned Rabbit is going to be shown??

 

[SavageMarkIII]

My only hang up on him or her being a stranger to the girls is, why or where would he or she come in contact with them? It's been said that JB was very street smart. If they had just called home and asked for the quickest way back, pulled out headed in the right direction, I just have a hard time believing that someone just came across them and killed them for no reason. Don't get me wrong, I know ANYTHING is possible. If it's true that OPD will NOT work with CJ and will NOT run the DNA in other databases, my question is WHY NOT?? If the DNA isn't related to the crimes then they can at least eliminate it for facts. If it is related then they can be pointed in the RIGHT direction. I believe at this point anything would help. Thoughts on why not?

BBM

Unfortunately, being a victim of a crime has nothing to do with whether or not you are street smart. I'm still undecided on if the murderer is someone they knew or a stranger, but people are victimized all the time by strangers, in their homes (Golden State Killer) or outside their homes by all kinds of opportunistic criminals. It's totally believable to me that someone could have "just came across them" after they left the Big/Little. It really does happen all the time. Maybe I watch too much true crime or listen to too many crime podcasts ; )

 

[CuriousD]

BBM

Unfortunately, being a victim of a crime has nothing to do with whether or not you are street smart. I'm still undecided on if the murderer is someone they knew or a stranger, but people are victimized all the time by strangers, in their homes (Golden State Killer) or outside their homes by all kinds of opportunistic criminals. It's totally believable to me that someone could have "just came across them" after they left the Big/Little. It really does happen all the time. Maybe I watch too much true crime or listen to too many crime podcasts ; )

I agree. That does happen but Ozark is such a small town with a really low crime rate. It's not like Atlanta or Miami or a big city. My thoughts keep going back to LE or someone posing as LE. I don't think the DNA is related but it could be. I just think more could be done to track it. I also think that the shell casing sitting on JB's leg was planted there. When a pistol is discharged, the casing usually ends up about 6 t0 10 ft away. It's been said that they were shot inside the trunk. I think the shell casing would've ended up to the right of the car, not standing up on JB's leg. If my thinking is right then it points to it being planned. Again, I could be wrong about all of it but I always stick to what I think until proven wrong. All this is just my opinions.