GUILTY AL - J.B. Beasley & Tracie Hawlett, both 17, murdered, Ozark, 31 July 1999 *ARREST in 2019* #5

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TedMac said:
Just wanted to add...he may have been able to control them by pointing a gun at them. As stated in a different post, they did run, but he may have been able to run them down or at least catch one of them and yell at the other something to the effect, "I'll kill your friend if you don't stop". MOO
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I agree TedMac. The autopsy report said clothing was wet around the hip area on Tracie so she might have fell at some point while trying to run.
 
TedMac said:
I too, believe they made a run for it. The wet clothing along with the briars and mud on their shoes, socks and jeans supports that. According to the first reports, the car sat out in the open from that morning until the bodies were discovered in the afternoon. Sadly, it was reported that some of LE actually sat on the outside of the car and may have even gone inside of it prior to knowing the girls were in the trunk. I have read that the car was muddy and also have read that it wasn't. So, not sure about that part.

Like you, I have wondered if he acted alone. I am still hoping that he will someday come clean and tell exactly how everything went down. I have always been curious as to how he gained control of them. It would had to have been a ruse of some sort. Both families have stated that they would not have picked up a hitch hiker or even stopped for a stranger.
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When I was that age and riding around with friends, in no way would we have picked up anybody. I do remember one time we had left a bar in Dothan and some guys followed us home to the apartment where my friend lived. This was also back in 99-04 time period. If they were following Ms. Merritt, they had to have turned off somewhere and was either flagged down or they stopped and asked for directions again. Maybe McCraney was walking down the street.
 
joni22 said:
It would be good to hear Ms. Merritt's testimony about that night for sure.
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In past interviews her, she basically said the girls exited the car at the Big/Little Store where she and her daughter were and while one of the girls (Tracie) used the payphone the other (J.B.) asked her for directions to Ozark. She said no one was with them and they didn't appear to be stressed. She also stated that she watched them drive away from the store and no one followed them.
 
I figured the killer shot Tracie in the trunk and JB then tried to fight him and get away and that's why he shot her in the cheek. He was trying to aim for the head also but she was moving or skrimming around to much because she just seen her friend get shot. JMO
 
The car was ignored as a crime scene all morning after it was found. I'm up the road a ways from there so the story was local and BIG. Still is. Memory is a funny thing but I do recall mentioned that an officer was leaning against the car before the girls were discovered in the trunk. LE was taken by surprise, caught with their pants down so to speak. Distrust of their actions and investigation spread early. I am encouraged by the DNA evidence. People make mistakes all the time but science doesn't lie.
 
Catmommy said:
The car was ignored as a crime scene all morning after it was found. I'm up the road a ways from there so the story was local and BIG. Still is. Memory is a funny thing but I do recall mentioned that an officer was leaning against the car before the girls were discovered in the trunk. LE was taken by surprise, caught with their pants down so to speak. Distrust of their actions and investigation spread early. I am encouraged by the DNA evidence. People make mistakes all the time but science doesn't lie.
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I agree with you Catmommy. 8am till 2pm when the trunk was opened is a long time on a hot summer day. Evidence was not as fresh if not dissipated by then. You would think that they might have seen blood on the ground from the holes in the trunk.
 
At the risk of seeming indelicate, on a hot summer's day by the time they got around to opening the trunk they should've had a pretty good idea of what they were going to find by smell alone. It doesn't take long down here in such circumstances for decomp to start giving off aroma.
 
Catmommy said:
At the risk of seeming indelicate, on a hot summer's day by the time they got around to opening the trunk they should've had a pretty good idea of what they were going to find by smell alone. It doesn't take long down here in such circumstances for decomp to start giving off aroma.
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Yes maam, I know. I live south of Dothan in Graceville so its hot for 9 months out of the year it seems in the south. The autopsy report said that rigor had started to set in on the bodies and Tracie's feet were wrinkly. I'm assuming from her wet socks being on for so long. Herring is so close to the hospital, I figured it would be busy.
 
I agree that science does not lie. We are either looking for an identical twin or they have their man. Even if it was a botched police scene, the facts are there and that is the DNA evidence. He was there. If he didn’t commit the crime then he needs to speak the truth now. We’ve seen murderers charged without even a body. Here we have bodies and DNA, plus the suspect lived around the corner, not in Sweden!
 
Crazy Mama said:
I agree that science does not lie. We are either looking for an identical twin or they have their man. Even if it was a botched police scene, the facts are there and that is the DNA evidence. He was there. If he didn’t commit the crime then he needs to speak the truth now. We’ve seen murderers charged without even a body. Here we have bodies and DNA, plus the suspect lived around the corner, not in Sweden!
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Yes, it's pretty apparent that he was there and if he didn't do it he needs to tell the truth like you said. If the defense doesn't have any evidence to back him up, the DNA alone will probably convict him. How he ran into the girls remains a mystery.
 
For those of you who are new to this case, welcome! I suggest if you haven’t to go back and read the first two threads .they have a good discussion, info and pictures on them.
 
I read in an article that McCraney's wife said that over the years they have told them the story about the murders to remind their kids of what might happen being teenagers out and about. Does this sound strange to anyone or just me?
 
Thanks for the link. He does have a record of some type, there was an incident while he was in the service. Can a person have a true religious conversion and turn their life around? I believe they can. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t kill these girls before his conversion.
 
killarney rose said:
Thanks for the link. He does have a record of some type, there was an incident while he was in the service. Can a person have a true religious conversion and turn their life around? I believe they can. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t kill these girls before his conversion.
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Plus, if he did have a true religious conversion then he would want to clear up anything that happened prior to his conversion. His wife must be sure that the man who she is married to and fathered her children is innocent, as innocent as all the other murderers out there. If every family knew what each other was capable of or what offenses they could commit then we would have a lot more people turned in to LE.
Sadly for this family his DNA will speak for him and if LE struck a deal with him then he might come clean. After all, he turned his life around, but he couldn’t turn theirs around as they have passed on.
 
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