Identified! Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - Pamela Buckley & James Freund #10

[superunknown]

I think the gun is one of the most compelling and important elements of this case. Common sense would dictate that LE is not going to rely on ballistics tests that were carried out over 40 years ago, since I would assume that could be a great attack point for a defense attorney to go after. I hadn't read that the gun was lost though, so I hope it isn't.

I'm not super optimistic this case is going to get solved criminally unless a witness comes forward with information that can be verified and even then, it might be hard to convict someone beyond a reasonable doubt after all these years.

 

[SolVic]

You know, even if we don’t have DNA, I still think this case can be solved. I mean, remember Adam Walsh? That was solved despite all DNA evidence being lost.

 

[Betty P]

You know, even if we don’t have DNA, I still think this case can be solved. I mean, remember Adam Walsh? That was solved despite all DNA evidence being lost.

Definitely, it can, though the persons involved are likely deceased. It would probably take a witness statement or confession by someone who helped cover it up.

 

[Betty P]

This article states that in the 1970's, car theft was a big problem, up to 3 times greater than it is today.

Comical FBI Training Video Shows How Car Thieves Were Caught Back in the '70s

The article links to an FBI training video that shows how thieves steal cars and get rid of them.

JMO, in whichever scenario (camping, staying at a motel, in a parking lot, etc.) Lonnie Henry or someone he knew tried to steal Jim's car. Unfortunately, Jim probably saw and chased them. They didn't want witnesses, so the thieves took them into the next county and killed them, taking all their id, etc.

Another link with auto theft crime stats

Age-period-cohort effects in half a century of motor vehicle theft in the United States | Crime Science | Full Text

27 Feb 1975 article about a car theft federal trial in which a man, James Edens of Greenville, turned state's evidence and testified how cars are stolen and taken apart for parts. He stole several cars over an 8 month span. Cars were stolen in South and North Carolina. He kept a van truck parked in his front yard where he kept parts that were later sold.

When he and his partner couldn't get rid of all the parts, they took the ones left over and dumped them in Saluda Dam Lake. While its a distance from Sumter, SC, it probably describes similar car theft activity in that area. These people just took the cars home and stripped them.

27 Feb 1975, Page 42 - The Greenville News at Newspapers.com

Below is an article from Feb 1976 about a guy in Bradenton, FL who was arrested with several stolen cars from South Carolina.

8 Feb 1976, 287 - Tampa Bay Times at Newspapers.com

 

[worm]

I can’t quit recalling the 1979 July 4 Charlotte bike club murders when I think about this case. It’s only my theory since the Charlotte LE is so quiet about what the new evidence was that cleared it but Randall Pigg is named as one of the killers. This only came out after his death from an illness so I think he may have told someone about he, and a guy named Lindamann, who had gotten run off from the club for being too careless and wild, surprise that an outlaw mc guy would be “wild” I know. Supposedly, those 2 went there and killed several people. Evidence not known to the public was cited and again, my theory is it must have been something like a patch or such related to membership.
Anyway, I’m hopeful that it happens here that somebody tells it.

 

[worldwatcher]

I can’t quit recalling the 1979 July 4 Charlotte bike club murders when I think about this case. It’s only my theory since the Charlotte LE is so quiet about what the new evidence was that cleared it but Randall Pigg is named as one of the killers. This only came out after his death from an illness so I think he may have told someone about he, and a guy named Lindamann, who had gotten run off from the club for being too careless and wild, surprise that an outlaw mc guy would be “wild” I know. Supposedly, those 2 went there and killed several people. Evidence not known to the public was cited and again, my theory is it must have been something like a patch or such related to membership.
Anyway, I’m hopeful that it happens here that somebody tells it.

This is quite interesting and possible, if you read up about it and give it some thoughts.
James was a mechanic, travelling , maybe making a few bugs here and there, by fixing cars, bikes from people who he met on the road.
As far as we known, that is how he met Pam.

Would be interesting to read, the news clip about the 5 murders in 1979 in Charlotte.
And the crimes, involvement of the named suspects.
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article87223662.html

The murder weapon wich, was found in Lonnie's car and according to family search, he also lived(?) or died in 1982, in Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Caroline. I wouldn't be surprised if Lonnie knew members of the bike club, he was a truck driver, also a lot on the road.

I guess, we're talking about the same town, Charlotte NC??

 

[Betty P]

This is quite interesting and possible, if you read up about it and give it some thoughts.
James was a mechanic, travelling , maybe making a few bugs here and there, by fixing cars, bikes from people who he met on the road.
As far as we known, that is how he met Pam.

Would be interesting to read, the news clip about the 5 murders in 1979 in Charlotte.
And the crimes, involvement of the named suspects.
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article87223662.html

The murder weapon wich, was found in Lonnie's car and according to family search, he also lived(?) or died in 1982, in Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Caroline. I wouldn't be surprised if Lonnie knew members of the bike club, he was a truck driver, also a lot on the road.

I guess, we're talking about the same town, Charlotte NC??

Yes, Charlotte, NC is where LE said the murder weapon was traced to. It was tied to what LE thought was a ring of burglars in the Charlotte, NC area.

That's about a 1 and 1/2 hr drive from Sumter County, where James and Pam were killed.

Google Maps

From that bike club massacre, it looks like the killers, Greg Lindaman and Randy Pigg, were fast and accurate shots. The two of them killed 5 people (mostly armed) before they could move or return fire.

The killers in this massacre, Pigg and Lindaman, were not members of a motorcycle gang. They allegedly killed the 5 Outlaw gang members because one of the killers had gotten into a disagreement with one of the victims. The other 4 victims were killed because WPWT.

From the linked article

In the 1970s, Charlotte was a major Southeastern hub for bandit motorcycle gangs the Outlaws, Hell’s Angels, Tasmanian Devils and Tar Heel Stompers.

They ran prostitution rings and dealt in wholesale narcotics such as PCP, cocaine and methamphetamine. Midway between chemists in Canada and markets in Miami, Charlotte was a key way station in the pipeline of new designer drugs of the age.

Also, security was lax at the Outlaw hdqtrs the night of the 1979 massacre because 2 of the key members were in jail on charges of motorcycle theft. Their names were "Trip" Lowery and Tommy Stroud. Stroud was the son of a Charlotte police captain. BBM.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article87223662.html

James and Pam were killed 3 years before this, but its relevant to know Outlaws and probably other biker gangs were doing a lot of motorcycle theft in that area. Also interesting that one of the members' father was chief of police.

One of the killers, Greg Lindaman was big into bikes, but he would have been too young to be involved in James and Pam's murder.

ETA: I'll say Lindaman would have been 19 or 20 at the time of Jim and Pam's murders.

 

[Betty P]

I thought of contacting the reporters who investigated and wrote about the massacre of the Outlaws MC gang. Two reporters and a photographer from the Charlotte Observer actually hid out in a van doing surveillance for the newspaper.

Here's a photo of Robin Clark writing a story about the Outlaws murders while in the surveillance van

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article87223662.html

Turns out a few years later, they did longer investigative pieces also on the Hells Angels in Charlotte.

Clark died in an auto accident while covering the OJ Simpson trial for the Philadelphia Inquirer. I'm having a little trouble finding the other reporter, Tex O'Neill, but will keep trying.

It was a little disturbing to read articles at the time about the friendly relations between local Hells Angels and law enforcement and businesses in NC. Here's an article about how Hells Angels beat up the two Charlotte Observer reporters and photographer and local business owners and LE just laughed it off. Did the same standards apply in SC? Just curious

The Hell's Angels motorcycle gang wrapped up its international...

Vance County Sheriff's Deputy C.M. Foster said Sunday he had not heard about the incident and reported 'no problems whatsoever.'

'There's no need to watch over them,' he said. 'They've never given us any trouble in the past and we don't expect them to this time.'
...
While the bikers appeared threatening to the reporters, local businessmen gave a different picture.

'They're just folks,' said John R. Jones, food and beverage director of the Holiday Inn in Henderson, where gang members avoiding weekend rains occupied at least 25 rooms.

'They are very well-behaved and very well-educated,' added Jones' wife, Ena.

As of 2010, the Outlaws were still committing serious crimes in North and South Carolina.

10 in Charlotte area charged in motorcycle gang probe

Hells Angels established their first Southern States chapter in Charleston, SC in February 1976

Hells Angels MC criminal allegations and incidents - Wikipedia

If anyone has been following the story of the Murdaugh family murders down near Hampton, SC, you'll know that area has an interesting history regarding control of the criminal justice system by one family. It's not connected to this crime, but it helps explain a lot about how sometimes crimes aren't prosecuted, even if there's evidence.

ETA: Also, we shouldn't focus only on MC gangs in that area during the 70's. As you can read in many of the great Charlotte Observer articles, there were a lot of really bad criminals doing robbery, theft, assault, murder back in those days.

 

[worldwatcher]

Yes, Charlotte, NC is where LE said the murder weapon was traced to. It was tied to what LE thought was a ring of burglars in the Charlotte, NC area.

That's about a 1 and 1/2 hr drive from Sumter County, where James and Pam were killed.

Google Maps

From that bike club massacre, it looks like the killers, Greg Lindaman and Randy Pigg, were fast and accurate shots. The two of them killed 5 people (mostly armed) before they could move or return fire.

The killers in this massacre, Pigg and Lindaman, were not members of a motorcycle gang. They allegedly killed the 5 Outlaw gang members because one of the killers had gotten into a disagreement with one of the victims. The other 4 victims were killed because WPWT.

From the linked article



Also, security was lax at the Outlaw hdqtrs the night of the 1979 massacre because 2 of the key members were in jail on charges of motorcycle theft. Their names were "Trip" Lowery and Tommy Stroud. Stroud was the son of a Charlotte police captain. BBM.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article87223662.html

James and Pam were killed 3 years before this, but its relevant to know Outlaws and probably other biker gangs were doing a lot of motorcycle theft in that area. Also interesting that one of the members' father was chief of police.

One of the killers, Greg Lindaman was big into bikes, but he would have been too young to be involved in James and Pam's murder.

ETA: I'll say Lindaman would have been 19 or 20 at the time of Jim and Pam's murders.

Local bikers could have been familiar with the area, and the dirt road, were Pam and James where gunned down.

ETA

"The July 4, 1979, massacre was the worst mass killing in Charlotte’s history, and it remains unsolved. Witnesses disappeared, or, intimidated by the biker culture, refused to talk. Five people in the Outlaw bike gang clubhouse in northeast Mecklenburg were shot to death. One victim was a teen-age girl."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ch...ottefive/c5-around-town/article236301818.html

 

[Betty P]

Local bikers could have been familiar with the area, and the dirt road, were Pam and James where gunned down.

ETA

"The July 4, 1979, massacre was the worst mass killing in Charlotte’s history, and it remains unsolved. Witnesses disappeared, or, intimidated by the biker culture, refused to talk. Five people in the Outlaw bike gang clubhouse in northeast Mecklenburg were shot to death. One victim was a teen-age girl."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ch...ottefive/c5-around-town/article236301818.html

Yes, I just read another article in the January 11, 1976 Charlotte Observer about the Outlaws killing someone in a case of mistaken identity. Police found trip wires and bombs at their club house. They were also stealing brand new cars from car dealership lots.

I'm doing searches at Newspapers.com for motorcycle + gangs for North and South Carolina in 1975 and 1976. A lot of activity, no wonder the big newspaper in the region decided to focus on them. They were very active in crime in the area.

 

[worldwatcher]

Yes, I just read another article in the January 11, 1976 Charlotte Observer about the Outlaws killing someone in a case of mistaken identity. Police found trip wires and bombs at their club house. They were also stealing brand new cars from car dealership lots.

I'm doing searches at Newspapers.com for motorcycle + gangs for North and South Carolina in 1975 and 1976. A lot of activity, no wonder the big newspaper in the region decided to focus on them. They were very active in crime in the area.

Did you, by chance read something about raleigh-durham area?
Maybe they were known there, as well?
There isn't much on the gun, except it was originally stolen by a group of thieves in the Raleigh-Durham area, .
Surely, they must have taken a lot of more guns, then the one that was found in lonnie's truck.

 

[Betty P]

Did you, by chance read something about raleigh-durham area?
Maybe they were known there, as well?
There isn't much on the gun, except it was originally stolen by a group of thieves in the Raleigh-Durham area, .
Surely, they must have taken a lot of more guns, then the one that was found in lonnie's truck.

From the articles about the Hells Angels and Outlaws, they operated all over North Carolina & South Carolina. I think I read one of the leaders back then was later killed and his body found up towards Raleigh Durham, not in RD.

So far, Charlotte Observer seems to have been covering that and doing the most in depth reporting on the MC gangs, and they were covering stories all over the state.

 

[worldwatcher]

The only thing that I could find about motorgangs and Durham is from 1972. Very dangerous if you caught up in these kind of clubs, or being there, at the wrong time, wrong place..

"Four members of the Storm Troopers, a Durham motorcycle club, were charged with murder today in what the police said was an ambush of a Florida based motorcycle club.

Two members of the Florida club, the Pagans, were killed and six persons, including two bystanders, were wounded last night in the shootout, which occurred five miles north of Durham...... "
4 Charged With Murder In Motorcycle Club Clash (Published 1972)

 

[Betty P]

IIRC, it was said the murder weapon had come from a group that was involved in burglaries/robberies. If a MC was involved, those are the crimes they would be committing to raise funds for their operations.

That sounds like a pretty vicious group up there. Sounds like there were various MC's traveling around the southern states.

 

[Valiant]

But yet, where would be any motivation for a motorcycle club to kill two random people? Unless those people ripped off or otherwise cut into the club's "business"?

 

[Betty P]

But yet, where would be any motivation for a motorcycle club to kill two random people? Unless those people ripped off or otherwise cut into the club's "business"?

They probably stole their vehicle. It was either the van driven to the scene or a motorcycle. We know James was a mechanic and may have been driving something nice. Possibly James and Pam caught them in the act and they were killed because the robbers didn't want witnesses.

If you read the article linked a few posts above, you'll see that was the kind of criminal activity some people engaged in. Not all of them were members of motorcycle clubs, though. Some were just hard core criminals who worked together.

I also wondered if LE didn't follow up on the men who had the murder weapon because they were CI's or informants who provided information to cops when they were trying to solve crimes.

Judging by their appearances, grooming, lack of presence of alcohol or drugs, James and Pam weren't likely affiliated with any motorcycle gangs or other criminal groups. From research we've done in news archives, neither is mentioned having a criminal record. James had some speeding tickets in his younger years, one that sounded like he was drag racing, but that's about it.

 

[Triss]

Today is the 45th anniversary of the couple's deaths. It's also the first one where we know their real names. Rest in eternal peace, James and Pam. Never forgotten!

 

[Betty P]

My favorite theory now involves smuggling drugs from Southeast Asia on military aircraft. Books have been written alleging or documenting CIA / US Air Force involvement in all that. One of them says a very high-ranking CIA officer was running an "assassination ring" out of South Carolina in 1976, according to a federal court deposition.

The suspicious killing of Olanta police chief Robert Sexton, which occurred only a couple months before the Sumter Mystery Couple were killed, has already been mentioned here. I believe the shooter in that case, Arthur Deleon Wilson, had a military background, although I can't find a source online. He was convicted many years later of drug-related charges. Olanta is so very close to this crime scene. It's less than 10 miles away on Highway 341, a road which incidentally points to Charlotte, NC.

I've also developed evidence Lonnie George Henry was a paratrooper just back from Vietnam at the time.

Then there's the M.O.; the victims were each executed in the same three-shot manner as Che Guevara had been after his capture and interrogation. (His body, by the way, was flown to Charlotte.)

The military or ex-military (or rogue) angle and the possible involvement of politicians and civic leaders might explain the slow progress on this case. If there is a conspiracy it's hard to know where it ends.

Do you have any links for info about that operation? TIA What kind of drugs are you referring to? Would it be possible to be a drug courier, yet show no sign of drugs on your clothing or in your system?

What is it about Pam and Jim that makes you think they were drug smugglers? Neither had criminal records and came from good backgrounds. Jim was a vehicle mechanic in the military. He spent some of his time in Germany. TIA

 

[Betty P]

But yet, where would be any motivation for a motorcycle club to kill two random people? Unless those people ripped off or otherwise cut into the club's "business"?

They wanted to steal their vehicle, whether a motorcycle or car or van. They killed them because they didn't want witnesses. If you read up on some of the MC gangs in that area back then (see links above) they were not shy about killing people.

 

[Betty P]

<modsnip - quoted post removed>

I don't think they dropped out of society. Pam got a divorce, Jim moved away from Lancaster, PA. They hadn't had contact with their families back in their home states for 8 months or so, not very long for those days when there was no internet, texting and when long distance phone calls were very expensive. Adult children communicated by sending an occasional letter or birthday or Christmas card.

They probably had jobs, etc. They both were well dressed and groomed. Not heavily tanned, as if they had been living outdoors or hitchhiking. The only problem is that they were dead a long time before they were identified. It's difficult to go back and find records of their activities in 1976.

Neither of them had criminal records, either. I don't think the folk music scene of the 60's and early 70's was a hotbed of drug activity. The man who was arrested with the gun that killed them was not linked to a big drug trafficking ring. That LE dropped the ball on fully investigating Lonnie Henry and his brother is very problematic.

To be fair, I'm not ruling it out, but it seems very unlikely. As two people who were strangers to the area where they were found, it was difficult for local LE to figure out what caused them to become victims of a terrible murder.