Identified! Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - Pamela Buckley & James Freund #9

[worm]

That was the same material I was going to post, after reading it a few days ago while sampling thread #3 for info on Locklair Road.

They key aspect seemed to be that Lonnie Henry originally presented one story, then changed it once investigators spoke to his brother, the former owner. All of the changing hands was apparently before it came into possession of the Henry brother. If the below info is true then only Henrys owned it during the 4-5 years preceding the murder, and Lonnie Henry is the one who felt need to ruin the serial number:

"SLED recovered the serial number and investigators tracked the gun from its manufacturer to Henry's brother, who said he gave it to Henry as a Christmas present four or five years earlier.

The gun had been bought, stolen and resold several times before falling into the hands of Henry's brother. But he said the serial number was still there on Christmas Eve.
When confronted with the new information, (Lonnie) Henry confessed to filing the serial numbers off himself."

It begs of the question, why would somebody want to destroy the id marks on property that they own? Something happened to make him want to file those numbers.

 

[wary]

It begs of the question, why would somebody want to destroy the id marks on property that they own? Something happened to make him want to file those numbers.

Perhaps an awareness or suspicion that it’d been stolen in the past.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

ETA: and I 1000% believe law enforcement agents know things we don’t.

They think they know. I'll continue to be skeptical of the accuracy, if this is being pieced together 45 years after the fact, as opposed to real-time info that sat around without recourse until the identities were known.

During the presser the best media question was, "Do you know where they were going?"

The spokesman hesitated. It was obvious they do have a theory in that regard. A more seasoned detective/spokesman would have handled the question smoothly. But this guy was a nervous novice so he unintentionally gave things away.

Toward benefit of a doubt, since the names were known to authorities -- and presumably Matt -- for 4-5 months prior to the presser, maybe they were able to contact family/friends and piece together where they might have been headed. Or something related to a vehicle. If they can identify a vehicle linked to James then maybe there was a traffic ticket or similar.

It was not the dark ages. When my family traveled during that era my dad would go to the credit union and buy travelers checks so we wouldn't be reliant on cash. There could be records of all types...once you have the names to look for.

 

[shellbee]

Here’s a collection of all the photos from this thread and my research of Pam and James:
View attachment 282910 View attachment 282912 View attachment 282916 View attachment 282911 View attachment 282913 View attachment 282914 View attachment 282915 View attachment 282917 View attachment 282918 View attachment 282919

I hope you don't mind if I upload a few more pictures of Pam that I came across.

 

[TedMac]

Well, according to Henry. that gun has been all over the place. First given to him by his brother. Then it was stolen by someone. Then it ended up back in his car somehow?

JMO, it's relevant to know if he or his brother or their friends had friendships with anyone who worked in law enforcement. The method used to execute JP and Pamela was very similar to that of trained LE officers. It was a very distinctive way of committing murder - counting shots.

It could also explain why JP didn't have any defensive wounds or try to help Pam escape. As an Army vet, he would have had some combat self defense training that he probably would have used in another situation.

It was such a quick, organized way of killing people, in a spot most likely known only to locals. Just over the county line.

They were shot quickly, with great accuracy in a dark, shady area in the middle of the night. The shooter was counting bullets, putting the exact number of bullets in each victim. As LE are trained, they began with shots to the mid/upper body, then administered killing shots to the head of each victim.

That indicates professional training with a handgun in how to disable and kill someone quickly and accurately.

Highly unlikely a drunk local could pull that off. Possibly someone who had prior LE training, but was no longer an officer. Maybe a prison guard, but they weren't as plentiful back then as they are today.

LE Officers are not trained to execute people. After being trained to properly load, handle, fire and clean their firearms, they are trained to be marksmen. They use silhouette targets and taught to shoot to the body. Only S.W.A.T. snipers are trained to shoot both the head and body. I know this from personal experience having been a police officer for 9 years.

 

[worldwatcher]

I hope you don't mind if I upload a few more pictures of Pam that I came across.

Beautiful Pam!

 

[Vern]

I’m no military expert, but I’m sure he had basic fighting/tech skills.

I'm in the military and a Vet wouldn't have to take 6 shots to kill two people - even in the dark. He'd take two.

There's something more going on here ... up close and personal and with a purpose.

 

[Vern]

Perhaps an awareness or suspicion that it’d been stolen in the past.

Or an awareness that it had been used in a double-homicide.

 

[wary]

LE Officers are not trained to execute people. After being trained to properly load, handle, fire and clean their firearms, they are trained to be marksmen. They use silhouette targets and taught to shoot to the body. Only S.W.A.T. snipers are trained to shoot both the head and body. I know this from personal experience having been a police officer for 9 years.

It was the night of the full moon, I believe. I don’t know where in the sky the moon was, or whether the trees would have blocked moonlight. In that notorious crime scene picture, don’t they seem to be lying on an open bank, not in among trees?

What if the murderer had had sniper training? Or just had had a lot of practice, hunting or target shooting? And, without denigrating the skills of LE, I’ve gotten the impression that they can miss a lot.

At times we’ve been told that the victims were shot at close range. How close? If the first shot incapacitated James, perhaps not much skill was needed.

 

[wary]

Or an awareness that it had been used in a double-homicide.

Problem is—I know you can’t count in criminals to be logical, but filing the numbers and keeping the gun doesn’t do anything to solve the problem of its being used in a double homicide.

 

[TedMac]

It was the night of the full moon, I believe. I don’t know where in the sky the moon was, or whether the trees would have blocked moonlight. In that notorious crime scene picture, don’t they seem to be lying on an open bank, not in among trees?

What if the murderer had had sniper training? Or just had had a lot of practice, hunting or target shooting? And, without denigrating the skills of LE, I’ve gotten the impression that they can miss a lot.

At times we’ve been told that the victims were shot at close range. How close? If the first shot incapacitated James, perhaps not much skill was needed.

MOO...To shoot someone at close range and put more than one bullet in them seems a bit personal to me-perhaps a lot of hate or rage? Evidently, the killer wanted to make sure they were dead. Whether a .38 or a .357 was used, one shot to each victim's head would have done the job. The killer would have known if they hit them or not.

As far as LE missing a lot...most are trained and obtain the rank of "marksman". In gunfights they do tend to miss sometime. It is a huge difference between shooting a silhouette target and shooting a live human-especially if they are armed.

 

[Triss]

I hope you don't mind if I upload a few more pictures of Pam that I came across.

Amazing find! Just look at her, all cheerful and smiling. How wonderful!
I HATE looking at their PM pictures ever since they were identified and their living pictures revealed. Idk if it's just me, but once a Doe is identified I don't want to look at sketches or PM pictures because I want to remember them from their "real" photos.

 

[Vern]

Problem is—I know you can’t count in criminals to be logical, but filing the numbers and keeping the gun doesn’t do anything to solve the problem of its being used in a double homicide.

Ahhhh yes, but in '76 ballistics were good, but not what they are today. And the ability to compare wasn't held with every police department out there.

You can't apply today's standards to a crime scene and criminal mindset of 45 years ago. Back then, they worried about serial numbers.

Just as the crime scene itself is almost undetectable due to today's landscape around the murder-site, criminal thinking has also evolved. They probably only ran ballistics on it exactly because the serial number had been ground off. Had he not been stupid and filed it off, they probably wouldn't even have tested it IMO.

 

[worm]

That was the same material I was going to post, after reading it a few days ago while sampling thread #3 for info on Locklair Road.

They key aspect seemed to be that Lonnie Henry originally presented one story, then changed it once investigators spoke to his brother, the former owner. All of the changing hands was apparently before it came into possession of the Henry brother. If the below info is true then only Henrys owned it during the 4-5 years preceding the murder, and Lonnie Henry is the one who felt need to ruin the serial number:

"SLED recovered the serial number and investigators tracked the gun from its manufacturer to Henry's brother, who said he gave it to Henry as a Christmas present four or five years earlier.

The gun had been bought, stolen and resold several times before falling into the hands of Henry's brother. But he said the serial number was still there on Christmas Eve.
When confronted with the new information, (Lonnie) Henry confessed to filing the serial numbers off himself."

It begs of the question, why would somebody want to destroy the id marks on property that they own? Something happened to make him want to file those numbers.

It was the night of the full moon, I believe. I don’t know where in the sky the moon was, or whether the trees would have blocked moonlight. In that notorious crime scene picture, don’t they seem to be lying on an open bank, not in among trees?

What if the murderer had had sniper training? Or just had had a lot of practice, hunting or target shooting? And, without denigrating the skills of LE, I’ve gotten the impression that they can miss a lot.

At times we’ve been told that the victims were shot at close range. How close? If the first shot incapacitated James, perhaps not much skill was needed.

Given where their feet were when they were found, I think they were standing on the side edge of the road, (forced there maybe?) and were shot very fast. That’s why I think there would be shoeprints of the killer in that dirt road.

 

[wary]

Ahhhh yes, but in '76 ballistics were good, but not what they are today. And the ability to compare wasn't held with every police department out there.

You can't apply today's standards to a crime scene and criminal mindset of 45 years ago. Back then, they worried about serial numbers.

Just as the crime scene itself is almost undetectable due to today's landscape around the murder-site, criminal thinking has also evolved. They probably only ran ballistics on it exactly because the serial number had been ground off. Had he not been stupid and filed it off, they probably wouldn't even have tested it IMO.

I believe the local LE sent the gun and bullets to the state forensics department, probably for that very reason, that they knew they didn’t have the skills, locally.

 

[shellbee]

They were shot quickly, with great accuracy in a dark, shady area in the middle of the night. The shooter was counting bullets, putting the exact number of bullets in each victim. As LE are trained, they began with shots to the mid/upper body, then administered killing shots to the head of each victim.

That indicates professional training with a handgun in how to disable and kill someone quickly and accurately.

Highly unlikely a drunk local could pull that off. Possibly someone who had prior LE training, but was no longer an officer. Maybe a prison guard, but they weren't as plentiful back then as they are today.

My dad is a county sheriff. If he read your post I think he would agree that he was trained to aim toward center mass and fire until the target was no longer a threat, but he might take exception to administering a kill shot .

I agree that it wasn't the work of a drunk good ol' boy. Whomever pulled the trigger was confident and steady. They didn't hesitate which might have allowed James and Pam to run away. The killer wasn't uncomfortable killing or handling dead people.

I would be curious to see a written autopsy diagramming precisely where they were hit in the back. I'm thinking if the bullet wounds were close it might indicate the person who pulled the trigger was highly skilled and capable of firing twice on the sight target or was capable of quickly reacquiring the target? IDK. I know very little about guns or how to shoot one. Maybe somebody who knows more about the subject could chime in.

 

[Andreee]

I wonder if his wife could have been in Intensive Care, with controlled admission, so they even had a written record.

I do agree about polygraphs. They’ve been proven inaccurate so many times.

I kind of think that hospitals back then wouldn't have kept a written record of visitors, and if they did it would be long gone. I just think any evidence of visitors would be more through the memory of medical staff. Even now, I don't recall the nurses making note of my visits to family members in ICU or other hospital areas, moreso by just waving me in.
P.S. I read earlier that the gun owner went with his sister-in-law to see his wife in hospital that evening, so she would've been an alibi for him if they checked.

 

[Vern]

IMO,

I think there was someone else in the back of the van with them. Van stops, Pam & Jim then step out the back doors of the van into small ditch (their backs to the van) and are immediately shot by an individual who was also in there with them. Vans of that period tended to have 2 doors on back - both swing open. In shock, they spin or turn and are now facing the van and and then shot in the chest, falling backwards onto their backs or perhaps even collapsed to sitting with their fronts to the van. Individual then steps out of the van and administers the coup-de-grace shots to each of them. Gets back into the van and it tears off. Therefore, I also believe that someone else was driving. If you look at the photo of the casts being taken of the tire impressions, those tracks are right up to the very edge of the road so they would have stepped out and down into the grassy area.

Pamela and Jim may have known they were in danger, but they were not dishelved so I don't believe they knew that. We've heard of no evidence indicating they had fought physically with anyone (bruises etc) nor that they had been restrained in any way. I don't think they felt at risk at that moment.

I believe they stepped out of the back of that van believing they had arrived at 'a destination' - what they thought that destination to be I have no idea neither do I know their purpose for going to that destination. A pee break, whatever. Thought they were arriving somewhere else? They thought they had arrived somewhere for a purpose and were not suspicious. Ergo perhaps stepped out without their belongings wholly thinking that they'd be getting back into that van after they did whatever was intended at their "destination's stop."

Whoever shot them, knew them. Pamela and Jim would have been able to identify them. So, they ensured they were both dead. Whoever shot them had them comfortable and not suspicious. How did they know them and what was their intended destination/action/purpose that night?

 

[Susikatze]

I think the whole alibi that he was staying with his ailing wife in the hospital is very fishy. No hospital would have allowed the husband to stay overnight unless the wife was on her deathbed. The murder happened at night.

And I agree, it was not the work of a drunk person but of someone who knew how to use a firearm

 

[killarney rose]

I believe Lonnie Henry was up to his ears in it. He might not have shot them, but I’m betting he knew exactly what happened.