Identified! Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - Pamela Buckley & James P Freund #8

[Hoopsticks]

I graduated high school in Elizabethtown, PA in Lancaster County. My guidance counselor's name was Jim Freud.

Odd.

 

[Daphne1972]

I'll tell you what I think so far:

Murder for hire
Victims killed elsewhere
The shots used as diversion
Everything leading to their identity removed: the one who hired the hitman didn't want to be tied to Pam and James.

 

[brm1960]

Orphans' Court | Lancaster County, PA - Official Website

I wonder if he had a child. They deal in adoptions and termination of parental rights.

In some states the probate court is known as Orphans’ Court. It doesn’t mean there is an orphaned child.

 

[PatLaurel]

I want to apologize if i sounded "not victim friendly" to some of you. I do believe that someone was after JSP for some very specific reason, that ended up with him dead. Is this not victim friendly? It never crossed my mind that this would offend you, when all i want is the killer to be found and justice to be served.
There is not a single post of mine on WS (nor anywhere) that could be considered not victim friendly! Again, my apologies, especially to JPF's family and some of the members of this thread.

Happy sleuthing to all of you.

Pat


MOO JMO

ETA missing word.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In 2019, a Clemson resident named Matt McDaniel, who was interested in the case, suggested they reach out to DNA Doe Project.
https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/identities-to-be-released-in-nearly-45-year-old-cold-case

 

[Daphne1972]

I want to apologize if i sounded "not victim friendly" to some of you. I do believe that someone was after JSP for some very specific reason, that ended up with him dead. Is this not victim friendly? It never crossed my mind that this would offend you, when all i want is the killer to be found and justice to be served.
There is not a single post of mine on WS (nor anywhere) that could be considered not victim friendly! Again, my apologies, especially to JPF's family and some of members of this thread.

Happy sleuthing to all of you.

Pat

MOO JMO

I think too they both or either one were specifically targeted. And I don't think it had anything to do with the local drugs scene.

 

[Springrain]

I really, really doubt that Henry Lee Lucas killed anyone besides his mother, Becky Powell, and Kate Rich. I would bet my life on it. I don't trust anything he said about this case or any UID case.

I am leaning towards carjacking at this point. Force Pamela and James out of the car, shoot them in the back, and then in the back of the head to "finish off the job". I believe if we can figure out what car they may have travelled in it could help...although in all honesty I would be unsurprised if Lonnie Henry did it, but I don't think he would have carjacked them, although I suppose someone could remember if he had a new car then that seemingly appeared out of nowhere? I honestly have no clue.

I don't think drugs were involved, never have. I'd be shocked if they were. Autopsy showed them both being drug and alcohol-free when they died. I'm also not convinced either of them were specifically targeted. This is such a strange, sad case...

 

[onceuponadecember]

This just seems like an isolated carjacking gone wrong to me. I don’t think it was a murder for hire, but rather just a carjacking that ended in the murder of two. I really wonder where James and Pamela were in their final months, though.

 

[landis]

Stop trying to make an action movie out of James and Pam's murders.
Edit: Just to be clear, I'm also leaning toward carjacking gone wrong. No hitmans and murders for hire, this is a theory that is, in my personal opinion, not victim friendly. What even points towards this?

 

[onceuponadecember]

Stop trying to make an action movie out of James and Pam's murders.
Edit: Just to be clear, I'm also leaning toward carjacking gone wrong. No hitmans and murders for hire, this is a theory that is, in my personal opinion, not victim friendly. What even points towards this?

Exactly.

 

[worldwatcher]

Problem is that he made a bunch of valse claims.

I know, but the article states | qoute:
".. SCS Lt H. M. says that, interviewing lucas he is looking for information about an abandoned, disabled car along US 60 in the Richmond area,.."
So... just saying.

BTW, HL is on netflix/confessions of a killer

 

[onceuponadecember]

It looks like Pam only got to go on tour for a few months, as We Five broke up sometime in 1970.

 

[Warwick1991]

I also think this was a carjacking. James P Freund (Jim) would not have been without a vehicle. He was a “car guy.” As a mechanic and car salesman, he might have had a very distinctive car or van - one that attracted the attention of a criminal. Jim likely paid close attention to the care and appearance of his vehicle. Like others here, I think Jim would have given Pam a ride.

It is possible that Jim and Pam could have pulled into an area suitable for a romantic encounter, and been accosted by either rogue LE (efficient and accurate shooting - 3 bullets per victim with a 6 cartridge revolver) or other criminal focused on victims in such a setting.

It is also possible that one or both victims were sexually assaulted, leaving evidence that could be tested for DNA if the original investigators saved it.

 

[onceuponadecember]

I also think this was a carjacking. James P Freund would not have been without a vehicle. He was a “car guy.” As a mechanic and car salesman, he might have had a very distinctive car or van - one that attracted the attention of a criminal. James likely paid close attention to the care and appearance of his vehicle. Like others here, I think James would have given Pam a ride.

It is possible that Jim and Pam could have pulled into an area suitable for a romantic encounter, and been accosted by either rogue LE (efficient and accurate shooting - 3 bullets per victim with a 6 cartridge revolver) or other criminal focused on victims in such a setting.

It is also possible that one or both victims were sexually assaulted, leaving evidence that could be tested for DNA if the original investigators saved it.

My guess is that they went to some sort of restaurant for dinner and had fruit or ice cream sometime in the meal, went for a drive, had s** (which would explain the absence of underwear in both victims), and caught the attention of a carjacker who chased their car, only for them to be carjacked and murdered at about 1AM.

*Speculation*

 

[ajac71]

Stop trying to make an action movie out of James and Pam's murders.
Edit: Just to be clear, I'm also leaning toward carjacking gone wrong. No hitmans and murders for hire, this is a theory that is, in my personal opinion, not victim friendly. What even points towards this?

Exactly.

Yes please, its only been two days since we learned their names and its gone from 'So happy they have their names back!' to 'OMG!!! they were members of an international drug cartel based around car races and were taken out by a secret cabal of professional hitmen!!!!!!!!'

Spielberg to Tarantino in less than two days.....WOW!

Sorry but I firmly believe this is a case of wrong place at the wrong time, maybe a kindness on Jim and Pams part put them in a car with a killer...Its still tragic enough. Until we know more (and... lets be honest ...we may NEVER know more) Im just happy they are going home.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

189UFSC

 

[onceuponadecember]

In all honesty, the only illegal thing I could think of them perhaps doing is street racing at most

 

[Daphne1972]

Yes please, its only been two days since we learned their names and its gone from 'So happy they have their names back!' to 'OMG!!! they were members of an international drug cartel based around car races and were taken out by a secret cabal of professional hitmen!!!!!!!!'

Spielberg to Tarantino in less than two days.....WOW!

Sorry but I firmly believe this is a case of wrong place at the wrong time, maybe a kindness on Jim and Pams part put them in a car with a killer...Its still tragic enough. Until we know more (and... lets be honest ...we may NEVER know more) Im just happy they are going home.

Being killed by a hitman is not victim friendly. I see. I never talked about cabals or drugs. Not being able to be express my password thoughts is not sleuth friendly. Nobody is being bashed here.

 

[Tabirey]

A Greenville paper had the best coverage, despite being hours across state to the northwest. That's where I saw the best compilation of old articles. One article described that the vehicle went down Locklair Road intending to go further but encountered a tall fence that prevented further travel. The vehicle then turned off Locklair into the dirt parking area of a tobacco hut. The murders occurred right there, alongside Locklair. We've seen those photos. The vehicle then backed out of the tobacco hut and sped back toward the Locklair intersection, turning left toward I-95.

That area of Locklair is now mostly barren. I've looked at many progression photos on Google Maps and other sources. Trees slowly disappeared. Most apparently cleared due to farmland. Others from disease. I drove the entire 1.2 miles of Locklair and spent more than an hour there, stopping many times. There were only two areas on Locklair that still resembled the one available photo from 1976, where you can see trees on both sides and a clearing at distant left. Those remaining areas provide an idea of what it would have been like in 1976 for a hermit living in the sticks.

I posted one of the videos on YouTube because it seemed more logical as the crime location, near the intersection. But this video below gives a better feel for "living in the sticks" off Locklair. I had trouble speaking and filming this video because the traffic noise was very loud, worse than it appears from the video. At one point you can see a white truck flash by the screen at right. I-95 is perhaps 30 meters away. But if you project this type of dense tree cover on both sides of the road backwards several hundred yards, that's what the area was probably like at the time of the murders. Locklair quickly peels away from I-95 in that area. It would have been simple for a hermit to be living in the sticks on top of soft pine needle cover. A perpetrator would have no reason to believe anyone was nearby:

Thanks for this! Although a bit shocking for me, as I realized that I had passed this area frequently while traveling I-95 almost weekly for 8 yrs!

 

[Springrain]

My guess is that they went to some sort of restaurant for dinner and had fruit or ice cream sometime in the meal, went for a drive, had s** (which would explain the absence of underwear in both victims), and caught the attention of a carjacker who chased their car, only for them to be carjacked and murdered at about 1AM.

*Speculation*

I really like this theory