NC NC- Vernon Shipman, Charles Glass, and Louise Shumate, Homicide, July 17, 1966

[poetic_justice]

I'm from a small town in North Carolina called Hendersonville where I still live today. I recently came across the triple homicide of Vernon Shipman, Charles Glass, and Louise Davis Shumate while doing research on an urban legend my friends were talking about.

On July 17, 1966, a local business owner Vernon Shipman was reported missing after not showing up for work that day. Later in the month on July 22, two men stumbled upon the body of Vernon up at Lake Summit, as well as the bodies of his lover Charles Glass, and a woman by the name of Louise Davis Shumate.

They were all beaten to death with two of the victims having stab wounds as well. Charles Glass' body was found with his crutches (that he had been using days previous) laid out in a cross. Years later in 2006, the police say they believe it was a man who had escaped jail during the time of the murders, despite proper evidence and the fact that the man was probably framed for his previous crime, being a black man in the 60's, it was easy for the police to get away with that. They even had witnesses saying that they say all three victims as well as a fourth unidentified white man driving in a car together the day they went missing. Below is the composite sketch from witnesses of that man:

Some believe they were killed because of their sexuality, while others believe it was connected to drugs and organized crime. Whatever the reason, these murders deserve to be solved, no matter the victim of how long ago it was.

Thompson guilty of murders? Not so fast ...

Hunt for a Killer – Early Suspects | Henderson Heritage

https://www.blueridgenow.com/article/NC/20060720/News/606072131/HT

 

[Richard]

...The owner of the Tempo Music Shop on Main Street and employee with the N.C. Employment Service, Vernon Shipman, 43, and store manager Charles Glass, 36, along with a woman, Louise Davis Shumate of Asheville, were brutally murdered July 17, 1966. Their bodies were found July 22, 1966, in a crude semi-circle in a grassy clearing in the woods off North Lake Summit Road.

Each victim suffered brutal blows to their heads. Some clues touched off rumors about voodoo and Klan involvement.

The victims were an interesting trio. Glass was a flamboyant showman, music lover and connoisseur of all things Oriental – and also a self-styled expert in voodoo. Shipman was a neat, meticulous gentleman who enjoyed cooking and loved music. Shumate was a woman who appears to have led a double life and who was a mystery, even to her family...

LINK:

Tale of a Suspect | Henderson Heritage

 

[Richard]

Charles Glass, as seen in the mid-1960s.

On July 22, 1966, Glass’s remains had been found along with two other victims—Vernon Shipman, owner of the Tempo Music Shop and also Glass’s lover, and Louise Shumate, a 61-year-old woman who lived a solitary life as a factory employee in nearby Asheville, North Carolina—all of whom had died of cranial injuries several days before. At the time of their discovery, Charles Hill and Larry Shipman, who found the bodies while carrying brush to a dump site near Summit Lake outside of town, first believed they had uncovered a set of mannequins that had been discarded by one of the shops in town...

LINK:

Murder of the Moth Man: The Mysterious Voodoo Killer of 1966 | Mysterious Universe

 

[Richard]

By Jennine Jones Giles / Times-News Staff Writer
Jul 22, 2006

The investigation into the murders of Charles Glass, Vernon Shipman and Louise Davis Shumate faced problems from the start

Contamination of the crime scene, reluctance of friends of the victims to talk, the fear gay men had of being named in the investigation, the lack of training and technology by law enforcement and the mysterious life of Shumate -- these problems compounded the case during an election year...

LINK:

Sensational murder case plays into 1966 sheriff's race

 

[poetic_justice]

I talked to my grandfather today who has lived in Hendersonville his whole life and knew the family of murder victim Shipman . He was a practicing lawyer as well as having many ties to the community, so he got to see a lot of the facts on the case. His friend and co-worker in the district attorney's office was given this case. He said the he saw crime scene photos of Charles Glass's body and it was clear to him that the crutches were placed in a cross on purpose, as well as his body being a shade of brown which indicates he had been out there for a long time. He also said that were was testimony that the men were seen at a barn dance earlier in the evening of July 17.

 

[poetic_justice]

Louise Davis Shumate, the female victim, lived in a town 30 mins away from the male victims and on the day she went missing she was confirmed to be picking berries in Hendersonville. She was known to neighbors and people around as a shut-in. There is no connection between the two male victims and her.

 

[Richard]

Opal Louise Davis Shumate
BIRTH 21 Aug 1904
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, USA
DEATH 17 Jul 1966 (aged 61)
Henderson County, North Carolina, USA
BURIAL
Riverside Cemetery
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, USA



Opal Louise Davis was the daughter of Samuel Adolphus Davis and Lillian A. Dermid. Louise (as she was known by family and friends), grew up in Asheville. She moved around extensively.
At time of death, She lived in Asheville for three years.

April 5, 1933 she married Azel Francis Shumate at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher. They had no children.
Louise and Azel separated in 1937 and divorced in 1942 in Dade County, Florida.

She was employed with Taylor Instrument Company in Arden.
Her Interests included Needlework, photography, genealogy, and canning foods.

Louise was the victim of a homicide that was featured in truTV's "Haunting Evidence." Her murder remains unsolved.

Parents
Samuel Adolphus Davis 1857–1928
Lillian Amanda Dermid Davis 1876–1965

Siblings
Katie Mirea Davis 1895–1897
Alfred Cornelius Davis 1896–1937
Rodney Swope Davis 1899–1972
Julian D. Davis 1900–1916
Dorothy Edna Davis Hensley 1907–1975
Samuel Ralph Davis 1910–1988

LINK:
Opal Louise Davis Shumate (1904-1966) - Find A...

 

[Richard]

On July 17, 1966, reportedly gay partners Vernon Shipman and Charles Glass vanished from Hendersonville, North Carolina. Five days later, two workers dumping brush in an isolated clearing found their bodies along with that of a woman, all beaten severely and stabbed. A few days later, the woman was identified as Louise Shumate.

Police were puzzled because neither Vernon nor Charles apparently knew Louise, nor did most people of Hendersonville because she lived in a town miles away. Authorities found that on July 17, all three victims were seen driving in Vernon's car with an unidentified fourth person. To this day, the identity of the fourth person remains a mystery, along with how Vernon and Charles are connected with Louise, and who killed them...

LINK:

JULY 17TH: 51ST ANNIVERSARY OF HENDERSON COUNTY'S INFAMOUS "TRIPLE MURDER" - WHKP 1450 Hendersonville, NC

 

[SBops]

It seems like Louise may have come across the murderers when they were disposing of the bodies. Is july berrying season?

 

[Richard]

It seems like Louise may have come across the murderers when they were disposing of the bodies. Is july berrying season?

That would depend on what type of berries you are considering. Different types ripen at different times in the summer and early fall.

However, it would seem that Louise lived some miles distant from Hendersonville, where the other victims lived and where all three of them died, it is a mystery as to how she happened to be connected with the other victims or the killer(s).

She would have had to have traveled from her home area to Hendersonville - either by way of her own car or a bus - OR she would have been picked up near her home by the killer and transported to the murder site.

It would be nice to know how Louise was dressed and if there was any other evidence as to how she might have been in the vicinity of the murders. For instance, was she dressed for walking in the woods and fields, or in a nice dress? Was there a berry basket, or work gloves, in the area?

The killer was a very violent person who cared nothing for the life of others. He probably was someone who had killed before and after this incident. Was there an escaped convict or killer on the loose at the time?

What became of Shipman's car? Where was Louise's car found?

Perhaps all were at Shipman's music store when a robbery took place, and then the perpetrator took all of them, along with Vernon's car. Louise may have been a customer who walked in the store by chance.

Here is a link to some very detailed and interesting information on each of the three victims:

LINK:
The Victims | Henderson Heritage

 

[Richard]

Of the three people brutally murdered more than 40 years ago, the most well-known and eccentric was Glass.

Glass is remembered by friends, family and acquaintances as a flamboyant showman, music lover, connoisseur of all things Oriental and a man who concocted and sold voodoo charms. He managed the Tempo Music Shop that he and murder victim Vernon Shipman founded together in the early 1950s.

Within a few weeks of the murders, the art objects, furniture and personal possessions of Glass were sold at public auction.

Charles Glass was a blues singer, of some renown who managed a popular music store in Hendersonville.

Here is a record he made titled "Screamin' and Dyin' (and Rollin' on the Floor)"

LINK:

 

[poetic_justice]

My grandfather, who was very involved in this case because he worked at the district attorney's office at the time of the murders said that witnesses testified they saw both Glass and Shipman at a barn dance on the night they disappeared.

Out here in western NC you probably have to be dressed appropriately if you're berry picking in the woods because we have a lot of mountains and it would be dangerous if you don't have at least proper footwear. Even if you live in Asheville you know that.

 

[Richard]

Bumping thread up.