VA VA - Michael, 50, Mary, 36, & Jennifer Short, 9, Bassett, 15 Aug 2002

[Simply Southern]

This article has the most accurate information I have found.

The Short Family Murders

Could the depth of police corruption in Henry County, VA during the time of the Short murders have had anything to do with the mystery surrounding these deaths? One of the recurring themes throughout the corruption trials was the quickness with which the sheriff, and other deputies, agreed to protect criminals (who they considered friends) from the FBI and further investigation– could someone in the department have had something to do with this crime? Is this why legitimate evidence was never found and the crime went completely unsolved? At the very least, did the rampant corruption throughout the police department facilitate a flawed and ineffective investigation?

 

[DoubleN1993]

I'm confused....,are you saying 2 RC officers went to the Short house before they were discovered and left?

Or that RCSO went to the POI house and left?

I'm a little scatterbrain , on the earlier pages on this thread ( I think it page nine ) somebody said the paper route delivery guy who at by across the road where The Short's House is , saw police cars turn ups at the Short home

 

[antiskramz]

If I'm not mistaken , somebody else mentioned earlier on this thread about two Rockingham County police cars arrived hours before the discovery went into the house and then went back in the car and drive off .
But i don't know if this actually a rumour or.... a clue

Are you referring to the guy who said he remembers the day they were found "like it was yesterday"? Then he goes on to say he remembers seeing Rockingham Police at the house the day her parents were murdered before they found Jennifer. I don't think he meant to say that. Just a weird slip up. Although, I have an interesting theory about that guy. I don't want to just straight up slander the guy's name, but things are a little fishy with him to say the least.

 

[antiskramz]

While I'm online, has anyone noticed there are two different stories given to the media about how Jennifer was found? One article says he saw his dogs playing with what looked like an old wig so Albert (the guy who ultimately called the police to tell them about the skull) threw it in the trash. Two days later he saw his dogs playing with what looked like a turtle shell, but when he picked it up he realized it was a skullcap... so he called the police. Then there's another article that says he saw his dogs playing with a wig, but when he picked it up it was attached to a skull so he called the police. I'm not sure if it was like a game of telephone and someone was misquoted, but these two stories do sound different to me. I do realize that in some cases witnesses will skew details a little bit, but I feel like if someone were to find a human skull... they wouldn't forget that.

Here are the links to the conflicting stories: (in one of the articles the date the "old wig" was found is a typo. It said Aug. 23, but it was Sept 23. Then police came out on Sept 25.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/13/AR2010081302431_pf.html

The Dispatch - Google News Archive Search

 

[Simply Southern]

I'm a little scatterbrain , on the earlier pages on this thread ( I think it page nine ) somebody said the paper route delivery guy who at by across the road where The Short's House is , saw police cars turn ups at the Short home

Its post 171 @curious_mom. Shows verified insider but no longer on site. I would love to reach out to this person.

It is possible, could have happened under Cassells reign of terror. He had the County locked up. Many attorneys alluded to corruption and you couldn't win a case in Henry County.

Had a friend falsely accused, the attorney ask all witnesses be separated before testifying. The 2 officers gave two different stories at trial, judge threw the case out. He wanted to sue the HCSD and his attorney said, I won't take the case and advise you not to sue if you want to continue to live in Henry County. He tried a couple of others who also refused. This was about 2 years before Benny Summerlin, HC Administrator with the help of VA State Police took them all down.

If you are locally connected then you will know the extent of the corruption. I could not have imagined the extent of his operation.

 

[Simply Southern]

While I'm online, has anyone noticed there are two different stories given to the media about how Jennifer was found? One article says he saw his dogs playing with what looked like an old wig so Albert (the guy who ultimately called the police to tell them about the skull) threw it in the trash. Two days later he saw his dogs playing with what looked like a turtle shell, but when he picked it up he realized it was a skullcap... so he called the police. Then there's another article that says he saw his dogs playing with a wig, but when he picked it up it was attached to a skull so he called the police. I'm not sure if it was like a game of telephone and someone was misquoted, but these two stories do sound different to me. I do realize that in some cases witnesses will skew details a little bit, but I feel like if someone were to find a human skull... they wouldn't forget that.

Here are the links to the conflicting stories: (in one of the articles the date the "old wig" was found is a typo. It said Aug. 23, but it was Sept 23. Then police came out on Sept 25.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/13/AR2010081302431_pf.html

The Dispatch - Google News Archive Search

Most of the old Martinsville Bulletin articles are no longer online. So, its hard to verify, I thought it was a wig, he thought he found.

Will check some other local papers. Danville, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Times, they may have the older articles.

I always felt the HCSD did a poor job. Had a couple of honest friends in LE, they said very little. Cassell had his select few that worked on this case. Wish I had a record of those officers names to match to the indictments for the officers they arrested. They were making big money and Cassell even gave direction on who to talk with at The Bank to help launder the money. It was wild. VA State Police released hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings, that were played on TV.

 

[LR1]

There's quite a bit of old articles available actually. I have links to about 20 saved but this link with a search of JS will bring up several from the martinsville bulletin starting with the earliest ones I believe. I think I might have narrowed this search from 2002 to 2011 but still had a link to it so hopefully it works.

Search

The AMW episode from 2011 also if I can get it to embed,

 

[DoubleN1993]

Are you referring to the guy who said he remembers the day they were found "like it was yesterday"? Then he goes on to say he remembers seeing Rockingham Police at the house the day her parents were murdered before they found Jennifer. I don't think he meant to say that. Just a weird slip up. Although, I have an interesting theory about that guy. I don't want to just straight up slander the guy's name, but things are a little fishy with him to say the least.

Sorry a little mixed up in my head , there one post on this thread says why the Rockingham County Crime Unit turned up at the Short Home at 8:30 am and not Henry County Police .
And the second one is where the one paper guy seeing police cars Antiskramz just explained that to me

 

[jaejae]

There's quite a bit of old articles available actually. I have links to about 20 saved but this link with a search of JS will bring up several from the martinsville bulletin starting with the earliest ones I believe. I think I might have narrowed this search from 2002 to 2011 but still had a link to it so hopefully it works.

Search

The AMW episode from 2011 also if I can get it to embed,

Thank you for posting had never seen this clip before with the man sat in the van in the reconstruction.

 

[jaejae]

Thank you for posting had never seen this clip before with the man sat in the van in the reconstruction.

If the fingerprints are of my suspect the case might be able to be solved after all. I did not think there was much forensic evidence in this case before I heard this in the America's Most Wanted video.

 

[DoubleN1993]

Good find on the video but still it not many of Short Family case about .

 

[mks762]

Remains Found in North Carolina Probably Not Jennifer Short's
"Rockingham County resident Eddie Albert discovered the skull Wednesday afternoon after noticing his two dogs tossing around what he at first thought was a brown wig, said his daughter, Lisa Albert. 'There were small fragments of jaw, teeth and other bones strewn all over the place,' Page said."

ETA
Remains probably are not missing girl's
“'I don’t believe they’re Jennifer Short, but nothing would surprise me in this case,' Sheriff Cassell said at a news briefing. 'I hope this is not Jennifer.'
Virginia and North Carolina investigators continued Thursday to pick through a large pond near the Rockingham County home of Eddie Albert, who found almost a full head of hair, scattered bits of bones and teeth the day before.
Mr. Albert discovered the remains after stopping his dogs from playing with what appeared to be a brown wig. He called police when he noticed the hair was attached to a fractured skull."


I'll go back and refresh my memory but it's interesting the Sheriff was so hellbent on this not being Jennifer. I wonder why? Why even comment at that point?? And why didn't he think it was JS??

 

[DoubleN1993]

Remains Found in North Carolina Probably Not Jennifer Short's
"Rockingham County resident Eddie Albert discovered the skull Wednesday afternoon after noticing his two dogs tossing around what he at first thought was a brown wig, said his daughter, Lisa Albert. 'There were small fragments of jaw, teeth and other bones strewn all over the place,' Page said."

ETA
Remains probably are not missing girl's
“'I don’t believe they’re Jennifer Short, but nothing would surprise me in this case,' Sheriff Cassell said at a news briefing. 'I hope this is not Jennifer.'
Virginia and North Carolina investigators continued Thursday to pick through a large pond near the Rockingham County home of Eddie Albert, who found almost a full head of hair, scattered bits of bones and teeth the day before.
Mr. Albert discovered the remains after stopping his dogs from playing with what appeared to be a brown wig. He called police when he noticed the hair was attached to a fractured skull."


I'll go back and refresh my memory but it's interesting the Sheriff was so hellbent on this not being Jennifer. I wonder why? Why even comment at that point?? And why didn't he think it was JS??

That part make me got a feeling about it

 

[Simply Southern]

Remains Found in North Carolina Probably Not Jennifer Short's
"Rockingham County resident Eddie Albert discovered the skull Wednesday afternoon after noticing his two dogs tossing around what he at first thought was a brown wig, said his daughter, Lisa Albert. 'There were small fragments of jaw, teeth and other bones strewn all over the place,' Page said."

ETA
Remains probably are not missing girl's
“'I don’t believe they’re Jennifer Short, but nothing would surprise me in this case,' Sheriff Cassell said at a news briefing. 'I hope this is not Jennifer.'
Virginia and North Carolina investigators continued Thursday to pick through a large pond near the Rockingham County home of Eddie Albert, who found almost a full head of hair, scattered bits of bones and teeth the day before.
Mr. Albert discovered the remains after stopping his dogs from playing with what appeared to be a brown wig. He called police when he noticed the hair was attached to a fractured skull."


I'll go back and refresh my memory but it's interesting the Sheriff was so hellbent on this not being Jennifer. I wonder why? Why even comment at that point?? And why didn't he think it was JS??

He loved power, control and the TV camera.

They had to exhume the bodies, as they had not collected DNA.

 

[truecrimemavens]

He loved power, control and the TV camera.

They had to exhume the bodies, as they had not collected DNA.

They only exhumed Michael to extract DNA for a paternity test.

 

[truecrimemavens]

Apologies trying to catch up on several posts.

There was allegedly cash left on the counter. But bc it was left there doesn't mean that Jennifer was the target. Michael and Mary were shot execution style and the phone line was cut. This could mean that Michael was the target for things he may or may not have been involved in and may or may not have been trying to get out of. Maybe Mary knew what was going on and they took Jennifer to make it look like she was the target.

Execution style and cut phone lines point to someone or someones that had knowledge and a plan.

Thank you for the video!

SimplySouthern and Antiskramz are you local to the Henry County area? We would love to chat with either or both of you.

We do agree it would be difficult for one of them to be shot without the other hearing. One of our questions to LE was, were the 3 of them at BK in Collinsville that night or was it just Michael and Jennifer... We have seen it reported both ways. Just thinking out loud but if it was just father and daughter, Mary could have been deceased before they returned home and no one knew bc they just thought she was sleeping.

 

[antiskramz]

Apologies trying to catch up on several posts.

There was allegedly cash left on the counter. But bc it was left there doesn't mean that Jennifer was the target. Michael and Mary were shot execution style and the phone line was cut. This could mean that Michael was the target for things he may or may not have been involved in and may or may not have been trying to get out of. Maybe Mary knew what was going on and they took Jennifer to make it look like she was the target.

Execution style and cut phone lines point to someone or someones that had knowledge and a plan.

Thank you for the video!

SimplySouthern and Antiskramz are you local to the Henry County area? We would love to chat with either or both of you.

We do agree it would be difficult for one of them to be shot without the other hearing. One of our questions to LE was, were the 3 of them at BK in Collinsville that night or was it just Michael and Jennifer... We have seen it reported both ways. Just thinking out loud but if it was just father and daughter, Mary could have been deceased before they returned home and no one knew bc they just thought she was sleeping.

Woah... never thought about that possibility. I did find a report saying the last time they were seen out was at BK, but I hadn’t seen one stating it was just Michael and Jennifer. Gotta say I LOVE that this is an active thread. I really thought people would have just given up and forgotten about them by now.

I’m not local anymore, but I take quite a few trips over to Rocky Mount throughout the year to visit my mom. I left Bassett during my junior year at BHS in 2011. I did go back, but not for too long. Been a while since I’ve been in good ol’ Henry County.

 

[jaejae]

Of course we have different theories, But I think the Jennifer Short was the target in the same way a female child was the target in the Keddie Murders in California. My suspect was a convicted killer in Virginia. I believe his motive was that of his hero Scorpio from the 1972 film Dirty Harry and this is when says to his boss you are crazy if you think you have heard the last of this guy because he kills because he likes it. Sometimes it is the most simply motive with Serial Killers in particular:

 

[DoubleN1993]

I wonder how the investigation going on in Bassett about the mysterious fires in Virginia Avenue , it been two months since the last fire happened at hotel/gas station nearby the Short's former home .

 

[antiskramz]

This past weekend I went to Bassett to travel from their home down to where Jennifer was found. I saw that the house had been knocked down. Still can’t find anything about how the fire was set. Anyone heard any theories/rumors? I talked to my mom about it. She said she heard there was someone burning trash on the property and it got out of hand. Thoughts?