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Unsolved Triple Murder, North Carolina, 1972


Regi

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Thanks for expressing your interest, rashore.

I learned about this awful case when there was a brief mention of it in a book I'm still reading.

I've found out that a newspaper writer who reported on the case on the anniversaries of the murders eventually wrote a book about hauntings and included a chapter on the murders in the book. It sounds to me like it might be the best source for info. on this story.

Here's a link to info. about the book.

http://mountaintimes...ounty-id-020683

From what I've gathered so far (I've read a couple of other articles on-line) the staging of the crime scene is the biggest indicator of who's behind the murders, which needless to say, is someone with a known connection to the victims who had an obvious other motive.

Considering that, it's surprising to me that the case wasn't- and still isn't- solved.

Edited by regi
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Yeah.. the whole tub thing. To me that indicates something a bit more... personal.. than a random killing. There really isn't much of general online resource for this case either. After your post I came up with the book you mentioned too, and it does seem like it should be a good resource.

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This is interesting, thanks regi...

I would be interested in finding out the estimated time of death... It was obviously after 9 PM, they also had time to prepare a snack - so perhaps 9:45 (ish)..

I agree that a random robbery seems unlikely as easily moved valuables were left, and the weather was bad. Also, the neighbors spotted the family driving up the

road, but no mention was made of any other vehicles moving by later... Including the vehicle the family was using, that the muderer(s) apparently took...

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Yeah.. the whole tub thing. To me that indicates something a bit more... personal.. than a random killing. There really isn't much of general online resource for this case either. After your post I came up with the book you mentioned too, and it does seem like it should be a good resource.

:tu:

Re: the way these people were killed, they were first strangled. Even though all three bodies were found bent over into the tub, only the father and son drowned, so it appears that they were unconscious from the strangling when they were put over in the tub.

I would be interested in finding out the estimated time of death... It was obviously after 9 PM, they also had time to prepare a snack - so perhaps 9:45 (ish)..

I'm not sure if you overlooked it- but the son-in-law claimed that his mother-in-law had called him at about 10:15 pm and said that three men were there assaulting the father-in-law and the brother-in-law! :unsure2:

I agree that a random robbery seems unlikely as easily moved valuables were left, and the weather was bad. Also, the neighbors spotted the family driving up the

road, but no mention was made of any other vehicles moving by later... Including the vehicle the family was using, that the muderer(s) apparently took...

I wondered about that same thing, that is, when/how did the murderers get to the scene... :unsure2:

It appears to me they walked to the scene and waited there for the family to get home, and then ditched the family's vehicle where they'd left their own. What do ya think?

Edited by regi
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Fascinating, indeed - thanks for sharing the story. Rashore has made a great point, this killing seems very personal by the nature of the murder. And why was the mother not drown? And why did the son-in-law and sister/daughter not see the borrowed "Jimmy" leaving (thought it was a dead-end street)? Could it be, all this time, it was the two of them - together - who orchestrated this? Not that they committed the murder directly, but possibly hired three men?

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Also, the neighbors spotted the family driving up the road, but no mention was made of any other vehicles moving by later... Including the vehicle the family was using, that the muderer(s) apparently took...

Sorry, Taun. Having re-read your comment, I doubt you were wondering how the murderers got there... :unsure2:

I guess the neighbors didn't happen to look later because we know that the family's vehicle left later...

And why was the mother not drown?

Because the mother's death was caused by strangling, but she was also placed over into the tub, it's my impression that the tub thing was to assure that they all were dead.

And why did the son-in-law and sister/daughter not see the borrowed "Jimmy" leaving (thought it was a dead-end street)?

By the time the son-in-law/daughter/ PI guy got there, the Jimmy had already been abandoned where it was found. According to one of those articles, it had been spotted by a witness driving around the vicinity at about 10:30pm.

Not that they committed the murder directly, but possibly hired three men?

I'll put it this way; I don't buy the phone call from the mother-in-law. I think a call might have come from her home, but I definitely wouldn't think it was from her.

Edited by regi
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I haven't located other information about this case, but the following article is comprehensive, informative.

http://www.journalno...118871ac34.html

Perhaps the Durhams pick up these men going home from their work, walking along in the heavy snow storm, or a fake car break down and giving them a lift. The men hiding down in the car and forcing the Durhams to take them to their home. Robbery does seem to be the motive since stolen articles were in the Jimmy when the car was found.Was there any money stolen ? Robbers rather take money because stolen items can be easily traced when hocked. Were there any finger prints in the house or car ?

Edited by docyabut2
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Although the vehicle was found in a ditch there were no skid marks at the scene—it was almost as if the vehicle had been purposely positioned to draw attention. On the back seat detectives found a pillowcase containing a cache of silver plates, the only items of value found to be missing from the Durham home.

http://ididitforjodie.com/2013/12/29/overlapping-murders-presidential-edition-travels-with-cecil/

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Perhaps the Durhams pick up these men going home from their work, walking along in the heavy snow storm, or a fake car break down and giving them a lift.

That's an interesting thought, but I don't think so. Now, my first thought was that the killer(s) might have already been in the home waiting for the family, but now that I've thought about it longer, the way the scene was described- with personal items put away and food out- it sounds to me like the family had been home for a certain amount of time.

Robbery does seem to be the motive since stolen articles were in the Jimmy when the car was found.

I wonder if that was staging because when considered with other evidence, it strikes me as a plant.

I don't know if anything else was determined to have been missing from the home, but from what I've read, there was an envelope of money in plain sight still at the scene, so it seems to me there was no knowledge of that money and that the reason would be because the motive wasn't to rob.

Edited by regi
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im sitting back watching you guys, looking like something good going on here , anyone know how the family were arranged on the tub? ( i.e dad. mum , son or son dad mum?)

warning- not for the faint of heart, the image of the bodies over the bathtub

http://ididitforjodi...mdeathscene.jpg

durhamransacked1.jpg?w=614durhamcrimescene2.jpg?w=614

Though the motive for the family’s slaughter remained opaque

the method of their butchery was soon revealed.

An autopsy established that although rope burns were evident on the necks of all three Durhams

Bryce and Bobby Joe were alive when their heads were forced underwater;

Virginia alone had been strangled to death before being plunged headfirst into the tub.

The bodies of Bryce and Virginia also exhibited evidence of blunt force trauma—Bryce had a skull fracture

and Virginia’s nose had been bloodied before her death, crimson traces visible in the home’s shag carpet.

None of the corpses bore defensive wounds,

Edited by CuriousLittleOne
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I have a notion about the vehicle. I think the article said it was a Jimmy. I'm making an assumption that in 72 it would have been a stick rather than an automatic.

Looking at the pic of the house got me thinking... Then I went to google and bing maps to check further. Given the driveway is a sort of steep hill, and it leads onto Clyde Townsend Road which looks like a downward slope from the house to 105....

I think it's entirely possible the Jimmy could have just been rolled in neutral and the lights off to get it off Clyde Townsend past the neighbors before firing the engine at the bottom of the hill on 105. That might explain why neighbors noted the Jimmy coming home, but missed it leaving.

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That's an interesting thought, but I don't think so. Now, my first thought was that the killer(s) might have already been in the home waiting for the family, but now that I've thought about it longer, the way the scene was described- with personal items put away and food out- it sounds to me like the family had been home for a certain amount of time.

I wonder if that was staging because when considered with other evidence, it strikes me as a plant.

I don't know if anything else was determined to have been missing from the home, but from what I've read, there was an envelope of money in plain sight still at the scene, so it seems to me there was no knowledge of that money and that the reason would be because the motive wasn't to rob.

Perhaps the Durhams were just good Samaritans, and brought the men they had picked up in the storm home for a phone call and some food. I` be curious of the stretch of high ways they travel to get home, were they barren or populated.

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I have a notion about the vehicle. I think the article said it was a Jimmy. I'm making an assumption that in 72 it would have been a stick rather than an automatic.

Looking at the pic of the house got me thinking... Then I went to google and bing maps to check further. Given the driveway is a sort of steep hill, and it leads onto Clyde Townsend Road which looks like a downward slope from the house to 105....

I think it's entirely possible the Jimmy could have just been rolled in neutral and the lights off to get it off Clyde Townsend past the neighbors before firing the engine at the bottom of the hill on 105. That might explain why neighbors noted the Jimmy coming home, but missed it leaving.

Good work, and I really like that suggestion! :tu:

I think you might have hit the bulls-eye. :nw:

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Perhaps the Durhams were just good Samaritans, and brought the men they had picked up in the storm home for a phone call and some food.

Well, I wouldn't say that's an impossibility, just that it's a scenario that doesn't sit right with me.

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Good work, and I really like that suggestion! :tu:

I think you might have hit the bulls-eye. :nw:

Thanks. It would kind of make sense now that I'm re-reading some of the details. They brought the Jimmy home because they didn't think their usual cars would make it up to the house, and later the car with the son in law got stuck and the men had to walk up to the house. I bet it would have been easy to roll the Jimmy out.

I think it's possible the killer/s could have simply walked up to the house unobserved- it was after dark and snowing at the time.

The whole phone calling thing really bothers me- mom called her kid, and not the cops? Kid don't call the cops before going over there? The PI don't suggest calling the cops before going over there?

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Thanks. It would kind of make sense now that I'm re-reading some of the details. They brought the Jimmy home because they didn't think their usual cars would make it up to the house, and later the car with the son in law got stuck and the men had to walk up to the house. I bet it would have been easy to roll the Jimmy out.

I think it's possible the killer/s could have simply walked up to the house unobserved- it was after dark and snowing at the time.

The whole phone calling thing really bothers me- mom called her kid, and not the cops? Kid don't call the cops before going over there? The PI don't suggest calling the cops before going over there?

I find the call quite strange overall..

If you imagine that she was actually making the phone-call, would the killers take the time to fill a bathtub with water and arrange the bodies afterwards? I think they would have killed her off, and get out of there really fast before no-one noticed. And if they filled up the bathtub before (or during) the call, how come none of them noticed her?

The bathtub thing makes me believe that the killers knew that they had a lot of time on their side... They did it to make sure that all three of them were dead, and the only one who actually died because of the strangling was the mother. But they did not know that for sure..

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Well, I wouldn't say that's an impossibility, just that it's a scenario that doesn't sit right with me.

Did they ever checked if that phone call from the mother to the son in law came through to him by the phone records? The killers did pull the phone lines out to the house, she may have had time to make that call.

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Did they ever checked if that phone call from the mother to the son in law came through to him by the phone records?

According to one of those articles rashore linked to, the phone call was local and so there wouldn't be a record of it.

If the info. from those articles is accurate re: the injuries to the bodies, there were no defensive injuries, and only the mother and father had other injuries besides injuries caused from the strangling.

Now, I would think those are highly significant findings because per the son-in-law, the mother-in-law told him that her husband and son were being assaulted or beaten- I don't remember which but it doesn't matter because the point is it's a blatant discrepancy with his story right out of the gate.

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Not to disparage the Armed Forces, but were any of the Green Beret's training in the area ever considered as suspects?

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Regi I don't see anyone just walking around in a rural snowstorm,someone would have spotted them, the family must have brought them to their home

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