Who Killed Justin?

Hi, I'm Holly and I'm Haley. Welcome to Mountain Mysteries Tales from Appalachia. Welcome back. Hi.

Haley, guess where I went today. Where did you go? Well, I went to one of the places that we have podcast about. I did not bring you.

I'm sorry about that, but I'm sorry. Well, it's all right. Okay. Where'd you go?

I went to St. John's of the Wilderness, the Church that the Farm Church episode. So it wasn't impromptu, but on Wednesday, I got this thing about attending this like wellness, self-care training for clinicians and people in the community. And I just had the address, so I didn't know where it was.

I thought it was an event center. So anyway, it took me a bit, but I got there faster than I thought. I thought it would take a long time to get there. But anyway, drove there and I saw the sign that says, St.

John of the Wilderness, I heard that before. And I was like, oh my gosh, I did a story about it. It was at this church. That's crazy.

Yes. So basically the church is set up across the street. It's the church from the 1800s that we talked about with the graveyard where moon shiners used to illegally sell during prohibition and all of the hauntings. And it was like the vortex and all these things.

Okay, I'm so excited. So across the street from that, they have their fellowship hall that is stunningly beautiful. It is stunning. So we go in there and all I can think about this church, right?

Yeah. So you're like, not actually, like, I cannot well this. I need to go visit. I must be fine.

At one point, they gave us a journal and they said, take 20 minutes by yourself, like, you know, go outside and experience nature and all the things and all I could think about is get to this church in the church. Hopefully it's unlocked. So I get past the graveyard, which I'm like, oh, the graveyard, I snapped a picture. I sent it to Haley and I was like, yes, what?

Then I went in the church, the door was open. So I went in and it was like, whoa, you definitely, it didn't feel like evil or creepy. It felt like you're definitely not allowed. You know, you had kind of had that old vibe to it and sort of, you know, it was dimly lit, but I don't know, there's just something about it.

And the floor, there was obviously someone buried underneath the floor in the walls of the church there. And you could kind of tell that. There were writings. Anyway, gorgeous church, fantastic.

And I could not believe my luck. I was like, all things. So I turned to a colleague of mine, came as well, and I turned to her and I was like, I was on this very place. And she was like, did someone die here?

So many. And I was like, so many. Oh my gosh, I couldn't get over myself. And for the longest time, I couldn't focus.

We were doing this meditation. We were doing this, you know, breathing and belly breaths and chanting and this, all this fufo stuff. And all I could think was, got to get to the church, get to the church. That's amazing.

It was great. So this is our first experience, besides things like the Billmore House, that I actually didn't take that to. You know, so I thought that was really cool. Wow.

Maybe next time we can hop in the car and, you know, we got to know where it is. We got to take it back. Yeah, because I absolutely had no idea. So that's crazy.

Wow, that's really awesome. Yeah. Okay. All right.

Are you ready to get slightly sad? Always. I like where your head did take my Zoloft today. So I feel like I'm prepared.

You're in a good space. I'm in a good space. Do some belly breaths and no, I'm not a belly breath. I'm at the box breathing.

I'm good at the box breather. The grounding techniques. Yes. There's a lot of times at work that myself and several people, we will, like when we're feeling really overwhelmed, we always make fun of it.

We call it Earthing. Which is like a thing apparently people do, like take their student socks off and walk around the ground. Very. But we take our, like our shoes off and walk around the office with an issues on it.

We're like, we're like grounding ourselves. Why? Who's calling you? This is wild.

How is popular tonight? Sorry about that. You'll know that life here. Yeah.

But yeah. So like today I had a really stressful day and I buy like noon. My shoes were off. Wow.

I was like, I will know shoes today. I think there's something to be said for that grounding piece to kind of feel your earth underneath your toes and that kind of thing. Also, this was a tile floor, but you know, it's fine. I have also learned through this training today that singing is a great way to take cortisol levels down.

Really? Yes. And particularly singing in unison or singing together. I believe that.

A way to up your endorphin level and make you feel happy. I believe that. I used to really like, I mean, I don't do as much anymore just because of like some, you know, medical stuff, but like I used to sing in the church choir and you know, I have pretty profound hearing loss. Yeah.

Both ears are like now it's really difficult to sing in like a choir scenario. But I remember that being a really great time. That's awesome. Really enjoyed.

Yeah. So yeah. So singing, there are actually groups that get together just to sing. Like they just meet up to sing and essentially it promotes sort of this healing and joy, which sort of counteracts the feelings of depression and isolation.

And studies have shown that the most common reason why someone feels depressed is the lack of meaningful communication, not surface level crap, not. Yeah. I went and hung out with a friend and we talked about the weather. Right.

Well, that's not really your friend. And that's not a deep meaningful relationship. But having meaningful connections can actually help you move past feelings of depression and sadness and isolation when you have meaningful relationships, because that means that you have a support system that's what really cares about you. So anyway, ah, so excited.

All right. Let's pivot. We are going to pivot today and talk a little bit about a sad story. So today's story takes us to Monks Corner, South Carolina.

Monks Corner is located about 50 miles from Charleston. Okay. So it's the morning of March 3rd, 1989. We are at the home of Victor Lee Turner and his second wife, Pamela.

They reside on a fairly large piece of property on the outskirts of the city with Victor's five year old son, Justin. Justin is the product of Victor's first marriage to Eileen Pace. I like the name Eileen. Really?

Hmm. That's an old one. I just like it. All I think is come on, Eileen.

I swear my money. Mm hmm. Yeah. No.

My grandma's best friend, same as Eileen. Really? All lane. Turatul.

All lane. Sorry. Speaking of singing. Uh, yeah.

So that's awesome. Okay. Victor and Eileen share custody of their son. Victor and his current wife, Pamela have been together for several years and Pamela has definitely taken on the role of stepmother to young Justin.

Like most mornings, Pamela would help Justin get ready for school and accompany him to his friend's house who lived next door and the two boys would get on the bus together. Victor had already left her work leaving Pamela in charge of seeing Justin off to school. Pamela would ensure that Justin, a kindergartner at White'sville Elementary, successfully got on the bus with his friend. So she would like see him from the window and I'm like wave off that kind of thing.

This morning was no different. Pamela helped Justin get ready for school, gave him breakfast, but this morning was slightly different because Justin and Pamela were arguing. Oh. I mean, I could only imagine what you argue with a five-year-old.

Things like, no, you're going to wear this today. Can you play? It's just a one-year-twent shirt. Just negotiate constantly.

Like if you do this, I love, love, love, yes. Just get on the bus and go to school. So feeling frustrated, Pamela decided to just like take a shower. So instead of taking him to the bus and his friend's house and all this stuff, she just said, maybe the hot water will make me feel better.

I'm just going to like take a minute, get in a shower. So she left him to go to his friend's house and get on the bus. Pamela didn't think a thing about it because it was something that he did every day. You know, she thought like, I just need my space.

So he's going to be fine. Yeah. Just want to go on the bus. Exactly.

So after Pamela came out of the bathroom, Justin was gone and she assumed, okay, got on the bus. Afternoon, when the bus came to drop the children off at home, Justin didn't get off the bus. Yeah. By 4.30 in the afternoon, Pamela went to the neighbor's house, you know, the friend who lived next door.

Well, the child's name was also Justin. His name was Justin. It's a popular name by generation. Yeah.

Yeah. When they were calling roles like Justin C, Justin P, Justin S. We had a lot of Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer, Michael, Michael, Michael. So in my school, there were two Halies.

I spell mine with an eye and the other didn't have an eye on her name, her which is H.A. L.E.Y. and we had the exact same last name. So we were both Halie in our last name, which was really funny.

Now she, the other Halie was, she had some very severe like intellectual disabilities issues in the E.C. program, she liked the self-contained classroom, but we were always buddy together because we were always beside each other in like line ups and things like that. It was same grade. So remember we graduated eighth grade.

I was always called by my middle name when I was called the office. I'd be called Halie in the middle name and said my last name. And they would call me down and after like the third time of them calling the first and last name and I show up and it was the other one or the other one comes, it was me and so they switched to my middle name. But in our eighth grade graduation, we were seated beside each other so she was my buddy and I did like an achievement award and they called, you know, Halie and then our last name and she, her name and I'm really excited.

Well, it was a word, I had one, it was my award, but like we both walked up there and like I gave it like she, I think they gave me a certificate and a plaque or something and I let her keep the plaque. So it was just really, really happy. They gave me another one later like they went and ordered another one and gave it to me. And then she was like, my name is Elrond.

Yeah, and it was, it was like my spelling on it, but she took it and it was really sweet. She was awesome. And that's so kind because if you think about it, maybe she never won any awards before or after that. That was probably really meaningful.

She was really sweet and then waiting to go to say hi to her. I didn't go to say hi to her. I didn't go to say hi to her. I didn't go to say hi to her.

So I don't really know. No, she went to the standard high school and I went to a different program. Oh, that's right. So yeah, but yes, I was in the alternative program for the felons.

I mean in your past, like you were selling crack to a breggate girl. Yeah, it's in the in the jail school. It's fine. For the little tin cup against the bones.

Yeah, yeah. There's my tangent about the same name, but that's just a cute word. I remember her. She was, and she had a brother who was also my age.

Not named my brother's name, but her father's name is my dad's name. Oh my gosh. They're both named Larry. That is insane.

So same dad's name. And I wonder when it happened to her. I don't know. That'll grow up.

Oh, that's crazy. Anyway, so Pamela goes next door and she checks in with Justin Smith, who was a little Justin's friend. Pamela asked the child, you know, have you seen my Justin? Like was he at school?

And Justin's friend says, you know, I just got this really weird feeling and I told her no, like he wasn't at school at all today. I thought he was homesick. Like everybody thought he was absent homesick too. So this wasn't like Justin.

He was always on the school bus. So Pamela and Victor got worried. They called the police to report their son missing. Right.

I mean, I could see like, as my brother did this before, where he accidentally fell asleep on the bus in the seat and didn't get off the bus. So they had gone like run the whole route. And we're going back to the bus garage. Yeah.

So I pulled my brother pops his head up as like, I'm so here. And I'm sure the bus driver lost their mind. And think off the doors control. The crap out of them.

But they, you know, returned him to the house just like an hour late. I feel like this is person of my sure brother. Yes, it does. I just think that he's like, oh, surprise me.

Like, oh my god. Yeah. He was returned. Even to your parents.

He was a surprise. Yes. Your mom told me that. Yeah.

Yeah. I didn't just make that up. No, that is true. So let's be clear here.

At this point, the parents haven't called the school to make sure the bus because that would be my fault. Right. Right. Ron bus fell asleep on the bus.

You know, something happened. Maybe he'd missed the bus and was still at school. Right. That kind of thing.

Maybe he was walking home. He had missed the bus and he was like, well, I'll just walk home. It's not too far. You know, his kids can calculate things.

Like, oh, it's just, it's not far. I'll walk. Right. It's like a five minute bus ride.

So how far I'll walk and it'll be, well, like miles. Yes. But a kid doesn't think that way. You know, so that would be another thought.

They did ask a lot of his friends, but all of them said, no, we haven't seen him. And so they just kind of skipped really quickly to the part of like, he's missing. We need to call the police and they felt like something was wrong, which, you know, I'm not saying anything's wrong with that instinct, but I would probably check around a little bit before I would just jump to the cops, but it seemed like they, you're what? I'm leaving.

Yeah, the cops. I get it, but I would want to check like everything. Like, okay, you check here. I'll call the school.

I'll do all these things and then call the cops. I don't know. It just felt like they didn't pursue all avenues, just like a small window. Please interview the couple to find out more information about the last time that they had seen Justin and Pamela share the story with the police about how she normally watched Justin down the buffs, but decided to take a shower while Justin left her school.

So the police took down some notes and searched throughout the family's property, just in case Justin was hiding somewhere. So I was thinking about the scenario, like perhaps Justin just decided to get back at his stepmom. You know, they'd had an argument that morning and he was like, I'm not going to school. I'm not going to school.

I'm not, you know, because what if the whole fight was about school? Gotcha. Yeah. What if he was like, I'm not going to school.

I'm not doing this, you know. Did you ever have that look when you were a kid and you were like, just didn't want to go to school and you're like, why just like hidden the bushes and like missed the bus? See, I didn't take the bus. My mom drove me.

I watched me go into the damn building. I read the bus. It's a bus rider. Yeah.

To like, I drive myself. Yeah. I read that. You'll school this.

Yeah. Then you drove the school bus. I drove the bus. No.

We don't want that. No. We don't need that. No.

They've asked me. They're like, hey, would you be in a bus license? I'm like, you don't want that. You don't want everyone safe to.

You don't want that. No. We don't want that. As a society.

No. That'd be bad. Kind of Haley's on the road. Just be aware.

Oh my god, really. You scared her. So think about it. You know, he was maybe upset with stepmom and he was like, I'm gonna go to school.

And so but then like fearful that he might get in trouble. He just like hides on the family property all day. And like maybe lost track of time. Didn't really know like now it's afternoon.

Like he's little. So maybe he like fell asleep. Right. All these scenarios kind of go through your head.

After searching the property at length, the police were not able to find him. So investigators called White'sville Elementary. The school were just and attended and the school stated that yes, Justin was absent. He had never been there that day and eyewitnesses claim that Justin never got on the school bus.

Like he didn't come out to get on the school bus. So it was just assumed he was absent. Everyone thought like, okay, maybe he's sick. What year was this?

1989. Okay. Okay. Go and say like we have now if a kid is at least in my school that I work in.

If a kid's absent from class at the end of the day, they get a call. Like it's an automated call. It goes out to parents. It's like you're a student.

Susie Joe was absent from second period, third period and fourth period. Uh oh, looks like Susie Joe's got to get grounded. So if it's good class, you're getting busted. That's pretty smart.

Yeah. So but you know, they didn't have that one. I was at school. Yeah.

So this is 89. Yeah, probably not. Yeah. No, I was also in kindergarten and I did.

Wow. That's some perspective. Yeah. Before you were ever born.

From my parents probably knew each other. I mean, your mom was in high school. Yeah. Yeah.

15. Yeah. Yeah. She was.

There's some perspective. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And just so you all know, Haley and I's mom are closer in age than me and Haley. So just let that sink in.

Yeah. All right. So again, this kind of backs up the theory that either Justin chose not to get on the bus or maybe he was kidnapped on his house. Something happened.

So Justin's father told the police that he and Justin's biological mother were divorced and that their co-parenting relationship was challenging. Police questioned Justin's mother, Eileen, endlessly regarding her whereabouts that day and the last time she saw her son. Eileen admitted that yes, their divorce was contentious and difficult but she hadn't seen Justin in days. Investigators grilled Eileen fearing that perhaps she had abducted her own son.

Yeah. Like a parental objection? Yeah. Which is, I mean, happens.

It's not, I mean, we have Amber Alerts for all of them. Yeah. For parental objections. That's the most common one.

I feel like we get like alerts on. So they keep saying, tell us what you did with Justin. And Eileen replies, I didn't do anything with him. Would you please find my son?

Eileen had an alibi and the theory didn't have a lot of traction. Like they were trying to like get something, figure out an angle based on what Victor had said but you know, nothing was really matching up. So the story quickly found its way to the news media as the stories tend to and you got to remember, Monks Corner is very small. It's about 5,000 people and it was relatively safe.

Like so if you think that a kidnapper is like laying in your midst, this is a terrifying prospect. It's, you know, people with children being terrified, making sure you're like locking doors and, and school is probably on alert, all these things. So the police decided to search the family's property again. So on March 5th, 1989, two days after Justin went missing, a team of investigators along with Victor and Pamela Turner helped in the search.

Justin's mother Eileen, her new husband, along with Eileen's family weren't allowed to take part in the search. Apparently, there was an animosity between Eileen and her ex-husband and her extended family and he would not allow her and her family on the property. Now, I mean, it's her son too. Yeah.

That's hard. I feel like she should have the right to search for him. Yeah. I don't know.

I mean, yeah, it just, that's really, that's hard. Yeah, because I imagine that there was blame both ways. Yeah. Like, you know, there was blame on Stepmom, there was blame on Birthmom, dad, like it just gets sticky.

Yeah, it's sticky for sure. So the news media was there each step of the way, recording the search. So, this is not a common thing of like, I mean, it's, it's for them to be there saying a search has ensued and right to be like on the scene as it's happening. But not recording it.

Like, you know, yeah, like they'll be like across the street being like, and there's a search or like a helicopter flying over and like, this is the start area. Yeah. Attention. Haley is on the road again.

Please be warned. Be aware. Yeah. And you see like a car going in a ditch and you're like, well, there's your chance.

She's now off road. Hope that Honda's not a road vehicle. Yeah, it's an off road, all terrain vehicle. It is not.

Is it an all-wheel drive? It is not a drive. Oh, well, I mean, there's, there's a chance. Yeah, maybe.

Ditches might get me that. I'm gonna feel about the ditch. Where's Haley's stuck in a ditch? She's in the ditch.

It's all right. She's just hanging out there. It's fine. Better in a ditch than being a bitch.

I'm both. Bitch in a ditch. Ooh. Yeah, that's me.

Ditch the bitch. Wow. Bitch in a ditch. That feels better.

That feels nice. Yeah. Feels right. Feels appropriate.

Yeah. Okay. All right. So the cameras are on and they're recording this whole search, which again, eh, it's kind of weird.

It's kind of weird. It's kind of odd. Yeah. So before the team began their search operation on that foggy March morning, Justin's father asked the police a really strange question.

We said, what if a family member was responsible for Justin's disappearance? Second passing. Yeah, it's strange. Why would you ask that?

Do you have, like, but again, he kind of accused birth mom, you know, like, I don't know what he's getting at here. Like it feels strange. So the camera was recording as the team searched every inch of the property. Victor Turner, the dad quickly went toward the family camper that was parked in the backyard.

He had to unlock the door because it was locked. And within a few seconds, he walked into the trailer. He turns around with anguish in his voice and yelled, quote, I found him, my son's in there, end quote. So this is being recorded.

And this is how I've seen this footage. It exists. Wow. Investigators descended on the camper and discovered the lifeless body.

Yeah. A five-year-old Justin in a cabinet-like storage compartment underneath the seat of the camper. Wow. How it's like a table and then they have under a judge.

Yeah. That's where he was. Wow. Justin was deceased.

Investigators knew instantly that this wasn't a case of the child hiding in, in like, you know, suffocating or something like that. Exactly. When interviewed by the media, police stated that there was no way the child would be able to get into the cabinet like that and close it behind him. It was too hard to close.

There was just no way he could do it. They knew it was foul play rather than an accidental death. So yeah, just let that sink in. Well, then the door was locked.

Door was locked. So it had to have been someone that, you know, was able to get into it, knew the family or had access to the keys. Some really good at lock-taking. Yeah.

Yeah. And they hadn't found him two days before when they were searching the property. Well, wouldn't that be the first place you look? Right.

Like, oh god, maybe he's in the camper. Right. Like you're checking, like, that's where you're checking all your outbuildings, all of your like places like that. Like I'm thinking about, you know, the area that I grew up in has a lot of barns.

Like if somebody went missing, we're checking all those barns. Right. Or the ditch. Or the ditch for Haley.

Or under the bridges. Why would you be under a bridge? Oh, someone. Someone.

Oh, yeah. You live in there now? There's, I mean, you could lose one by the college nearby that's got a pretty open cavernous space underneath it. Great.

I mean, if things don't work out with your rental, yeah, under the bridge is a pretty good option. Where's Haley? Under the bridge. Yeah.

Here's the bridge troll. Now you might answer a little to pass bridge bitch. Yeah. That works.

Yeah. I like that. That's a good one. Yes.

So many, you know, possibilities for you. So this rental is not the end. It's not the end. I'll just be getting.

So this gets in the camper. It's a bad time. It's a bad time. So it's common to hear that someone was killed within miles or even a mile of their own home.

Yes. So you hear that all the time, like, abducted at their house or on their property and then killed, you know, and then it down the road or something to that effect. So if maybe like he went astray from his friend's house or was like kidnapped, maybe they killed him and they had hidden him in this cabinet, but maybe the police didn't find him the first time or maybe he, like, I mean, that wouldn't have even known the cabinet was there. Maybe not.

Sometimes I was like, it was part of the event. Like the ventricity or something. So maybe they just opened up. Yeah.

Exactly. But again, someone to have a key. That's what's weird. That's what doesn't make sense.

So and then a killer, because this was in the backyard, wouldn't be scared to like be like picking locks or like screwing with a lock. Right. Like you want to get out of there very quickly. Yeah.

The end in the morning. Yeah. So like, did he take him in there and kill him in the camper to take him off site and then come? That doesn't make any sense.

Exactly. No sense. Exactly. So all of it's very strange.

Friends, relatives and neighbors alike were shocked at the discovery. They were called Justin being a really friendly, sweet kid, played little league baseball, loved playing with his friends across the street. Like, who would want to hurt this sweet little boy? So it could be that the kinever didn't even make it off the property.

Like we talked about maybe got scared, hit the body really fast, but police were trying as best they could to piece together as much information as possible. Right. So they asked the media for the tape footage so that they could review it themselves. Right.

They noticed that Justin's father moves straight for the locked camper. Like the search begins and there's not a lot of other places they look. Like everybody kind of fans out and he just kind of goes for the camper. Straight to it.

So I do want to say that, you know, as a parent, like sometimes you have just instinct and you're like led somewhere and like maybe he felt led to like, who should check this out, which again probably shouldn't be the cops for choice. I don't know. Like that just seems logical, like you said, but yeah. So, you know, opens the cabinet, finds a stun and instead of checking to see if like his son is alive or staying with him, you know, that kind of thing, he runs off into tears and he goes like to sit down and is crying or like grabs him.

Yeah. I would be grabbing my kid and running out and like, let's give him CPR, like let's do whatever, even if you knew, like anything possible. Yeah. Just strange.

So I will say everybody reacts in scenarios like this in a really different way. It's hard to predict like how a parent will react to see their child in a cabinet not life, like you know, lifeless. Right. Right.

So another interesting factoid here, police actually searched that camper the day before, like I mentioned, they didn't find a thing. So now how was it all of a sudden? He was there. Suddenly he's there and victors the one to find him.

That's weird. Victor's not looking good. Some things aren't adding up here. So it was clear the body was placed there sometime after the police left the property.

Unless they just missed. But it seems more likely that he was placed. So we also have to ask ourselves, was Justin missing the last two days and was killed later in place in the camper or had he been in the camper all along, but it seemed like he was placed there. So where was he?

Right. The coroner performed an autopsy and revealed that Justin's cause of death was due to strangulation. He had been strangled. He had also been sexually assaulted by some kind of foreign cylinder shaped object.

Justin's time of death is believed to have been in the morning hours of March 3rd. So right after he went missing. Yes. The same day he went missing.

He was killed. Justin's stomach content showed undigested breakfast food. The same he had eaten that morning at home. So let's think through a couple of things here.

We got Justin lasting the lie by his stepmother who claimed that got into an argument and she took a shower instead of watching him get on the bus. We know that Victor, his dad was the one who found him, but the camper was locked. And Victor's dad was actually at work when he'd gone off to school and would have gone missing. And I think he did have an alibi for that.

So Victor had to open the camper with a key. So again, as we said, whoever put Justin in there had a key to the camper. Oh, and I want to add this extra piece. Apparently prior to the search of the property on March 5th, like I mentioned, Victor had asked what if a family member took him?

And I thought that most. He also mentioned what if a family member had harmed Justin? Not just taking him, but harmed him. That adds to it because the initial was what if they had taken him and he also then added harm to harm him, which was like, wait, what before they even found him?

Right. What if he was harmed? I think that's really weird. I think this whole thing is really weird because I want to say it's the dad, but then I want to say it's the stepmom.

But then also it's like, right by him mom is also, I don't know. I'm not who did it. You just didn't pretty good at figuring it out. Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Tell me two things. At least at a full scale for Wrenzick search of the Turner home, where they found an item with the same type of ligature marks like Justin had around his neck.

It's like a strangle with an object. Okay. The fibers on the murder weapon were the same fibers found on Justin's shirt. Police and forensic investigators did a very thorough job of collecting evidence in the camper, the home and around the family's property.

And you have to remember, this is 1989 and DNA is not a thing at this point. Right. On March 10th of that year, Victor and Pamela were led into the police department for a lie detector test. The results of that test have never been revealed to the police.

Never. Never. Never. Which makes you think, what are they sitting on?

Well, it's in a visible anyway. Right. And Corey can't use them in court. But still, but you would think if they were cleared, they said that family's cleared like what we'll ask.

Yeah. By March 23rd, Victor and Pamela were only communicating with the police via their lawyer. The lawyer announced to police that the Turner's would no longer be cooperating with the police and their investigation. I don't know if this not cooperating was like feedback from their lawyer, but this does not make them look innocent.

No, it doesn't make you look good. No, no longer cooperating. That it causes even more questions and shines the spotlight on you. If your child was murdered, wouldn't you do whatever you could to find the person who did this?

Like why would you just shut down like this? This is no sense. Eventually, the county coroner asked for an inquest into the case. This was held in December of 1989.

So some like nine months after the murder. Victor and Pamela were forced to appear but did not attend for two days of the inquest. So it was three days long. And the first two days, their name and show.

Again, I don't know if this was feedback from their lawyer. Like, oh, you don't have to be here for this. I don't really know what it was. But again, if we're examining stuff in regard to my son's murder, I would be there every second, every day, like all the things.

So this again, very strange. Eventually, they showed up on the third day and took the witness stand. But both of them played the fifth. Yeah.

They did not say a word. So every time they were asked a question, they say, I plead the fifth. I plead the fifth. I plead the fifth.

Eventually. Yeah. Saying that over and over and over, that doesn't look good for you. That's bad.

That's bad. That's bad. Oh my gosh. No.

Yeah. The coroner presented evidence and the jury charged an emotionless Pamela, the stat mom, with murder and removed her from the court and handcuffs. So I don't know details about what all was presented. But we know that Victor had an ally.

So we knew he was there. She was the last person to see him alive. And he never made it on the bus. She did state that they had an argument that morning.

And if she was so heated, she had to take a shower. Or was she taking a shower because she had committed murder? Did she have evidence on her? Like all of these things, right?

So it's stuff that's like going through your head. Then this begs the question, did Victor know his wife? Did this assuming she did this? Now she hasn't, you know, here, she's just being arrested.

Right. Did he know? I mean, it sounds like if he's asking, like, what would happen? Yeah.

Pamela was held on $100,000 bond. Victor was never charged or arrested and eventually charges against Pamela were dropped. What? Apparently there wasn't enough evidence to get a guilty conviction.

So they let her go free. Yeah. I'm sweet, Charles. Yeah.

Okay. This crazy. What? Pamela always remained a person of interest in the case.

So time moved on. In the case went cold. There were no clear leads and investigators had to start working on other cases. It's just they take priority.

Victor and Pamela sold their property and moved north to Cross Hills, South Carolina. And it was there that Pamela changed her name from Pamela Turner to Megan. She changed her name to Megan Turner in order to get a fresh start. She also didn't want all the negative notoriety around the case associated with the name Pamela Turner to impede her ability to work and live.

God forbid. Oh my God. Victor and Megan, aka Pamela, never called the police to check in on the case and investigators hadn't heard from them since 1990. Not a word.

Again, someone has murdered your son and I got up and leave change your name and never check in. Correct. That does not look good. Megan Pamela.

Justin's mother, Eileen, died in 2004, always with the hope that one day her son's killer would be found and brought to justice. Eileen would go to police. Eileen would check in as would her husband. They both would check in and her husband stated in an interview that he promised to carry on the search for Justin's killer and was vigilant about seeking justice in honor of his wife and Justin.

Okay. So we're going to skip ahead about 32 years. Okay. And really, Eileen's in for this.

It's 2021. This is when a task force is formed to reopen old cases. At this point, Justin's murder was one of the oldest unsolved homicides in South Carolina history. Investigators put a fresh set of eyes on this case.

They combed through interviews with Victor, Pamela, slash Megan and others. They used DNA tools to test evidence that had never been tested before or only partially tested. Using the DNA, hold your breath. Using the DNA, they were able to link Megan and Victor to Justin's death.

Police from Monks Corner went to the home of Victor and Megan Turner some 150 miles away. It was there in January of 2024, this year that the aging couple now in their late 60s were arrested and driven back to Monks Corner. The drive took about three hours and the couple never uttered a single word while in the car. The only sound came from the whistle of Victor's oxygen tank.

What? He had a cannula that he wore in his nose to provide him with additional air. He was he's not in good health. Yeah.

Investigators really began to tie it all together when they read through Megan's interview. See, her stories were always inconsistent and never added up. She had this whole story about oh, I was sick that morning. And that's why I had to get in the shower.

I wasn't feeling well. But then the story was oh no, no, no, no, we had a fight that morning and I was heated and so I took a shower and that's why I couldn't watch him get on the bus. And so because the story changed and of all the first story was the fight. The second story altered to be oh, I was feeling sick because probably doesn't sound right if you got into a fight that morning, right?