9 accused gang members charged with distributing drugs in Florence area Pat wasnt buying it. Well, youve heard about him already. I said promise me you that you know I love you. Tom Morgan watched a local production team piece together his story - Toms fictional imagining - of the murder of his little sister Jennifer. Jarring questions, said Tom. Like, why was she at home that morning? Three of them, actually. And that was this: Based on nothing more than his own analysis of a fictionalized story, Pat surmised in his very public film that Jennifers father and brother helped Tom get away with her murder. All victims have been submitted by law enforcement or the victims' families. Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: How would you describe the way theyre treating you?Tom Morgan: From where I grew up you would call it being slapped around.Morrison: Bullied.Tom Morgan: yeahMorrison: What motivation would they have to bully you except to find the truth?Tom Morgan: Maybe this is where the rubber meets the road and they think you know what? Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: What was the thing that got you obsessed?Tom Morgan: I felt like we knew who did it. He places himself at the crime scene.Morrison: And emotionally what does that do to ya?Pat Moug: Its not a good feeling in your gut because youre thinking what happened to the girl? Embarrassed, Tom told Pat, about running away from some financial and romantic mistakes hed made up in Michigan. So it was exciting when a friend said he knew someone who could make the film. Of course Tom now had to call Pat Moug up at the Livonia, Mich., police department and tell him the news. These days Chris, the one-time fraternity boy, owns a radio station here in union, South Carolina. Im demanding justice for Jennifer Morgan. And at the glacial pace the investigation has moved, the new generation of the Morgan family may be in college themselves before Tom can finally let it go. Monster of Florence - Wikipedia I figured that there would absolutely be no resolve.Morrison: So that the investigation was what?Jim Morgan: It was botched. South Carolina is loaded with history and ghostly tales of suspense. Still, hes not giving up hope. She worked as nurse at McLeod Hospital and was raising her toddler son, Jai, at home in the Country Club of South Carolina. But, as we took a stroll through Jennifers woodsy trailer park, the sheriff gave us some graphic reasoning for his view that the murderer was none of the suspects youve heard about, but someone else altogether. Jim Morgan: We were asked by the police department to make sure, in case something did come up in the future, that they could exhume her body, and do DNA testing. Tom Morgan: And he said your sister died today in a fire and I dont want you to come home until tomorrow and he hung up the phone. Well, there was no arrest. Tom Morgan left state police headquarters in a daze. Its important to me, Boone said. It just didnt make sense. The two were found dead the night of June 25 at 3119 Nicklaus Court in the Country Club of South Carolina. Tom Morgan: She was 510 and 130 pounds. That was the day he said he admitted his deepest feelings for her, even though she didnt want to hear them. The people I care about know I didnt do it, and thats good enough for me.. While this homicide did not happen in my jurisdiction, I cant walk away. The Morgan family also knew about Chris Woodson. Back then, Snowden was Jennifers special boyfriend. He says he found out about it after the movie was made. I can see it is. A cop zeroes in Ethan Im gonna catch the person who did this. What is she doing? There's new DNA technology [investigators] are saying they are very excited with it, and they'll be applying those techniques, Bhav Patel told WMBF News. It simply states where murders occurred most frequently on an absolute and rate basis. Investigators claimed to have linked his father to the crime scene, too. On December 19, 1959, the entire Walker family was brutally murdered in their home in Osprey, Florida. Yeah. Tom Morgan: And for my closure, as strange as this may sound, I didnt want him to be a bad guy. But she was, I would say, what she was talking about was not normal in a loving, caring relationship.. And why? Finally I had gotten someones attention. Episode 1; . Morgans murder has never been solved, and even two decades later, now the top law man in Florence County, Boone still thinks about the case. David Deitz: Just spending time around her was an uplifting thing. We felt we couldn't talk about certain subjects and if we had, then we would lose our rights and it would have a detrimental effect on custody of the child, Patel told WMBF News. The 'Monster Of Florence' Case And Why It May Be Reopened - All That's South Carolina Crime Stoppers View Source Square with arrow pointing upper right. They knocked the fire down, and discovered the body burned beyond recognition, lying face down on the bed. Tom Morgan: That what probably a lamp fell over and probably ignited the carpet, the chemicals in the carpets made the fumes and these fumes probably killed Jennifer before the fire ever got to her. I can remember it just like it was yesterday, Boone said. Tom Morgan: No.Morrison: --your sister? By now, Tom had spent well over a decade trying to get police to investigate his sisters 1994 killing. If Tom killed his sister, then according to Pat, Jennifers own father and her other brother may have helped cover up the murder by dousing her body in gasoline and setting it on fire. The melted television and a few pieces of jewelry left behind, fused by the heat, seemed to rule out robbery. And then came, quite suddenly, another one of those moments. So what about that milky white substance he says the sheriff told him was found in Jennifers body, which was at the heart of Pats suggestion that Jennifers death could have been caused by some inappropriate sexual event involving Tom? Finally, theyll get to see the work thats consumed three years of his life. Kerry Morgan: Almost as if she was down there tossing it to us. I moved down here after she died, guess what I didnt, I moved down here in f in October. Boone was a young investigator with the sheriffs office at the time and soon learned there was much more to this call than fire. And I might know who did it. Berg: He was one of those guys that wanted to really date her and thought that was someone that he could really spend the rest of his life with, but she did not feel that way towards him at all. Tom Morgan: I mean just the momentum kind of got behind this thing. (scenes from "Bold as a Lion") Tom Morgan: I remember that day I was at a friends house in CharlotteI flew in to Charlotte and then I drove on the way down to my parents house at the beach. I made her pure for my parents. Hes just a friend.Morrison: Yeah? In the film the visitor is her brother; in real life it was Chris Woodsons rival, Scott Snowden. 48 Cause of Death. Pat Moug: Right now if he was in our state, I believe I have enough evidence for probable cause to arrest him. Tom Morgan: It kept me awake at night, just thinking about it and thinking about it. Thats about the point Pats theories took a turn toward something way out there, something no one else had ever even imagined some sort of sexual dysfunction between Tom and his sister. And remember that watch police found in Jennifers hand after the fire? And now their grief was salted with anger and confusion and impossible questions. Well, not exactly because now, on they go, these three contending investigators, down their opposing paths. There would be two movies, remember twin parades of hope and folly. 310 S. Dargan Street Florence, SC 29506 . The Monster murdered fourteen victims, usually young couples secluded in search of intimacy, in wooded areas during new moons.. Law enforcement conducted several investigations into the cases over . And when I do, the district attorney is gonaa seek the death penalty and probably get it.. Pat Moug: I felt that being a police officer, someone that was a detective in sex crimes, that I thought Id be able to bring something to Jennifers story that other filmmakers might not be able to do. And they were gonna bring this thing to some closure for us. And then she winds up face down on her bed. Kerry Morgan, mother: I had started calling her the line was busy-busy-busy. Some parts 2023 Advameg, Inc. Crime rate in Florence, South Carolina (SC): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map, Crime rate in Florence, South Carolina (SC). The reason Tom was hauled in for questioning was because somebody had offered new evidence that suggested the real suspect all along should have been Tom Morgan. It was a friendly crowd for the premiere screening of Pat Mougs film Bold as a Lion offered enthusiastic praise for Pats efforts. City-data.com does not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of any information on this site. On November 18, 1978, an off-duty employee of the Burger Chef, a local fast food joint in Speedway, Indiana, found the restaurant's back door wide open. Here it is. In this case, people even made their own movies dueling versions of history. Pat Moug: Were you already back in Michigan? {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Independent Contractor (Newspaper Carrier), Delmae Elementary principal paraded around for 70th birthday, Canada makes new contract offer to striking public workers, Scott Cook no longer East Clarendon A.D., has re-applied to remain football coach, One person injured in Sunday afternoon Florence crash, Wilson High School engineering students place first in international competition, Head-on collision kills four in Marion County, Vera Nicole Godwin, RN, BS, McLeod Regional Medical Center Day Hospital, Kara Hanley, BSN, McLeod Regional Medical Center Cardiovascular Surgery, Trinity Collegiate announces junior marshals, ushers, Concert highlights similarities between Lake City, Canadian town, Florence police investigate South Irby Street shooting, State championship coach Southard set for Saturday reunion at West Florence, Trinity Collegiate baseball coach Michael Rogers wants to retire on high note, Coward manhunt ends in arrest of man wanted by Delaware, Mattel introduces first Barbie doll representing a person with Down syndrome, Ukrainian soldiers get targeted by rockets while digging trenches near Bakhmut, Scientists launch new study into humans after realizing spiders lose eyesight due to malnutrition, Analysis: Mom and pop safe as First Republic Bank fails, Biden vows banking system is 'safe and sound'. Tom said hed been living in Michigan when Jennifer was murdered, when in fact, a few weeks before she died, Tom moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Is it gonna be tomorrow? Theres no reason to put yourself at a murder scene of an unsolved homicide. Pat Moug, the actor-cop from Livonia, Michigan is out there with his own cinematic point of view that Tom may have killed his sweet sister, helped out by his own father and brother. A Mother and Son Are Found Murdered, Deepening a Mystery in South Carolina. Pat Moug: See thats what shocking to him is what his dad said, dont come home tonight. It seemed like he was just glossing over what shoulda been the shocking moment to him is that he called me and said my sisters dead.. Women Brutally Killed At A Salon - Medium But not yet, in spite of all thats happened, not yet. Why Woodson? What Tom did not know is that Pat was only pretending to make a documentary. Pat Moug is a 4th generation policeman. For Pat, this was the way to justice a film crammed with insinuation, accusation and an angry challenge to the sheriff of Florence county. And able to laugh again, though the gaping hole left by Jennifers death is, they tell us, just as painful as ever, along with the newer wound that comes from being accused. That this staged event at the murder scene isand the ring is possibly staged.Morrison: Did you ever ask Tom about that?Pat Moug: No. It wasnt payback. Map Browse By State. Tom Morgan: I told everybody I moved down here after my sister died. Tom Morgan: Around her birthday or the date of her death we would come out and find flowers that were laid here. This boy, Chris, and one of his fraternity brothers came over to the Morgan house. Fifty Thousand Dollars to share. For two days, police and citizen volunteers searched the area for the missing workers. Discuss Florence, South Carolina (SC) on our hugely popular South Carolina forum. Tom Morgan: Thats not evidence, apparently. as if he was actually right there when it happened. But making movies, someone might have told the man, can be hazardous. Then I faxed him a request from my detective bureau this was solely 100 per cent as a police officer, a fellow police officer and he never responded.Morrison: He doesnt think theres anything suspicious. Pats movie audience is eating out of his hand. It was he, said David, who left the bracelet and the ring at the grave, as tributes to a good friend. Tom, the budding screenwriter, still doesnt believe the sheriff and still suspects the fraternity boyfriend. You know thisI was okay with it. In our little movie tonight, this will be the opening scene Bucolic. Before long Investigator Boone had heard about Chris Woodson, too. All that mattered was Jai, for Punam and my sister, that's all they cared about, said Ramesh Patel, brother of Vinaben Patel and uncle of Punam Gopaldas. Kerry Morgan: She was very, very loved by a lot of people. Nothing to do with it, responds Pat. Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. All these years, Pat suggested, Jennifers whole family may have been involved in a massive cover up. Here, Pat seems to have caught Tom, as he tries not to reveal that hes been lying about his moving date from Michigan. But we still talked and kept it close.Morrison: And did you intend to begin a full-time relationship when you graduated?Snowden: Thats hard to say. Pat speculates that Tom lingered at his parents house in Myrtle Beach for several days after a family reunion ended, and then - on his drive home to Charlotte, stopped off to kill his sister. Morrison: Wait one second though. Im not goingIm not going to go away. Pat Moug says he got the story from Florence County Sheriff Kenny Boone, who said he learned about it from the forensic pathologist. Tom Morgan: When I got that letter, I called him that day. His sister Jennifer, 23, tall, attractive, funny, college marketing major, is our star, and the subject of our mystery. A big, friendly bundle of gung ho. 9 charts that show where home sales are headed in South Carolina; . First Pat implies Tom may have launched some sort of sexual attack on his sister. Then, because a couple of accomplices to the crime in Toms fictional movie script seemed to resemble Toms father and brother, Pat suggests that the real father and brother may have helped burn Jennifers body. Tom Morgan: Sounded good with me. Project Cold Case Database Hed just moved there from Michigan and was staying with a friend. Working on it. Question: Why do you think theyre so reluctant?Pat Moug: I dont know if its because Im an outsider perceived outsider as opposed to perceived fellow police officer. Well how about ice cream? DNA Evidence Just Solved One Of The Oldest Cold Cases Ever : NPR No way. Why? Tom Morgan: Now thats strange to me that that watch would be in her hand. They initially thought the fire was the result of an electrical problem but soon realized the blaze had several points of origin. Do you remember that possible evidence the family found at the grave? Would someone come forward? A mother has been trying to phone her daughter, her daughter Jennifer, at the mobile home park which was her off-campus residence. Pat Moug:I spoke with the Florence County coroner and discussed these items. Login; . Morrison: What were the questions?Tom Morgan: Were you there when Jennifer Morgans trailer caught fire. The thing that made the story suspicious, said the Morgans, was that when Chris told it, just one day after Jennifers death - no one knew she was dead before the fire. . Jennifer: get out Ethan: (flashbackscannot hear what he says). Pat Moug: Then I showed it to a criminal profiler, a lieutenant from the Michigan State Police, a criminal psychologist who worked with Michigan State Policeand some FBI agents. ThatsMorrison: You mean an incestuous relationship?Pat Moug: I haveI dont know. His name was Chris Woodson, a science major Jennifer met at her college campus. Morrison: When you called them, what was the response?Tom Morgan: I had called the lead investigator at the time and he would always assure me we were working on this, not a day goes by that I dont think about the case. Jennifer: Ethan what are you doing? Sheriff Boone: Tom couldve been gettin that information from the family cause at that point, you know, I tried to keep the family kind of up to date on what was going on, what was taking place, kind of where we were going. He would and did not. Pat Moug: Tom, I know you were at your sisters accidentJens accident.Tom Morgan: No, I wasnt.Pat Moug: Tom, I know you were. Now, in his film, Pat offered a whole new set of locations, and timelines. And angry, said Toms dad, that police would consider his son a suspect based on what Jim Morgan claimed were Pats lies. As far as she knew, her whole lifetime was spread out ahead of her. The murders of John Timmons, 56, Tion Gore, 37, and Shannon Gainey, 25, on Cromer Lane in Florence County on August 16, 2010, still remain unsolved.Florence County deputies were called to the home on Cromer Lane around 5 p.m. that evening after neighbors f I dont.Morrison: Why would it be white? But, it turned out, there was an alibi, said Boone, and a pretty solid one. A fictional tale to point an accusing finger toward truth. And one more piece of evidence that had seemed to point at Chris or Tom suddenly vanished. Boone says Chris Woodson claimed that the morning of the murder, hed been paying college fees and played racquetball, too, before going to engineering class. Inside the burned mobile home in Country Squire Mobile Home Park lay the body of Jennifer Morgan, a 23-year-old FMU student from Horry County who shared the mobile home with a roommate. Im gonna work on the case. And the person who he told me in real life that he based the script on, this fraternity brotherhe goes to the trailer and when he gets there theres a man already there and he listens from underneath the window and the man leaves. It was late afternoon when Toms dad called. He said they had sex the day before she died at his apartment here on campus and he did her laundry for her too. South Carolina's Number One Unsolved Mystery - OnlyInYourState Morrison: In the script that he sent you.Pat Moug: When I read that it was like somebody slugged me in the chest. But, what about that watch? So the project languished for a couple of years until, again, a happy accident. Snowden: I have no idea why she wouldve been clutching that watch. I miss her. Mahendrabhai Omar Patel Age. It was the only evidence he offered to imply an incestuous relationship between Tom and Jennifer. Gradually what emerged was a screenplay about one young mans terrible, deadly, mistake. Some people down in South Carolina have suggested this is all payback because Tom dropped Pat from the movie project. It's obviously someone they know and knows the area very well.. Fifteen international film festivals asked to screen Among Brothers and in the end, the little independent made with the directors second mortgage got a distribution deal. A good video, suggested Pat, could attract investors. Clutched in Jennifers hand - not on her wrist, but in her grip was a watch. As the grim wheel of investigation began to turn, the news was sent to Jennifers family. Punam Gopaldas, 31, had made a life for herself in Florence. And that is absolutely despicablebecause at that point, he has slandered our familys name. All the old impatience, the frustration, the crazy feeling, came flooding back the minute Toms parents found that fraternity ring at Jennifers grave. The detective asked one simple question: Tom Morgan: You know, Any problem taking a polygraph? No, no problem. This is a story about movies. And their suspicion grew. He didnt seem thrilled to be in front of our camera again. He believes, he says, that his is an effort to right a wrong. Ethan: Wondering if you wanted to see a movie or something with me tomorrow: Jennifer: Ethan, thats really sweat but, like I said I just wanna ..Ethan: Please stop, before you use the f word again Jennifer: great. But he was a fellow officer. You have your friends, your health, and then you make one bad decision, one. Kept me awake at night, but I found the best relief was physical. What probably happened was the lamp fell over. Other paranormal phenomena are also regularly reported here. Their baby, the last of their four children, was dead. But Pat came to a different conclusion. Whats interesting about his interview is that wed all had conversation, and Pat as a police officer says, Well what do you think about this? She was not a small girl. And he said yes, and he described Chris. I wish I had that chance again.Morrison: You never get those chances again do you?Tom Morgan: Nope you dont. This was that someone. Her mom, Kerry, and her father, Jim, struggled to come to grips with the worst news parents could ever hear. You know its like these bits and pieces of conversation that hes just drawn out to make this into a cowellMorrison: To make it look like a lie?Tom Morgan: To make it lookyeah. Jennifer: Were here as friends. 'It's been a tough road': Family has hope for justice in - WBTW This is something that happened that wasnt premeditated because in my mind thats the only way I can forgive him.Morrison: Why wouldnt you want to hate and seek out and see justice done to this person?Tom Morgan: Because I gotta live with myself every day. That became part of Pats evidencethat Tom may have sexually assaulted and killed his sister. Southern sun. But, I cant put him in that trailer yet.Morrison: What do you mean, yet?Sheriff Boone: You never know. Just a lifetime to think about them.Morrison: Every time you talk about it your eyes go red and they start to waterTom Morgan: Cause I just remember how alive she was that weekend. He wrote imagined conversations, pent up thoughts and feelings, about his own belief that Chris, the fraternity boy, killed Jennifer. Of course, Tom wasnt really here at the trailer park any more than he knew for certain that Chris was really here. Tom Morgan: This is someone I protect in my life. Jim Morgan: Before we ever met him, he would call 25-30 times on a Saturday when she came home from college.Kerry Morgan: Clingy, protective, stalky like he just stalked her.Morrison: How long did this go on?Jim Morgan: Six months, yeah probably six months. Hooked me all up.Morrison: That day?Tom Morgan: Right then.Morrison: What does that feel like?Tom Morgan: I felt ok, good check me off the list. At least once, Boone said, investigators thought they were close to someone confessing to Morgans murder. I just remember how excited she was that weekend, and I just remember my little sister, and I miss her. He went in and we got to the door and I blew her a kiss and she winked at me and smiled real big and we said, Ill talk to you later and that was it. The victims' family entered into a drawn out custody battle for time with Jai. Boone pieced together a timeline for the day of the killing. But when they missed connecting with family on Saturday, June 25, 2011, Florence County deputies were sent to the home for a welfare check. Pat Moug: And all of a sudden in the middle of the script I get to the murder scene. Upon further investigation, the employee found $500 missing, along with four other employees. Jennifer: what? When he said, No youve got it all wrong. Professors proved he was three hours away at his college the morning of the Jennifers death. So we took pictures of it and we sent it to Florence County. And then those others, those would-be Sherlocks, chasing the riddle down their strange, opposing paths. And they believed Jennifer must have been attacked by someone she knew. Fraternity brothers help him cover up the crime by setting fire to the sceneagain, the circumstances of the firesomething Tom imagined. Investigator Boone confirmed Snowden couldnt have been the killer. Later, at his movie premiere, Pat admits he never did check out the alibi.
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