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who killed the durham family? here's my story

bohemian65

Posted 6:38 am, 08/13/2010

I too don't think there is a "perfect crime" and sometimes I think authorities are pretty darned sure about who has done something but they lack one much needed something to arrest.

The hog tie in a military fashion seemed to stick out to the authorities a great deal, didn't it? I never knew the Green Berets were taught that but I do know (a friend that was a Green Beret and a Vietnam Vet) they were taught very specific ways to kill. My friend went on to become an attorney after Vietnam and was haunted by that place for years.

I too find it interesting that the money was not taken unless of course their eye was on the bigger prize of an estate or something like that. So we had one survivor in the family but she was married living out of the home? The ex husband became an attorney and changed his name to Justin Hall?
This could still be solved one day because there is at least one person that knows who did it.

pokerthug

Posted 6:31 am, 08/13/2010

did they ever catch anyone for killing the greene brothers from boone?

Pepper22

Posted 5:25 am, 08/13/2010

So many times the killer turns out to be family or friends of the victim. I don't believe there is a "perfect crime", only one that has not been solved yet. Maybe this will be the year for the truth to come to surface about the Durham murders.

bohemian65

Posted 3:51 am, 08/13/2010

We had a strange double murder case in Lenoir for almost 20 years(1989 or 90) and it was just solved a few months ago. Young man and wife killed in a brutal fashion and the rumors swirled --- mafia, drugs, one person couldn't have done it, etc., etc.. The Police Dept traveled the country on all kind of leads and as of right now - we still don't know a motive. The crime was planned out well.


Come to find out it was allegedly one of their closest friends and this "friend" was even a pallbearer at the funerals. A brutal murder and one person did it leaving close to nothing as evidence. As far as I know he lived right on in Lenoir like it never happened and finally was arrested on some other charge and someone took the opportunity to turn him in. I'm just guessing but the person probably knew this for a long time and was scared for their own life. He allegedly killed these two people in an area with houses around(you had to go right passed houses to get to their home on a gravel driveway) but yet somewhat rural and managed to get out of there on foot or by car with nobody seeing a thing. I think he was interviewed early on but never arrested.

Unsolved cases fascinate me. I try to keep in mind a statistic (good or not now - I don't know) that says MOST people are killed by someone they know. Hmmm.

lil red

Posted 11:29 pm, 08/12/2010

They would have to have some hard evidence to prosecute a cruck-ed attorney!

countryguy

Posted 10:56 pm, 08/12/2010

i think troy ran through with all the money that ginny sue got. i think ginny married a sbi agent that was watching over her all that time. no she did not have anything to do with them being murdered and yes they did not like troy hall and the things he did. drugs

summertime38

Posted 7:51 pm, 08/12/2010

The article also states that the place was ransacked, but looked as if it was staged. I would justabout bet the farm that the three that was there was the three that done it. Greed is the mst evil and children kill thier parents all the time to get to thier assets.

summertime38

Posted 7:11 pm, 08/12/2010

Maybe the daughter and the son-in-law was in on it together? He couldnt have killed all three by himself, and why did she sit in the car when the son-in-law and the other guy went to check on them? I would be the first in the house if I thought something was wrong with my parents. maybe the three that went to check never really went to check on them, maybe they were there all along and made the call to 911 after the deed was done to make themselves look innocent. I agree we should get 48 hours to do a show. There is no statue of limitations on MURDER!

lil red

Posted 4:34 pm, 08/12/2010

I wish they would open it back up but if all the Evidence was destroyed back in 1976.They would"nt have anything to go on. Except the fact that someone got alot of money and got away with the perfect murder of 3 people. That is so sad. I wish they could catch them and give them a taste of their own medicene.

dabbob

Posted 4:22 pm, 08/12/2010

Well ain't he sitting pretty...

magnumpi

Posted 3:37 pm, 08/12/2010

Troy Hall changed his first name to Justin and lives in Lawrenceville, GA. He is a lawyer and lobbyist. He also ownes a number of DWI schools.

Mr. Ed

Posted 3:25 pm, 08/12/2010

I've driven by the house several times over the years. It certainly looks as if someone is living there. Ginny was the sole heir- the house was sold about 8 months after the murders. I've heard that the Durhams were less than pleased with their son-in-law, but I can't remember where I got that information now. The other mysterious death was a girl from Wilkes that Troy was dating some years after he and Ginny divorced. I can't remember her name, but my sister-in-law had gone to school with her. She was riding in a car with him, and somehow fell out of the car and died. I think this happened in Georgia. It has been many years ago now. "48 Hours Mystery" should do an episode on this case...

lil red

Posted 2:56 pm, 08/12/2010

omg Who would have inherited all that when they were gone.That would have been alot of money back then for shur. And do you know after they were killed was the place sold or just sitting there empty? Did anyone inherit it and insurance plicies i bet they had too.

magnumpi

Posted 10:54 am, 08/12/2010

Several years ago I was in Boone and went to the Register of Deeds Office. There I found the death certificates for the Durham's. They read:

Baxter Bryce Durham 51

Cause of death: Asphyxia due to strangulation and drowning.

Virginia Dare Durham 46

Cause of death: Ligature strangulation.

Bobby Joe Durham 18

Asphyxia dur to strangulation and possibly drowning.

The Durham estate was valued at $ 250K in 1972 money. Probably a couple of million today.

lil red

Posted 10:30 am, 08/12/2010

There is a post where they hope they just caught the person that was doing the serial killing in Ohio.I shur wish they could get some new leads and solve this case. I do remember a killing somewhere close to Boone or VA where two or three people were killed that lived on a farm and seems like they sold Christmas Trees. Did they find out who did that?

lil red

Posted 9:26 am, 08/12/2010

Sounds like the money on the table they did"nt need. They had other motives besides money.Or they were getting so much money for doing the Killings that the money on the table did"nt matter.

Pepper22

Posted 9:17 am, 08/12/2010

Magnumpi

That's a name I haven't heard in many years. He showed up on a regular basis in the Wilkes

paper for some level of theft in those days. Most all the stories have indicated that the deposit

bag from the dealership was left in plain sight on a table. With his quest for theft, would he have

missed that? Just a thought. Donna worked at the hospital in Wilkes then, wonder if the investigators

ever questioned her?

lil red

Posted 9:00 am, 08/12/2010

Sounds like who ever did that had it all well planned out,and knew what they were doing.Sounds like someone hired professional hit-men to do that job.

magnumpi

Posted 8:39 am, 08/12/2010

Mr. Ed-You're right. A couple of people involved with Troy have died at early ages. One name to consider is Benny Staley. There was a article in the W-S Journal entitled "Worry" Exhumation RequestUpsets Family. Sorry, I have a copy of the article but not the date. The article was written by Vincent Morris and reads "State investigators want to exhume Benny Staley. They want to take fingerprints and palm prints. Sources familiar with the case said that the interest centers on the Durham family murders." The article goes on to say that Staley a Wilkes County native dropped out of high school in 1968 and in 1970 joined the Marine Corp. He was discharged in 1974 and returned to Wilkes to resume life with his wife Donna Combs Staley of Hays and their daughter, Angie. He went to work for Hardee's in N.W. and was soon managing it. In the next few years, Benny was arrested many times. Among the charges were assault with a deadly weapon, breaking and entering, larceny and possession of marijuana.

In 1977 Staley was convicted of larceny and safe cracking and sentences to 12 yrs in prison, but he appealed and was out of jail awaiting a court hearing on the night of his death, March 14, 1978.

At 10:15 pm Staley (26) was driving east on NC 268. In the passenger seat was Sandra K. WIlliams (16), who worked with him at Hardee's. His car hit an embankment about a mile east of NW. He was thrown from the car, and moments later a car traveling the opposite direction ran over him. The NCSHP said, he was dead before he was run over. Williams was slightly injured.

I dropped the ball on this. I don't know if he were exhumed or not, but law enforcement didn't need to exhume him for prints. Considering his arest record and also his military service. His prints were on file. If I were guessing law enforcement wanted a DNA sample.

Something to consider. Any member of his family could provide a DNA sample to clear his name.

Pepper22

Posted 8:33 am, 08/12/2010

lil red ....I' don't know. Seems there was a story groing around that the Hall boy was married to a girl in Wilkes before he married the Durham girl. They divorced and the lst wife later committed suicide....Don't know if that was just a rumor or truth. Years ago I remember seeing something on one of those type programs like John Walsh does. At that time, they said the Durham girl had divorced him and was living out west somewhere. It's been a lot of years and some of the people just died from various age or health issues for sure. If Hall is not guilty, he has had to live all these years somewhere with people always wondering. I know the man that owned my apartment is dead. I heard years back he was robbed but not sure about that. Boone today is nothing like it was back in those days...but we've seen many instances where cold cases have been solved. Maybe this horrid tragedy can be one of them. I was 24 years old then, but I can tell you that anyone that was living in Boone then has this eched forever in their memories.

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