Jennifer: Were here as friends. In 2007, NBCs Dateline profiled the case, but the broadcast didnt generate any new leads. Tom Morgan: I went to the church. Gopaldas felt certain she was going to get full custody of her son, Patel said. In the almost 13 years since Jennifer Morgan was murdered, her family has grown. At least now in this unconventional way, Tom had put all of his suspicions and the evidence he thought had been overlooked out there in public for all to see. Maybe. This boy, Chris, and one of his fraternity brothers came over to the Morgan house. Couldnt wait to kind of go off into the world and do her thing. Their baby, the last of their four children, was dead. Later that same week, the Morgans saw Chris again at the funeral. Tom Morgan: No, listen to me. Uncovered: Unsolved South Carolina Murders Its one of my only unsolved homicides. Murder Info. I made her pure for my family. 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. First, Pat looked through the interviews hed shot before he was dropped from the movie project. And thats just how I am. Callers need not reveal their identities. 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? 1999 cold case baffles detectives in two counties - WMBF News This was that someone. Florence County double murder victims' family speaks out - WMBF News With his tapes. Same weapon, same circumstances and according to detectives in both counties, same shooter. But Pat offers no evidence that this actually happenedno receipts, or eyewitnesses along the way that can place Tom anywhere on this route. And that is how Tom Morgan found himself attached to the state police poligraphy machine. As for Pats conclusion that Tom is the suspect in his sisters murder, and that his father and brother may be complicit? Because, says Pat, of something he saw in Toms fictional movie script. If youre Pat Moug, you make a movie. 10 Worst Unsolved Mass Murders In US History - Listverse And one more piece of evidence that had seemed to point at Chris or Tom suddenly vanished. Snowden: We knew the distance would be a strain on the relationship. Morrison: You cut him off.Sheriff Boone: Not give him anything, no sir.Sheriff Boone: You know, hes come to a conclusion that Tom is responsible for this, not knowing any of the other information and stuff like we have on our case file. Jennifer had three siblings, an older sister, a brother near her own age, and Tom, the eldest. A charming college campus in Florence, South Carolina, November 9, 1994. It just didnt make sense. A great guy. They were told a salesman from the Clayton Homes lot in Florence has been shot and killed. So what about that substance? You know, basically trying to figure out how we were gonna be able to pay for this thing. At least they had that watchthe old boyfriends giftfound in Jennifers hand. City-data.com does not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of any information on this site. But, when Scott and Jennifer enrolled in different colleges many miles apart, their romance was put on hold. Because, says Boone, both Tom Morgan and his nemesis Pat Moug have likely been looking in all the wrong places from the very beginning. He would and did not. We watched Bold as a Lion together, with frequent stops when Tom objected to Pats allegations. Jennifer: Doing what, working? The whole family was all but paralyzed by grief. The air seems different. And we had - for years - been asking some, well, difficult questions. Part art, part desperate effort to prod the police to reviving the investigation. Maybe theyll get interested in your project.he went along with the idea. I was not at my sisters. And we would always ask the people who were close friends of hers, oh did you lay the flowers, and we could never account for who had put them there over and over again. And even when Detective Kenny Boone decided not to arrest Chris Woodson, the Morgans remained deeply suspicious. 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. I think Jenny came home between classes and had gotten something to drink, Boone said. Chris Woodson. How dare I be upset or be mad about it? Go through the whole thing. Since he was writing fiction, he says, he wanted to make a change. Sheriff Boone: Now, and, you know, now, in our mind, you know, Im thinking, you know, Jenny, are you trying to send us a message? In the audience, her parents and older sister. The watch, Boone discovered, had been a gift from Scott Snowden. But not before they searched the Internet to identify the fraternity that issued such a distinctive ring. Its an easy way to say you left Michigan as opposed to I was having sex with a married woman andI was doing other things that I wasnt too proud of and so I left.. Morrison: You set up a high tech sting operationPat Moug: Yes I did. As the interview continued, Pat heard other suspicious statements. The people I care about know I didnt do it, and thats good enough for me.. A fictional tale to point an accusing finger toward truth. Of course, Tom wasnt really here at the trailer park any more than he knew for certain that Chris was really here. Boone worked as an investigator on the. Pat, remember, had been replaced as the movie director when a new man was brought aboard. He wrote imagined conversations, pent up thoughts and feelings, about his own belief that Chris, the fraternity boy, killed Jennifer. What set it off was that phrase. Its important to me, Boone said. Deputies found both women stabbed to death with Jai by his mother's body. Pat Moug: Was this milky white substance placed there as a result of an assault including oral sex? Or maybe that youve done the same thing with them.Tom Morgan:He had so many opportunities to sit down with us and say, Hey, Im gonna make this little documentary or whatever. Explore. Chris readily admitted he loved Jennifer, and knew she did not love him the same way. Now, family members are finally opening up about the gruesome crime with hope the case will finally be solved. Anyone who may have information on this case should call 1-888-CRIME-SC. 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. Tom Morgan: I started writing a stream of consciousness. I was offended, because I worked very hard on this case. That was histhat was his background.Morrison: The acting detective?Tom Morgan: Yeah, he worked on the SWAT team. The two victims were brutally stabbed to death in 2011. The allegations had been couched words like suspicion, avoiding direct accusations. And that, strange though it may sound, was the birth of the movie; it came out of anger and frustration. She was like, you know, quit nothing aint gonna never happen to me..And it did.. Clutched in Jennifers hand - not on her wrist, but in her grip was a watch. Well, actually no. He was no longer the brother campaigning for justice, the nagging critic of the police investigation. Ah, hopefully were start a campaign to finally get justice for a girl you are about to meet. 48 Cause of Death. Do you remember that possible evidence the family found at the grave? I had gone to the caretaker and I said has anyone come and inquired about Jennifers grave? The premise was destroyed. What happened to Jennifer Morgan has become enmeshed in suspicion and professional jealousy. Sheriff Boone: But, one of the suspects that we had was right here.Morrison: In that one right there? She started seeing other guys, I started seeing other girls. For Pat, this was the way to justice a film crammed with insinuation, accusation and an angry challenge to the sheriff of Florence county. Pat wasnt buying it. But if Pat wasnt a exactly trained psychologist, he wasand isan experienced policeman. But then, why would there be. In the years since, investigators have sent information on the Morgan murder to a group of retired FBI agents who profile cases for other agencies. She was previously a Nurse Extern in the Med, Kara Hanley has worked with McLeod Health for six years. We think the person thats responsible for this had to be in the home to use the telephone or break in or some other motive.. Tom is now happily married and father to three members of the new generation. At that point it just seemed like Id be chasing another one of his lies anyway. Pat Moug: The detective from Florence county would not return any of my calls. And yet authorities simply sent the watch to Jennifers mother. Fraternity brothers help him cover up the crime by setting fire to the sceneagain, the circumstances of the firesomething Tom imagined. Use at your own risk. Im insulted.Pat Moug: I was disappointed that we didnt get tothe bottom of the matter. And so, back to the mobile home park. This whole thing is surreal. You have your friends, your health, and then you make one bad decision, one. It was absorbed in the carpet. Tom Morgan: Yeah, yeah. Kenny Boone put his suspect, Chris Woodson, into a car, and drove him the 90 miles from Florence, S. C. , to Columbia, where a polygrapher was waiting at the headquarters of the state police, or sled as they are called. A mother has been trying to phone her daughter, her daughter Jennifer, at the mobile home park which was her off-campus. Project Cold Case Database 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. Monster of Florence - Wikipedia 7 of South Carolina's most notorious killers | The State It wasnt payback. As far as she knew, her whole lifetime was spread out ahead of her. Everything in this documentary is Tom saying it and Im just putting it together. Through further examination of the crime scene, it became evident to investigators that someone used gasoline to set the blaze in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence. She just said its a friend of mine. Morrison: He didnt do those things?Tom Morgan: I dont think hes never spoke to my family. She fought him off quite a lot, Patel said about Gopaldas' relationship with Hiral. Difficult, because [Punam] was finally trying to end her arranged marriage to Hiral Gopaldas - a man she claimed abused her. They met through his sister Dina, who was Jennifers best friend. And now the state police also stopped returning Pats calls. And when they were finished he sat waiting, somewhat impatiently, to be dismissed. And at the time they said wed like you to keep it quiet. Listen, Tom. It was just after 12:30 p.m. By the time the fire department arrived, the intensity of the blaze had roasted one end of the mobile home. 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 has bee on the force for 18 years. But Scott had questions of his own. All the old impatience, the frustration, the crazy feeling, came flooding back the minute Toms parents found that fraternity ring at Jennifers grave. WMBF News Anchor Paula Caruso asked Patel if he got the feeling Gopaldas was scared for her life. Name. Morrison: And you think Tom did it.Pat Moug: I think theres a distinct possibility that Tom did it, absolutely. And said, How are you possibly working on this case when you dont even have any of the information? Morrison: Be careful what you wish for.Tom Morgan: Thats right. In fact, Kenny Boone didnt tell them somebody killed Jennifer and tried to hide the crime with a fire until the day after Chris offered his explanation. Now, suddenly, 13 years after the murder, Tom was very publicly accused. Bold as a Lion had raised some very serious questions but were they legitimate? My aunt fell down quite easily, [Vinaben] was stabbed 4 times and died quickly we were told, but Punam put up a fight, she suffered.. He just began to scribble. If Tom lied about where he lived on the day of the crime, was he lying about his actions that day, too? While this homicide did not happen in my jurisdiction, I cant walk away. Still, the screening of the film was a moment of triumph. Here, Pat seems to have caught Tom, as he tries not to reveal that hes been lying about his moving date from Michigan. Right then and there, the complexion of Toms world changed. As for the business of not yet being fully eliminated as a suspect, Chris is reported to have told a friend "Im tough, I can take it. Pat instantly thought back to his police training in part, to acourse in criminal psychology hed once attended. Though there is no particular rush to find the man. Jennifers grave itself seemed to be throwing up strange, tantalizing clues. 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 For one thing, that odd story of the way Toms dad told him about Jennifers death. Morrison: In your circumstances, this new wrinkle has entered the scene. 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. Crime . Murder Capitals Of South Carolina For 2021 - RoadSnacks Of course, things dont always work out the way wed like them to. Where is she? We have worked so hard (emotional) to try and keep this in the forefront of peoples minds. Tom Morgan: He was edging around the back of the headstone and was down here with just a little edger to clear the grass away and he popped out a fraternity ring. Why, he followed in the very footsteps of his quarry, Tom Morgan. Hes just a friend.Morrison: Yeah? Pat Moug: In the one telephone conversation I had with the Florence County Detective, he informed me that, after Jennifer Morgan was murdered, there was an unknown milky white substance in her vagina. He didnt want it to seem like his beloved sister had a steady stream of men visiting her trailer. Embarrassed, Tom told Pat, about running away from some financial and romantic mistakes hed made up in Michigan. Brother: something you wouldnt know much about right? Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: What was the thing that got you obsessed?Tom Morgan: I felt like we knew who did it. Morrison: In the script that he sent you.Pat Moug: When I read that it was like somebody slugged me in the chest. The melted television and a few pieces of jewelry left behind, fused by the heat, seemed to rule out robbery. Unsolved Morgan murder still haunts Florence County sheriff 20 years later. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Whether it was perceived or acted on, I dont know.Morrison: What do you mean unhealthy?Pat Moug: Well, thats as far as Im gonna go. Pat Moug, the Livonia, Mich., acting cop, looked like a cross between Mr. But, what about that watch? Im just telling you thatMorrison: You dont know.Pat Moug: It might a been perceived in his mind. Working on it. Six years later, triple murder in Florence still unsolved | WPDE He says he found out about it after the movie was made. A man and a woman (who have come to be known by Jacques and Jane) were shot three times each. Pat Moug: How does he know by coincidence he writes this script where hes bringing ice cream to the murder scene. Tom suggested those were left by his suspect, Chris Woodson. Chris Carlson - staff, AP. They are calling the one woman, who - outside these few frames of video - you will never meet. I would pick up the phone to the point that it was annoying.I said youve got to do something about this relationship. Just never came. I put everything I found in here, she told us. Tom had no idea the whole thing was a ruse. That was my opinion at the time. Map Browse By State. Listen to me, what Im telling you. Days after the murder, Hiral Gopaldas was arrested for murder. Tom Morgan: I mean just the momentum kind of got behind this thing. They've been in contact with SLED and say witnesses are being re-interviewed. It was on a Wednesday. (emotional). It took a moment, then he told Tom what that meant. This was a fictional story, based on real events, yes, but spun together with altered names and faces and speculations and shifted timelines. Main Page; Discuss; All Pages; Community; Interactive Maps; Recent Blog Posts; Netflix series. Hed just moved there from Michigan and was staying with a friend. Tom Morgan: No, I wasnt.Pat Moug: Tom, listen. Surely an interesting question. Its a big crowd; Pat has invited his many friends, many of them from law enforcement. The detective asked one simple question: Tom Morgan: You know, Any problem taking a polygraph? No, no problem. It was still going on, they said, the weekend before Jennifers death as the family gathered for an early Thanksgiving. 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: Now thats strange to me that that watch would be in her hand. Morrison: Youre pretty angry about this.Kerry Morgan: Angry that my son will be hurt, yeah. We found those things. You can cancel at any time. Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone discusses some of the evidence photos from the Jennifer Morgan murder case at his office in this 2008 file photo. Kerry Morgan: She was very, very loved by a lot of people. Sheriff Boone: I remember Chris. Tom Morgan: No. And we can show it to people. And it wasnt just flowers the family found but couldnt explain. Kept me awake at night, but I found the best relief was physical. 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. Why? Scott Snowden: I gave it to her as a gift for Christmas, maybe her birthday. He believes, he says, that his is an effort to right a wrong. I am truly sorry.. A banker from Charlotte, N.C., named John Schwert heard about the script, loved it, and offered to finance Toms film. When I read his script. And so, here it was, on a winter-frigid night in Livonia, Michigan, in a donated theater in a giant suburban multiplexthe premiere of Pat Mougs Bold as a Lion.. And now he decided he really would make a documentary. I did not kill my sister. Upon further investigation, the employee found $500 missing, along with four other employees. All along, something Tom told Pat had made him very suspicious. Why not make a promotional video about Toms project? Im gonna work on the case. He had made an independent film, directed and starred in it himselfa movie called The Ugly One.. The 'Monster Of Florence' Case And Why It May Be Reopened - All That's Southern sun. The only way youre gonna find out if theyre innocent, if you clear Tom Morgan as a suspecthes a suspect right now. Couldnt wait to be able to make money. Morrison: Its your suspicion that Tom is stagingPat Moug: My suspicion is that its connected. The mysterious murder of Alice Ryan, a - The Greenville News At the very same moment, across town, a woman in the final stages of labor is also trying to reach best friend Jennifer, whod promised to be with her for the birth: Dina Berg, friend: The line was busy. It happened on makeshift sound stages around Charlotte, N.C. My dad called and I remember his exact words, his exact words: And just do me a favor and dont come down tonight.. Though at first what he said didnt seem to make sense. ThatsMorrison: You mean an incestuous relationship?Pat Moug: I haveI dont know. Does a diploma or something, at the end of it?Pat Moug: Ah, a certificate. Boone pieced together a timeline for the day of the killing. I would want justice.. To Tom, they were evidence that his suspect, Chris, had left them there out of his continuing remorse. After all, Pat had put together material that implied without much subtlety that Tom had killed his sister and that Toms father and brother helped cover up the crime by burning her body. 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. And then she winds up face down on her bed. 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. Tom Morgan: Then were sitting and waiting for funding. Ethan: What does it look like? And that is absolutely despicablebecause at that point, he has slandered our familys name. Punam Gopaldas, 31, had made a life for herself in Florence. Morrison: --this hotel room.Pat Moug: Absolutely.Morrison: Because you wanted to trap him and because you wanted to get him to confess to you that he had killed his sister.Pat Moug: Yes.Morrison: And you were terribly upset when he didnt confess to it. Jennifers autopsy revealed no sign of sexual assault. Whoever set that fire was trying to hide a murder. I think partly because its based on a true story and partly because its a pretty good film. Cleanand Kojak. Sheriff Kenny Boone: And it was signed, Barney. And, in rebuilding our lives. Get Alerts Map; Browse By State; Submit a Crime Tip Square with arrow pointing upper right. So Moug traveled down to South Carolina, interviewed Jennifers friends. 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. Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent:This is really hard and it comes through in your eyes. What the family needs now are more witnesses. And so, the pictures yellow, the memory of her smile dances still across the aging family films and all the possibilities that never were. Surely this was significant, thought the Morgans, and perhaps would trigger law enforcement to take a second look at Chris. Chris told Boone he argued with Jennifer about their relationship and left her trailer about 10:30 the night before her death. But Pat persuaded Tom to let him use the video hed already shot as part of a documentary about the making of the movie. Pat Moug: They can say whatever they want to me. And now their grief was salted with anger and confusion and impossible questions. Pat Moug: I wanna thank everybody for coming out. Other paranormal phenomena are also regularly reported here. SLED - South Carolina Law Enforcement Division I think they wanted to base a movie on my case file, Boone said. You have permission to edit this article. This is the last home video of Jennifer Morgan, recorded the summer before her death. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Tom Morgan left state police headquarters in a daze. A personal advertisement. Spears discusses book on 1952 Darlington County murder - SCNow And so the killer Kenny Boone: Used the fire to cover up any additional evidence that might have been there. Then there was Pats suspicion that Tom knew too much about the murder if he wasnt around to witness it. The Monster of Florence (Italian: Il Mostro di Firenze) is the name commonly used by the Italian media for an unidentified serial killer active within the Province of Florence between 1968 and 1985. But, I cant put him in that trailer yet.Morrison: What do you mean, yet?Sheriff Boone: You never know. Gradually what emerged was a screenplay about one young mans terrible, deadly, mistake. Morrison: Did you watch him?Tom Morgan: Chris reaction was very stoic, really expressionless, and as I would speak to my relatives he would walk over to where we were all standing and get close to where we were almost trying to overhear conversation. And you know, it bothered me. The false start with the film-making cop from Michigan was forgotten now. Surely, he thought, somebody at least owed him an explanation. RightrightSheriff Boone: At the time I think the fire was set, right before it was called in at 12:28.Morrison: So, if that was a deliberately set fire, you can put him right hereSheriff Boone: I can put him in this street. So, he could see outside right over to her trailer?Sheriff Boone: Right.Morrison: And see that she was home alone.Sheriff Boone: We can put him leaving this mobile home, walking in front of this mobile home right here, and walking down four mobile homes on the right to use the telephone to call his girlfriend.Morrison: What? Kenny Boone: There was no soot, no carbon monoxide in her lungs. But Pat would not be directing. I thought he meant cinematically. Tom Morgan: Well, actually I was in Charlotte, believe it or not. I wish I had that chance again.Morrison: You never get those chances again do you?Tom Morgan: Nope you dont. Is it gonna be tomorrow? And then he came down and said he really wanted to direct this film. Snowden: It was awfully odd for her to leave campus in the middle of the day like that during her classes to come home. Morrison: She had ideas that maybe she might one day be married to your brother?Dina Berg: Oh yea they talked about it. It seems unlikely, however, that Sheriff Boone would want to arrest him. Morrison: What are you worried about now?Jim Morgan: I worry about Tomlaw enforcement can really turn the screws down if they want to. One of those 49, Charles Willis, was. He had no idea, of course, where that would lead. Id love to be able to solve it.. He waited for the polygrapher, and an awful feeling washed over him. Ryan had just returned . And that neither Tom Morgan nor any member of his family had anything to do with Jennifer Morgans death. To Tom, it showed how deeply shocked his dad was by Jennifers death. And of course, we have our legendary tale of the "swamp man.". Cold cases and unsolved crimes in Florence, SC. Where we can interview you. 8 Infamous Unsolved Mysteries In SC - OnlyInYourState Sheriff Boone: But at the time the polygraph examination came back inconclusive which coulda went either way. As for Kenny Boone, he says hes determined still that someone will be charged with the murder of Jennifer Morgan. Audience member: Were you able to verify any of his so-called alibis?Pat Moug: Well, the lastwell, the last alibiI did not. Tom Morgan: When I got that letter, I called him that day. You know that was a red flag and we just werent sure. Morrison: You hope it does what to him?Tom Morgan: I hope he looks and thinks to himself, Man this guy is not givin up.. No. South Carolina Crime Stoppers View Source Square with arrow pointing upper right.

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