UPDATE - Justin Turner & Dexter Stefonek

In today's special update episode we cover breaking news revolving around two infamous cases.

First we look into the announcement that the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office has officially charged Victor Lee Turner and Megan Turner with the 1989 murder of five year old Justin Turner whose body was found inside of a camper on his father and stepmother's property.

WCBD News 2 Archival Footage

In addition to this, we tackle breaking news regarding the closing of a case which had drawn national interest. Dexter Stefonek was murdered and his car burned at a rest area in Montana in November of 1985. Now investigators believe they know the man who committed this odious crime.

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Music Courtesy of: "Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #murder #homicide #solved #DNA #newevidence #JustinTurner #VictorTurner #PamelaTurner #MeganTurner #Berkeley #MoncksCorner #southcarolina #southcarolinatruecrime #stefonek #dexterstefonek #charlessullivan #charlesgarysullivan #serialkiller #serial #reno #nevada #juliawoodward

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Episode Transcript

(00:09):
In today's special Update episode, wewill discuss two cases that have had major
revelations just this month. Thirty fouryears ago, the body of five year
old Justin Turner was found inside ofa small compartment within a camper owned by
his father and stepmother. At thetime, police theorized that the couple had

(00:30):
both been involved in the child's murderand had attempted to throw investigators off their
trail by staging the scene and reportingthe child as missing. Justin's stepmother,
Pamela, would be arrested and chargedwith murder, but those charges were later
dropped due to a lack of evidence. For more than three decades, Justin's

(00:50):
family have suffered with the anguish ofhis loss and the pain of watching those
they believed responsible allowed to continue onwith their lives without ever seeing the inside
of a jail cell. Now allof that has changed, as just ten
days ago, Justin's father and stepmotherwere both arrested and charged with his murder.

(01:11):
In addition to the announcement of thesearrests, we'll look at the breaking
news that a prime suspect has beenidentified in the murder of Dexter Stephonic.
Dexter's car was found burning in aMontana rest area in November of nineteen eighty
five, and just months later,his body was recovered from a landfill not
far away. For more than fortyyears, the identity of Dexter's killer has

(01:34):
remained unknown until now. The DawsonCounty Sheriff's Office has announced their belief that
not only have they identified the killer, but also that he is currently behind
bars for another homicide from nineteen seventynine. This is Trace Evidence Special Update
Episode Justin Turner and Dexter Stephonic.Welcome to Trace Evidence. I'm your host,

(02:07):
Stephen Pacheco. Today we're going toexamine two major updates, those being
the identification of a suspect in themurder of Dexter Stephanic and the arrest of
Justin Turner's father and stepmother for hismurder. Originally, I had planned to
do a new episode this week,but the overwhelming response I received after mentioning

(02:29):
arrests in Justin's case made me flipthe schedule, as clearly a lot of
you were invested in that horrible tragedyand you want to know what's going on.
In addition, we'll be touching ona case I have not previously covered,
that being the murder of Dexter Stephanic. Normally I don't cover updates for
cases I haven't worked on, butthis one's a little different. I had

(02:52):
recently begun the research stages of coveringDexter's case when this news broke, and
so I wanted to share it withyou, as honestly, this was a
case I never imagine being cracked.In one final quick note, I will
once again be representing Trace Evidence onpodcast Row at crime Con this year,
which is set to take place inNashville, Tennessee, May thirty first through

(03:15):
June second. Crime CON's one ofmy favorite events to attend because it allows
me to meet listeners, discuss cases, and get more informed about other cases.
If you're planning to attend, pleaseuse promo code trace to save ten
percent on your pass. That's crimecondot com promo code trace to save ten

(03:37):
percent. I really look forward toseeing you there. Now, without further
ado, we begin with the murderof Dexter Stefanic. In November of nineteen
eighty five, sixty seven year oldDexter William Stephonic was set to embark upon

(04:01):
a nearly two thousand mile drive,which would carry him from his son David's
farm in Corbett, Oregon, backto his home in Rhineland, Or Wisconsin.
Nearly one year prior, on ChristmasDay of nineteen eighty four, Dexter's
beloved wife of forty four years,Vivian, had passed away while the couple

(04:21):
were visiting that same farm. Asthe anniversary of his wife's death approached,
Dexter became upset and informed his sonthat he planned to head home, where
he aimed to grieve his wife inprivate. Though his son attempted to talk
him out of this, Dexter wasdetermined, and on the morning of November
eighteenth, nineteen eighty five, heclimbed into his brown Plymouth horizon and set

(04:46):
out. This was a trip Dexterhad made many times, and while David
worried about his mental state and physicalhealth at the time, Dexter had no
hesitation. He even went so faras to inform his the Sun that,
wanting to get home as fast aspossible, he had made no plans to
stay in hotels, and instead wouldpull into rest areas to catch a bit

(05:09):
of sleep before going back onto theroad. Unfortunately, Dexter would never make
it back to his native Wisconsin,and less than twenty four hours after he
drove away from his son's farm,he would be killed. At approximately ten
twenty am on the morning of Tuesday, November nineteenth, a state employee called
police to report a burning vehicle atthe Bad Route Rest area near Glendive,

(05:33):
Montana, approximately eleven hundred miles eastof Corbett. When Dawson County Sheriff Jim
George arrived at the scene, henoted that the vehicle was engulfed in flames
and appeared to be the work ofarson, as the interior was completely gutted
while the outside was little more thana scorched metal frame. A quick search

(05:55):
for the license plate confirmed that thevehicle belonged to Dexter Stefanic. A massive
search was launched at the time underthe assumption that Dexter may have experienced car
trouble and wandered out into the bittercold of that Montana winter searching for assistance,
but no trace of the elderly manwas found. An arson investigation confirmed

(06:16):
that gasoline had been used to burnthe car, with the vast majority of
it having been poured into the backseat. Further examination of the scene showed
the confusing detail that the driver's seatwas pushed all the way back, suggesting
the vehicle had been driven by atall person, which was odd since Dexter
was known to be short. NowSheriff George theorized it appeared that Dexter may

(06:41):
have fallen victim to a crime andthe man involved had taken him elsewhere before
returning the vehicle back to the restarea, at which time it was set
ablaze. At that time, FredSiegel worked as a maintenance man at the
Bad Route rest area, and hereported to police that approximately to two two
hours before the car fire started,between eight and eight thirty am, he

(07:04):
spotted a pickup truck parked in thearea where the car would later be found.
Around eight forty five am, aMontana Highway maintenance supervisor Clyde Mitchell arrived
at the rest area and also spottedthe pickup truck, described as a white
Chevy with an Arizona license plate,blue trim, and a cow catcher on

(07:26):
the front. Mitchell left the restarea at approximately nine fifteen. Fifteen minutes
after that, around nine point thirty, fred Siegel was preparing to leave the
rest area when he saw Dexter's brownPlymouth Horizon pull in parking just in front
of that white Chevy truck. Anunidentified man emerged from the vehicle with two

(07:47):
large plastic containers. When Fred askedif the man needed assistance, he stated
that he was fine, that hehad run out of gas, but now
he had returned to fill up hisvehicle. Seagull stated that the man stood
approximately six feet tall, had alight complexion, was clean shaven, and
appeared to be between thirty five andforty years old. Seagull further stated that

(08:11):
the man behaved normally. He didn'tappear to be in a rush, nor
did he seem like someone who waspanicked or concerned about anything. He was
very casual in both his manner ofspeaking and his behavior, and thinking nothing
of it. Seagull continued on hisway, driving out of the rest area.
Less than thirty minutes later, Dexter'scar would be discovered consumed by fire.

(08:35):
It was assumed at the time thatDexter had likely been a victim of
foul play, but he could notbe located. Almost four months later,
on Saturday, March eighth, nineteeneighty six, a local couple arrived at
a small, remote landfill approximately eighteenmiles from the rest area. The couple
quickly discovered a wallet in good condition, which housed, among other items,

(09:00):
the current license of Dexter Stephonic.Splitting up, the couple would find more
items, namely a shaving kit,suitcase, and several pieces of men's clothing
that appeared in good condition and certainlydidn't look like the usual garbage found at
the landfill. They then saw aman's foot sticking out from between some old

(09:20):
mattresses and quickly notified authorities. Thecoroner positively identified the deceased man as Dexter
Stephonic and confirmed the cause of deathas homicide, noting that the victim had
been shot twice in the back ofthe head with a large caliber pistol.
The coroner also reported marks on Dexter'shands, damaged to his throat and neck,

(09:45):
and a bruise on the front ofhis head. It was theorized that
Dexter had been beaten and possibly pistolwhipped before being shot. It was ultimately
ruled that Dexter's body had been inthe landfill since the day of the car
fire, and when was found amongsthis belongings. The sheriff ruled out robbery
as a likely motive. However,they faced the problem that they didn't have

(10:09):
a suspect in the case, andthe slim description of him that they possessed
could fit almost anyone. The finalclues in this case were discovered approximately one
week after Dexter's body was found.Someone had written a few lines in pencil
on the wall of the men's roomat the Bad Route rest area. While
the full message has not been revealed, police stated it began with the words

(10:33):
hot jock and included some words thatstood out to them as referencing Dexter's murder.
Those words were Wisconsin shot and eleveneighty five, suggesting a man from
Wisconsin was shot in November of nineteeneighty five, which matched up extremely well.
In an attempt to determine what ledto Dexter's murder, Sheriff George attempted

(10:56):
to reconstruct his final hours. Itwas theorized that Dexter arrived at the rest
stop not long after seven am onNovember nineteenth, and that his killer was
likely already there. Dexter was hardof hearing, and investigators think the killer
tried to get his attention, andwhen that failed, he became angry and

(11:16):
pulled out a gun. He likelyforced Dexter into the backseat of his own
car, and, either there atthe rest stop or elsewhere along the route
to the landfill, shot and killedhim after a brief struggle. The killer
then picked up gas, returned tothe rest area, and set the car
on fire before climbing into his Chevytruck and driving off into the unknown.

(11:39):
This is how the investigation into themurder of Dexter Stefanic has remained for nearly
forty years until now case update.On Friday January nineteenth, twenty twenty four,
the Dawson County Sheriff's office identified aman they believe to be the likely

(12:01):
murderer of Dexter Stephanic. Charles GarySullivan, seventy nine was identified as a
person of interest in the case,although investigators have stated he will not be
officially charged with this crime. Accordingto Dawson's County Sheriff Ross Canaan, Sullivan
was identified as a likely suspect approximatelytwo years ago. Sullivan is currently serving

(12:26):
a sentence of fifteen years to lifein Nevada for the nineteen seventy nine murder
of twenty year old Julia Woodward.Sullivan was linked to the case when his
DNA was identified as being on thevictim's clothing. Julia's body was found in
a shallow grave and a remote areafifteen miles north of Reno. She had

(12:48):
been bludgeoned to death, Her handswere bound and adhesive was on her eyes.
She was last seen alive in Februaryof nineteen seventy nine, when she
was at the San Francisco d GoAirport awaiting a flight to Reno. Sheriff
Canaan reported that local authorities were directedtowards Sullivan based on witness statements from nineteen

(13:09):
eighty five, which showed that histruck, license plate, traveling pattern,
age, and physical description all matchedwhat investigators had been told at the time.
His criminal history also seemed to fallin line with this type of crime.
Unfortunately, a lack of evidence makesit impossible for Sullivan to officially be

(13:31):
charged with Dexter's murder, and wheninvestigators went to speak to him in hopes
of obtaining more information and evidence,he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self
incrimination and would not discuss the crimewith them. According to Sheriff Canaan,
while they would normally keep suspects namesprivate until such time that charges could be

(13:52):
filed, this case garnered much nationalattention thanks to its airing on unsolved mysteries,
and he felt it was a perpropriate to identify Sullivan as Dexter's likely
killer in an attempt to bring peaceand closure to not just the community,
but also to Dexter's family. TheStephonic family supported this decision, writing a

(14:13):
letter to the Sheriff's office stating theirbelief that Sullivan killed Dexter and that they
agree with the case officially being closed. While this does appear to bring answers,
the horrible truth of that day cannever be erased, and the Stephonic
family will always mourn the loss oftheir father and grandfather. As for Sullivan,
he may not yet be done withlaw enforcement, as there is the

(14:37):
possibility he will be linked to othercases. Should those links be established,
it's entirely possible that Sullivan will beidentified as a serial killer who may have
been active as long as fifty yearsago with an unknown number of victims.
Only time will tell, and hopefullySullivan will never set foot outside of a

(15:00):
prison episodes one seventy and one seventyone. The Murder of Justin Turner.

(15:24):
On the morning of Friday, Marchthird, nineteen eighty nine, five year
old Justin Turner was getting ready forschool. Normally, Justin's stepmother, Pamela
would watch as he walked to thenearby bus stop to catch a ride to
school, but this morning was different. Pamela would later state that she hadn't
been feeling well and decided to takea shower around this time. At approximately

(15:48):
eleven am, she claimed that Justinknocked on the bathroom door and announced that
he was heading to the neighbor's houseto wait for the bus. For whatever
reason, Pamela didn't tell Justin towait for her, nor did she exit
the shower. Instead, she toldthe child to go on and have a
good day. Justin lived with hisstepmother, Pamela, and his father Victor,

(16:11):
in Monk's Corner, a small townin South Carolina's Berkeley County. The
family home was located along Horseshoe Road, and the house was set away back
from the road and was connected bya long dirt driveway listed as approximately one
hundred yards somehow something went wrong thatmorning. As according to friends, neighbors,

(16:33):
the bus driver, and teachers,five year old Justin never made it
to Whiteville Elementary School that day.At three pm, when the bus returned
dropping children off after their day atschool, five year old Justin was not
among them. Reportedly, when Justindid not emerge from the bus, Pamela,
then twenty nine years old, askedthe driver where he was, at

(16:56):
which time she was informed that thechild had never gotten on the bus.
She would later tell investigators that shemade two calls immediately after learning that Justin
was missing. First, she calledthe child's father, thirty four year old
Victor Lee Buddy Turner, who wasthen working as a pipe welder for General

(17:17):
Dynamics, to inform him of thedisappearance. Her second call was to the
Berkeley County Sheriff's Office to report thechild missing. Dispatch records confirmed this call
from Pamela came into the Sheriff's officeat precisely three twelve pm. The first
two deputies on the scene, accordingto Sheriff's office records, were James Gathers

(17:37):
and Philip Mason. According to thedeputies, they conducted a search of the
home and ground surrounding the house,under the assumption that Justin had possibly decided
to play hooky and skip out onschool that morning. Among places searched included
a camper owned by Victor and keptnot far from the family home. Deputy

(17:59):
Mason and would later write a reportstating that they had performed two cursory searches
of the camper that day, andwhile they didn't go digging into cupboards,
they looked through and saw no signsthat Justin had been in there. Witnesses
president the scene, namely Justin's paternalgrandparents and a neighbor, would later tell
authorities they saw the deputy's search inthe camper that day. When Justin could

(18:23):
not be located, a massive searcheffort was organized. The Berkeley County Sheriff's
office called an assistance from local volunteers, firefighters, other law enforcement agencies in
the area, as well as sledthe South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Searches
were carried out over the course ofthe next forty eight hours, and police

(18:44):
canvassed the area, interviewing neighbors andfriends. They would ultimately learn that no
one had seen Justin outside of hishome that morning. And multiple people described
him as a shy and reserved childwho would be unlikely to go along with
a stranger or to get into avehicle with someone he did not recognize.
Because of this and the remote locationof the home, authorities initially theorized it

(19:10):
was possible that Justin's biological mother,Elaine, might have been involved in the
disappearance, since there had been alot of bad blood and dispute centering on
custody and the prior divorce. Asa result, neither Elaine nor any members
of her family were allowed to assistin these searches. Sunday, March fifth,

(19:30):
was said to be the largest ofthe searches to that point. More
than one hundred people assembled at theTurner home at approximately seven forty five am.
After groups were organized and a searchparty properly advised on their areas of
focus for the day, the vastmajority of searchers headed out towards their assignments
around eight am. According to thensheriff mc cannon. Around thirty minutes later,

(19:56):
at approximately eight thirty am, VictorTurner woked towards the camper on his
property, opened the door, andclimbed inside. Moments later, local media
captured the scene live on camera asVictor exited from the camper and explained,
he's in there. My son isin there. At that point, police
closed off the scene and told themedia to shut off their cameras as they

(20:18):
entered the cabin and confirmed that thebody of five year old Justin had been
located. The discovery shocked police,as the cabin had allegedly been searched multiple
times in the preceding days. RalphHammer, captain of the Berkeley County Rescue
Squad, described the scene to TheIndex Journal. Justin had been found beneath

(20:41):
a bench seat in the dining areaof the camper. Captain Hammer explained,
quote, underneath that top lid wasa little sliding door, and he was
underneath there, but it wasn't tightenough for him to suffocate, and it
wasn't cold enough for him to freeze. It's just a mystery how he got
in there. End Justin's body wasremoved from the compartment and taken to Berkeley

(21:06):
County Coroner William B. Smith Junior, who would conduct the autopsy. At
this time, deputies from the Sheriff'sDepartment were joined by eight members of SLED
four crime scene technicians and four agentswho were to assist in the collection of
evidence. The camper was thoroughly searched, as well as photographed and dusted for
prints. The Turner home was alsosubject to a search and investigators went through

(21:33):
it from top to bottom. Severalitems were removed from the home, later
revealed in court documents to have beena dog leash, sheets, tissues,
Justin's underwear, cereal, as wellas hair and fibers. Many of these
items were taken to the State Labin Columbia for analysis. On Monday,
March sixth, Coroner Smith completed hisreport and released it to investigators. Perhaps

(21:59):
the most hurtin it question at thetime, it was revealed that Justin's death
had been ruled a homicide, withthe manner of death being stated as strangulation.
According to the autopsy, the fiveyear old had been strangled with a
thin object, at the time speculatedto have been a small belt or perhaps
a dog leash. Even More disturbingly, the report confirmed that Justin had been

(22:22):
sexually assaulted as well. His bodyat the time it was discovered had been
described in local newspapers as fully dressed. However, Sheriff Cannon stated after the
release of the autopsy report that Justin'spants had been pulled down, described as
being a third of the way downhis legs. The forensic examination showed that

(22:45):
the killer had inserted a cylindrical objectinto the child, though they could not
confirm if this assault had taken placebefore or after his death. No seamen
was present, and further examination couldfind no injuries or signs that the child
had been sexually assaulted previously, suggestingthat this had been done around the time

(23:07):
of his death and was not partof a longer history of abuse. While
investigators have never named what type ofobject was used to assault the child,
if indeed they know for certain,the two which have most commonly been mentioned
in leaks from those who alleged tobe close to the case were either a
broom handle or perhaps a Coca Colabottle. At the time, the coroner

(23:32):
had been unable to determine a timeof death, which helped add much confusion
to the case. Sheriff Cannon notedthey needed to be able to narrow it
down whether or not Justin had beenkilled the day he was reported missing and
had possibly been in the camper theentire time, or if he had been
killed after the searches had begun andsomeone managed to sneak him into the location

(23:55):
where he was later found. SheriffCannon explained, quote, we simply don't
have enough autopsy results to do somethingwith. It was a sad and bad
situation to start with, and thenwe've run aground with what they've got.
That's a big issue. It's changedand twisted and bent. So we just
simply don't know. They've talked aboutthirty hours, then seven hours, then

(24:19):
six hours. That's what's wrong now. End quote. One thing was clear
to law enforcement though there was anextremely slim likelihood that a stranger had abducted
the child, assaulted him, murderedhim, and then later snuck him into
that compartment in the camper. Asa result, they started looking at Victor

(24:41):
and Pamela with a lot more scrutiny. On Wednesday, March eighth, five
days after Justin was reported missing,Victor and Pamela were brought down to Sled
headquarters for questioning. Both were interviewedseparately for approximately four hours of peace,
and each was given U polygraph examination. The media went crazy for this and

(25:03):
started writing a ton of articles aboutthe likelihood that Justin had been killed by
his father or stepmother, and thestories got to such an extreme that the
Sheriff's office issued a media blackout,saying that no one in law enforcement would
speak to the media about the caseagain until they had a better grip on
what was happening. Five months later, in August, a coroner's inquest was

(25:26):
held before a six person jury.The inquest quickly fell into chaos as both
Victor and Pamela refused to answer questions, stating that they would not do so
under the advice of legal counsel.They would instead stand by the statements they
had previously made to SLED officers duringthe initial investigation. Ultimately, this first

(25:48):
inquest would uncover little new information,if any, and it would be terminated
when the coroner himself suffered a heartattack. A second inquest, held in
December, kicked off with just asmuch disarray, as neither Victor nor Pamela
appeared, as they claimed to havenot received notices to appear since they had
recently moved out of Berkeley County.During this inquest, it was revealed that

(26:12):
the polygraphs given to Victor and Pamelahad been ruled inconclusive, not because of
something wrong with the machines, butbecause it was determined both witnesses had taken
sedatives prior to the tests in anattempt to skew the results. Following the
complete inquest, the jury determined thata warrant should be issued for Pamela's arrest

(26:33):
and that she should be charged withhomicide. Arrested in mid February of nineteen
ninety, Pamela was charged with murderfollowing a grand jury hearing in which they
all came to the same conclusion asthe jury in the coroner's second inquest.
However, nine months later, inNovember, all charges against Pamela were dropped.

(26:56):
Prosecutors noted a lack of evidence andnot wanting to risk the possibility of
double jeopardy should Pamela be found notguilty at trial, they dropped all charges.
A second grand jury, held twoyears later in February of ninety two,
failed to return any indictments. Prosecutorspublicly stated that due to South Carolina

(27:17):
law, they could not compel eithervictor or Pamela to testify against one another
due to spousal privilege, and theypointed towards this, as well as a
lack of evidence, as the mainreasons why they could not continue forward with
the case. Over the course ofthe next three and a half decades,
Justin's case would grow cold. Investigatorsrevisited it, re examined it, and

(27:41):
reinterviewed witnesses, but they still lackedsolid physical evidence to link either Victa or
Pamela to the murder. It seemedclear the consensus among law enforcement officers was
that one or both were likely responsiblefor the crime. They just couldn't find
what they needed to to make anarrest and move forward with prosecution. However,

(28:03):
just two weeks ago, in earlyJanuary of twenty twenty four, all
of that would change when Sheriff DwayneLewis held a press conference and made a
shocking announcement case update. On Wednesday, January tenth, twenty twenty four,
Berkeley County Sheriff Dwayne Lewis announced ita press conference that Justin's father, Victor

(28:29):
Lee Turner now sixty nine, andhis wife, Megan R. Turner,
sixty three, had been arrested andcharged with murder in Justin's case, thirty
four years after the crime was committed. It was noted that Megan Turner is
in fact the same person as PamelaTurner, Justin's stepmother, and that in
the years after the crime, shehad legally changed her name. Not long

(28:52):
after the murder, Victor and Pamelamoved approximately three hours northwest from Monk's Corner,
settling in the small town of CrossHill, located in Lawrence County in
South Carolina's Upstate. They are stillmarried and were arrested together without incident on
Tuesday, January ninth. I willnow play audio from the press conference with

(29:15):
Sheriff Lewis announcing the arrest and discussinghow long they have waited to bring justice
for the murdered five role. Iapologize for some thumping sounds during this audio,
but Sheriff Lewis has a habit ofbanging his hand on the podium while
speaking. Yesterday, January ninth,at ten am, detectives from the Berkeley

(29:37):
County Sheriff's Office was able to arrestand take into custody Victor Lee Turner and
Pamela Turner, also known as MaconTurner. They were taken into custody at
their home, which is located incross Hills, South Carolina, which is
in Lawrence County. Lawrence County.The Shriff's office assisted us with the arrest.

(30:03):
They have been transported back to theBerkeley County Jail. They are incarcerated
at this time. This is anamazing day. It's a day that a
lot of people that have since leftus have been waiting for, and a
lot of people that are here todaythirty four years ago. That's a long

(30:27):
time. In an affidavit filed toobtain the arrest warrant, investigators revealed several
details of the case and included informationthat led them to believe that both Victor
and Pamela were not only involved inJustine's murder, but that the two had
conspired together to deliver false and misleadinginformation to investigators in hopes of steering the

(30:52):
investigation away from themselves. Directly addressingthe fact that Justin's body was found in
the camper owned by his father andstepmother, to which only they had the
keys, and that he was foundby his father after previous searches, the
affidavit discusses the suspect's connection to thecamper and the discovery of Justin's body.

(31:12):
It reads in part quote. Thespecific location inside the camper where the body
was concealed by the offender highly suggestsfamiliarity with the camper and its floor plan.
Defendant and co defendant are the onlypersons with access to the camper,
both having possession of the only keysto the lock securing the camper door,

(31:34):
which was located on their respective keyrings end quote. The arrest warrant specifies
that investigators believe Victor and Pamela murderedjustin and then, after police had already
searched, hid the child's body inthe camper so that Victor could discover it
in the presence of law enforcement inthe hopes of appearing free of guilt in

(31:56):
the crime. The warrant continued usequote. Defendant's deliberate actions and obvious behavior
of both defendants reveal and are highlysuggestive that the defendant and co defendant knew
exactly where the victim was located hiddeninside of the camper before the defendant's feigned
search and discovery of the victim.Rather than react to finding his son and

(32:22):
personally checking for any indication of lifewhatsoever, the defendant instead backed out of
the camper, commenting he's in there. My son is in there. Somebody's
hurt him, the defendant later toldinvestigators. Quote he looked dead. I
could feel that something was wrong withhim. I did not touch him.

(32:42):
End quote. The warrant goes onto note that Justin was strangled with a
ligature on or about the early morninghours of March third, nineteen eighty nine.
This finding is based on new informationfollowing the use of modern technology and
approaches to analyze the content of thechild's stomach, which showed partially digested food

(33:05):
matching up with what the family hadhad for dinner the night prior to Justin
being reported missing. This would suggestthat Justin could have been killed as early
as the night before police were calledto the scene to begin their missing persons
investigation. Previously, analysis of Justin'sstomach contents was unable to lock in an

(33:27):
exact or specific time range. Atthe time, it had been reported that
Justin had gone missing after getting onthe school bus, but that was proven
false even back during the original investigation. Here is a clip of Sheriff Lewis
discussing this during the press conference.He's five years old at the time.

(33:50):
Justin never made it to school thatmorning. He never got on the bus,
he never arrived at school. That'sbecause he had been and he'd been
murdered by his step mother and hisfather and left in a camper behind their
house. I can't think of amore tragic, horrendous murder five year old

(34:20):
boy going back to Justin today,Justin would have been forty years old,
could have graduated high school, wentto college, got married, had a
child, been a productive citizen.But he wasn't because we believe these two
people took that away from all ofus and this family who I have been

(34:44):
in contact with over the years,and they have been tremendous in their efforts
to keep this case alive and keeppushing us and asking questions and helping us
to get where we are today.You know, initially they provided information that

(35:06):
you know, he didn't get onthe he that he got on the school
bus and went to school but nevergot off of the bus. That was
not true. He never got onthat bus. He never got on that
bus because he was dead inside thathouse. So there's been a lot of
different things and statements made. Whenyou when you look at the scene,

(35:32):
you can you can assume by lookingat it that it was somewhat of stage
seen seen to make it look likesomething that it wasn't, and all that
will come out, well, we'llget to all that, but there's a
lot of inconsistencies in the story andthe information and what the deputies, detective

(35:55):
and SLED agents d n R agentswere told when they first got there to
try to piece the thing together.Court documents go on to state that while
Pamela claimed to have not seen Justinleaving for the bus that morning because she
was in the shower, multiple neighborstold police that she had informed them that

(36:16):
she'd had an argument with the fiveyear old that morning in the home prior
to the last time she claims tohave seen him alive. The document continues,
quote, she provided misinformation to investigatorsabout her specific whereabouts on the morning
of Friday, March third, nineteeneighty nine, and provided inconsistent information about

(36:37):
her activities end quote. The arrestwarrant goes on to note that during the
second day of the search, Victorfound Justin's body inside the camper, but
they could not rationalize why he haddecided to search it that morning since it
had been previously searched. In addition, They note the nonchalant manner in which

(36:57):
Victor announced the discovery of his son'sboy, not as a father heartbroken and
caught up in the midst of pain, grief, and anger, but as
a casual observer. The warrant alsopoints out that Victor found the body quote
within seconds of entering the camper andmoments after the search party began its search
end quote. It is the beliefof investigators that both Victor and Pamela knew

(37:22):
exactly where Justin's body was, andthat Victor went straight to it, not
searching any other parts of the camper. At the time of the discovery,
A local news crew had their camerasrolling, and I'll now play the short
clip for you of Justin's father announcingthe discovery of his five year old son's
body. I will loop it sothat you can hear the short clip several

(37:45):
times in a row, as sonsin there, a sons in there,
a sons in there. In theshow notes, I'll provide a link to
the YouTube video posts by WCBD Newstoo, which shows this, as well
as additional coverage of that day whereyou can see Victor, a father allegedly

(38:08):
in the throes of grief as hefails to shed a single tear while cupping
his hands over his face and pretendingto be crying. In addition, you
can watch as he half heartedly tapshis fists down gently on the porch,
apparently so overwhelmed by emotion as tolash out extremely calmly, slowly, and

(38:28):
nonchalantly. The warrant goes on tonote that upon the discovery of his son,
Victor makes no efforts to try andreach him, nor to perform any
life saving measures. It reads quote. Rather than react to finding his son
and personally checking for any indication oflife whatsoever, Victor Turner instead backed out
of the camper, commenting, he'sin there, My son's in there.

(38:52):
The warrant adds that Victor quote latertold investigators he looked dead. I could
feel something was wrong with him.I did not touch him end quote.
In perhaps one of the most revealingpieces of information, the warrant also notes
that not long before entering the camper, Victor had asked a law enforcement official

(39:14):
present that day, if someone,possibly a family member, had quote done
harm to the victim, such askilled him, end quote, what would
happen to that person? The warrantcontinues quote Within this transparent question and apparent
awareness of the victim's fate was revealedprior to the discovery of the victim's body.

(39:35):
Victor Turner had made other comments tosuggest that he had knowledge of the
boy's fate prior to the discovery ofhis body end quote. In addition to
this, a forensic analysis of itemscollected from the scene of the crime that
day, including what is believed tohave been the murder weapon, were able
to be conclusively linked to Justin byway of clothing fibers found on the allege

(40:00):
murder weapon. Here is Sheriff Lewisdiscussing both the statements made by the suspects
that day, as well as forensicevidence in the press conference, statements that
were made during the initial interview,initial onseen investigation, all of those things.

(40:22):
But we were able to use someforensic testing that we had not had
available to us before and that enabledus to tie in the murder weapon that
we believe was used to strangle Justinto clothing and fabric on his clothing at

(40:45):
the time of his death. There'sa lot of other things that account for
it, but that's just a coupleof things. The warrant goes on to
allege that after police informed them ofthe discovery of physical evidence, namely the
alleged murder weapon, that both Victorand Meghan quote expressed concern and devised a

(41:06):
plan to withhold, slash conceal potentialevidence end quote. Both of them are
alleged to have given quote spontaneous incriminatingstatements to indicate responsibility in the death and
intent to conceal physical evidence from investigatorsat the start of the investigation end quote.
Sheriff Lewis stated that this was acase which had haunted not only Justin's

(41:29):
family, but many of the officerswho had originally worked the case. He
noted that multiple sheriffs prior to himhad wanted desperately to solve the case,
but that in the end, thetechnology did not exist at the time to
provide the answers necessary. He alsotalked of Justin's biological mother, who sadly
did not live to see the dayher son's killers were arrested. Here is

(41:53):
Sheriff Lewis talking about the passage oftime and their hunt for justice. So
I know Sheriff mc cannon his histeam worked very hard on it. Sheriff
is get Osco had, you know, and I'm going through the sheriffs as
I knew. I think at onepoint even Scotland Yard was involved in this

(42:16):
case and and had had examined itwhen uh Sheriff de Witt came in.
I think John worked on it somethen while Sheriff de Witt was here.
And again it's been renewed and andand people were We've always been doing what

(42:37):
we the very best we could dobased on the evidence and the technology and
the forensics that we had. Soit's just thank the Good Lord we got
to a place where we were ableto get enough to make it a rest
well. Uh, you know,I've talked to everybody that's still around and
and and I'm so sorry that justicereal mother is not here. She suffered

(43:05):
tremendously and so with a lot ofpeople. I mean, there's some deputies
that were here that went to thescene. Everybody kind of felt it.
It was a tragedy and I'm justhoping that we can move forward and that
we have done the very best thatwe can to our ability to solve this

(43:30):
case and help this family and really, really really at the end of the
day give Justine some justice. Accordingto Sheriff Lewis, the case had been
looked at many times over the years, but it was in twenty twenty one,
when the cold case Unit was ableto submit evidence for testing with new

(43:51):
technology that they were able to makesome breakthroughs. In addition, detect us
with the cold case Unit pinpointed multipleinconsistencies which led them to believe that the
crime scene and discovery of Justin's bodyhad all been staged. Asked about Victor
and Pamela, Sheriff Lewis acknowledged thatinvestigators at the time believed they had been

(44:12):
involved in the murder, but theydidn't possess the evidence they needed to go
forward with it. He mentioned thatPamela had previously been arrested and despite the
charges being dropped, she remained oneof their prime suspects. He also noted
that in the thirty four years thatpassed, neither Victor nor Pamela ever reached
out with any concern about the investigationor the fate of the child. Here

(44:37):
is Sheriff Lewis discussing the evolution ofthe case and his father and stepmothers seeming
indifference, which did little to showany possibility of innocence when it came to
the murder of Justin Turner. Yeah, so if you look at the overall
the Pamela was arrested at one pointin charge case was dismissed without prejudice,

(45:04):
So would enable us to come backagain if we had enough evidence. She
changed her name, They moved tothe upstate, and nobody that I'm aware
of from any of the family hasever heard from them again. And that's
strange. I never got one phonecall, one phone call from his daddy

(45:27):
or his stepmother. What are y'alldoing about my son's death? Not one?
What does that tell you? Followingtheir arrests, Victor and Pamela were
transported from their home in Lawrence Countyback to Berkeley County. There was hope
that along the three and a halfhour car ride they might be willing to
share some information, but both remainedsilent. Victor and Pamela attended a bond

(45:52):
hearing virtually with Magistrate Judge Brian Westlater on Wednesday, January tenth. As
a magistrate, Judge Wes does nothave the authority to set bail on charges
such as murder. Instead, thecouple will be placed on the Circuit Board
docket sometime within the next thirty days, at which time a circuit judge will

(46:14):
possess the ability to set their bond. Magistrate Judge west inform Victor and Pamela
that a murder charge, which bothhave received, can carry a sentence of
up to life imprisonment. During thishearing, family members were allowed to address
the Turners for the first time sincethey were arrested. Amy Parsons, Justin's

(46:34):
cousin, spoke for the family,saying, quote, for thirty five years
you have enjoyed your freedom. Youdo not deserve one day outside of those
prison walls for what you did toJustine. You were supposed to take care
of him, love him, andinstead you tortured, abused, and murdered
him, your child. It takesa sick individual to do what you did.

(46:59):
End quote. At the time,it did not appear as though the
Turners had legal representation. Their formerdefense lawyer retired in twenty sixteen and informed
the media that he no longer representedhis previous clients. However, public record
searches show that both have since hiredlawyers, and at least for the moment,
it's worth noting that they appeared tohave employed separate attorneys. Obviously,

(47:23):
this is a still developing case andthere will come a lot more information in
the future. I'll keep you upto date as best I can, and
when there is additional news, I'llput together another update. Nothing can ever
bring Justin back, nor assuage thegrief and pain suffered by friends and family
over the course of these past thirtyfour years. Justin was robbed of a

(47:46):
life, and those who loved himwere robbed of their opportunities to grow with
him, experience life with him,and to share in treasured memories. Justin's
mother passed before she could see justicedone, but the family remains dedicated to
Justin and the cause she fought sovaliantly for. We will end with the

(48:07):
words of Amy Parsons, who expressboth gratitude and grief at the press conference
when she addressed the media. Hereis Amy. I'm Amy Parsons. I
am Justin's cousin. Of course Iwas only eight at the time as murderer.

(48:27):
I want to thank God first bringgive us to this point, and
Sheriff Lewis for listening to our cries. From here, all we want is
justice, and I want to seeour justice system do what it was intended
to do and put these two peoplewhere they deserve to be because they've walked
for thirty four years, they've hadfreedom for thirty four years. Why our

(48:52):
family has suffered and they don't deserveanother day from behind those bars. And
I'm gonna thank you everybody that hasput time in to give us to where
we are here. And once again, Sheriff Lewis really truly we all appreciate
what you have done for our pamthank you. So there you have it.

(49:22):
Two cold cases with major breakthroughs.One case in regard to Dexter Stephonic
has officially been closed, while Victorand Pamela Turner have been arrested and charged
with five year old Justin's murder.If you're looking for more information about the
murder of Dexter Stephonic, Unsolved Mysteriesdid a segment on his case and Robin

(49:43):
Wardo covered it on an episode ofThe Trail Went Cold. If you're looking
for more information about the murder ofJustin Turner, there are many news sites
and articles discussing his case. Idid two episodes about Justin's case. Those
being one seventy and one seventy one, which I definitely recommend if you want
to hear everything there is to knowat this point in time. If you

(50:07):
have any information about the murder ofDexter, Stephanic, Julia Woodward, or
anyone else who may have been killedor harmed by Charles Gary Sullivan, please
contact the FBI at seven zero twothree eight five one two eight one.
You can also submit tips on theirwebsite at tips dot FBI dot gov.

(50:30):
If you have any information about themurder of Justin Turner, please contact the
Berkeley County Sheriff's Office at eight fourthree seven one nine four four six five.
Just a quick reminder if you're planningto attend crime Con this year in
Nashville from May thirty first through June, tewod use promo code trace at crimecon

(50:55):
dot com to save ten percent onyour pass. That's Promo code Trace at
Crimecon dot com. Now I'd liketo take a moment to thank our amazing
Patreon producers, without whom trace evidencewould not be possible. A massive thank
you to Andrew Guarino and m BertramCamellia Tyler, Christine Greco, Danny Renee,

(51:23):
Denise Dingsdale, Desiree, Lara,Donna Buttram, Deanni Dyson, Jennifer
Winkler, Justin Snyder, Carol Morland, k Y, Lars Jensen, Vangel
leslie B, Lisa Hopson, MadisonLa Julier, Melissa Brakhuisen, Nick Mohar,

(51:50):
Sers, Roberta Jansen, Ruth StacyFinnegan, Stephanie Joyner, Tom Radford,
and when I want to thank youall so much for your support.
It means the world to me andyou are truly the lifeblood of this podcast.
If you're interested in supporting the showand listening to your episode's ad free,

(52:14):
please visit Patreon dot com, slashtrace Evidence, or click the support
option on the official website at traceDashevidence dot com. For now, this
concludes this update episode. Hopefully soonerthan later we'll get some solid developments and
learn the fade of Victor and Pamela, which I hope is extremely unhappy and

(52:36):
uncomfortable. For thirty four years theygot to continue on with life, a
life they stole from an innocent fiveyear old boy. I can't begin to
wrap my head around such atrocious andmonstrous people. Thankfully, as technology keeps
evolving, we continue to see thesehorrible murderers caught and this is a great
start to twenty twenty four. Sothank you all again for listening to this

(53:00):
update, and next week we'll beon to a new unsolved case with the
next episode of Trace Evidence.