EPISODE 266: "You Can't Burn Secrets": The Murder of Ernest Gibson

In 1985, a mysterious house fire in Hartsville,SC led investigators to a deceased elderly man who they believed to be a victim of the fire. While technically he was, there was much more to the story and the condition in which he was found.

This week we dive into two cases from South Carolina's history that prove that your past will always come back to haunt you. One from 1959 in Beaufort County and the other a very recent financial crime.

In 2002, a college football player was visiting a Columbia, SC nightclub when he fell victim to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and around the wrong people. When the investigation settled and justice was served a weak spot in the justice system was exposed 20 years later.

In 2003, a beloved member of the Johnsonville community was found murdered in her driveway. Suspects were hard to come by until they started peeling back layers and hearing rumors that turned their attention to two people very close to the deceased.

Job opportunities in 1907 Norway,SC were few and far between. Families that did not own land were destined to be sharcroppers for the wealthy. One sharecropper tried to excercise his right to freedom and choice of whom to work for which resulted in one dead, two injured annd a historic court case in American history. 

In 1974, a retired Florence teacher frantically called the Shriff's Department. She had been bound and gagged, assaulted and her husband was missing. When investigators got the description of the assailant, it sounded oddly familiar but it couldn't be the man they were thinking of. He had been committed to the State Hospital. So you can imagine their surprise when they learned of his escape!

In 1905, a troupe of traveling performers had just finished up a show in Gaffney, SC and looked for lodging before their train left town the next morning. The Inn that they chose to stay at was anything but hospitable. The scene played out like a real life "made for the stage" drama, rife with sexual harrassment,chivalry, a peeping tom, fistacuffs and finally murder.

In 1979, a Colleton County man was sentenced to death by electrocution in connection with a heinous roadside murder. After an appeal was filed and a tecnical mistep was discovered, he was granted a new trial and exonerated. However, some people can't handle a second chance.

In 1924, a Sumter,SC physician was found dead in his home due to multiple gunshot wounds. His wife was also found unresponsive and needed to be hospitalized. Mystery swirled around exactly how they got in this condition and who the perpetrator was.

In the Summer of 1976, the new owner of Magic Harbor Amusement Park in Myrtle Beach was doing his best to turn the park around. He was starting to experience success with an uptick in visitors and coming close to turning a profit when a masked intruder ruined it all.