Murder mystery

By Hannah Wever
Review Staff Writer

Published: December 4, 2008

On television, it takes less than 60 minutes to solve a murder. But in real life, things are different. Cases can be complicated—sometimes involving hundreds of items of evidence, scores of witnesses, and very few leads. 
Since 2005, eight killings in Orange County have rocked the community and devastated families. In some of those instances in which victims lost their lives to violent crimes, a conviction gives families have some measure of closure. But in other cases, law enforcement agencies are still working to obtain convictions.
Arrests have yet to be made in two Orange County murders, and the investigations in both cases have been complex. The two-year-long investigation into the death of Orange resident Johnell Greene has involved inter-agency police work, conflicting testimony, lack of witnesses and other complexities. Likewise, it has been two years since Barboursville resident Justine Abshire was killed, and a suspect has yet to be named.
Johnell Greene, 25, was killed after suffering multiple gunshot wounds August 11, 2006. Despite rescue personnel’s efforts to save him, Greene died while awaiting air transport to the hospital. At the time, police said Greene’s shooting death may have been drug-related.
“It’s still under investigation,“ Town of Orange Police Chief James Fenwick explained. “We’re hoping to have a successful conclusion to that soon.“
Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney Diana Wheeler said that complexities involving witnesses and suspects have caused the delay in conviction of Greene’s killer.
“The investigation is ongoing and a number of peripheral issues related to [Greene’s] death have been dealt with in the federal courts,“ she said. When the federal courts have completed their proceedings, Wheeler continued, the state will try their case. 
Barboursville resident Justine Abshire died in November 2006, and while her death was initially believed to have been caused by a hit-and-run driver, law enforcement later announced that foul play was likely behind the 27-year-old elementary school teacher’s killing. Two years later, the investigation into Abshire’s death continues and no arrests have been made.
“It’s an ongoing investigation; it’s still active,“ Virginia State Police Sgt. F.L. Tyler explained.
State police are handling the case, and are tight-lipped about the details and the status of the investigation. Locally, there’s not a great deal more information available from authorities.
“There is information that is still out there, and that is what we’re actively pursuing,“ Wheeler said.
It may come as little consolation to the friends and families of those who died at the hands of another. As devastating, terrifying and life-altering as murders may have been for the friends and families of both the victims and the convicted, Orange County community is a relatively safe area, according to Orange County Sheriff Mark Amos.
In both 2005 and 2006, there were three murders in Orange County (including in the Town of Orange). In 2007, there was one murder in the Town of Orange. Louisa County, a locality with a similarly sized population, experienced one murder in 2005, one in 2006, and four murders in 2007 (including one in the Town of Louisa).
Although Orange doesn’t have the same violent crime and murder rates as a more populous area, local law enforcement and prosecutors use the same tactics to solve cases as their contemporaries in crime-ridden localities.
Even when a motive seems obvious in some cases, the evidence and testimony police need to obtain in order to bring a killer into custody can be frustratingly difficult, the sheriff said. While someone who had their purse snatched on the street might have gotten a good look at her assailant, for example, in a murder case, the victim can’t describe his killer. What that means for law enforcement officers is that clues can be hidden, evidence may be obscure and the identity of a murderer may be revealed only after hours, months or even years of investigation.
“You can’t get statements from the victim-you have to put the pieces together,“ Amos said. “Unless you have an eyewitness, you don’t have a statement coming from anybody.“
In the case of Dani Howard, (who was shot and killed February 21, 2006,) when law enforcement first arrived at the scene, there was nearly nothing to indicate what had taken place, Amos said.
“We responded to a call of a body lying out in the street,“ Amos remembered. The call that came in to 911 that night yielded little more than someone had heard the sound of shots fired and a car speeding away.
On the other hand, in the case of Marilyn Baker’s death, (when Baker received a fatal blow to the head while trying to break up a neighborhood fight July 4, 2007,) scores of people were present when the blow was delivered. 
The most difficult cases to prosecute, Wheeler said, are circumstantial cases, “where there’s no eyewitness except the murderer.“
Solving a case by collecting masses of evidence, completing miles of police paperwork and interviewing scores of potential witnesses comes down, in the end, to the decision of a jury. But before a case makes it to court, law enforcement agencies rely on every resource available to bring a suspect to justice.
Chief Fenwick explained that pooling resources from local, state and even federal agencies can be key to a killer’s conviction. And in complicated investigations, like those of the Greene and Howard murders, collaborative efforts from law enforcement are necessary.
“The Town of Orange, the Town of Gordonsville and the sheriff’s office—we all work together,“ Fenwick said. “On the Greene case we contacted the state police for help with the crime scene because it was widespread. Their resources are so much more vast than ours.“
And inter-agency teamwork goes a long way in initiating proactive mitigation of criminal enterprises and organized groups, Fenwick added, because law enforcement can collectively measure the pulse of potential crime.
But what cops can’t do is affect a criminal’s judgment in the moments before a trigger is pulled or a knife is wielded. And unfortunately, according to Fenwick, crime and violence is frequently fueled by greed for power or money, or by drug or alcohol abuse.
“Overall we have a very safe community,“ Amos said. While more metropolitan areas are plagued by drive-bys and carjackings, nearly all of Orange County’s violent crimes can be traced back by some tangent to abuse of drugs, alcohol or both, according to Amos.
“Alcohol involved in either the offender or the victim, alcohol or drugs can be the motivator to give someone the lack of judgement or lack of self control to commit such an act,“ Fenwick said.
“The murders in Orange County are typically drug and alcohol related,“ Amos explained. “It’s not like we have random shootings here.“