The Patel family traveled from England, Missouri and Illinois to speak with WMBF News about the case. You have your friends, your health, and then you make one bad decision, one. 1:00. For example, the conversation with Tom. So, we wanted to figure out, you know, could this be related? It adjusts for the number of visitors and daily workers commuting into cities. Later, at his movie premiere, Pat admits he never did check out the alibi. Morrison: Youre pretty angry about this.Kerry Morgan: Angry that my son will be hurt, yeah. Volume 1. 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. I think she sat down on the couch had opened a book, set a drink down on top of a coaster on a coffee table.Morrison: Cause theyre there.Sheriff Boone: We found those things. We would do anything to bring her back.Morrison: The key argument that Pat Moug makes isyou put yourself in this moviemaybe because youre a narcissistic sociopath who needs to get to taunt peopleto get as close as you can to the crime. But Pat Moug was right about one thing: Kenny Boone did not cooperate with a fellow police officerthe one from Livonia, Michigan. Sheriff Boone: But at the time the polygraph examination came back inconclusive which coulda went either way. Itll soon be time for that part of the story. Its a family just as close as it says its always been. He sat there with a fraternity brother and described what probably happened that day. 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. 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. 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. Tom Morgan: Now thats strange to me that that watch would be in her hand. Crime in Florence, South Carolina (SC): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map All Cities South Carolina, South Carolina smaller cities, South Carolina small towns Florence main page US Crime Crime rate in Florence, South Carolina (SC) But then, with his investigators instinct engaged, he came up with his plan to follow his suspicions. Punam Gopaldas, 31, had made a life for herself in Florence. Then I faxed him a request from my detective bureau this was solely 100 per cent as a police officer, a fellow police officer and he never responded.Morrison: He doesnt think theres anything suspicious. 7 of South Carolina's most notorious killers | The State We dont want anything tainted by you telling people because everybody still thought it was an accident. It was still all roped off with caution tape and I just stood outside there for probably 15 or 20 minutes just still in disbelief and just cried. At first, said Pat, he wanted to back out of the project. It was a friendly crowd for the premiere screening of Pat Mougs film Bold as a Lion offered enthusiastic praise for Pats efforts. Investigator Boone confirmed Snowden couldnt have been the killer. Tom Morgan: I just had an interesting conversation with my father the other night. Tom Morgan: Yeah, yeah. The only way youre gonna find out if theyre innocent, if you clear Tom Morgan as a suspecthes a suspect right now. Pat Moug: I wanna thank everybody for coming out. Morrison: Be careful what you wish for.Tom Morgan: Thats right. I said promise me you that you know I love you. 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. It wasnt even that hard, even though he was a real estate broker, not a writer, the words just fell to page. And all the while, though Tom was utterly unaware of it, the man once pegged to direct his movie was now working against him. Then a few minutes later, the most damning or outrageous part of Pats theory. FLORENCE Delmae Elementary School students held signs and cheered principal Roy Anne Jolley Monday as she was paraded around the schools bu, FLORENCE, S.C. -- One person was taken to a Florence area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries Sunday afternoon following a two-car cra, FLORENCE, S.C. Students from Wilson High School placed first among schools from North and South America in an engineering contest, winning t, Vera Nicole Godwin has been caring for patients at McLeod Regional Medical Center for five years. Tom Morgan: There are only so many weights you can lift and so many miles you can run and so many things you can do to try and get rid of that anger and that energy and then it comes to a point where you just have to deal with it. Scott Snowden: I gave it to her as a gift for Christmas, maybe her birthday. We had a couple of dates. Did you fly into Charlotte? Tom Morgan: When I got that letter, I called him that day. If someones been killed and set on fire. A fictional tale to point an accusing finger toward truth. The guys perfect. Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: How would you describe the way theyre treating you?Tom Morgan: From where I grew up you would call it being slapped around.Morrison: Bullied.Tom Morgan: yeahMorrison: What motivation would they have to bully you except to find the truth?Tom Morgan: Maybe this is where the rubber meets the road and they think you know what? You know why? Especially when someone else makes the sequel. Investigators claimed to have linked his father to the crime scene, too. And so the killer Kenny Boone: Used the fire to cover up any additional evidence that might have been there. Pat Moug, the actor-cop from Livonia, Michigan is out there with his own cinematic point of view that Tom may have killed his sweet sister, helped out by his own father and brother. I mean youre just cruisin through life, living life, everythings fine. Neither one of them had the money to make Toms movie. It was an apparent success. We could hardly wait to get back to South Carolina to confront with Pat Mougs theories the two men hed spent most of his film attacking: And Tom Morgan. (from the movie) Ethan: Im Ethan by the way.Jennifer: Im Tiger Woods.Ethan: You are definitely NOT Tiger Woods. Ethan: I thought you had plans to see your family tomorrow. Tom Morgan: Its surreal. And now he decided he really would make a documentary. His name is David Deitz. The Murdaugh Murder Mystery Deepens in South Carolina - New York Times The false start with the film-making cop from Michigan was forgotten now. But, what about that watch? Odd that after that long a period of time that someone would come and obviously felt this tremendous remorse, or whatever their feelings were, would have to come back to the gravesite and put this under their headstone. But the fact is, Tom Morgan and Pat Moug may both have missed the real story. And they were gonna bring this thing to some closure for us. He says he found out about it after the movie was made. In June 2011, she was nearing the end of a contentious custody battle with her estranged husband and had her mom, Vinaben Patel, living with her to care for Jai. Brother: something you wouldnt know much about right? What probably happened was the lamp fell over. Name. Sheriff Kenny Boone: I can remember it just like it was yesterday. Tom Morgan left state police headquarters in a daze. It just didnt make sense. Remember, as a complete ruse, Pat had shot some interviews with Tom. Face down, and dead. Had even made his own movie pointing at a particular suspect. Hardly a confession. He still remembers how her body was positioned on the bed. This person who was so in love with her would come and instead of shedding one tear or even saying Im so sorry. A personal advertisement. Jennifer: Ethan what are you doing? And waited until the next morning to make the four-hour drive to his parents home in Myrtle Beach. And this sidelight what he really was passion was for acting and for making film.Morrison: SWAT team by day, thespian by night, huh?Tom Morgan: Yeah. Pat Moug: Tom, I know you were at your sisters accidentJens accident.Tom Morgan: No, I wasnt.Pat Moug: Tom, I know you were. And I dont think they can give me one. The thing that made the story suspicious, said the Morgans, was that when Chris told it, just one day after Jennifers death - no one knew she was dead before the fire. Shed of fought back. Id like to get everybodysMorrison: Tell us everything you know.Tom Morgan: Yeah. Now, family members are finally opening up about the gruesome crime with hope the case will finally be solved. He wrote imagined conversations, pent up thoughts and feelings, about his own belief that Chris, the fraternity boy, killed Jennifer. Kerry Morgan: Tom was a protector, Tom always wanted to take the role over his dad; wanted to know who she was seeing what she was doing, taking care of her.Morrison: So you felt you could go to bed at night if she was out because Tom?Kerry Morgan: Tom was right there waiting for herExactly. Investors would never see this tape, but Pat had every intention of ensuring that investigators did. And then, two days after her death, Kenny Boone called, and they tried to absorb more news: Jennifers death was not an accident after all. Some parts 2023 Advameg, Inc. Crime rate in Florence, South Carolina (SC): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map, Crime rate in Florence, South Carolina (SC). And said, How are you possibly working on this case when you dont even have any of the information? Professors proved he was three hours away at his college the morning of the Jennifers death. Whatever.Behind the Scenes. 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. But you know, to me, until someones convicted, everyones still a suspect. The family was not surprised to hear about the arrest. There was no police presence, said Tom. Though at first what he said didnt seem to make sense. Finally. How dare I be upset or be mad about it? Families want 'Monster of Florence' serial killer case reopened There was no identification on them, but it was surmised they were traveling or 'backpacking'. Over what, Im not exactly sure. And so, back to the mobile home park. . FILE - Sandy Smith holds a photo of her late son, 19-year-old Stephen Smith, on June 24, 2021, in Hampton, S.C. A second autopsy was completed on the exhumed body of . Florence County double murder victims' family speaks out, Coroner: NC college student hit, killed by car in Myrtle Beach, PHOTOS: Damage reported after Sunday storms move through Grand Strand, Police: 1 dead, another hurt after shooting reported at Horry County bar, Coastal Carolinas Jerrod Clark, Lance Boykin sign with NFL teams, wmbf-publicfile@gray.tv - (843) 839-9623. It was the only evidence he offered to imply an incestuous relationship between Tom and Jennifer. Did the wanna-be boyfriend, Chris, plant the watch in her hand just to make boyfriend Scott look guilty? Tom Morgan: He said at that time I was gonna be sorry. He didnt want it to seem like his beloved sister had a steady stream of men visiting her trailer. Ethan: What does it look like? The family court judge put a gag order on the case -- leaving the family, and they say some investigators, at a standstill with the criminal case. Days after the murder, a tantalizing lead in the classified section of a local newspaper. What do you do? Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: What was the thing that got you obsessed?Tom Morgan: I felt like we knew who did it. To Pat Moug, they were evidence that Tom Morgan had staged those items to direct attention away from his own guilt. As time passed, approximately 13,853 of those murders were solved, leaving the state with approximately 3,868 unsolved murders in South Carolina as of the last website update. I dont agree with that. What Tom did not know is that Pat was only pretending to make a documentary. He indicated to me that he did not remember telling Tom Morgan any of these facts. She worked as nurse at McLeod Hospital and was raising her toddler son, Jai, at home in the Country Club of South Carolina. We have worked so hard (emotional) to try and keep this in the forefront of peoples minds. And that movie idea? Pat Moug: Right now if he was in our state, I believe I have enough evidence for probable cause to arrest him. So he put himself in the place of Scott Snowden, that other boyfriend Chris encountered just before Jennifers murder. But I take great offense to it. Would someone come forward? I was in Charlotte visiting friends and just drove the rest of the way down. Most of his victims in the 1970s were buried in shallow graves in southern Florence County. Unless there was a break or something.Morrison: Its not something she wouldve normally done?Snowden: Its not something she normally wouldve done. Maybe theyll get interested in your project.he went along with the idea. This whole thing is surreal. If it takes everybody in this country being mad at me to get justice for this girl, so be it. I can see it is. I figured that there would absolutely be no resolve.Morrison: So that the investigation was what?Jim Morgan: It was botched. Pat Moug: The narcissistic sociopath will find a way of placing themselves near the crime scene of the victim. And thats exactly what he does in his script. And yet, there is not much doubt: these are friends, and theyre hugely supportive. Jim Morgan: I could tell at the time that in my mind that there was not an accidental death. Nothing that wasnt true but i brought up several times that this files been lost. (emotional). It says, the file could not be located, but that the agency would continue to search for these missing records.. But to lay out his case, piece by piece, that Tom Morgan should be a prime suspect in the murder of his sister Jennifer. And when I do, the district attorney is gonaa seek the death penalty and probably get it.. Do you think thats a coincidence? Tom Morgan: I told everybody I moved down here after my sister died. Tom Morgan: I had to see that trailer burned. We were the lucky lottery winner that theyd pulled up our case. Another experienced set of eyes to consider the evidence. And, in rebuilding our lives. She was a few months from her college graduation and a degree in marketing. Time was a blur, as Jennys parents planned the funeral. I was thinking about it in the car, on the way over here.and what probably happened. Several synthetic fibers in the sofa ulpostery are highly flammable. The "Monster of Florence" began killing on Aug. 21, 1968, when he gunned down 29-year-old Antonio Lo Bianco and his 32-year-old sister-in-law, Barbara Locci, with a .22 handgun in the town of Signa. 29 Unsolved Murders That Will Send Shivers Down Your Spine - The Lineup Tom Morgan: I just kept thinking how long is it gonna take before they arrest this person, how long is this gonna take? And Sheriff Boone thinks theyre both wrongthat quite possibly the neighbor did it. And the bracelet and ring Tom said his father found at the grave? Instead, his interview clips and charts and speculations boiled down to this: Pat Moug: I think he went there. He can sketch a diagram of Morgans mobile home. Well, not exactly because now, on they go, these three contending investigators, down their opposing paths. And when they were finished he sat waiting, somewhat impatiently, to be dismissed. It was the fall of 2004. 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.. And even when Detective Kenny Boone decided not to arrest Chris Woodson, the Morgans remained deeply suspicious. South Carolina's Number One Unsolved Mystery - OnlyInYourState But not yet, in spite of all thats happened, not yet. Still, hes not giving up hope. The fact Moug was a detective was a bonus, Tom figured. Angry now, Tom fired off a legal request - a demand, really - to see whatever evidence the state police had. If Tom lied about where he lived on the day of the crime, was he lying about his actions that day, too? As for Kenny Boone, he says hes determined still that someone will be charged with the murder of Jennifer Morgan. And that, strange though it may sound, was the birth of the movie; it came out of anger and frustration. 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. Investigator Boone alerted the polygrapher. And to try and keep this investigation going for her sake. This database currently consists of unsolved homicides from 50 Florida counties, 46 U.S. states, and 3 international countries. Because, says Pat, of something he saw in Toms fictional movie script. But when they missed connecting with family on Saturday, June 25, 2011, Florence County deputies were sent to the home for a welfare check. Tom Morgan watched a local production team piece together his story - Toms fictional imagining - of the murder of his little sister Jennifer. It was all different now. He places himself at the crime scene.Morrison: And emotionally what does that do to ya?Pat Moug: Its not a good feeling in your gut because youre thinking what happened to the girl? Tom: We need money for a movie. It took a moment, then he told Tom what that meant. I think they wanted to base a movie on my case file, Boone said. And lo and behold the detective has this milky white substance in the vagina.Morrison: But arent you taking two and two and coming up with five?Pat Moug: No, I dont think so. Right then and there, the complexion of Toms world changed. Just a lifetime to think about them.Morrison: Every time you talk about it your eyes go red and they start to waterTom Morgan: Cause I just remember how alive she was that weekend. Tom Morgan: And they said weve got a cold case unit and we wanna reopen your sisters case.Morrison: Cold case unit?Tom Morgan: I was really excited. The investigator, Kenny Boone, told them what he knew: that he saw right away the fire was so intense, it had to have had extra fuel, some sort of accelerant. Chris told Boone he argued with Jennifer about their relationship and left her trailer about 10:30 the night before her death. It wasnt payback. I went to this seminar on forgiveness and on all these things and how do I not stay angry? But who would have wanted to kill Jennifer? In the audience, her parents and older sister. Morrison: Hes fictionally writing about him being there with ice cream.Pat Moug: And you think its a coincidence that he shows up in his script that he places himself at the murder scene minutes before his sisters murder and hes bringing a substance that after fire could be melted down and be a milky white substance. ThatsMorrison: You mean an incestuous relationship?Pat Moug: I haveI dont know. And then a decision that would come back to haunt him: Tom wrote himself into his screenplay. 1999 cold case baffles detectives in two counties - WMBF News Where did you get the information youre using there?Tom Morgan: We were all speculating at the time. True Crime. 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. For a start-up independent, the film did pretty well; it broke even. All victims have been submitted by law enforcement or the victims' families. Ill forget about it you could have done that why didnt you?Pat Moug: I firmly believed that Tom was a suspect. So what about that milky white substance he says the sheriff told him was found in Jennifers body, which was at the heart of Pats suggestion that Jennifers death could have been caused by some inappropriate sexual event involving Tom? Working on it. The 'Monster Of Florence' Case And Why It May Be Reopened - All That's Deitz: I stuck it right there at the front right beside her first name. Three of them, actually. But then, why would there be. She started as a nurse extern while completing her nursing degree at Florence-Darling. With technology and stuff like it is today, you never know. Same weapon, same circumstances and according to detectives in both counties, same shooter. Tom Morgan: I just want the story to be told, told over and over again until maybe somebody says hey I know something about that. If Tom killed his sister, then according to Pat, Jennifers own father and her other brother may have helped cover up the murder by dousing her body in gasoline and setting it on fire. Nothing to do with it, responds Pat. His sister Jennifer, 23, tall, attractive, funny, college marketing major, is our star, and the subject of our mystery. They were told a salesman from the Clayton Homes lot in Florence has been shot and killed. And remember that watch police found in Jennifers hand after the fire? He just began to scribble. Jim Morgan: We found a bracelet at Jennies grave.Kerry Morgan: String bracelet, made with beads laying on her.Morrison: Right on the stone?Kerry Morgan: Yes. Part art, part desperate effort to prod the police to reviving the investigation. On Saturday, October 8, 1988, Alice Haynsworth Ryan was found dead on the kitchen floor of her home, 16 Woodland Way in Greenville, with multiple stab wounds. Nine years after Jennifers death, her father, Jim, was tending her grave, clearing away weeds. Tom Morgan: How dare Ihow dare I insinuate theyre not working on this case. Morrison: To clear it up.Tom Morgan: Let me just clear this up. All along, something Tom told Pat had made him very suspicious. Boone and other arson investigators didnt immediately suspect foul play. This Category is reserved for Unsolved Mysteries cases that occurred on South Carolina. 310 S. Dargan Street Florence, SC 29506 . 48 Cause of Death. I could see it on him that he was jealous butMorrison: What do you mean you could see it on him?Snowden: Hes like, What are you doing here? and hes just jealous, doesnt like another guy over at this girlfriends house.Morrison: He looked territorial, sort of?Snowden: Yeah. Project Cold Case Database You know, question his authority? That Chris, in a jealous rage about Jennifers old boyfriend, lost his temper, killed her without meaning to then got his frat brothers to help him hide the crime with the fire. And then came, quite suddenly, another one of those moments. 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? Their baby, the last of their four children, was dead. Here it is. Now, suddenly, 13 years after the murder, Tom was very publicly accused. Jim Morgan: It just takes time for it to really sink in and say yea you know it really is true and you know youre never gonna see her again. Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: Still suspicious but not enough to take him in?Sheriff Boone: Right. Pat Moug: Then whyd youwhyd you tell me -- ?Tom Morgan: Because I was embarrassed. Other paranormal phenomena are also regularly reported here. Very ambitious. Map Browse By State. Listen, Tom. Hed reverted from filmmaker to cop.
