Huddle House case is ongoing

By PHYLLIS BRITT

North Augusta bureau

NORTH AUGUSTA -- It's been barely more than two years since the morning quiet of North Augusta was shattered by a lone shooter who killed one person, wounded two others and made off in a stolen car.

The car was found at the nearby Sleep Inn on Highway 25 several hours later, but where is the killer? He seems to have vanished into thin air.

And the questions linger. Who is he? Is he local and just faded into the scenery that is his regular life? Was he traveling through and made his way back to parts unknown? Where did he get the gun? Why did he need a car so badly that he was willing to kill for it, only to abandon it half a mile down the road?

The gunman came out of nowhere and attempted to take Belvedere resident Constance Black Davidson's car as she waited in the Burger King drive-through on Austin Graybill Road. When that didn't work, he shot her in the back as she sped away and moved over to the parking lot at the nearby Huddle House, approaching William Powell and his friend, Earl Carter, who were going into the restaurant for their usual morning coffee. The gunman shot and killed Powell with a bullet to the head and also shot Carter in the neck. From there he ran to the gas station and Bojangles' next door and managed to wrestle Ida Mae Heath of Johnston out of her car and drive off.

Since that time, despite hundreds of leads and hours of investigation, the North Augusta Department of Public Safety seems no closer to finding the man who wreaked such havoc two days before Thanksgiving in 2005.

North Augusta Department of Public Safety lead investigator Detective Tim Thornton said, "This case remains very much alive ... Sometimes a crime like this fades into a cold case, but this is not a cold case."

The detective said possibly the nature of the crime, the effect on the community and the continued public interest have combined to keep the case in the forefront.

"We're working leads on a monthly basis," Thornton said.

Over the two years, Thornton has amassed about 310 leads that required serious follow-up.

"If you called and said, 'This could be my cousin,' that name goes in a book and we look at him until we can clear him as best we can ... He was at work or incarcerated or out of the area ..." said the detective. "But if you called and said, 'I saw a guy on I-20 at mile marker 28 two days ago who fits the description,' we take down the information as something good to know, but what can we do about it now -- Those names go into a file that's now about 2 inches thick," he added.

In fact, Thornton admitted he had originally hoped there might be some connection between Bill Powell's murderer and the body found in a wooded area off Austin Graybill Road two weeks ago. He suggested if the body that was found were an earlier victim, maybe that's why the person was at the Burger King nearby on foot.

"But if the body has been there 10 years, that's not the case," he said of current speculation on the recent discovery.

To speculation on whether the perpetrator is from the area or not, Thornton said he could argue both sides.

"We don't have a rock solid theory ..." he said; however, Thornton admitted the return of the car was curious twist.

"Why did he bring the car back?" he queried, saying that if the shooter were from somewhere else, wouldn't he have used the car to get away from here rather than return it to the motel down the road?

In all, Thornton said the department has had about 13 "legitimate potential suspects," but all have been cleared -- again "as best we can," he said.

He acknowledged the officers have withheld certain information about the case so they may be able to tell when a claim is legitimate if someone were to come forward. Most recently the department had a lead in Saluda -- a person in trouble for something else who wanted to make a deal for information. But most of what the person knew, Thornton said, he could easily have read somewhere or seen it on TV.

"Although this was actually the second person in the same family that we've looked at," Thornton said.

The gun used in the shootings is another avenue that could eventually reap some answers.

"We know the kind of ammo and the caliber of the gun. That narrows the search significantly," he said. "When the time comes, we should be able to significantly help our case when we find the gun."

At the same time, the detective admitted the gun could be at the bottom of the Savannah River or ground into scrap metal by this time.

And also on the negative side, Thornton said the shooter could have died already without saying anything to anyone.

But Thornton is banking on the shooter eventually telling someone.

"I know when we get the right break we'll connect it to the right individual ... We'll be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together," he said.

Thornton compared the situation to the Keenan O'Mailia case, which was broken when a family member of Junior Downs called police. "Without that phone call, would that case be like this one?" he asked. "What if (Downs) hadn't confessed?"

So Thornton and other members of NADPS continue to follow the leads and eliminate suspects in hopes that someday that break comes. Otherwise, Thornton said soberly, "Case 2005-2742 will be on my tombstone."

The gunman is described as a white male in his early to mid-20s with brown eyes and dark eyebrows. He is said to be between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-9, weighing 160 to 170 pounds. He was armed with an SKS or an AK-47 and used "Wolf" brand 7.62 by 9 mm ammunition.

Anyone with information is asked to call North Augusta Public Safety at 279-2121.