Episode 196 The Durham Family Murders

In February 1972, Bryce, Virginia and Bobby Durham were found murdered in their Boone, North Carolina, home during a heavy snowstorm. Within months, four men were charged and two were eventually indicted for murder, but the case against them collapsed. Nearly fifty years later, a story remembered by the son of a Georgia criminal led investigators to four entirely different men and an unexpected explanation for what happened that night.
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Episode Sources
Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, “Sheriff Hagaman Announces That 50-Year-Old Triple Homicide ‘Durham Case’ Solved”
Watauga Democrat, “Suspects Get Counsel for Current Term,” May 15, 1972
Watauga Democrat, “Investigation of Durham Family’s Slaying Continues”
Watauga Democrat, contemporary coverage of the June 1972 preliminary hearing in the Durham murder case
Watauga Democrat, contemporary coverage of the September 1972 grand jury indictments of Jerry Ray Cassada and Dean Chandler
Watauga Democrat, contemporary coverage of Dean Chandler’s 1973 speedy-trial motion and scheduled trial
Winston-Salem Journal, contemporary February 1972 coverage of the Durham family murders and early investigation
The Charlotte Observer, “Family Was Found Dead in a Bathtub 50 Years Ago. Now NC Cops Say They Know the Killers”
The News & Observer, retrospective coverage of the Durham family murders and crime scene
Associated Press, contemporary coverage of the dismissal of the remaining murder charges against Jerry Ray Cassada
Watauga County Sheriff’s Office / Watauga Online, “Sheriff Hagaman Announces That 50-Year-Old Triple Homicide ‘Durham Case’ Solved”
High Country Press, “Watauga County Historical Society Speaker Series: ‘Convoluted: The 1972 Durham Family Triple Homicide,’ with Terry Harmon”
Missing in the Carolinas, “Episode 130: The 1972 Murders of Bryce, Virginia, and Bobby Durham in Boone”
WSOC-TV, 2022 coverage of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office announcement identifying the men investigators believe killed the Durham family
WBTV, 2022 coverage of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office announcement that the Durham case had been solved
Georgia Supreme Court, Birt v. State
Georgia court records concerning the murders of Reid and Lois Fleming
Federal court records concerning Bobby Gene Gaddis and crimes associated with Billy Sunday Birt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reporting on Billy Sunday Birt, his family and his criminal history
North Carolina Newspapers / DigitalNC, Watauga Democrat archive, 1972–1973
Terry Harmon, Convoluted: The 1972 Durham Family Triple Homicide
Episode Music
Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.