True Crime Stories

  I have often stated that almost all murders are senseless and then you will hear me say “this one seems more senseless than others.” So here I am again saying those words. I do not simply say this because a child was one of the victims. Some believe though that this crime may have occurred because the family is “cursed,” and that includes the perpetrator also. The Hargon family was well-known and respected in the small, rural Mississippi town of Vaughan. They owned several farms and at one time for several years owned a grocery/convenient store on some of their property. In 1994 Dan “Haywood” Hargon and his wife Diana ran the store. In April of that year three men, Forest Branch, Ronnie Joe Wright and James Wesley Jackson, went to the store. My research indicated that while Branch stayed in the vehicle Wright and Jackson went inside. By the time they left Haywood Hargon lay dead and the murderers had left with only $114. It was said that another customer had interrupted...

  While most cases of murder are “senseless” this case seems even more so than others. What makes it even worse is that there were signals that things could have turned violent and there were even many people who seemed to know that there was a plan. It is unclear if any of those people reported anything to the police, but there are reports that the victims had contacted the authorities on several occasions and that the local district attorney was made aware of these reports and yet nothing had been done. Before I get into the complete story I want to point out that my research was quite difficult. One of the first things I came across stated that the date of the murders was January 18, 2016. As I kept delving into information I realized that the actual date was January 18, 2014. Then there was an issue with names. I found Kirsten Westfall's name spelled differently several times, as well as her daughter Madison, as it was spelled Maddison more than once. In addition to...

  Cases such as this one always reminds me of the Cameron Todd Willingham case out of Texas. Thankfully David Lee Gavitt not only was not sentenced to death as Willingham was but even better, he was not executed, again, as Willingham. Still, David Gavitt lost his freedom for nearly twenty-seven years based on false science and over zealous prosecutors who decided they all knew best and knew what had happened. I do not just blame the experts who testified to things that were already becoming questionable, but also the prosecutor who dismissed all witnesses who had seen David Gavitt the night his wife and two young daughters were dying inside their burning home and testified to his emotions. Instead the prosecutor told the jury that he “really didn't seem too bent out of shape about saving his family. Yes, he was crying. Yes, he was carrying on, but he sure as heck wasn't doing anything.” On the night of March 9, 1985 David and Angela Gavitt went to bed around nine in th...

  This is a case in which I wish I had more information, especially in the form of an appeal. I suspect that an appeal has likely been filed and is forthcoming but I also suspect that the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed things. The case ended in late 2019 and an appeal takes time so I will try to make a note to check back on this case at a later date. Obviously I have let you know that a conviction was obtained in this case if I feel an appeal is in the works. On December 14, 2016 a 911 call was made in Chester South Carolina. The caller was actually a dispatcher, Jamie Baldwin, himself calling. He told the dispatcher on duty that his wife had had an accident at their home and while he was taking her to the hospital there had been an accident and did not think his wife was breathing. Baldwin had once been a police officer in the towns of York and Columbia but had been a dispatcher in Chester County for about a decade at the time of his call. His wife, Judy McWaters Orr...

  I have seen more than a few different television shows based on this case and while I cannot say for sure what I think happened, the tactics used by law enforcement, as well as family members, have bothered me. We have seen many cases that involve both criminal and civil cases. In a criminal trial the standard to reach a guilty verdict is said to be “beyond a reasonable doubt” while in a civil trial a jury only has to consider “the preponderance of evidence” and determine if it is “likely” that a defendant committed a crime. Some say in a civil try one only has to be convinced 51% to in order to reach a verdict. In most, although admittedly not all, a civil case is generally not conducted until after a criminal trial has taken place. The civil case is some times filed before the criminal trial but is often delayed until after the criminal trial is conducted. Now, part of the reason for that is that in most case criminal charges have already been filed so the defendant is...

  Late in the night of October 11, 1989 Cathy Paternoster and her boyfriend, Carl Fuerst were returning to their Spring Valley Lake, California home with two of their three children after a quick run to a local video store. As soon as Carl got out of their vehicle he was confronted with a man dressed all in black and sporting a beard. Before he knew it there was a hail of gunfire. When it was all said and done Cathy lay dead in the driveway of their home and he had suffered three gunshot wounds. One of his wounds had occurred after the gunman had started to come after him again and Carl lunged at him, knocking him to the ground and the gun discharged. The one good thing was that the struggle had apparently startled the gunman and he took off running. Despite his wounds Carl was able to get to a neighbors house to make sure the police were contacted. Almost everyone interviewed had the same suspect in mind... Eric Fagan. Cathy Paternoster had three daughters. At the time o...