On the heels of a thrill killer stalking small town Gaffney, S.C., another horrific crime ended in the South Carolina town known for it’s peaches and outlet shopping.
According to the Charlotte Observer, a Gaston County family was abducted from a popular watering hole in Belmont then were taken to Gaffney by a convicted killer, 52-year-old Jerry Douglas Case.
Police say Case pulled over at the Kangaroo gas station and convenience store on Saturday for gasoline and baby diapers. The family was able to start the car and drive away.
Ten miles down the road, they stopped to call police and report the crime. Authorities said that Cherokee County deputies went to the gas station and chased Case into a swampy area, where they exchanged gunfire, hitting him several times. Case was airlifted to the medical center.
So, why are criminals heading to the small town to terrorize it’s citizens? It could be the fact that Gaffney is right off the interstate and it gives criminals a chance to make a quick getaway. Or it could be that criminals think that small town justice officials can’t catch them.
But recent history should tell them that small town lawmen don’t play.
Patrick Tracy Burris, the serial killer who terrorized a South Carolina community by shooting five people to death before police killed him Monday was a career criminal paroled just two months ago, authorities said.
Burris, 41, was shot to death by officers investigating a burglary complaint at a home in Gastonia, N.C., 30 miles from where the killing spree started June 27. Bullets in his gun matched those that killed residents in and around Gaffney over six days last week, said State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd.
These crimes probably make it harder for people in small towns to trust strangers who come into town, which takes the charm off a small town. Small town people usually welcome with open arms and show them southern hospitality. However, with the recent crimes in Gaffney, it’s highly unlikely that the citizens are going to be so warm and welcoming.
This article appears in Jul 14-21, 2009.
As a Gaffney native who got out as soon as he could, I could tell you stories about the town that would curl your hair. Yeah, yeah, every small town has its dark secrets, I know. But the difference with Gaffney is that the dark stuff wasn’t even secret! Before I go any farther, I have to say that some of my best friends came from Gaffney, and I have cousins there who are wonderful folks, but the truth nonetheless is that Gaffney has been known as a “rough town” for decades — which you might expect from a place that, for a long time, was a gritty place dominated by seven big cotton mills. Opposing high schools’ football teams were often genuinely afraid to play in Gaffney — rather they were afraid to WIN in Gaffney — since everyone knew the players might be attacked on their way to their bus after the game. And that’s if the bus still had tires. Another quick example, then I need to get around to writing my own blog item: in my freshman year at Gaffney High School, two GHS students beat a Spartanburg High School band member to death with his own horn after Spartanburg had the nerve to defeat Gaffney’s team. I was in, of all things, Citizenship class when we all saw police cars pull up to the school to take the two students away in handcuffs, charged with murder. The trial was a joke, the two were found not guilty, and the parents of one of the guys strutted around town bragging about having bought off members of the jury. Again, that’s just one or two stories – don’t get me started about the “Gaffney Strangler” in 1968. I love the peaches there and always will, but I can tell you that a “charming small town” Gaffney ain’t. I’m sure they would ‘preciate the sentiment, anyway.