Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: I Read it on the Internet: Superbike Murders - Part One

Note: The phrase "I read it on the Internet" is included in this original post because at the time it was written, Sheriff Wright had claimed I never worked with the department and everything I know of the case "I read on the Internet." Clearly, I did NOT get my information from the Internet but from police files but if Wright was willing to make that statement, I was willing to write exactly what "I read on the Internet."

Almost nine years has gone by since four people were brutally gunned down at Superbike Motorsports in Chesnee, South Carolina in 2003. And in all those years, the only thing the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department will tell the family and community as to what they are looking at is one man who was seen in the business prior to the homicides that no one knows who he is. This is their one and only suspect in the murders. And, yes, I can call him their one and only suspect because Sheriff Chuck Wright clearly stated this to the press when he said, "This fellow will tell us exactly what happened in the shop that day."

Now, since Sheriff Chuck Wright surely always tells the truth and is always straight with the citizens of his county, what does that statement tell you? You don't need to be a profiler or statement analyst to interpret those words. Sheriff Wright is telling us the man in the composite was involved in the homicides either as the shooter or a co-conspirator. And because he is telling us this, then by default,  he is eliminating the person I believe all the evidence that I read on the Internet points to.


And why does Sheriff Wright know that the man in the composite is involved in the crime? Is it because he has any evidence supporting his involvement? Absolutely not. From all the evidence that I read on the Internet, there was not one witness to the crime to say that the man in the composite was involved nor were any statements about this man in the composite made that would indicate anyone saw him elsewhere tossing a gun or speeding off in a car and no one has heard a man of this description talking about involvement in the crime. In fact, the only time the man in the composite was seen or heard was in the store that day and the only one to say about anything about him is the man who gave the description for the composite (which after eight years he decided should be changed because it wasn't quite right). And what was this suspicious man doing? Looking at a motorcycle, trying to decide if he was going to buy it. What a crime.


So, what makes this man the one and only suspect for Sheriff Chuck Wright? I read on the Internet that if the man had no involvement in the crime, he would have come forward and admitted he was the one in Superbike that day shopping for a motorcycle because folks in South Carolina, unlike other places in the country, would always come forward if they were innocent, even if they had a criminal record and distrusted cops. And, because this man never gave the police a call, it means he is involved in the crime.


Also, I read on the Internet, it was terribly suspicious that the owner didn't have his name written down on the paperwork, like the man was hiding his identity. Did the Sheriff ever consider that perhaps this customer was being giving the hard sell?

"Hey, why don't I get the paperwork started and the bike cleaned up for you and then you can come back and sign everything?"

And, then, either the guy realized he couldn't afford the bike and decided not to come back and buy it or he heard about the murders and had no reason to come back. Once he saw his face being shown on television as a person of suspicion, he decided (wisely in my opinion considering the Sheriff is claiming he is involved in the crime without a shred of evidence and I know this because I read about it on the Internet), to pretend he never entered Superbike Motorsports that day.

MOST IMPORTANT:  What if that guy left Superbike, went down the street to buy a soda, came back and saw the killer leaving the crime scene? Now, he will never come forward. Thank you, Sheriff Wright, for impeding the investigation by totally scaring off a possibly excellent witness.


Now, to analyzing motive: why would this man in the composite check out the place, leave, and come back a short time later and blow everyone away? What was the motive? From what I read on the Internet, the motive the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department has assigned to this crime is price gouging. Yes, supposedly some guy got cheated out of some money, perhaps via an Internet transaction with the shop, and decided to kill everyone there over the issue. Now, I also read on the Internet that there was no evidence of anyone angrily communicating with owner or anyone else in the shop in the days, weeks, or even months prior to the murder about being ripped off as on would expect if someone's anger was escalating to the point of a coldbloodedly murdering everyone in the business. Also, one would expect someone furious about being cheated out of money to steal his money back from the business or take something else of worth but, from what I read on the Internet, nothing was taken from inside the business.


So where did Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department come up with this idea of price gouging as a motive? I read on the Internet it seems like they just thought that could be a possible reason for the murders. The only other motive that I read on the Internet they seemed to have considered is something to do with drugs although I also have read on the Internet that there is no evidence that drugs had a thing to do with these murders. The detectives may be open to receiving all sorts of tips and leads concerning price gouging, drug dealing, and any other sort of possible motive leading to homicide (as they should), and they may follow them up (as they should), but, I can tell you from what I read on the Internet, that there is only one person-of-interest with a solid motive and to whom the evidence points (as I have determined by reading stuff on the Internet) and he is not the man in the composite. Note: I am not saying that the man in the composite could not be involved in the crime or shouldn't be investigated. I am simply saying there is no evidence linking that man in the composite to the crime and he should not be considered the top person-of-interest nor identified as a perpetrator as the Sheriff has done.


And while the person-of interest I am alluding to may not be guilty of the crimes, he certainly should be investigated and eventually charged if sufficient evidence supports charges or he should be eliminated as a suspect if the investigation determines he is not involved in the murders. I can tell you without question having read the information on the Internet that this man was never properly investigated nor eliminated; he has no alibi for the time of the murders, he was deceptive in his interviews, he had the opportunity and a credible motive.


If nothing else, I can tell you from what I have read on the Internet, he is a far stronger suspect than that man in the composite that Sheriff Chuck Young keeps using as his fall guy for a poorly handled and failed investigation.

See also: Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: The Second Tragedy of the Superbike Motorsports Quadruple Murders


Criminal Profiler Pat Brown


May 17, 2012

I Read it on the Internet: Superbike Murders - Part Two

Pat Brown’s ONLY THE TRUTH

Harkening back to the writing styles of the earlier American authors – John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, and Carson McCullers, "Only the Truth" is a story of soul searching, a psychological mystery which examines the question, “Whom should one love and when should one quit doing so?” Billy Ray, a lonely and rather slow, uneducated African-American man living in the mountains of Arkansas, runs across a mysterious young woman at the railroad tracks. She asks to go home with him and Billy Ray takes her with him as she requests. He comes to love this woman, Charlene, unconditionally. She is the only woman he has ever loved, and life is finally good for Billy Ray. Then Charlene shoots the neighbor and burns down the neighbor’s house. His happy life destroyed, a confused and devastated Billy Ray is at a loss. Is the woman he loves “just a troubled girl” or a psychopathic killer? Billy Ray sets out on a quest to find the truth, only the truth, whether it leads him to be able to save Charlene from a death sentence or it frees him from her spell.