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[Music] Heat. [Music] Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you were doing, thanks
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for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me as always, is a man who's been eating scrambled Cadbury eggs for
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breakfast. Here is the captain. There's not a damn thing you can do about it. It's good to be seen and good to see
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you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend. [Music] Today we are very happy to be featuring
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Shotgun Wedding Brown ale aged with vanilla beans by the fine folks at Country Boy Brewing. Shotgun Wedding is
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a vanilla beanaged brown ale that has just the right amount of vanilla flavor. It's smooth, malty, and a little on the
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lighter side, so pretty easy drinking. ABV 5.5% garage grade, three and 3/4 bottle caps out of five. And Captain,
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let's give some thanks and praise to our good friends that helped us fill up the
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old garage fridge. Yeah, a big we like you jib goes out to Carlo in Avon, Connecticut. Next up, here's a cheers to
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Dawn from Hampstead, New Hampshire. A big tall cans in the air to Linda and Parts Unknown. Here's a shout out to Doc
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Triple Z from Boon Beach, Florida. And last, but certainly not least, we have Christy Kelly and her fianceé Greg from
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Reynoldsburg, Ohio. They are getting married in May. So, everyone raise a glass to toast their wedding. They would
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probably want glasses of champagne. We have beer. But anyway, congratulations to you crazy kids. And thank you to
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everyone that helped us out with this week's beer run. Yeah. BW beerun for everything true crime. Check out true
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crimegar.com and while you're there, sign up on the mailing list. And Colonel, that's enough of the BES. All
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right, everybody, gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true
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crime. [Music] There are few things more tragic and senseless than the murder of a child.
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When that child also has a child of his own, the tragedy intensifies beyond comprehension. How could a chance
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encounter at a local agricultural fair, presumably a very wholesome activity, turn so
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deadly? When Jimmy Townsson of West Monroe, Louisiana, was attacked and beaten to death, an entire grieving
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community wanted answers. Could it have been jealousy of a gifted Golden Boy that prompted the
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attack? Were his asalants perhaps envious of the prize he had recently won? Or was the motive even more
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sinister? Regardless, the merciless beating callously administered on that terrible
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night would forever rob his parents of their only child and deny a daughter the opportunity to ever know her
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father. This is True Crime Garage. [Music] West Monroe and Monroe, Louisiana, sometimes known as the Twin Cities.
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These are cities that are both part of the Bible belt in the United States that are situated about 100 miles east of
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Shreveport, Louisiana. This is where this week's true crime story will take place. Monroe is the ninth largest city
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in Louisiana. In the mid 1980s, as with today, Monroe possessed a very diverse population. Back then, the area boosted
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a youthful demographic with a significant portion of the population being under the age of 18. The economy
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was fueled primarily by manufacturing and retail and a significant number of educational institutions are located in
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the area. In the 1980s, one of the premier events in the region that occurred during this era was the Arkla
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Miss Fair. First introduced in 1975, the fair rapidly evolved into the region's annual highlight, becoming an integral
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part of local culture. Ultimately, this was an annual fundraising event that everyone looked forward to along with
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livestock and agricultural displays. The familyfriendly event included games, rides, music, food, and craft exhibits.
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It was here at this seemingly innocuous event that Jimmy Townsen would become embroiled in an argument that would cost
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him his life. We need to go back to December of 1971. On December 20th, 1971, James Allen Townsen, soon to be
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known to all as Jimmy, is born to James Allen and Rita Gale Townsen in West Monroe, Louisiana. He was and will be
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the only child born to the couple. Jimmy grows up in West Monroe with a passion for playing sports and he rapidly gains
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a reputation as an extremely gifted athlete. By the time he's a student at Riser Middle School, his physical
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attributes and superior athletic ability win him praise and accolades in several
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sports, notably baseball, football, and boxing. Besides securing a spot on the All-Star team, he also excels
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academically and socially, and he fits in with every team that he joins. His coaches and trainers have nothing but
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praise for the young man, the the one that they describe as a sturdy young man with the looks, maturity, and athletic
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abilities of someone far exceeding his years. Jimmy's parents are both extremely supportive of their son's
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endeavors. But his father his father's working for an oil pipeline, so he is frequently unable to attend Jimmy's
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sporting events due to this demanding job. Jimmy's mother, Gail, more than makes up for his absence by attending
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virtually all of her son's games and practices. Now, let's go to 1985. By this time, James is known to all as
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Jimmy. He is 13 years old. He's an eighth grader still living in West Monroe, Louisiana. He's attending Riser
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Middle School. He is the pride and joy of his parents. Although only a junior high school student, Jimmy was already
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an accomplished athlete who excelled in school team sports. Given his natural abilities in athletics, it was not
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surprising that he also enjoyed hobbies like bowling, fishing, and hunting, as well as riding his bike all over
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Westmin. By all reports, the bright and engaging young man was well-liked within
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his school and throughout the community. His name frequently appeared in hometown
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newspapers, underscoring his outstanding achievements in local sports. Jimmy's athletic career was at the center of his
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mother Gail's universe, and the young athlete had no shortage of male role models and encouraging figures, often
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finding inspiration in his coaches and athletic instructors. And the admiration seems to
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be mutual, as many of these adults in his orbit had nothing but praise for the remarkable young man. Yeah. Whether it's
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sports or academics or music or whatever it is, when you're roughly this age, it
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seems like the adults around you, they see the promise and they see that his talents possibly could take him
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somewhere. Maybe it takes him to a good university, which then would lead to a good job, to a bright future. Yeah. And
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we often see that around this age 12, 13, 14 is when kids that are excelling in any of
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the areas that you just mentioned, they do start to separate themselves from the
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pack and you can start to see who has talent, who has the drive. And Jimmy's passion was sports of all types. Now,
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he's described, and I've seen some pictures of him. He's described as a strapping young man who often towered
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over his classmates, at times, even seemed to be like a man among boys from several perspectives. Now, he was tall,
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he was brrawy, and powerfully built. He was a star on the baseball diamond, participating as both a pitcher and a
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shortstop, two of the more difficult positions to play. And in fact, it was practically a foregone conclusion that
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he would likely go pro, become a professional baseball player once he graduated high school. His contributions
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were so significant that the year before he died, Jimmy was elected to the All-Star team at the age of 12 by a
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unanimous vote by his coaches in smalltown West Monroe. Jimmy was acknowledged by numerous adults within
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the school and church leagues and was described as an asset to any team that he joined in any sport. His coaches and
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friends characterized him as a regular kid who fit in with everyone. But he was also a smart and creative thinker. In
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early 1985, this is pretty cool. Jimmy won first prize in this promotional contest that was held by the local
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newspaper. So they were promoting a boxing event. This was he won first prize for his
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submission of an upcoming boxing match. This was run by a local news outlet, the Monroe
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News Star. And he took first place in this contest. The contest was to name provide a name, a cool creative name for
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this upcoming fight. And so his submission of rocking Richard's Rumble was selected from dozens and dozens of
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entries as the winner. The upcoming fight, this was a featherweight match that would take place April 18th
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featuring Richard Savage and Gerald Hayes. In addition to two tickets for the future fight, Jimmy also receives a
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prestigious invitation to have lunch with the legendary former heavyweight champion smoking Joe Frasier. So Joe
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Frasier would be in town for the event and Jimmy winning this contest gets to meet a former heavyweight champion and
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have lunch with him. But his triumphant accomplishments in sports and winning newspaper contests weren't the only
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things that made Jimmy stand out from his peers. The good-looking eighth grader was markedly different from his
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peers in another significant way. This because at the age at the young age of 13, Jimmy
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Townsen welcomed a daughter into his life. And that's right, that's not an error there. He was 13 and he was now a
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father. The way that I understand this part of the story here, Captain, is that he had a relationship with a 16-year-old
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girl, and the result of that was a pregnancy that followed by Jimmy becoming a father. And sadly, he would only be a
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father for about one month's time because now we need to talk about this arclam. in the evening of Friday,
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September 27th, 1985. This fair is a big deal. It's still, I believe, it's still
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ongoing today. At least it has been in the past couple of years. And the festivities are well attended by those
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in the immediate Monroe community. But the dazzling lights and the flashing rides, concession foods,
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and livestock exhibits also drew fairgoers from as far away as southern Arkansas. Now, on this day, the
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temperature ranging from 58 degrees all the way up to 74 degrees throughout the day. The temperatures remained in the
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high50s that evening. And it was very high humidity, which would keep the the night even feeling warmer. So, it was
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shaping up to be a beautiful night for this annual event until unspeakable tragedy struck. And Jimmy attends the
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fair that night. The Arklam Miss Fairgrounds was located at Monroe Civic Center. So along with friends, their
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names Shane and Anthony, Jimmy heads off for the annual event, intent upon having
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a good time with his friends. The new father no doubt needs a break from the weighty concerns foreign to most
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13-year-olds and probably just wants to cut loose and have some fun being a teenager for the evening. By all
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accounts, up until the latter part of the night, he seems to be achieving that goal, enjoying the rides and such,
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indulging in delicious junk food, which is typically my favorite part of any fair, and participating in carnival
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games. He's determined to stay for what is called midnight madness as the fair remained open past
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midnight. So, a lot of the teenagers want to hang out there and get permission from mom and dad to to stay
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for the midnight madness portion of the fair. And Jimmy had done so. He had made
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arrangements with his mother to pick him up from the fair at 12:30 a.m. Now, boys
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will be boys, as they say, and to squeeze out every drop of fun, Jimmy and his friends decide to sneak off to smoke
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a joint. This is at the secluded east end of the fairgrounds. So, this will be tucked away
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from the crowds, so they'll be behind the farmers market and shielded by darkness over there. Now, around 11:30
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p.m., the three boys, a trio, who are minding their own business and keeping a low profile, of course, because of the
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marijuana, they are approached by a group of older teen boys. Reportedly, this group of older
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boys, their ages range from 15 to 19. And the way that it sounds to me, Captain, we're talking
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about five or six older teenage boys. And as the story goes, these older boys first approached them, offering to
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sell them a dime bag of wheat. Jimmy and friends declined the offer, telling them
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that they they already had enough. But the older boys persist and somehow this conversation then turns
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into threatening. The older boys are threatening the younger boys. It is later suspected that several if not all of
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these older boys belong to the disreputable group known as the Berg Jones Lane Gang.
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So, one of these older boys throws a punch at Jimmy after an argument. Jimmy swiftly
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retaliates, landing a solid blow upon his opponent. Now, realizing that they are
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outnumbered and overmatched, Jimmy's punch gives them the opportunity to run and try to get
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out of there. So, Jimmy and his friends, they run off in opposite directions trying to escape. the attackers. Yeah.
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And it's not much of a fair fight. Six against three. The gang decides to run after the boys, but they hone in on
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Jimmy rather quickly. So they they're chasing him until he gets cornered. He finds himself in a fenced in
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area and he's trapped. So upon catching up with their target, these boys they surround him and they launch into a
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ruthless and coldblooded attack on 13-year-old Jimmy Townson. They begin beating and kicking him mercilessly,
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pummeling him so severely that his spinal cord eventually becomes dislocated from his neck. Now, as Jimmy
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lay there motionless upon the ground, gravely injured, these older boys, the attackers, of course, they
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flee the scene, leaving the 13-year-old there helpless and clinging to life. So,
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Jimmy, now on the brink of death, is is eventually found by his friends who alert police at the fair. And there's
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some varying reports here on some of the details and I would imagine that a lot of that has to do
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with one just the chaotic nature of the situation but two getting varying accounts and some of those accounts
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coming from from teenagers. But some of the information says that they find Jimmy near the spot
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where the boys had first separated when they decided to run. So, he may not have
00:19:02
made it very far. Right. After medical personnel administered CPR, Jimmy is then rushed off to St. Francis Medical
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Center, which isn't terribly far away. This will be a desperate attempt to try to save the young teenager's life.
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Although it seems futile, he's placed on a ventilator. And I don't know if this was
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an attempt to perform some kind of surgery or to to take some measures to perhaps save his life. Right. I think
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that it it may have been perhaps an attempt to keep him alive long enough so that his father,
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who was reportedly often out of town for work, so maybe that he could he would be
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able to say goodbye to his only son. and he'd be able to come back into town and
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and have one last chance. Now, despite monumental efforts to try to save the boy, Jimmy's injuries prove to
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be fatal. A September 30th, 1985 article in the News Times confirms the youth's time of death as
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10:53 p.m. on Saturday, September 28th. So they kept him alive for about one day's time. And I want to read some
00:20:32
portions of this news article that came out, the New Star article that we had just referenced. And the headline
00:20:43
here, this was on page one of the New Star. The headline is youth questioned in beating death, no arrest made. And it
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reads, "A 17-year-old charged in a Saturday morning fight at the Arlamus Fair was one of several persons
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questioned in the weekend beating death of a West Monroe youth. No arrests have been made in the death of Jimmy Townsen,
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who was involved in a fight. Police Chief Willie Buffington refused to say how many suspects were questioned, but
00:21:19
said some are young adults, 17 or 18 years old. He says, quote, "At this particular point, we are talking to
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several witnesses and several people who were involved in the fight and who are in fact suspects. It was a fight," he
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says. He goes on to say that blacks and whites were fighting. We don't know who all was involved with the fight. We
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don't know what the fight was about. He added, I think the detectives may have an idea, but he's he's not going to
00:21:48
elaborate in this article. The 17-year-old was booked, the person that was questioned was booked in connection
00:21:56
with another weekend beating on the fairgrounds, and that arrest stemmed from a complaint by a 19-year-old who
00:22:04
identified the 17-year-old as the person who had attacked him. The 17-year-old was charged with drunk and disorderly
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conduct, simple battery, interfering with police officer, and resisting arrest by
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flight. He was released on bond. The chief goes on to say, "We are not at a point in time where we can go before a
00:22:27
judge and get a warrant for an arrest." He also says that no weapons were found at the scene of the fight that resulted
00:22:35
in the death of Jimmy Townsen. He also added that we don't have any evidence that it was a gang, but we will know and
00:22:42
learn shortly that that is one of the possibilities. Yeah, it's and it seems to be the ongoing theory, the theory
00:22:50
that has lasted over the decades. The chief goes on to say, quote, "This thing is like a
00:22:57
gigantic puzzle and we are trying to put it together. One of the big things we are waiting on is the autopsy report."
00:23:04
So the this article does extend to the second page of the newspaper as well. And what they are talking about without
00:23:14
naming any names is it doesn't seem like this fight and the assault on the other
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on that 19year-old, right? It doesn't seem like that was the only fights or assaults that were going on at the fair
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over the course of of the fair itself. It It really sounds to me like either there's a bunch of kids that are just
00:23:39
not getting along and they are fighting or what I'm more suspicious of and tend to lean is that it sounds like a group
00:23:48
of kids were going around and bullying other kids. I mean, think about the scenario. If you wanted to shake down,
00:23:57
essentially rob some other kids of their money, this would be an ideal scenario and location for that. You get a bunch
00:24:06
of your buddies together, muscle if you will, you see a kid or two by themselves. Often times at these fairs,
00:24:14
especially back in 1985, we know with Jimmy's situation this to be true. And according to the news articles that I
00:24:22
read, it had to be true for so many other kids. This is parents dropping their children off to attend the fair
00:24:29
with their friends and hang out with their friends and meeting at a designate designated location afterwards to pick
00:24:35
them up and return them home afterwards. So you're they're unsupervised kids who
00:24:41
are vulnerable to these bullies and to this gang, if you will. Yeah. and probably given money by their parents.
00:24:50
Hey, I'll give you some money so you can get something to drink, something to eat, and some money to play some games.
00:24:56
Yeah, you don't want to attempt to rob a bunch of kids that don't have any money.
00:25:00
It's likely that the kids here are going to have money because of the games, because of the food and and the rides
00:25:05
and and whatnot. And some of these stories, some of these reports that are coming out of the fair are very similar
00:25:15
to the situation with Jimmy, but thankfully don't have the same result. But it ends up with kids getting beat
00:25:23
up, getting surrounded, getting picked on, and in more than one situation ends up with several kids
00:25:32
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Record, which is available on Apple subscription and Patreon. So, we have our campaign, our keep our girls safe
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to you. This story is not bizarre, but unique for several different reasons. One, we have the the scenario
00:33:04
of this youngster being a father at the age of 13. And yeah, like I said, I believe his daughter was just a month or
00:33:14
so old at the time that Jimmy was attacked. The other thing that I want to remind people about too is yes, this
00:33:22
case feels like a very old case, right? 1985, we're coming up on 40 years old on
00:33:31
this case. However, keep in mind one thing that is unique about this is that the the attackers are all believed to
00:33:39
have been teenagers themselves or right around that age. 20. Correct. So, we very likely have the weird scenario
00:33:48
where we have a old case, a 40-year-old case, but I would suspect that most of these suspects are probably still alive.
00:33:57
I would guess that that probably one or more moved out of the area when they became of
00:34:04
age, conveniently moved out of the area, but these are very likely people that are that are still alive to this day.
00:34:13
So, it it makes this case feel not so far in the rear view. Yeah. And simply, we have this event that a lot of people
00:34:22
are going to attend. people are going to come from all different areas. So that makes it a little more complicated for
00:34:30
police. Are are these individuals that are attacking people or bullying people one are they the same group of people?
00:34:38
Are they local? Are they part of this local gang uh quote unquote gang? Because I think this is a gang that's
00:34:47
made up of younger kids uh or young adults. You have a group of friends like Jimmy. They're just going to this fair
00:34:57
to have a good time and maybe get into a little bit of trouble, but nothing violent. And then we have this other
00:35:03
subsection of kids that are going to bully to possibly steal other kids money. And I think this is a situation
00:35:13
that obviously just got out of hand. And anytime that you have, you know, six kids trying to fight three, you kind of
00:35:21
get this mob mentality where they might have uh took the violence a little bit further because of a mob
00:35:30
mentality. But out of that, if there's six, and we should know this because we have Jimmy's two friends, those those
00:35:39
would be pretty solid eyewitnesses. But out of those six individuals that attacked Jimmy, you'd
00:35:45
think there would be one of them that would go, I can't live with what I did. And oh yeah, I I guarantee you
00:35:58
whether it be a a drunken confession at the, you know, at a late night that one or more of these guys
00:36:08
have spoken up. they've just not told the the right person, you know, they've just not told somebody that is in
00:36:15
authority in in the situation. And and with Jimmy's case, I I should be clear here. So, some reports say that it
00:36:24
was five guys, some reports say that it was six. Regardless of the the boys that
00:36:31
approached them, we do have a good idea, like you said, because of his two friends being there with him that night
00:36:37
and being threatened as well who had who were forced to run off. The actual attack itself wasn't witnessed
00:36:45
by the two friends, but it sounds like it was witnessed by potentially witnessed by other people, right? And
00:36:54
that makes this situation even that more difficult that we don't have any arrests
00:37:01
that were made immediately after this. Now, we do have arrests that were made, but those were involving other
00:37:07
situations. How many of those other fights, those other assaults and attacks were committed by the people
00:37:16
that are responsible for the death of Jimmy Townsen is a big question mark. Again, because it's a big large event,
00:37:23
people coming from all areas, there's a good chance that the eyewitnesses that saw anything weren't local. So, they
00:37:33
don't know any of these kids. So, all they could tell law enforcement is, "Yes, I I saw these kids fighting."
00:37:40
Well, who were they? I don't know. We're not even from the area. So I I don't think there's and there's a good
00:37:48
possibility that Jimmy's friends didn't know these kids that were attacking them
00:37:53
directly. So they can't name names. So that becomes difficult. But also when you're 13, right, to uh let's
00:38:02
say 19 years old, if you're in some kind of uh scuttle or whatever, you you you're in a little um fight and this is
00:38:13
a quote unquote gang, there's a possibility that you're just not mature enough to understand. I need to get this
00:38:21
information to law enforcement because by doing so, law enforcement can do their jobs. arrest these individuals,
00:38:28
which then will protect you. I I can't tell you the amount of times that I was a kid and somebody was being bullied or
00:38:37
something was happening and you're like, why aren't you just telling the teacher?
00:38:42
Because they were so afraid of, well, once I tell the teacher, the kid gets in trouble, but that doesn't protect me.
00:38:50
This kid then can come back after me. Mhm. somewhat what was happening with Jimmy's
00:38:58
friends. Let's get into what we do know and what was known to the persons and not known to the persons that were close
00:39:06
to the case and even some that were in attendance at the fair on this evening. So, in the aftermath of Jimmy's tragic
00:39:15
death, an investigation is launched. Obviously, now it would be September 29th, so one day after his passing, that
00:39:26
Jimmy's autopsy was conducted. The examination and report revealed that he died from shock due to multiple brain
00:39:36
injuries. The coroner of course rules it a homicide, noting quote severe cerebral
00:39:43
injuries without skull fractures akin to shaken child syndrome. Now the report itself was not released publicly or not
00:39:56
spoken of publicly until a month later on October 29th. But that news report suggests his
00:40:05
injuries could have been caused by blows or being jerked around. Jimmy also had facial and neck wounds, including
00:40:13
scrapes and bruised cheek and neck hemorrhaging. The official cause of death is listed as
00:40:21
multiple intraraanial injuries. So, here is the newspaper release of that autopsy or the them talking
00:40:34
about the autopsy. It says an autopsy report filed in the parish clerk of court's office shows that 13-year-old
00:40:42
Jimmy Townsen died of shock that resulted from multiple brain injuries. The West Monroe Youth died
00:40:49
September 28th at St. Francis Medical Center after he was severely beaten the previous evening, the previous night at
00:40:56
the fair. He had severe cerebral injuries without skull fractures. What they go on to say here in this article
00:41:04
is they're not certain if a weapon was used, but a weapon could have been used in this attack, but it would have to be
00:41:15
a type of weapon that could cause these severe injuries without causing fractures to the skull. It goes on to
00:41:23
say that the youth's spinal cord was dislocated from the base of his brain. The autopsy report says the dislo the
00:41:31
dislocation is quite similar to the findings of the shaken child syndrome normally seen in infants and toddlers.
00:41:40
The investigator said the syndrome is found when the spinal cord dislocates from the brain of young children who are
00:41:48
violently shaken. You have to wonder too, we we know that the attack occurred when he became trapped, right? He's he's
00:41:56
basically fenced in and then surrounded by these boys, five or six of them. Could he have gotten pinned up against
00:42:05
that fence in a way that when they're I mean, there's no nice way of saying this, but the way it plays out in my
00:42:11
head, they're stomping him, right? They're probably once they get him to the ground, they're probably kicking him and
00:42:18
stomping him. And the soles of a shoe would very likely help to cause these severe
00:42:27
injuries without fracturing the skull. And I just wonder if he was pinned up against the
00:42:34
fence in some kind of manner that may have caused this dislocation. Yeah, I agree with you. Right. and you hear
00:42:42
maybe there was some kind of weapon used, you go, "Well, six kids around you kicking you would cause a lot of damage
00:42:52
and and then obviously like you said, it probably wouldn't be enough to fracture
00:42:57
the skull." It goes on to say the that Jimmy's injuries may have been caused by blows with an object that could cause
00:43:05
minor trauma without skull fractures or by being jerked around by a group of people. Jimmy Townsen also suffered
00:43:16
hemorrhaging quote all sorry quote over all surfaces of the brain end quote. Injuries to the face and neck included
00:43:25
scrapes near his right eye, bruises on his right cheek, scrapes on his chin, and hemorrhages with his neck. Well, I
00:43:34
think another thing in play here is if Jimmy was knocked out, his neck muscles wouldn't be stabilizing his head. And I
00:43:43
think that's what happened was he was knocked out. And these guys, again, because of a mob mentality, they just
00:43:51
didn't stop. And if he's being jerked around by all directions, there would be no protection to his head, neck, or
00:43:59
spine. Well, and in all these other attacks or shakedowns, whatever you want to call them, where
00:44:07
we have victims, people who were victimized or robbed, and they they're still thankfully alive and able to
00:44:16
provide witness statements to police. So, you have to wonder and you know that it's happening and every every time that
00:44:24
they have someone that they're questioning, whether it be a witness, a victim or potential suspect in any of
00:44:30
these crimes, it's going to include questions about Jimmy Townson's death and the attack on Jimmy Townson. At some
00:44:36
point, don't we have a individual that confesses? Yeah. So, this is where it gets it gets
00:44:45
real shaky, this investigation very quickly. So they launched this investigation and as said there's no
00:44:52
immediate arrests that were made but they there are statements that say at least three presumed witnesses
00:45:01
existed. So potentially three witnesses. However, we do have statements from police saying that no
00:45:09
one has come forward. No one has called uh Crimestoppers. There was a homeless man
00:45:15
who attempted to provide a statement to police. I'm guessing he was more of a witness rather than a suspect, but his
00:45:24
statement, I've never seen it made public, and from my understanding, it was rejected by police due to him being
00:45:31
extremely intoxicated. Right. These witnesses to the crime developed what at least one report says is a convenient
00:45:41
case of selective amnesia about the incident when questioned by police. So So some witness statements potentially
00:45:50
even o even other victim statements seem to have provided names to police. And when they go to talk to
00:45:59
these people, it's a convenient case of selective amnesia. I don't I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, I was
00:46:06
at the fair. I didn't attack anybody. I don't know those other people. I've never saw that person before in my life.
00:46:11
I What did you do at the fair? I did this and then I was I left at uh 12:00 what 1 in the morning. Yeah. Or lied
00:46:19
completely and said they were never at at the fair. And now you have to prove that they were. I mean, one of the local
00:46:27
rumors is that this gang u law enforcement was afraid of or eyewitnesses were afraid of and and
00:46:36
maybe that's a possibility, but everything I've seen by looking into this case, it to me it doesn't seem like
00:46:44
this well organized gang. It seems like more of a group of kids. And so to think
00:46:51
that law enforcement is going to be to be afraid of them, I'd actually go with another local rumor is that maybe some
00:46:58
of these individuals that were involved in this bullying and possibly the attack
00:47:03
on Jimmy are somehow connected to law enforcement through family. And so that would make more sense in the sense of
00:47:12
maybe law enforcement is trying to protect them because, you know, if your 15year-old nephew
00:47:19
was in this attack and maybe didn't have much to do with that at all, you're trying to protect him
00:47:27
because he's obviously still a a kid. Yeah, it's difficult to say. I think that probably at play here, we have a
00:47:35
few different things. There were some people that didn't feel comfortable providing information to police, right?
00:47:42
And then when police were talking to the right individuals, they're probably getting stories that are all over the
00:47:50
place because they're coming from different people who are very likely lying about their involvement or lack
00:47:57
thereof in this in the situation. Yeah. And I think it's easy when for family members and friends of the victim to
00:48:08
think because a case has not been solved, maybe there's some kind of conspiracy thing going on. But one of
00:48:15
the other local rumors that I've heard was that cops the that law enforcement had a pretty good idea of who did it.
00:48:24
But that doesn't mean you can prove that in a court of law. And it's also going to be harder to prove and and harder to
00:48:31
get justice on your side when the attackers are um still minors. Mhm. You know what I
00:48:40
mean? I just think it makes it a little more difficult. Oh, absolutely. And and exactly. I think that you're probably
00:48:49
pretty spot on here with with the thought that they have a good idea of who did this or at least who was in
00:48:56
involved in the attack. Um maybe not all five or six of them but probably two or
00:49:02
three or or if not more. So this is let's go back to the time period here. This is from a a statement from a
00:49:08
detective Zambi. It does provide a little more information about what was going on at the fair. It says,
00:49:14
"Detective Zambi declined to comment on whether police have any suspects at this
00:49:18
time, saying quote, "If anybody saw anything, they haven't reported it to Crimestoppers. The general manager of
00:49:27
the fair, his name is Greg Gregory. That's a not very creative with the name the
00:49:34
naming of of your kid. But anyway, Gre Greg Gregory, the general manager of the fair, said the beating occurred in a
00:49:42
field behind the northeast Louisiana farmers market. No details about the circumstances surrounding the beating
00:49:48
have been confirmed by police or fair officials. Another West Monroe youth, age 14, his name Jim Murphy, was
00:49:58
admitted to Glenwood Regional Medical Center at 2:30 a.m. Saturday after he suffered
00:50:05
blows to the face at the fair. He was reported in very stable condition Sunday, but he has facial injuries and
00:50:12
is wearing an eye patch, a nursing supervisor told the newspaper. So that that names a another victim there. And
00:50:23
if you read some of these articles, there there were other victims that were referenced
00:50:31
but not named. It's again, it's I have I I I refuse to jump over the hurdle that these these guys
00:50:45
didn't attack somebody else, that they didn't shake down somebody else. And so if in fact police know a couple of the
00:50:52
names or have good suspects in this case, they very likely found those good suspects because
00:51:00
of them committing other crimes, less severe crimes at the fair that very night.
00:51:08
Now, it's widely believed, even to this day, that members of the notorious Berg Jones Lane gang are responsible for
00:51:17
Jimmy Townsson's death. And what do we know about this gang here? They were operating from the
00:51:25
Berg Jones Lane neighborhood, which is located in Monroe. This gang was linked to drug trafficking and violent crimes,
00:51:34
instilling fear in the local community. Consequently, information about the deadly incident at the fair has remained
00:51:42
scarce even to this day with many residents suspecting that like the captain said that the
00:51:50
Monroe police are already aware of the culprits but lack sufficient evidence to proceed
00:51:56
further with justice for Jimmy because it you could have the right guy, you could have the right guys, you can
00:52:06
put them in handcuffs. You can take them into court. You can only try them once if you get this thing horribly wrong.
00:52:13
Yeah. It just seems like there is not a lot of evidence and and frankly, unfortunately, it doesn't sound like we
00:52:24
really have much in the way of physical evidence to help further the investigation either.
00:52:30
Now, in 1986, without Jimmy to help raise the infant daughter, the teenage mother
00:52:40
makes a very difficult decision to seek a loving and stable home for her daughter. So, the baby is placed with an
00:52:49
older couple. She's just 11 months old at the time, right? does become a part of an adoring
00:52:57
wonderful new family. Uh she grows up not really knowing the truth about her her father
00:53:07
or her her parents for many years, right? And at some point she does learn what happened to her father. this
00:53:17
will lead her to. So, it's not until she grows into adulthood that the truth about the tragic death of Jimmy Townsen,
00:53:26
her father, emerges, and she takes up the fight for the father, her father, for her father that she never
00:53:35
knew. This is from an online source called Backroad Mysteries. It says, quote, "Things were a lot different back
00:53:44
then. The daughter's name is Christy Joiner. That's a quote from her. She goes on to say, "There were named
00:53:51
suspects, but I think eyewitnesses were scared to come forward." Now, as we know, Christy Joiner was put up for
00:53:58
adoption. She didn't know about a real father until she was older, till she was an adult, according to this report. She
00:54:04
does say that every time police in and around Monroe saw the homicide, she is left wondering why her dad's death was a
00:54:12
basically became one of the coldest cases in the state. Well, and some of these gang members, they think, you
00:54:17
know, obviously either died from drugs or they're in prison or they moved away, but some of these individuals, maybe
00:54:26
they're not in a gang anymore, but they're still in that area. And so, when you have these local rumors of who
00:54:34
possibly could have been involved or just, hey, we think this this gang was involved, but then you start hearing
00:54:40
rumors of, well, this guy was in that gang. So the fact that she is still in this community and sees these
00:54:49
individuals walking free it has to be very uh one concerning you know are they going to do
00:54:57
something to me because I'm pushing to get justice for my father that I I never got to know because of these violent
00:55:05
acts. Mhm. But also, I think it would be um as much as it would be maybe concerning,
00:55:12
it'd also just be frustrating to see these people out living a life that they're that her father never got to
00:55:19
live. Well, and she very likely has sadly seen that. So, about 10 years ago, she began reaching out to authorities in
00:55:29
hopes of getting Jimmy's murder investigation, let's say, reopened. I you know they never really close these
00:55:35
things but they're oftentimes not actively being worked. So getting it reopened examined with fresh eyes.
00:55:43
Because of that, she learns a lot of the details that have not been made public about what occurred at the
00:55:50
Arlamus Fair and that night and and even a list of suspects that detectives have
00:55:59
developed and at least one source here, Captain says many of whom are still living and operating in the very same
00:56:07
hometown in which she rei she resides. Now, there was a an original the original reward for information leading
00:56:16
to an arrest and conviction was $5,000. This was initially offered by a Monroebased civic organization, but has
00:56:27
since expired. Christy is personally offering a $1,000 reward. She has created a private Facebook group,
00:56:37
Justice for Jimmy Townsen, and a change.org or petition to raise awareness of her father's unsolved
00:56:44
murder. And she continues to collaborate with with authorities until those responsible for her father's death are
00:56:54
finally held accountable and brought to justice. Well, and also I think one of the issues with this crime, one being at
00:57:02
such a public event, but also it was 85, correct? So some of the technologies that we use
00:57:10
now, DNA testing, just wouldn't have been as popular or as known. So it makes you wonder, is there anything that they
00:57:19
have left? Because they also had to take Jimmy to the hospital. What happened to
00:57:24
his clothes? How many people touched those clothes? Is it even something that you could test? So then if you have a
00:57:32
list of two or three that you definitely think were involved that you could test
00:57:36
some evidence against them to to give you more evidence to bring them to trial. Sadly, Jimmy's parents, James
00:57:44
Allen and Rita Gail Townsen, passed away in 2008 and 2012, respectively, leaving Christy to keep
00:57:53
looking for answers. Quote, "They never got the answers they were looking for. It was particularly hard on his mother.
00:58:02
She never really got past it, says Christy. We have the names of a number of suspects, and we are pretty sure we
00:58:09
know the individuals responsible for his death, said Christy. We just hope and pray that someone will eventually speak
00:58:16
up and we can finally get some closure. Jimmy lies for eternity in the Twin City
00:58:25
Memorial Gardens about 10 miles from where he died. If you have any information about
00:58:32
this crime, please call Monroe Police Department at 318-3292600. [Music] Want to thank everybody for joining us
00:58:53
here in the garage. If you need more True Crime Garage for your ear balls, make sure you check out Off the Record
00:58:59
on Apple Podcast and Patreon. Last week we talked about the Richard Allen confessions. This week we're talking
00:59:07
about the parrolling of cop killers in New York City. So, tons of interesting content and cases over on Off the
00:59:18
Record. And until next week, be good, be kind, and don't litter. [Music]