The Deck - Bobby Ray Jones (8 of Clubs, Florida)

Episode Date: June 19, 2024

Our card this week is Bobby Ray Jones, the 8 of Clubs from Florida.Bobby Ray Jones had just moved back to Walton County, Florida, in the late summer of 1971. It was a rebirth-of-sorts for this 33-year-old man. After getting caught up in a love affair and running off to Alabama, he had only recently returned to the sunshine state to try and reconcile with his wife. And seemingly, he was on track to do just that. He had already found a new job and a place to stay. Things were starting to turn around. So much so, that on September 29th, he even told his “mama” she had no reason to worry about him… and that he didn’t have “an enemy in the world.” But the very next morning, Bobby Ray was murdered… If you have any information about the death of Bobby Ray Jones in Darlington, FL, in 1971, please call the Walton County Sheriff’s Office at 850-892-8111, or remain anonymous by calling the Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS (8477) View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/bobby-ray-jones/ Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media.Instagram: @thedeckpodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @thedeckpodcast_ | @audiochuckFacebook: /TheDeckPodcast | /audiochuckllcTo apply for a Cold Case Playing Card grant through Season of Justice, please visit www.seasonofjustice.org The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers. Instagram: @ashleyflowersTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieTwitter: @Ash_FlowersFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF  Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!

Our card this week is Bobby Ray Jones, the eight of clubs from Florida. Bobby Ray had just moved back to Walton County in the late summer of 1971. It was a rebirth of sorts for this 33-year-old man. After getting caught up in a love affair and running off to Alabama, he had only recently returned to the Sunshine State to try and reconcile with his wife. And seemingly, he was on track to do just that. He had already found a new job and a place to stay. Things were starting to turn around. So much so that on September 29th, he'd even told his mama she had no reason to worry about him. That he didn't have an enemy in the world.

But that very next morning, Bobby Ray was murdered. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Deck. Picture this scene. It was the wee morning hours of September 30th, 1971 in a rural area of Walton County, Florida, which is in the Panhandle and only a stone's throw away from the Alabama state line. The moon was almost full and shining bright. And Walton County Chief Deputy Wilmer and his partners, Deputy Randy and Deputy BJ Sanders, were on a stakeout in the woods. You see, there'd been some local bad guys secretly cutting and stealing copper wires

from power lines to sell them for cash. And tonight was the night that these spry deputies would finally, hopefully, catch them in the act. Our reporter Madison was able to connect with BJ Sanders, one of the long since retired deputies over the phone, and he remembers that night in vivid detail. Everything was quiet on their stakeout right up until the clock he had a thermos. So we went back up there. He poured us a cup of coffee and we were drinking it and they come over the radio that they'd had this shooting up at this knife and gun club up above where we were. This knife and gun club, as he calls it, was a bar called the

Long Branch out in rural Darlington, Florida. And it was known to be kind of a rough and tumble place. There was always something going on at this joint, which is why, even though the call was for a shooting, BJ's willing to admit they weren't in the biggest rush to get over there. Wilmer, he'd never been in a hurry in his life, I don't think. I never seen him in one. He was the chief deputy. I said, let's get on up there, Wilmer. He said, I boy, y'all drink your coffee. Just one drunk shot another one.

They'll be there when we get there. I believe if we'd went right on up there then, we could have probably apprehended whoever done it, but we give them too much time to think, you know. B.J. said the men finished their coffee and made their way down the old dirt road toward the main paved road. But before they could turn onto it, in the direction of the bar, they saw an oncoming car come flying by them. They didn't stop the car, and they didn't make note of the color, or the make, or the model, or even catch a glimpse of who was driving it. In their minds,

they had somewhere to be, and this had nothing to do with that. But with the benefit of hindsight, BJ wonders what would have happened had they pulled that car over. Whoever did the murder was in that car. I mean, you know, there wasn't a reason for someone to be flying like that. They did, eventually, make it to the Long Branch, also known as Cecil's Place, out in the country. It's a bit unclear, but it seems like the deputies

likely got there sometime between 1.15 and 2 o'clock in the morning. And that gap in time from when the call came in to them getting there was critical time lost because things appeared to be way more serious than the deputies had anticipated. This wasn't some drunken bar fight. In fact, it appeared that the bar was closed and empty, except for one man who was slumped over on the floor of the bar, clinging to light, with his scared wife next to him holding onto her husband's small revolver for protection, worried that whoever just did this to him could be coming back for her.

The man's wife, Betty, was the one who called the sheriff's office after she heard gunshots ring out and discovered her husband, Bobby Ray, had been shot. So while Bobby Ray was rushed off to the hospital, deputies got to work interviewing Betty to try and piece together what had just happened. They found out that Bobby Ray had recently been hired by the bar's owner, Cecil Cochran, to not only fix drinks and help run the place, but also to protect the property overnight. There were living quarters in the back, so it was a mutually beneficial kind of deal. The owner had someone to watch the bar, and Bobby Ray had a roof over his head, which he needed since he and Betty were in the process of reconciling but not living together.

That Wednesday, it had been a slow night at the bar, so the owner left and told Bobby he could close up early, at around 1140 p.m. Here's Walton County investigator Steve Sunday, who's working Bobby Ray's cold case today. He said it was a slow night, let's just go ahead and close up. Mr. Cochran and his wife leave to go to their home. Bobby locks up and so him and Betty are there. And now they are trying to kind of get back together. They've been kind of separated off and on. She comes that afternoon to the bar so she's with him

when they close and so they retire to the back room and shortly maybe close to an hour or less or so, there was a knock. Because this is in her report, in her statement, there was a knock. And so Bobby gets up, puts his pants on, and goes out to the bar to see who it is. So he goes and he answers, and she can hear him talking. There is communication, there's talking. She hears the door open and talking. And then she hears another door open, which she believes is the cooler door.

And after a few seconds or so, then she hears that door close and we're talking with just seconds here. She hears Bobby Ray hollering, oh no you don't. And then the shots rang out. She basically kind of freezes and waits until she hears the door to the bar close.

Then she goes out and finds him. He's not collapsed yet, but he's up against the wall a little bit, and she could tell blood he'd been shot. And then he collapses to the floor. That's exactly where deputies found Bobby Ray, collapsed on the floor by the bar. He'd been shot multiple times, and at least one of those shots went right through his heart. Bobby Ray was in such bad shape that Betty said he wasn't able to tell her anything about his attacker.

But she suspected it might have been someone he knew. After the bar shut down for the night, it was common for Bobby Ray to continue selling beer to folks who came by, especially if you were a familiar face. From what I have gathered and from what people have said about Bobby Ray, that if he knew you, and a lot of the bartenders who probably sold him after hours, if they knew who you were, they might open that door if they heard the voice and they knew you. He might even open it to someone that he might've seen in the bar that night. Maybe he didn't know him that well, but he might've seen them patronize the bar enough.

Oh, I feel safe, that's okay. And maybe they came there for the purpose of purchasing beer. There was some Budweiser beer left out on the bar counter. So detectives surmised that whoever killed Bobby Ray used it as a ruse. This person maybe said they wanted to buy some beer, they exchanged some friendly banter, and Bobby Ray walked over to the cooler,

grabbed the beer, but when he turned around to hand it over, something happened. One theory is that this was a cold-blooded execution, someone came for the sole purpose of killing him, in which case he would have turned around and been met with the barrel of a gun. The other theory detectives were pondering was the possibility that when Bobby Ray turned around he'd caught whoever this was messing with the cash register.

And that might better explain the words that his wife heard. She hears Bobby Ray hollering, "'Oh, no, you don't.' And then the shots rang out." That theory feels like it works until you learn more about the case, because it turns out there was sometimes only a certain amount of cash left in the building

after Bobby Ray locked up for the night. So detectives can't be sure. Some money may have been taken from the cash register, but it couldn't have been very much. It had been a slow night. Either way, what was clear is that Bobby Ray didn't have time to defend himself. If he had, then surely he would have pulled his own revolver, which he'd brought with him for protection when he went to answer the door that night. But obviously, his killer beat him to the draw. Investigators found casings from a.32 caliber pistol at the scene, which were distinctly

different from the ammunition in Bobby Ray's gun. And since his was the only firearm at the scene, the shooter must have taken off with the weapon. But according to retired deputy B.J. Sanders, there was one thing of great interest that was left at the scene, something believed to have belonged to their suspect. B.J. Sanders told us that in the doorway of the bar, he found what looked like a black

and white captain's hat. I think they probably dropped it running out the door. The door was right there on the side of the building, and I think he probably in a hurry, or got in a hurry when they realized what they'd done. And I think they dropped the hat. It didn't take time to pick it up. Somebody evidently in a hurry, you know? When we went in and I picked it up and put it in a bag,

I meticulously picked it up, you know? And put it in a bag there for evidence. Of course, it wasn't like it is today, you know? They didn't have the DNA factor involved and all. Before they were even done gathering all the evidence and collecting what had to have been hundreds of prints from this well-trafficked bar, Bobby Ray was pronounced dead. Meaning any chance they stood of him telling them who shot him was now gone. With what they had so far, investigators were working under the assumption that Bobby Ray

was likely at least familiar with his killer. So they started with the people who knew him best to try and piece together what was going on in his life leading up to that time. Bobby, he married in 1958 to a woman named Martha. And it's my understanding they had a son named Vince. And then around in 1968 or so, he began working at the cotton mill in Enterprise, Alabama.

And he did that for quite a while. And while he was there, there was two other ladies that he met, and ultimately began to see and had an affair. And I think that's what Martha left him. They got, I think, divorced. And then around 1971, he marries Betty Owens. While in his first year of marriage with Betty,

Bobby Ray became involved with a married woman who we're gonna call Celia. Just months before the murder, Bobby Ray and Celia ran off together to Alabama. But when things didn't work out, he returned to Florida and started working on things with Betty. He'd only started working at the Long Branch recently after his parents begged him to change careers. Bobby Ray's younger brother, Charles Jones, told us that just before this, their youngest brother had come home from Vietnam and died tragically in a car accident. At that time, Bobby Ray was working as a truck driver, and traumatized by their loss, his parents pleaded with Bobby Ray to quit driving for a living. And so, that's why he took

the job at the Long Branch Bar in Darlington, Florida. Wild enough, the day that this all happened, Bobby Ray had been visiting his parents. They only lived about 45 minutes away. And in retrospect, they had quite an eerie interaction with him before he took off to make it to work at the bar that evening. Of course, my mom and dad, you know, just begged him not to go. We're not rich people. We just worked all our lives. And begged him not to go, that he could stay with them and they'd make it somehow. And he said,

Mom, I don't have an enemy in the world. Everybody loves me. And someone killed him that night. Charles said Bobby Ray was just a nice guy. And so when police started asking who might've wanted Bobby Ray dead, they were coming up short. He didn't have no partiality. If he could help you, he would help you. I don't know

of anybody in my life that he ever intentionally hurt or tried to hurt. He was just a happy person and wanted others to, you know, be happy too. Outside of speaking with folks who frequented and worked at the bar, detectives focused on finding all of Bobby Ray's former partners to see if that would take them anywhere promising. Of course, Betty, technically still his wife, who was with him that night, needed to be ruled out. They questioned her and administered a polygraph, but current-day investigators haven't been able to locate that report to tell us if she passed or not. But based on what I can tell, it seems like police were less focused on her and more worried about talking to the married woman whom he'd had a recent affair with, as well as that

woman's husband. Investigators honed in on Celia and her husband, who we're going to call Billy. Investigator Sunday asked us to use pseudonyms for the two of them since they've never been charged with anything related to Bobby Ray's murder. But he did know that they also can't be ruled out. At least not yet. As of the day of this episode dropping, these two are still alive as far as Sunday knows. Anyways, when they wanted to go track down Celia and Billy, it seems investigators found

out that they were somewhere out of state. So they went in search of them and their alibis. I think they were supposed to be somewhere in Georgia, somewhere at a cotton mill or something working. And after they went out and talked to their boss, I think there was some issues as to whether or not they were there or not there. I think that kind of threw people to, you know,

could they really establish they were there. Their supervisor couldn't really remember if they thought they were there working because they were pretty on time and, you know, did their work. Detectives went on to track down some of Bobby Ray's former lovers, but it seemed like Celia and Billy were standouts on their suspect list. But here's the thing. While Investigator Sunday says he can't rule out the theory that a past girlfriend or any of their partners could have been involved with gunning down Bobby Ray, that doesn't

necessarily make perfect sense. Based on Betty's observations that night, it sounded like there had just been casual banter between Bobby Ray and whoever was at the door. had just been casual banter between Bobby Ray and whoever was at the door. You'd think if one of his exes or their boyfriend or husband had shown up that night, that maybe that would have garnered a stronger reaction from Bobby Ray. Bet he might have heard louder or harsher words exchanged. So detectives continued on, following paths that had nothing to do with Bobby Ray's love life. They didn't want to get tunnel vision by only looking down one road.

They looked at people that might have had a beef with Bobby Ray. There was several that came up, names, because it's a bar and as a bartender, you're probably going to piss somebody off. You're going to run them off. Things like that, there was a lot of people in that community because it's very rural and it's close knit as far as kinship of people related to one each other, but there's a network of communications that goes out. It's like any community. People talk. And so people would call in and tell them,

well, I know Bobby had issues with this one. So they would hunt those people up. I know they talked to people in Panama City. They talked to people in Geneva, Alabama, Enterprise, Alabama, just all different places, and talked with them about, you know, where were they? Can you rule them in? Can you rule them in? Can you rule them out?

For decades, things were sort of at a standstill. It seemed like they had suspects in mind, whether related to the affair theory or a bar patron who would have had reason to want him gone. But since there was so little evidence at the scene, it was hard to definitively rule anyone in or out. According to responding deputy BJ Sanders, one former detective did have a favorite suspect, though. It's hearsay, so we can't put too much stock in the theory. But it could explain that captain's hat left behind at the bar.

B.J. Sanders got this information from talking to one of the former detectives on the case before he passed away. That detective's name was Fred Repress. Well, I'll tell you, he had something about him that he could just take a crime scene and redress it just like it was. I mean, I worked with him and he was just, he had some kind of knack for doing it. He'd say, now that guy he had over yonder in the corner of that building, because this place was closed, if you go over there, you'll see where he threw his cigarettes down. That probably sounds crazy, but he had that knack about him. He could just do it.

I talked to Fred before he died. And this is not a dying declaration by no means. But I talked to him before he died about who done it. And he said that Betty, he knew her. And he said that she told him that it was Chipmunk's brother. Who the heck is Chipmunk? Great question. Who the heck is Chipmunk's brother question. Who the heck is Chipmunk's brother? Another great question. It's unclear. BJ just had a nickname to give us. But according to him,

it might have made sense for Chipmunk's brother to wear that captain's hat because Chipmunk had some type of job working offshore and maybe his brother also worked out at C2? The logical next question would be, well, did Bobby Ray know Chipmunk and or his brother? Like would Chipmunk's brother have been a familiar enough face for Bobby Ray to have welcomed in that night? Well I suppose it would because you know it's a rural and agrarian area and you know everybody knows everybody. Investigator Sunday is currently working to find out the true identity

of both Chipmunk and his brother. He's not 100% sure yet, but he does believe that Chipmunk's brother has since passed away. He's hoping to find Chipmunk's real identity so he can attempt to speak with him to see if he knows anything about his brother's possible involvement.

But there's this other possibility he's also looking into. To Sunday's surprise, a new tip came in about three years ago. We're talking like 50 years after Bobby Ray's murder. And this tip steered him to a new person of interest. And this new person of interest is someone that isn't connected to all of the love affair stuff. He's actually never been brought up in the case files at all until now. A lot of background has gone into the information in this and the person of interest.

He has been spoken to once. In fact, there's been a couple of people interviewed. I did some background on him. He's from the area up there. My understanding is he's kind of patronized the bar before. He's got a little bit of a history, a little bit of federal time. So I'm certainly going to take a very good look at him. The thing about this particular case is there's been a lot of people that have died.

And when people die, their information dies with them. And people are getting older. This guy's getting older. I want to really talk to him some more and see if he can shed some more light. It's all I can do with him right now. If this person turns out to be their guy, the motive was likely attempted robbery. That just fits the scenario that Sunday is looking at, as he thinks that Bobby Ray could have been familiar enough

with this guy to open up the door to sell him some beer. I go back to that day that Bobby opens that door. Was it a local? Yeah, it could have been. Or it could have been someone that he had seen in there a couple of times and he felt, I feel comfortable. He didn't know them that well. That is a possibility.

He just did not know them that well. And when he turns his back, you know, one thing leads to the next and maybe the person did not intend to kill him. But that person was scared, too. Maybe he knew enough knowledge that, oh, he's going to be armed. He's going to try to shoot me. That's possible. As for what's next, Investigator Sunday wants to follow up with this person of interest.

As far as he knows, he's alive but getting older, so maybe he will have more incentive to want to get some things off his chest. We asked Investigator Sunday about that captain's hat that was left behind at the scene, and if it's now possible that they could send that off for DNA testing, but all he would say is no comment. He wouldn't confirm or deny if there was any other potential for DNA in this case. But he wanted us to add, quote,

"'A good detective should never tip his hat too early to a suspect,' end quote." Bobby Ray's poor parents thought that their son would be safer if he quit his trucking job, but they ended up with another family tragedy. Before Madison finished her interview with Bobby's brother, who's also a pastor, he had a message for his brother's killer. I would just simply say, you know, there's a right and a wrong in life, and we're going

to give answer to either one of them in eternity, and we will all face God. Do the right thing. If you face God. Do the right thing. If you know something, do the right thing. Let the authorities know. Whoever done this had to be as old or older than I am, may already be passed away. But do the right thing. Don't leave this world, you know, with that wrong.

Just do what's right and tell the authorities and get this off of your conscience and get it cleared up in your life. And because you don't want to face God in judgment with what you know. If you know anything about the murder of Bobby Ray Jones in Darlington, Florida in 1971, you can call the Walton County Sheriff's Office at 850-892-8111. Or you can remain anonymous by calling the Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS. The Deck is an AudioChuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about The Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com. So what do you think, Chuck?

Do you approve? Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo