A South Carolina father who broke down in tears after discovering his dead son during a television news broadcast in 1989 was charged this week with the boy's murder.
In archived footage, Victor Lee Turner, the father of 5-year-old Justin Turner, gets into the family's camper near their home and quickly backs away, yelling, “My son's in there. Someone's in there. He is seen screaming, “I hurt my son.”
Justin's body was found stuffed inside a campervan cabinet with his pants down. Police said the man was strangled and sexually assaulted.
The case remained unsolved for nearly 35 years, until decades of scientific and forensic advances implicated the boy's seemingly distraught father and the boy's stepmother, Megan Turner, in Justin's murder. Ta.
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Victor Lee Turner and Megan Turner, the father and stepmother of 5-year-old Justin Turner, were charged with murder in Justin's 1989 death. (Berkeley County Sheriff's Office)
Police say the boy was allegedly strangled with a ligature in the early morning hours of March 3, 1989, before leaving for school. On the same day, he disappeared.
“He didn't get on the bus because he was dead inside that house,” Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said at a news conference Wednesday after Victor and Megan were arrested. . “I can't think of a more tragic and horrifying murder than that of a 5-year-old boy.”
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A ligature believed to be the murder weapon found in the Turners' home matched marks on the boy's body, and microscopic fibers in the ligature matched the material of Justin's shirt collar, WCSC reported, based on court documents.
Investigators believe his body was hidden in a camper “sometime after” his death, and a forensic pathologist's report included in court documents says he was “last seen alive.” Local news outlets reported that this suggests that he died “nearly at the time of his death.”
In 1989, 5-year-old Justin Turner was found strangled to death in South Carolina. (Berkeley County Sheriff's Office)
The warrants cited dramatic television footage of Victor's reaction after discovering his dead son, and said their “intentional actions and obvious actions… led them to believe that they had pinpointed (Justin's) whereabouts.” “It very much suggests that he knew about it.”
“Rather than react to finding his son and personally checking for signs of life, (Victor) backed away from the camper and said, 'He's there, my son is there. I hurt him,'” the warrant states. According to WCSC.
“He later told investigators, 'He looked dead. I felt something wasn't right. I didn't touch him,'” the warrant states.
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Justin's stepmother became a suspect after she admitted to having an argument with the boy on the morning of Justin's death, but the charges were dropped in November 1990 due to lack of evidence.
Two years later, a grand jury voted not to indict Megan, who changed her name from Pamela K. Turner shortly after Justin's death.
The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office announced the arrests of Victor and Megan Turner in connection with the 1989 death of 5-year-old Justin Turner. (Berkeley County Sheriff's Office)
Victor and Megan were arrested Wednesday at their home in Cross Hill, South Carolina, and charged with murder. If convicted, they could face life in prison.
The pair appeared in court virtually that evening, with Justin's cousin Amy Parsons, who was just eight years old at the time of his death, addressing the murder suspects.
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“For 35 years, you have enjoyed your freedom,” Parsons said, according to the Post and Courier. “Because of what you did to Justin, you don't deserve to spend a day outside the walls of prison.
“You were supposed to care for him and love him, but instead you tortured, abused, and murdered him, your child. To do what you did, you had to be a sick man. is required.”
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At a press conference, Sheriff Lewis said Justin would have been 40 years old had he lived.
“They could have graduated high school, gone to college, gotten married, had children and become productive citizens,” the sheriff said. “But he didn't, because I believe these two people took that away from all of us and this family that I've been in contact with over the years.
“And they have done so much to keep this case alive, to keep pushing us, to keep asking questions, to help us get to where we are today.”
