Vernon Shipman and Charles Glass
Real Names: Vernon Shipman, Charles Glass, and Louise Davis Shumate
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Hendersonville, North Carolina
Date: July 17, 1966
Case
Details: On July 17, 1966, gay partners Vernon Shipman and Charles Glass vanished from Hendersonville, North Carolina. Five days later, two workers dumping brush in an isolated clearing found their bodies along with that of a woman, all beaten severely and stabbed. A few days later, the woman was identified as Louise Shumate.
Louise Shumate
Police were puzzled because neither Vernon nor Charles apparently knew Louise, nor did most people of Hendersonville because she lived in a town miles away. Authorities found that on July 17, all three victims were seen driving in Vernon's car with an unidentified fourth person. To this day, the identity of the fourth person remains a mystery, along with how Vernon and Charles are connected with Louise, and who killed them.
Suspects: Police believe that the murders may be connected to the fact that Vernon and Charles were homosexual, or that the murders may be drug-related, but none of these theories have been confirmed. At the time, news reports did not indicate the sexual orientation of either of them, just reporting that they co-owned the Temple Music store, and described Charles as favoring the Asian lifestyle. He was found with a pair of crutches crossed over his torso (he had a broken leg at the time), and reports in the Henderson Times-News stated that he "wasn't a fighter."
Extra Notes: This case has appeared on the show Haunting Evidence.
Results: Unsolved
Links: None