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Synopsis: On the afternoon of January 31, 1975, someone shot Rufus and Frank Looper at their garage on Pendleton St. in Greenville, SC. Here you will find files related to this case. We will update this section regularly with items relevant to the most recent episodes.
Photos: To see photos from the Looper murder crime scene and more, visit the Murder, etc. Photo Gallery.
Files:
- Wyatt Earp Harper Statement #1
- Wyatt Earp Harper Statement #2
- Bugs Hassie estate lawsuit
- Luke Cannon FBI File
- Beverly Johnson initial statement
- Beverly Johnson retraction
- Charles Wakefield Alibi Map
- George Syracuse suspect tip report
- Carpet shampooer receipt
- Derrick Smith suspect tip report
- Informant tip about hit man
- Vera Looper first interview
- Viola Owens initial statement to investigators
- Viola Owens follow-up interview
- Edna Mae Mashburn statement
- Robert Joe Bennefield statement
- Bennefield reference map
- Ed Gray statement
This file contains any documents not directly related to the initial Looper murders investigation.
Raymond “Country” Small
Below you will find a few of the documents inside Country’s Small’s Department of Corrections file, including the lawsuit Bugs Hassie’s estate filed against Small, Ballard George, and Frank Walker.
Country Small protective custody
The People’s Drug Job
Synopsis:
On January 3, 1975, Jackie Delk, Raymond Hassie, and Deputy Danny Alexander broke into the People’s Drug Store in Greenville County’s Berea community. After cutting a hole in the roof, they set off the burglar alarm and ran away before stealing anything. Delk left his knapsack behind. Its contents included Delk’s wallet, driver’s license, and address book. For more, visit the episode page for A Bunch of Amateurs.
Files: Incident report
The Murder of Raymond “Bugs” Hassie
Synopsis:
Raymond “Bugs” Hassie was a low-level thief who worked with the Dixie Mafia around the Southeast. On February 25, 1975, Raymond “Country” Small and Frank Walker murdered Hassie and dumped his body on Paris Mountain. They said a man named Ballard George paid them to do it. You can read more about the murders in Ghost Bridge.
Files: Frank Walker’s signed confession
The people:
| FIRST | LAST | DESCRIPTION |
| Raymond | (Redacted) | Early member of Dawson Gang who failed to protect fellow members during botched kidnapping |
| Junior | Adams | Owner of Adams Junk Yard in the 1970s |
| Danny | Alexander | Corrupt Greenville County deputy |
| Bob | Ariail | 1990s-2000s 13th Circuit Solicitor |
| Al | Ashemore | Sheriff’s narcotics deputy who took Beverly Ann Johnson’s statement about Larry Poole |
| Larry | Atkins | Greenville County preacher and publisher of a newspaper that opposed Sheriff Cash Williams |
| Matthew | Beacham | One of the first Greenville Police officers on the Looper murder scene; died during a foot chase in 1983 |
| Shedrick “Puddin” | Belcher | Wakefield alibi witness |
| Jay | Belk | Son of volunteer undercover narc, John Belk |
| Freida | Belk | Wife of volunteer undercover narc, John Belk |
| John | Belk | Volunteer undercover narc who worked with Frank Looper |
| Robert Joe | Bennefield | Eyewitness to suspected killer escaping Looper Garage |
| John | Boyanoski | Greenville historian and author |
| Mike | Bridges | Looper murders investigator, retired Chief of Police, died 2010 |
| Johnny Mack | Brown | Greenville County Sheriff |
| Leonard | Brown | Founder of Southeastern Alarm Systems; two-time candidate for Greenville County Sheriff |
| James | Brown | Wakefield alibi witness |
| Lee | Brown | Brad Willis’ former boss at WYFF-TV; called by sheriff at behest of Eddie Williamson |
| Leonard | Brown, Jr. | Leonard Brown’s son |
| John “Olin” | Butler | Greenville fence and informant for Det. Jim Christopher |
| Bill “Boo Boo” | Butler | Wakefield family friend, testified on Wakefield’s behalf as part of alibi defense |
| Luke | Cannon | Member of the Dawson Gang; based in Greenville, SC |
| Miles | Cheatham | Frank Looper’s partner, currently working at Anderson Area Medical Center |
| Jim | Christopher | AKA Chris, lead detective in the Looper murders case |
| Max | Courson | Journalist and author, wrote book on Dawson Gang leader Willie Foster Sellers |
| Jimmy | Creamer | Member of the Dawson Gang |
| Melvin | Croft | Former Greenville Police Officer who was friends with Frank Looper |
| Dexter | Cruel | Charles Wakefield’s cousin who got in a fight with Furman Wakefield |
| Inez | Cruel | Wakefield’s aunt and alibi witness |
| Eddie | Cruel | Charles Wakefield, Jr.’s cousin |
| Debbie | Davenport | Listener featured in Episode 14 SPOTTERS |
| J.W. | Davis | Greenville Police Officer who took report about a possible hit man in town |
| Billy Ray | Dawson | Member of Foster Sellers’ bank robbery crew; incorrectly credited as being its leader |
| DeWitt | Dawson | Patriarch of Alabama’s Dawson crime family |
| Jackie | Delk | Dixie Mafia drug dealer and drug thief |
| Tom | Donohue | Greenville, SC FBI resident agent for two decades |
| J.L. | Dye | Greenville Police Officer who took report about a possible hit man in town |
| Steve | Edwards | Was told informant Anthony Outzs was spreading street talk about a hit man in town to kill a narcotics agent |
| Ryan Quade | Emerson | The name Ivan Nachman assumed shortly after his time in Greenville County |
| Frank | Eppes | Judge who presided over Looper murder trial |
| Frank | Eppes, Jr. | Defense attorney and son of Looper murder trial judge |
| Andy | Ethridge | Greenville County resident who privately investigated Looper case |
| Lowell | Fletcher | Veteran South Carolina broadcast journalist |
| David | Garrett | Founding member of Amateurs ETC |
| Donald “Pee Wee” | Gaskins | South Carolina serial killer |
| Ballard | George | Alignment shop owner and Dixie Mafia fixer, convicted of accessory charges in murder of Raymond “Bugs” Hassie |
| Billy | George | Ballard George’s nephew, killed Wolf Mathis in 1997 gunfight |
| Furman | George | Ballard George’s brother |
| Tip | Gibson | Accused by Eddie Williamson of shooting Frank Looper’s house |
| Phil | Gibson | Former Greenville County deputy, race car owner, member of Dawson Gang |
| Rita | Gillespie | Frank Looper’s girlfriend/fiance in January 1975 |
| Robert | Gillespie | Career cop and six-year investigator for Greenville Co. Public Defender; Rita Gillespie’s ex-husband |
| Eric | Gottlieb | Attorney who worked to free Charles Wakefield |
| Ed | Gray | Eyewitness to suspected killer escaping Looper Garage |
| Dannette | Greene | Career sheriff’s office employee; one of last to speak to Frank Looper; Deputy Bill Greene’s wife |
| Bill | Greene | Retired Greenville County Deputy; Danette Greene’s husband |
| Blair | Griffin | Employment commission employee subpoenaed by Wakefield’s defense |
| Larry | Hacker | Member of Dawson Gang; escaped prison with James Earl Ray |
| Thomas Ray | Hamby | Greenville eccentric who staged wild protests against Sheriff Cash Williams |
| R.L. | Hand | One of first Greenville Police officers on the Looper Murder scene; made initial crime scene sketch |
| Wyatt Earp | Harper | Testified against Wakefield, recanted testimony 30 years later |
| Raymond “Bugs” | Hassie | Dixie Mafia thief, murdered in a contract killing and dumped on Paris Mountain in 1975 |
| William “Hoppy” | Hopkins | Owner of Hoppy’s 77 Sunset Strip; Larry Smith’s uncle |
| Anne | Hopkins | Hoppy Hopkins’ wife; Larry Smith’s aunt |
| Gladys | Huff | 1975 Greenville County victim, found strangled, shot, and left dead with a nylon bag over her head |
| Jerry | Hufflin | Race car driver accused by Eddie Williamson of shooting Frank Looper’s house |
| Bill | Huskey | Paris Mountain resident |
| Thelma | Huskey | Paris Mountain resident |
| Dick | James | 1970s criminal defense attorney; committed suicide January 2019 |
| Harold | Jennings | GPD Captain at time of murders, promoted to chief six weeks later |
| Willie | Johnson | Arresting officer in Wakefield case, retired Chief of Police |
| Beverly Ann | Johnson | Told police Larry Poole had confessed to killing Loopers & later retracted statement |
| Hal | Jones | Cab driver killed by Larry Poole in May 1970 |
| Danny | Jones | Retired narcotics deputy who considered Frank Looper his mentor |
| Sammy | Kay, Jr. | Preacher who gave 2019 sermon on Bub Skelton |
| Lyndon | LaRouche | Conspiracy theorist and fringe Presidential candidate investigated by Ivan Nachman / Ryan Quade Emerson |
| Rebecca | Lawrence | Wakefield cousin, served as alibi witness at trial |
| Billy | Ledbetter | Greenville County deputy and City View policeman in 1970s |
| Will | Lewis | 2016-elected Greenville County sheriff currently under indictment |
| Frank | Looper | 1975 head of Greenville County Narcotics Unit, murdered January 31, 1975 |
| Rufus | Looper | Frank Looper’s father, murdered January 31, 1975 |
| Vera | Looper | Rufus Looper’s wife, Frank Looper’s mother, witnessed suspected killer running away |
| Rufus Franklin | Looper, Sr. | Rufus Looper’s father, Frank Looper’s grandfather |
| Ben | Malennowski | Instructor at the Zonn Polygraph Institute who examined Charles Wakefield’s test results |
| Bob | Martin | Sheriff of Greenville County for 16 years; defeated by Cash Williams in 1972 |
| Edna Mae | Mashburn | Eyewitness to suspected killer escaping Looper Garage |
| Wolf | Mathis | Bar owner who gave Fast Eddie Williamson his nickname |
| Adele | McAuley | Frank Looper’s cousin |
| Julia | McAuley | Rufus Looper’s sister |
| Scott | McAuley | Frank Looper’s cousin |
| Charles | McCarter | Greenville businessman alleged to have been middleman between Cash Williams and Greenville underworld |
| Forest “Cotton” | McGuire | Dixie Mafia gangster for whom Fast Eddie Williamson allegedly worked in Chicago |
| Vanessa | McKinney | Charles Wakefield, Jr.’s sister |
| Henry | McMaster | Current South Carolina Governor |
| Beth | McPherson | 1975 Greenville County Council chair who ran Ivan Nachman out of South Carolina |
| Ivan | Nachman | 1975 Greenville South Carolina Sheriff’s Office internal investigator |
| Julius “Bubba” | Ness | Judge who gave Fast Eddie Williamson four years for Tommy Pearson killing |
| Manny | Nix | Charles Wakefield, Jr.’s cousin |
| E.N. | Norris | Police chief at time of Looper Murders; retired weeks later |
| Vardry McBee | Norris | Member of organized crime ring in 1970s; murdered on Paris Mountain in 1977 |
| Clyde | Norris | Greenville County Deputy indicted for corruption; Bub Skelton’s brother-in-law |
| Anthony | Outzs | Cited as source for first information about a hit on Looper; convicted of killing Vardry Norris |
| Viola | Owens | Eyewitness to suspected killer escaping Looper Garage |
| Kristy Smith | Palmer | Larry’s Smith’s daughter; founding member of Amateurs ETC |
| H. Furman | Paris | GPD Detective who took Beverly Ann Johnson’s statement about Larry Poole |
| Richard | Pearis | Greenville founder from whom Paris Mountain took its name |
| Tommy | Pearson | Shot in the face by Fast Eddie Williamson in 1971 |
| Ken | Pettus | Football coach and undercover narc in 1975, currently working as Athletic Director at Furman University |
| Joel | Poinsett | Greenville patron, led construction of Poinsett Bridge |
| Larry | Poole | Convicted murderer who police built a case against for the Looper murders |
| Doug | Ross | Greenville Police Officer who played small role in Looper murder investigation |
| Charlie | Russo | Greenville musician who died in June 1975 robbery at Ye Olde Fireplace |
| Brandon | Saltmarsh | Served as voice for Ed Gray in Episode 3: Ghost Bridge |
| Megan | Saltmarsh | Served as voice for Viola Owens in Episode 3: Ghost Bridge |
| Al | Saltmarsh | Lieutenant over Narcotics at GCSO in the 1990s |
| Willie Foster | Sellers | Leader of the bank robbers known as The Dawson Gang |
| Ellen | Sellers | Willie Foster Sellers’ mother |
| Arthur | Sellers | Willie Foster Sellers’ father |
| Tommy | Shaw | Jailhouse informant who asked Charles Wakefield to bring him a gun in jail |
| Carl “Bub” | Skelton | Corrupt Greenville County Deputy |
| Raymond “Country” | Small | Contract killer convicted of murdering Raymond “Bugs” Hassie, died in prison in 2001 |
| Larry | Smith | Greenville County business owner who grew up in West Greenville |
| Derrick | Smith | Identified by an informant as a potential suspect in the Looper murders |
| Willie | Sutton | Famous Depression-era bank robber; inspiration for Foster Sellers’ career |
| Sunny | Sutton | Greenville private investigator who conducted polygraph exams on Charles Wakefield and Cash Williams |
| George | Syracuse | Identified by an informant as a potential suspect in the Looper murders |
| Harold “Scar” | Taylor | South Carolina gangster known to be one of the deadliest men in the south |
| Charles | Wakefield, Jr. | Convicted of the Looper murders, currently living in North Carolina on parole |
| Furman | Wakefield | Swore out a warrant on Charles Wakefield for assault after fight with Dexter Cruel |
| Frank | Walker | Former Greenville County deputy, contract killer convicted of Raymond “Bugs” Hassie murder, currently on parole and living in Greenville Co. |
| Lynn | West | Worked for Public Defender’s office for 30 years |
| Robert | Whatley | 1990s narcotics officer who arrested Fast Eddie Williamson |
| Knox | White | Greenville, South Carolina Mayor |
| Billy | Wilkins | 1975 13th Circuit Solictor who prosecuted Charles Wakefield |
| Cash | Williams | Greenville County sheriff from 1972 to 1976 |
| Morris | Williams | A target of Greenville County Sheriff’s Office internal affairs investigator Ivan Nachman |
| Charles | Williams | AKA Goldie McCrary, known as the Reedy River killer; convicted of overdosing three girls and dumping them in the Reedy River |
| John | Williams | The man Charles Wakefield paid to buy the gun he intended to take to Tommy Shaw |
| Arthur Edward “Fast Eddie” | Williamson | Member of the Dawson Gang and one of South Carolina’s most notorious criminals |
| Ott | Williamson | Fast Eddie Williamson’s father |
| Brad | Willis | Murder etc. host and producer |
| Samuel | Willis | 1927 Greenville County Sheriff, assassinated outside his garage |
| Mr. | X | First homicide of 1975 in Greenville County, SC |
In the event any episode has contained a mistake or need for clarification, that clarification will appear here as soon as it has been identified.
Ghost Bridge (Episode 3): Billy Wilkins mistakenly said Ballard George towed the bloody car back to his garage. In fact, Walker and Small left the vehicle behind Furman University where it was later found by an officer with the Furman Public Safety Department. Small had left his shotgun inside the vehicle.
Southern Railroad (Episode 7): During an interview, Billy Wilkins mistakenly remembered cross-examining Charles Wakefield’s stepmother during Wakefield’s trial. Murder, etc. repeated this recollection in two places of the episode, but later determined Wakefield’s stepmother did not testify at trial, despite having given a police statement saying she saw Wakefield at her house on the afternoon of January 31, 1975.