40 years later

Forty years after the murder of my Uncle Bruce, on May 15, 2009, the Macon County Sheriff's office held a news conference to announce that John J. Joynt, III had been arrested for the crime. Most of the family was happy with the arrest. Some family members felt that it was history and did not need to be brought up. I suppose I should explain, the murder changed my family's history. At one point the Macon County Sheriff arrested one of my Uncle's for the murder. A cousin of mine was said to have told the Sheriff that my one Uncle would be the culprit if a family member was a suspect. Needles to say this created a deep chism in the family - often with some relatives leaving as some were arriving.

During the course of bringing Mr. Joynt to justice, our family learned how bumbled the case had been in 1967. Also, my Uncle had Mr. Joynt arrested for stealing gas from the station on Febuary 16, 1968. At one point Mr. Joynt actually admitted to murdering my Uncle while he was in prison on another charge. It seems that the confession was buried.

Luckily, one of Mr. Joynt's relatives finally came to the Sheriff's office and told them everything she knew and heard in the past forty years - that made them re-open the case. The pain that Joynt caused my family was at times unbearable for some family members. Having him arrested has caused us to re-mourn our loss. The saddest thing is that this case should have been solved before my grandparents passed away. Pre-trial hearing is set for August 25, 2009.