Tom Lawson: I don't know. In 2008, Randall Lee Smith shot two fishermen on the trail with intent to kill them. We were about five miles from any house. And and - and I'm like, you know, "Go, go, go." And I mean we're flying down the road. Ron Hamlin: They pulled out behind him and they-- Mr. Smiths-- evidently saw him and he sped up. And so I opened up the cooler and I pulled out a bag of trout. Smith was pronounced dead at a Pulaski County hospital about 6 p.m. Hamlin said officers found no external evidence of suicide. In October 2009, the Sheriff's Office was notified by Dr. Terry Melton, of Mitotyping Technologies in State College, Pennsylvania that her lab had made a match between the Jane Doe's DNA profile and that of a woman who thought the unidentified murder victim might be her long-lost sister. Send a Card. Smith was arrested that day after attempting to escape in one of the victim's trucks and subsequently crashing. Balza was hoping the hike the whole trail. And I-- you know, "How 'ya doin'," type thing. The man was reported missing, and police discovered a note in his truck saying he had been kidnapped. Chris Hansen: Twenty-seven years later you're assistant superintendent of the jail--. They seemed so normal. Sean remembers the next scene unfolding as if in slow motion: the shooter turning back towards him, getting ready to fire again Chris Hansen: What was the look in his eyes? Johnston, a 38-year-old layer of ceramic tiles, said his brush with Smith began at 1 p.m. Johnston had been fishing for trout all morning in Dismal Creek, just below the Appalachian Trail, and had driven his Ford Ranger pickup truck the nearly 4 miles to Trent's Grocery to pick up some supplies. Pleads guilty. They then drove the vehicle down the rocky mountain road until they reached the residence of Melissa Miller. Now, the police had some solid evidence, but no suspects. Roberts said locals had told them about Smith, about the murders he had committed in 1981 and the most recent allegations. I see the-- the shelter as I did then. the Murderpedia project stay alive. Dangerous people are often impulsive, display explosive bursts of anger, narcissistic, hold grudges and lack empathy. Check in with them regularly. As your circle of close friends shrinks, there are ways to rebuild but not replace the social network you had when you were younger. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. He's taking the spike nail that was on the ground, he's stabbing her. Scott Johnston: The-- the doctor told that the bullet that went in my neck missed my carotid artery by one millimeter. Tom Lawson: We discovered a-- a piece of-- angle iron, wrought iron that was in the fireplace that was used for a poker to stir the ashes up. Tom Lawson: She runs, he chases, grabs the-- the wrought iron poker as she's running. Scott Johnston: And-- we were sitting around the campfire, talkin' about sports, and fishing. So, we talked a little while. Lawson thought Randall Lee Smith was his man -- and he had one sure way to prove it. "Evidently he was not well enough to be released -- nothing against the hospital.". Chris Hansen: Now, this would freak me out. Tom Lawson: Basically that Randall was gonna serve 15 years. Then the pieces started to fall into place: Lawson found some hikers who saw Randall Lee Smith with Susan Ramsay the day of the murders. There-- there's a small bridge that you have to cross the creek. Meanwhile, Sean got out of the car and tried to stagger to the house. Lt. Hamlin read Smith his rights. On Friday afternoon, Randall Smith was released into police custody after treatment at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where Lt. Ron Hamlin of the Giles County Sheriff's Department said Smith had spent some time on a ventilator. That's the-- that's the round that killed him. It's getting dark, we got to go.' Tom Lawson: The book belonged to Susan, and the fingerprint belonged to Randall Smith. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. "I commend local law enforcement in Wythe and Smyth Counties for mobilizing successful rescue and tactical operations in this remote region. He was pronounced dead at 6 p.m. May 10 at a Pulaski County hospital. And basically what we found out about Randall was-- is that-- he was very-- shy. So it was just, you know, staring each other down, briefly. Based on the forensic evidence, Lawson and his colleagues believe the killer attacked after the two hikers went to sLeep. He would then strangle them and dump the bodies in the desert. But god damn, one of my faves, season 2 of Marcella is on Netflix and its way better than season 1 and way darker. I said, "Let me steer." We will never sell your data and you'll only get messages from us and our partners whose products and services we think you'll enjoy. In fact, as the flight went on, Scott himself thought he was not going to make it. But as he crossed a narrow bridge, Farmer began to drift in and out of consciousness behind the steering wheel. plans and enthusiasm But they're alive, thanks to good luck, and some outstanding medical care. During this time he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic (or, at the time, having a split-personality disorder or having psychoneurosis. Sean Farmer: It couldn't have turned out any better for us. Bowles' concern for Smith, a Pearisburg resident who was 54 when he died, led her to file a missing-person report April 30 with the Giles County Sheriff's Department. They were reported missing after they didn't show up as scheduled in the nearby town of Pearisburg, Va. Chris Hansen: Now, is it unusual for you here in these parts to have people reported missing hiking on the Appalachian Trail? But on the day Smith's murder trial was to begin, Tom Lawson got devastating news. Wright died from the shots. He befriended the two fishermen, who shared their dinner with Smith, before opening fire on them without warning. And Scott and Sean -- who somehow survived Smith's brutal attack -- will never get any answers . She then fell to the ground and played dead, and Jordan "left to find his dog," the complaint states. And I say, "Call 911. As Johnston yelled "Go, Sean!" Ricky claimed that he had fished with Scott all afternoon, and the latter had invited him to join them for dinner. But I guess he figured out he and Bo weren't going to make it up there," she said. Born in the Bronx to a Jewish family and raised in Colorado, Glatman exhibited antisocial behavior and sadomasochistic sexual tendencies from an early age. Ironically, it seems Smith's photograph on a related poster ultimately led to his identification and subsequent arrest last week on attempted-murder charges. Ron Hamlin: Do you wish to talk to us about this? His probation ended in 2006. [9] Smith was arrested that day after attempting to escape in Johnstons truck and subsequently crashing. The shocking crime drew national attention, and for the first time, a large portion of the trail was closed to the public. He had told them his campsite was an hour away. Ya know, and-- and I told myself, I'm, like, hang on, hang on. Scott Johnston: I - I knew then I was sort of in trouble. Go." Tom Lawson took us back the scene of that 1981 crime. Those murders took place back in 1981, and yet Tom Lawson had a gut feeling that there was a connection between that crime, and the attack on Scott Johnston and Sean Farmer. The male victim was found dead at the scene, and the female victim was taken to the Bristol Regional Medical Center in Tennessee, where she gave a statement to investigators and named Jordan as the man who attacked them, according to the complaint. They figured he just was trying to impress them. This year, the guy running the Roanoke Kiwanis Clubs annual pancake breakfast is a character who spent 33 years working for the Central Intel. He was willing to help anyone in need. Scott Johnston: I hear the woman say that I don't have a pulse. The only leads were items the police found near the murder sceneincluding items belonging to victim Susan Ramsay. We have many And only goes away for 15 years? Hotel rooms near Something in the Water are still available but they wont be cheap. Chris Hansen: How are you gonna get down this mountain? I knew then I was still alive and I-- I was happy. Roberts said men at a small country store had insisted they'd have found and "taken care of" Smith if he hadn't been arrested. Smith as he appeared in his 1973 driver's license photo. Sean Farmer: The first thing was just to get away from this guy. I feel like I'm just re-living it all over again. Sean Farmer: Scott sat right here on this stoop, and I was over here on this corner. Chris Hansen: Are you gonna blow your nose one day and it comes out or--, Sean Farmer: --that is a possibility. On Friday, Jordan allegedly approached four hikers near the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday at the U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia. I said, "Oh, my goodness, this is not a joke.". When Randall Lee Smith came out of the woods and shot Scott Johnston and Sean Farmer, he changed their lives forever. That evening, as Sean was setting up his tent near a place called dismal creek, that same fisherman stopped by. Melissa Miller: I thought it was one of my son's friends playing a joke. And it was so close too. They ran his tag number. Randall Lee Smith was born on 1954 in Virginia, United States. He basically had no friends to amount to anything. We're both bLeeding. "Randall Lee Smith (June 29,1953 May 10, 2008) was a convicted murderer from Pearisburg, Virginia. Smith was arrested that day after attempting to escape in one of the victim's trucks and subsequently crashing. Tom Lawson: Go on record, give it to the media. And he's not. His mother took him to the family physician and was told he "would grow out of it.". The book that now was stamped with a bloody fingerprint. Sean Farmer: I just had this ringing in my head, where he shot me right in the side of the face. No matter what. Tom Lawson: Well, we were getting calls from the Department of the Interior--. Scott Johnston: Well, it's-- it's cost me a small fortune. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. But help is miles away from their Appalachian Trail campsite - a long, dangerous drive down a dark mountain road. Nature still holds sway here in the vast national forests of Virginia: black bears, bobcats, timber rattlers and other predators are here, stalking their prey. Jordan was acting "disturbed and unstable" and was playing his guitar and singing when he approached the group, the complaint states. Chris Hansen: Did you get a name on this guy? Scott and Sean were near the trail on brushy mountain, miles away from civilization, heading for a creek alive with rainbow trout. Tom Lawson: Was I the reason why two other people now are assaulted by this person that I should have put away 27 years ago. Chris Hansen: Otherwise, you weren't gonna have Scott Johnston: Yeah. Hikers protested outside the courtroom the day after his sentencing, and a spokesman for the Appalachian Trail Conference said Smith is the "first person convicted of murdering a hiker who has had the opportunity to leave prison". . After prison, Smith moved back to Pearisburg to live with his mother. (Michael Williamson / The Washington Post / Getty Images). On May 6, 2008, Sean and Scott set out individually for Dismal Creek, and while Sean was the first to reach the campsite, he soon came across a stranger who introduced himself as Ricky Williams of Newport. There in his cell the next day, officers found him unresponsive. As he hit the dirt road leading out, a bloody Johnston stepped out of the woods and into the road. Well, when I stopped and got out of my truck, you know, someone walked up out of the creek bank. Smith infamously murdered two people along the Appalachian Trail in 1981 and allegedly tried last week to kill two more near the same spot. It's-- it's possibly, you know, it's about a quarter inch from my spine or less. Please subscribe to continue reading Karen and Georgia cover the survival story of Scott Johnston and Sean Farmer and the Glamour Girl Slayer. And it comes to a really sharp curve in the road. Plant Trees. The Pearisburg couple heard about his death during church Sunday. I mean-- just, you know, us. Sean and Scott wanted to know those very thing about the attack on them. Chris Hansen: This has come full circle now. I kind of bent over to kind of look down between the boards and I could see a red substance through the cracks. 2001 - A Canadian woman was murdered in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Scott Johnson and Sean Farmer had just pulled off something of a miracle: They escaped a gunman, drove down a mountain road while wounded and bLeeding, and found help. And there was a dog in the road. Through the tents, Jordan allegedly threatened to pour gasoline on them and "burn them to death," prompting the hikers to pack up and leave. In addition to the gun, police found a treasure trove of evidence Randall Lee Smith had hidden deep in the woods: Scott Johnston's sunglasses, more than 20 knives, meat cleavers and other items. A native of McDowell County, he was born. A motive for the alleged attack is under investigation by the FBI's Richmond, Virginia, division. You can read the details of the case here. Melissa Miller: Yeah, it crossed my mind. Tom Lawson: The dog comes over to this big stump, this big trunk of the tree --and he just sit. At a remote mountain campsite, Sean Farmer is in a life-or-death struggle with a gunman intent on killing him. I think about 'em all the time. Smith declared the trout delicious but didn't eat with the relish Farmer and Johnston expected from a man who looked as if he'd missed many meals. Randall Lee Smith, 43, of Mocksville, NC passed away on March 29, 2021 at his home in Davie County. Chris Hansen: That he's comin' to for shootin' two other people on the Appalachian Trail. Chris Hansen: What's it like to see these gals here today? And I was coming back up the mountain. It's still there. You have permission to edit this article. DISMAL CREEK The killer, wearing camouflage clothing and expensive-looking boots, walked into Sean Farmer and Scott Johnston's campsite around 5 p.m. Of course, at the time, the two fishing buddies from Bluefield, Va., didn't know the gaunt, frail man with the snowy white beard was a killer, or that he intended to shoot them.
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