Diane Parker, Charlie Parker: ‘Dateline NBC’ Looks At Horry County, South Carolina Farmhouse Double Murders
Diane Parker and Charlie Parker, the Conway, South Carolina, couple found brutally shot to death in their home, will feature in the next episode of Dateline NBC. This Friday’s episode, “The Deed,” will dig deep into the case of a loving couple who was found dead inside their farmhouse. It’s a mystery that exposes the drama surrounding a dispute over a family’s inheritance, a deed, and a child custody battle that sent one man to prison while another went free, until a drop of blood finally spelled out the name of the actual killers. Dateline NBC will discuss the case of Diane and Charlie Edward Parker Sr. using detectives who worked on the case, as well as friends and family members, in order to add some background to the story.
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Dateline’s “The Deed” is a mystery with a lot of twists and turns. It all started in 2005 after a 911 call sent police to an address in Horry County, where the dead bodies of 52-year-old Diane Parker and 54-year-old Charles “Charlie” Parker were found. A coroners report would conclude that they were both fatally shot in the farmhouse they shared together. The bodies were discovered by the couple’s son, Charlie Parker Jr., who had arrived at the Nixonville home early that morning.
Neighbors were shocked and saddened, since everyone knew the Parkers, the same family who owned a glass and mirror business next door to their house. By all accounts, they were a wonderful couple who treated their customers with kindness, a fact that made everyone wonder who could have wanted them dead. Residents were so shaken up by the murder that many lived in fear, wondering if a killer was running loose in their neighborhood with intentions on striking again.
Before long, detectives had gathered enough information to give them an inside look into the Parkers’ lives, which revealed that they had been arguing with their daughter, Bambi, and her boyfriend, Richard Gagnon, over the custody of Bambi’s daughter. It is also alleged that there may have been a family dispute over some land. Eventually, Bambi and Richard Gagnon were arrested for the murder. Charges were later dropped against Bambi. However, Gagnon was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison, mostly based on some specks of blood found on Gagnon’s shoe and the testimony of a jailhouse snitch who claimed that Gagnon admitted that he did it.
The snitch later recanted his story. As a result, Richard Gagnon was released from prison pending a new trial. Before his new trial could get underway, a bombshell was dropped after DNA blood evidence matched another person who wasn’t even on the police’s radar. The blood belonged to Bruce Hill, a man who was already in prison for a home invasion in another state. Detectives always knew that there was another person in the Parker’s home the day they were killed, since some strange blood droplets that didn’t match Gagnon’s DNA were found at the crime scene. In addition to Bruce Hill’s arrest, they also arrested his accomplice, Khalil Moore, according to My Horry News.
The Diane Parker-Charlie Parker murder was a strange whodunit that caused Richard Gagnon to serve eight years in prison for a crime that he says he did not commit. And in the years after the murder, locals of Myrtle Beach and Conway were still discussing the crime. Here are just a couple of Topix comments that were found on the public discussion board about the case.
“Personally I do not believe that Bambi had anything to do with it. The property was always hers; left by her father and she had deeded it to her mother. Her mother always willing gave her parts of the property when she ask for it. There are numerous deeds in the courthouse house that reflect this. I do not think that the boyfriend is the guilty party, but I do have my own thoughts on the situation. It will be interesting to see how it comes out.”
“I watched this entire trial, and I m so shocked that as long as a prosecutor can find two people to get on the witness stand and bad mouth you, you CAN be convicted of a double murder????() I would never put any weight on anything a “jailhouse snitch” had to say. I must say that when the verdict came back I was in complete disbelief that a man could be found guilty of murder with NO EVIDENCE.”
This is definitely a Dateline NBC that you will not want to miss. Find out how Bruce Antwain Hill and Khalil Saleem Moore were finally brought to justice by tuning in this Friday, March 4 on NBC. Check your local listings for times.
[Image via Dateline NBC/Facebook]
