For whatever reason, it seemed the 1980s produced a ton of true crime and killings across the United States. One case that should be mentioned more is the May 1985 slayings of the Eastburn family. Kathryn “Katie” Eastburn and her two daughters, Erin and Kara, were found murdered inside their Fayetteville, North Carolina, home. This is a detailed case, like Jeffrey MacDonald’s, and the reported killer would be found guilty, released, and brought to justice in 2010.
Gary Eastburn met Katie during the 1970s, and eventually married in 1975. Gary served as a captain in the United States Air Force, and the following years would produce three children, Kara, Erin, and Jana. In 1983, Gary and the family traveled to Pope Air Force Base, where he worked as an air traffic controller. Still, by May 1985, his wife and children were living back in Fayetteville, as Gary was undergoing training at an officer school in Montgomery, Alabama.
Like the many others, the Eastburn family seemed like the all-American family, but the events that would soon occur in May 1985 would leave many wondering how an ad to rehome a dog would result in three deaths.
The Eastburns had planned to relocate to England so that Gary could take a position with the Royal Air Force. Katie posted an advertisement in a local newspaper in hopes of rehoming the family’s English Setter on May 7, 1985. Army Sergeant, 27-year-old Timothy Hennis, responded to the ad. He would soon arrive at the home, and after spending time talking with Katie, Hennis took the setter home with him.
Sometime around May 11, Katie had stopped responding to her husband when he called. On May 12, a concerned neighbor, along with a police officer, visited the Eastburn home. When they gained entry, they discovered the remains of Katie, Kara, and Erin. The youngest child, Jana, survived the attack and reportedly suffered dehydration and diarrhea.
Katie had been sexually assaulted and stabbed, reportedly fifteen times. Semen was also found inside the victim. Kara had reportedly been stabbed repeatedly, and Erin was bludgeoned in the chest and back areas.
Soon, an investigation was launched into the murders, and Hennis was brought in for questioning on May 15. Hennis acknowledged that he was at the Eastburn home on May 7 to pick up the dog, but denied any wrongdoing. But Hennis did say that he spoke with Katie on May 9, discussing how the dog, named Dixie, was adjusting.
“In addition, Hennis also provided investigators with blood, saliva, and hair samples and finger and palm prints. Due to his close resemblance to the composite sketch, investigators identified Hennis as the prime suspect from the onset. Cone (saw a figure that matched Hennis leaving the home) identified Hennis during a photo lineup, leading to Hennis’ arrest that evening.”
Hennis stated that he dropped his family off the night of May 9 with his in-laws, stopped to refuel, and went home, but his story was quickly challenged by a former girlfriend, who told investigators that he had stopped by her house. Also, the black Member Only jacket that the suspect was wearing in the composite sketch was taken to a local dry cleaner on May 10, and a neighbor reportedly saw Hennis burn items in a barrel on the morning of May 11, 1985.
Hennis was found guilty in the summer of 1986 and sentenced to death for the crimes. He was transferred to death row in Raleigh. While in prison, Hennis received a letter that had seemed to come out of left field.
The letter was postmarked on July 8, 1986, and read, “Dear Mr. Hennis, I did the crime, I murdered the Eastburns. Sorry you’re doin [sic] the time. I’ll be safely out of North Carolina when you read this. Thanks, Mr. X.”
A copy of the letter was also sent to the Sheriff’s Office. Hennis appealed his conviction, and soon a second trial began, which would ultimately see Timothy Hennis walk free during the retrial in 1989.
Remember the DNA samples that Hennis gave in 1985? Those would ultimately lead to his downfall.
In May 2005, 16 years after the acquittal, “Captain Larry Trotter of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office attended a detectives’ seminar on advanced criminal-intelligence techniques, which discussed the Eastburn murders as a case study. After conversing with the journalist Scott Whisnant, who had covered the Eastburn murder trials, Trotter learned that detectives had extracted semen from Katie’s body using a vaginal swab. Since DNA testing was still in its infancy in the 1980s, investigators could not test the sample.”
In June 2006, the semen sample came back as 1.2 quadrillion times from Hennis. On April 3, 2010, Timothy Hennis was found guilty after three hours of deliberation, and he now sits on death row.
Written By: John G. Clark Jr.