FILE 124 / 20 June 2019 / 147 MIN / full

Saving It For Later

Townville, South CarolinaListen

The town

N ↑Public placePublic placePublic placePublic placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We're going down into Townville, South Carolina ... This town is in Anderson County. about 0:05:34

History, in brief

Town note

The area was first settled by the Cherokee, who sided with the British during the American Revolution; after the war their land was acquired as war reparations.

about 0:07:21

1791

In 1791 the South Carolina legislature created the Washington District out of Greenville, Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties, but Townville was never incorporated.

about 0:09:00

Town note

Anderson is named after Robert Anderson, a Revolutionary War soldier who explored the region in the mid-eighteenth century.

about 0:09:42

1851

The Johnson Female Seminary was founded in 1851 and named after William Johnson.

about 0:10:13
All 18 history facts

Town note

The area was first settled by the Cherokee, who sided with the British during the American Revolution; after the war their land was acquired as war reparations.

about 0:07:21

1791

In 1791 the South Carolina legislature created the Washington District out of Greenville, Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties, but Townville was never incorporated.

about 0:09:00

Town note

Anderson is named after Robert Anderson, a Revolutionary War soldier who explored the region in the mid-eighteenth century.

about 0:09:42

1851

The Johnson Female Seminary was founded in 1851 and named after William Johnson.

about 0:10:13

Town note

During the Civil War the seminary, by then Johnson University, was closed and converted into a Confederate treasury.

about 0:11:32

Town note

A Union garrison was stationed in the area after the Civil War.

about 0:12:02

Town note

Anderson became one of the first cities in the South-East to have electricity and called itself the Electric City.

about 0:12:11

1889

William Whitner established electricity in the town in 1889 with a hydroelectric plant on the Rocky River.

about 0:12:44

Town note

Anderson was the first city in the world to supply a cotton gin with electricity.

about 0:13:33

1897

In 1897 the power plant was upgraded with a large generating station, and Portman Shoals became the first hydroelectric plant in the United States to generate high voltage without step-up transformers.

about 0:14:14

1901

The Portman Dam was swept away in 1901 and Anderson was in darkness until it was rebuilt in 1902.

about 0:15:06

1911

Anderson College was established in 1911 by the Anderson Chamber of Commerce as a successor to the Johnson Female Seminary and was affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

about 0:15:53

1930

Anderson College became co-educational in 1930 and was renamed Anderson University in 2006.

about 0:16:39

1925

A 1925-26 assessment of Anderson County recorded twelve accredited high schools and public school enrolment of 14,838 white children and 6,395 coloured children.

about 0:17:11

1925

Eight car loads of poultry were shipped from the county during the autumn and winter of 1925-26.

about 0:18:33

Town note

Jim Rice, the Boston Red Sox power hitter and Hall of Famer, is from the area.

about 0:19:06

Town note

Larry Nance, the sportscaster, is also from the area.

about 0:19:20

Town note

A 14-year-old carried out a school shooting in Townville, killing his father and a first grader, after writing in his diary that he hoped to kill fifty or sixty people.

about 0:19:58

The figures, as told

Religious

66%

Biggest faith: Baptist, 45%

about 0:24:25

Who lives here

White 96% · Black 1.84% · Asian 0.0% · Hispanic 0.14%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
slightly high, but pretty much at average

about 0:31:56

Violent crime
right at average

about 0:31:56

Money

Median home value$233,800
Two-bedroom rent$880
Median household income$54,000
Cost of living106

For sale

$192,900

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,500 square feet

about 0:27:23

For sale

$329,000

New three-bedroom, three-bath house, 2,800 square feet

about 0:27:35

For sale

$535,000

Three-bedroom, three-bath lake house, 3,765 square feet

about 0:28:05
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2019

Property crime

"slightly high, but pretty much at average"

Comparison: "average". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2019 about 0:31:56

Violent crime, including murder, rape, robbery and assault

"right at average"

Comparison: "average". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2019 about 0:31:56

Population

"4,177"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:36

Population growth

"up 62% since 1990"

Comparison: "1990". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:46

Median age

"47.8"

Comparison: "ten years older than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:51

White residents

"96%"

Comparison: "normally about 62%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:41

Black residents

"1.84%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:50

Asian residents

"0.0%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:21

Hispanic residents

"0.14%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:28

Voted Democrat in the last election

"26%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:09

Voted Republican in the last election

"70%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:09

Religious residents

"66%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:25

Median household income

"$54,000"

Comparison: "$57,500 is normal". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:23

Manufacturing jobs

"twice as many manufacturing jobs as normal"

Comparison: "average town". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:34

Cost of living

"106"

Comparison: "100 being the regular average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:55

Housing cost index

"121"

Comparison: "100 being the regular average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:05

Median home cost

"$233,800"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:05

Homes worth less than $23,000

"10%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:31

Average two-bedroom rental

"$880"

Comparison: "$400 below the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:06

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,500 square feet

"$192,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:23

New three-bedroom, three-bath house, 2,800 square feet

"$329,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:35

Three-bedroom, three-bath lake house, 3,765 square feet

"$535,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:05

The reviews

4.1 / 5 · average of 1

4.1 stars

“The main thing to do in Townville and the place to buy party supplies.”
about 0:29:09

In South Carolina

Closest episodes

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  2. My Daddybrother Did ItClayton, Georgia · 12 October 202358 km / 36 miShow on map
  3. Baby-Faced & DeadlyTraveler's Rest, South Carolina · 5 February 202663 km / 39 miShow on map
  4. Bloody Rose PetalsGreer, South Carolina · 1 August 202574 km / 46 miShow on map
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The story

He married Michelle in early 1993.

That same day Clemson students rented Traditions for a private weekend party, and the bar's septic tank was blocked. Zastro suggested that the Walters brothers, who set up mobile homes for a living, could repair it. That Friday night the brothers and a dozen other people gathered at Traditions, built a bonfire and spent the night drinking beer, smoking marijuana and using methamphetamine. The tank was never fixed. The same group partied at the bar again on Saturday, 15 November.

On Sunday, 16 November, Shane Walters and his wife Vicky had friends at their trailer to watch a car race on television. They drove to the house of Tammy Steele, where the party continued. Tammy later said that she and Stacy had sex while the others were away and that the condom broke and could not be found. The party at Tammy Steele's house went on until after five in the morning.

What happened in the field is disputed. He said Stacy then handed Shane a cassette case holding four lines of powder and passed it to him.

The forensic evidence told a different story. All three had been shot in the head at close range inside the cab. Shane Walters had six gunshot wounds, including a fatal shot to the back of the head. Stacy Walters was shot in the right temple and the right cheek, either of which was fatal. Sonya Khan was shot three times, including through the right temple and through the left eye. The state's pathologist, Brett Woodard, found that the wounds that killed Shane and Sonya, and at least one of Sonya's head wounds, were inflicted after they were lying on the ground outside the truck, and that Shane and Stacy had been kicked and stamped on. Shane's unloaded hunting rifle was under the back seat. Sonya's purse held two unopened pocket knives and Shane had an unopened folding knife in his pocket.

Stacy Walters' autopsy also showed that he was wearing a condom when he died.

Wade Khan testified that the truck had returned to his family's house about half an hour after collecting his sister and then left again.

At the retrial in March 2004 the defence ran the same case. Sheriff Taylor testified that Ronnie had been an international drug smuggler dealing in cocaine and marijuana with connections to violent drug lords, but on cross-examination he said that Ronnie had been careful, had left the drug business by 1991 and had never dealt in methamphetamine, and that there was no evidence the Walters brothers knew him.

His sister Lorie and his wife Michelle continued to proclaim his innocence. Sonya Khan's mother, Deborah Burnham, and the Walters brothers' father, Lawrence Walters, spoke of their grief and of the photographs and hospital memories they could not forget.

In 2009 vandals damaged Sonya Khan's grave at a church cemetery, breaking a cement angel and a solar-powered cross; her mother believed the damage was a message to her.

The case

Murder of Shane Walters, Stacy Walters and Sonya Khan

Victims

Shane Walters (27). set up mobile homes for a living; married to Vicky
Stacy Walters (22). Shane's brother; father of two sons aged three and one
Sonya Khan (21). waitress; mother of a three-year-old daughter

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 20 June 2019.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Paul Zastro. mutual friend who introduced to the Walters brothers
Tammy Steele. hosted the Sunday night party; said she had sex with Stacy Walters that night
Danielle. Tammy Steele's sister, who joined the party
Vicky Walters. Shane's wife
Wade Khan. Sonya's brother, who testified about the truck collecting her at 5.45 a.m. and returning half an hour later
Deborah Burnham. Sonya Khan's mother
Lawrence Walters. father of Shane and Stacy Walters
Lorie. sister, who proclaimed his innocence
Chief Lee. Seneca chief of police
Sheriff Jean Taylor. sheriff who testified about Ronnie drug activities
Johnny Fields. defence attorney
Brett Woodard. pathologist who examined the victims

The timeline

  1. June 1967 is born.about 0:48:26
  2. 1984 At seventeen appears as a model in a Greenville newspaper spread about changing teen fashions.about 0:48:52
  3. Early 1993 marries Michelle after a year-long engagement.about 0:53:16
  4. November 14, 1997 meets Shane and Stacy Walters at Paul Zastro's house. (Paul Zastro's house)about 0:58:19
  5. November 14, 1997 The group gathers at Traditions to work on the blocked septic tank, builds a bonfire and drinks and uses methamphetamine all night. (Traditions)about 1:01:17
  6. November 15, 1997 The same group parties at Traditions for a second night; and Shane agree to go hunting the next morning. (Traditions)about 1:06:26
  7. November 16, 1997 Shane and Vicky Walters have friends at their trailer to watch a car race on television. (Walters trailer)about 1:09:43
  8. November 16, 1997 and Zastro arrive at the Walters trailer about four in the afternoon; , Shane and Stacy go four-wheeling with guns. (Walters trailer)about 1:11:28
  9. November 16, 1997 The group parties at Tammy Steele's house; Michelle telephones and he says he is not coming home. (Tammy Steele's house)about 1:14:49
  10. November 16, 1997 , Shane and Danielle drive to Traditions for beer and then to Zastro's house to keep drinking and using methamphetamine. (Paul Zastro's house)about 1:18:03
  11. After five in the morning, the morning after the party , Shane and Stacy leave Tammy Steele's house and collect Sonya Khan; her brother sees the truck arrive at about 5.45 a.m. (Sonya Khan's house)about 1:20:41
  12. Shortly afterwards They drive to a kudzu field overlooking Lake Hartwell. (Kudzu field)about 1:21:02
  13. Shortly afterwards In the truck Sonya passes methamphetamine, Shane asks whether he has wronged Ronnie and says he was paid to take care of him, and Stacy seizes and threatens to make him squeal like a pig. (Kudzu field)about 1:29:09
  14. Shortly afterwards shoots all three, reloads, and drags the bodies from the truck; Shane is shot six times, Stacy twice in the head and Sonya three times. (Kudzu field)about 1:31:16

Places and phrases

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Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode