Convenience Store Kidnappings/Mystery Clerk

[AVERMAN]

If you walked into a servo, and saw that it was empty, would you decide to go behind the cash register and begin serving customers just like that?

I believe Mr Megadeth is in on it.

[SP4CE INV4DERZ]

Originally Posted by AVERMAN

If you walked into a servo, and saw that it was empty, would you decide to go behind the cash register and begin serving customers just like that?

I believe Mr Megadeth is in on it.

If the Megadeth man was involved in Debra Poe's disappearance, why did he leave the eyewitness alone?

[AVERMAN]

He wasn't acting alone.

The way I believe it happened, is the first man (or group of men) kidnapped Debra. The second man posed as a worker so that none of the eyewitnesses who came in suspected that anything was wrong. The eyewitness that was interviewed by UM didn't suspect anything until later on anyway. He didn't do anything to any of the witnesses because his sole purpose of being there was to divert the attention away from the night's events. Plus they probably didn't want anymore blood on their hands.

[kadrmas15]

Well actually two men are currently serving 25 years to life sentences in Florida prisons for the abduction, rape and murder of Donna Callahan that was one of the disapperances talked about on UM in the Poe segment. Apperantly in the mid 90's a man already serving a lengthy prison sentence confessed that he and his half-brother had abducted Callahan, raped and murdered her. He led them to the body I believe in 1995 or 1996. His half-brother had actually never even been in prison before this when he was arrested in connection with the Callahan murder 7 or 8 years after it happened. As I said, both are now serving 25 years to life in prison and neither of them look like the Megadeth (I got it right this time) composite.

William Wells was the man who confessed. Wells was serving a 30 year sentence for robbery and various other charges when he confessed that he and his half brother had abducted and murdered Donna Callahan. I believe Wells pled guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Wells is currently 39 years old and is currently locked up at the Century Correctional Institution in Century, Florida near the Georgia border in the same county as Pensacola. Wells currently stands 5'10 and weights just under 150 pounds. The other man convicted with Wells in the Callahan homicide is his older half brother Mark Riebe. Riebe had never done prison time before he was arrested in 1997 in connection with the Callahan murder. Riebe was also sentenced to 25 years to life and turns 46 next month. Riebe stands currently at 5'7 and weighs 140 pounds and is currently locked up at the Gulf Correctional Institution in Wewahitchka, Florida. I dont think either of these guys were involved with Poe because they do not match the physical description of Megadeth.

[Awsi Dooger]

Thanks for the update on the Callahan case, kadrmas. It was always a bit of a stretch to connect the three convenience store abductions, IMO. Florida is a fairly large state and those three cities mentioned in the UM segment are significantly apart. Gulf Breeze, where the Callahan abduction occured, is damn near in Alabama, on the edge of the Florida panhandle. That's several hundred miles from Orlando, which is in central Florida closer to the east coast, and where the Poe incident happened. Lake City, site of the other case, is in north central Florida not too far from the Georgia border.

If these abductions had occured in New England, for example, they could have been several states apart. It's like when people hear I live in Las Vegas and assume that's close to Reno. I'm actually much closer to Los Angeles than northern Nevada.

[wiseguy182]

I think if the Megadeth guy is guilty, then he must have had at least one accomplice. It would be too risky for him to assume that there would be no customers coming into the convenience store.

[crystaldawn]

Initially I don't think the Megadeth guy abducted her. I guess it would be nice to know how long of a time span there was between when Debra was last seen and when the Megadeth guy was in the store. (I can't remember if UM mentions it). If it was hours than I suppose the guy had time to abduct Debra, do something with her body and then return to the scene of the crime to rob the store. Also if the guy had just abducted Debra surely he knew eventually the police would be notified so why would he return to the store at the risk of having the police arrive and why would he leave the girl alone who came in to buy cigarettes? He would have had thoughts of wanting to silence her if he knew he had just abducted someone from that store and this girl comes in that could possibly identify him.

[wiseguy182]

It stated that it could be verified that Debra waited on customers until 3:05, and the friend came in at 3:50 and noticed she wasn't there. So we're looking at a maximum of 45 minutes. I'm not sure if they stated what time the customer came in, that would help narrow it down as far as the timeframe goes.

[AVERMAN]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

I think if the Megadeth guy is guilty, then he must have had at least one accomplice. It would be too risky for him to assume that there would be no customers coming into the convenience store.

Exactly what i'm thinking. The initial kidnappers did the deed, where as Mr Megadeth stayed back and took it upon himself to run the store.

But then why did he leave before the friend of Debra's showed up??

[Awsi Dooger]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

It stated that it could be verified that Debra waited on customers until 3:05, and the friend came in at 3:50 and noticed she wasn't there. So we're looking at a maximum of 45 minutes. I'm not sure if they stated what time the customer came in, that would help narrow it down as far as the timeframe goes.

The customer said she came into the store at 3:30, basically midway through the missing 45 minutes.

These things unfold very quickly, much less time than is generally assumed. Normalcy to gone in scant minutes. We learned that, or should have, in the O.J. trial.

At 3:30 AM there's very little worry of a stream of traffic in a convenience store. It's possible the store was identified as a target due to location and not having security cameras.

My version is very basic: Megadeth did not have an accomplice. Robbery was not in the equation. After all, the segment says Poe's purse was in her car and still contained a small bit of cash, something like $25. I think he had already subdued Poe, who was probably in the back room. Since he wasn't ready to leave when the customer showed up, he had to take care of that briefly before departing.

I was surprised the UM segment didn't ask the customer if she saw more than one other car in the lot when she arrived. You would think a guy with a Megadeth shirt and a skull ring would have a car that stood out in some respect. I would guess he had the car parked strategically close to the store, perhaps near a side or rear entrance, to facilitate a quick and largely unseen escape.

[wiseguy182]

I've been thinking about this case alot lately, and rewatched the segment yesterday morning. Originally I was leaning towards the Megadeth guy being innocent, but the more I think about it, and the more I read other posters good theories, I'm now starting to think he was either responsible, or played some part in it.

I've never worked in a convenience store, but I have worked in a grocery store, and I do know that the vast majority of customers in there are people that live close by. I would imagine the same would be true for convienece stores. So the fact that this Megadeth dude hasn't resurfaced by now and that seemingly no one recognizes him leads me to believe he's an out-of-towner, which makes me subsequently believe he more likely than not didn't have good intentions when he walked into the store.

[kadrmas15]

Yes, I do not think the three are all related. I do think it is possible the same people might have done two of them but I think whoever did Poe's did not do Callahan's for sure, I do not think the two guys that did Callahan's did Poe's as I said earlier. Gulf Breeze is just across the bay from Pensacola and to get there from Pensacola would requre traveling across the Pensacola bay bridge. I think the brothers I talked about earlier were from Pensacola. I am pretty sure that the motive for Callahan's abduction was more not to leave a witness because I believe they robbed the convinence store. Although they might have been drunk and under the influence of drugs as well and that might have been the reason while the sexual assault and murder was committed. Although William Wells at the time was on supervised probation for burglary's and stuff and he probably knew if he got caught he would go to prison so he decided to snuff out the witness however Wells ended up going to prison for another robbery less than two years later. The brothers though I believe were either residents of Pensacola or the county that Pensacola is in so even driving to Lake City where the other abduction and murder occurred would have been a lengthy drive for them. Pensacola to Lake City would be an 4 or 5 hour drive probably. Pensacola to Orlando would probably be a 7 or 8 hour drive.

[Awsi Dooger]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

I've never worked in a convenience store, but I have worked in a grocery store, and I do know that the vast majority of customers in there are people that live close by. I would imagine the same would be true for convienece stores. So the fact that this Megadeth dude hasn't resurfaced by now and that seemingly no one recognizes him leads me to believe he's an out-of-towner, which makes me subsequently believe he more likely than not didn't have good intentions when he walked into the store.

That's a very interesting point. I was trying to think of when I've shopped at convenience stores and the only ones I could think of in recent years have been within blocks of where I live. Generally when my car was being serviced, or it was a holiday and the 24 hour grocery stores are closed. I remember that from Thanksgiving night.

It might be a bit different if the convenience store is near a highway or even a major statewide road. I wish UM had been a bit more specific in that regard, showing where the crimes occured with a map or significant detail as opposed to merely the city and time/day/year.

[Dislimb]

You really shouldn't smoke, you know?

[AVERMAN]

Originally Posted by Dislimb

You really shouldn't smoke, you know?

There we go.