Dwayne McCorkendale

[unsolvedmysteriesfan]

This was unsolved as of March 2008 (according to an Oklahoma newspaper article, which mentioned other cold cases). Here is the Cold Cases page: http://www.ok.gov/osbi/Investigative/Unsolved_Cases/

"On Saturday, November 12, 1988, around 6:00 p.m., Dwayne McCorkendale, 27 years of age, was found dead of a gunshot wound at a rest stop on the Turner Turnpike or Highway I-44 near Chandler, Oklahoma. Dwayne had been shot in the back and was lying near a telephone booth. He was a driver for the Contract Freighter, Inc. (CFI) and his truck was at the rest stop. Dwayne was en route from Joplin to Oklahoma City with a load of auto parts. This homicide case has been highlighted on Unsolved Mysteries."

[sdb4884]

Sad this case is unsolved, I didn't think it would be when I first watched it.

[MegtheEgg86]

This case really, really bothers me. It really saddens me everytime I watch it; it's such a senseless, stupid crime.

But I have a hard time believing that the suspects (despite hearsay that they may have been drug users) murdered McCorkendale for the little amount investigators speculated he was carrying at the time. I don't know the ins-and-outs of the trucking industry, but in the past, weren't truck drivers known to actually carry large amounts of money for fuel? I'm not sure what it was like in 1988, but I have heard from older truckers that their transpo firms actually gave them cash for fuel before they went out on a run. It would make more sense, it seems, for the suspects to have shot Dwayne because they believed he was carrying far more money than what was initially believed. I wonder if his truck was searched, and if it was, was there was anything like a money sleeve missing?



And that still doesn't explain why the suspects behaved as they did earlier on I-44, cutting vehicles off and driving dangerously. One would think they wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves. A lot of things that don't make sense here. I wish it could be solved.

[TracyLynnS]

Meg,

My dad was a trucker for over 40 years. I think there's been the general assumption on the part of the public that truckers carry large sums of cash, whether or not they really do.

In reality, the amount they carried back then depended on what type of work they were doing. My dad has done everything from local jobs (completely broke and just carrying a brown bag lunch) to long distance work where he was gone for 4 weeks or more at a time.

It also depends on if they are an independent contractor of if they are an employee of a large or small company.

By the 80s and 90s, my dad was an independent contractor and was doing the long trips hauling specialty cars and robotics. Since he basically was working for himself, he carried a minimum of $1,000 cash, even back then, and that was on his days off. Carrying $3,000 was not unheard of.

I forgot how many gallons of fuel the tanks hold, but I remember him mentioning filling up for $500.

One reason he used cash instead of credit cards was to hide some transactions from the tax man. If he didn't keep some stuff on the down low, he wouldn't have been profitable. His truck cost $125,000 in the early 90s and half of his income went directly back into the business. I'm guessing that a lot of independents did the same thing.

Also, I think that for big transactions of a few hundred dollars like that at the fuel stations, credit cost more per gallon than cash (like gas did for cars in the 70s and 80s - remember when they started saying "cash or credit, same low price"?) So truckers carried the cash to save a ton of money on filling up those huge tanks.

BTW, in all those years on the road, my dad has been held up, but not by an armed robber. The one I remember the best was when he was in NYC in the 70s. It was summer and he had the window down. The thief jumped up on the running board and started crawling into the window. My dad had his loaded pistol in his lap and held the guy at gun point. As soon as the guy saw the gun, he said, "Man, I don't want no trouble." And my dad said, "I know you don't, that's why you're going to stand still until I stop at this next light. Then you're gonna step off my truck or I'm gonna hafta shoot you."

Oh, and I just remembered, my dad never carried his wallet in his back pocket either. A regular thief or pickpocket wouldn't be able to find his cash. If a thief wanted his money bad enough, he'd have to kill him and search for it. I bet that's what happened to Dwayne McCorkendale. I wouldn't be surprised if they planned on killing him from the very beginning, just to get the money and leave no witness.

[MissFit29]

There's some speculation that the killers may have been after drugs. It's rumored that many truckers use speed or something else to keep them awake on the long trips. If these people were after a quick fix, that might have been part of the motive.

But I still can't believe they could never find the Pinto. I mean, how many were even in existence at that time? Didn't they all blow up because of poor placement of the gas tank?

[Mastermind]

But I still can't believe they could never find the Pinto. I mean, how many were even in existence at that time? Didn't they all blow up because of poor placement of the gas tank?

Actually that has been proven wrong. A Pinto is no more likely to explode than with any other American car.

Because of the bad rap of the Pinto, it's became very popular amongs low income individuals who bought them second hand. So it's not unusually for a lot of them to be around down south back then.

[MissFit29]

There were numerous reports of the Pinto. Did they ever get a license plate? If I was a big rig trucker and a car was driving erratically (and potentially blow up from it), I'd be calling that in to the cops right away.

[TracyLynnS]

MissFit,

Regarding truckers taking speed to stay awake....

I can only speak from my own experience. My dad drank lots of coffee to stay awake, plus he's naturally a night owl and doesn't need a lot of sleep to function.

Back in the 60s and 70s, he took over the counter type stuff that was like "stay awake" or something like that. I think it's just caffeine pills.

But since at least the 90s, long haul truckers (at least the ones with reputable companies) get randomly drug tested, so I don't know if they'd be willing to risk losing their job over using a street drug type of speed.

[MissFit29]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

MissFit,

Regarding truckers taking speed to stay awake....

I can only speak from my own experience. My dad drank lots of coffee to stay awake, plus he's naturally a night owl and doesn't need a lot of sleep to function.

Back in the 60s and 70s, he took over the counter type stuff that was like "stay awake" or something like that. I think it's just caffeine pills.

But since at least the 90s, long haul truckers (at least the ones with reputable companies) get randomly drug tested, so I don't know if they'd be willing to risk losing their job over using a street drug type of speed.

Absolutely. However, it might have been an assumption of the part of the killers. The interview in the segment with the trucker who had the encounter with the woman looking for a fix showed how desperate they were to find someone with drugs or money they could give them. It could have been a motive. They wanted their drug no matter what they had to do to get it.

There were two assumptions made: one, that the trucker possessed some drug; and two, that the trucker was carrying a large amount of money. Both were probably false in this case.

[TracyLynnS]

That's the problem with killers. They're usually too stupid for everybody's own good.

I was just watching the Clutter case from the 50s. That whole family was murdered because some idiot in jail was bragging to his buddies that he used to work for a farmer who kept a safe full of money in his lonely old out of the way farm house. Turns out it was all just a big story.

When the buddy got out of jail, he actually went to the house to rob the safe, and ended up killing everyone. Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood about that case.

Then, there was a case here in holly michigan, where some drunks/druggies, were talking about how some relative or guy they had worked for kept huge sums of money in his house. One of the guys hearing the story believed it, and went and killed the whole family by attacking them with a hammer as they slept. He wanted drug money, I think.

Stupid murderers never stop to think that farmers aren't secretly rich and that it would be shocking if back in 1990, someone living in Holly, MI was secretly stashing huge sums of cash in their house while working regular blue collar jobs.

[idol]

One of more senseless killings on UM. RS mentioned the total take for the robbbers, no more than $25.00. Sad to see there has been no update.

[killgas20]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

That's the problem with killers. They're usually too stupid for everybody's own good.

I was just watching the Clutter case from the 50s. That whole family was murdered because some idiot in jail was bragging to his buddies that he used to work for a farmer who kept a safe full of money in his lonely old out of the way farm house. Turns out it was all just a big story.

When the buddy got out of jail, he actually went to the house to rob the safe, and ended up killing everyone. Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood about that case.

Then, there was a case here in holly michigan, where some drunks/druggies, were talking about how some relative or guy they had worked for kept huge sums of money in his house. One of the guys hearing the story believed it, and went and killed the whole family by attacking them with a hammer as they slept. He wanted drug money, I think.

Stupid murderers never stop to think that farmers aren't secretly rich and that it would be shocking if back in 1990, someone living in Holly, MI was secretly stashing huge sums of cash in their house while working regular blue collar jobs.

This is also why one of the great Grand Ole Opry performers and an original cast member on Hee-Haw, David "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife were murdered.

[baloony]

This case and the hit and run in North Carolina are two that will be especially difficult to solve.

[TheCars1986]

This gets my vote for one of the saddest cases ever profiled on UM. I tend to think the killers thought McCorkendale had more money on him than he actually did, and unfortunately shot him for nothing more than petty drug money.

[1990 UM fan]

It made me sad to hear Stack say "Dwayne McCorkendale was murdered doing the thing he loved best. For him, the freedom of the road ended in one senseless and violent split second", and to think his kids grew up without their father. I wonder if they can still catch who did this to him?