Rhonda Hinson Boyfriend

[Lakeboy]

This has probably already been discussed on here but today I was reading something I had never noticed before. On the Burke County website it says:

On the evening of Tuesday, December 22, 1981, Rhonda attended her office's (Hickory Steel Company) Christmas party at the American Legion Hut in Hickory. After leaving the party around midnight, she stopped by a friend's house to pick up her vehicle and call her boyfriend.

Do you think her and her boyfriend had an argument on the phone that night??? Remember there were no cell phones back then. Who would have known what time Rhonda would be going home from the party???

In my opinion, Rhonda's killer was someone associated with the party or someone who knew what time she would be leaving the party and going home. In a recent local article (I live about an hour from Burke County), Her mother says she never went out at night. She was scared.

So I feel like whoever killed her felt like this may be their only chance since she never went out at night. Has the boyfriend ever been looked into??? I would love to know your thoughts.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by Lakeboy

This has probably already been discussed on here but today I was reading something I had never noticed before. On the Burke County website it says:

On the evening of Tuesday, December 22, 1981, Rhonda attended her office's (Hickory Steel Company) Christmas party at the American Legion Hut in Hickory. After leaving the party around midnight, she stopped by a friend's house to pick up her vehicle and call her boyfriend.

Do you think her and her boyfriend had an argument on the phone that night??? Remember there were no cell phones back then. Who would have known what time Rhonda would be going home from the party???

In my opinion, Rhonda's killer was someone associated with the party or someone who knew what time she would be leaving the party and going home. In a recent local article (I live about an hour from Burke County), Her mother says she never went out at night. She was scared.

So I feel like whoever killed her felt like this may be their only chance since she never went out at night. Has the boyfriend ever been looked into??? I would love to know your thoughts.

I want to know if this boyfriend is the married man in question, but I seriously doubt it as no one seemed to know who the married man was that she was referring to. Her frequent showers and such led people to believe that she was being sexually abused- perhaps by the married man? Maybe he had pursued her and attacked her? The person who shot her, in my opinion, did not mean to kill her, which is why they grabbed her out of the car and were holding her as the witness said. I think it's possible that the married man pursued/ was aggressive with Rhonda when she didn't pursue a relationship with him or he was jealous about this boyfriend she had. I think if the car and witness description had matched the boyfriend in any way, LE would have already made note of it. I would love to get more info on this case. I think in the next couple of days it will be 31 years since the murder and her family deserves to know the truth just as much as Rhonda deserves justice.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by WishfulDreamer

I want to know if this boyfriend is the married man in question, but I seriously doubt it as no one seemed to know who the married man was that she was referring to. Her frequent showers and such led people to believe that she was being sexually abused- perhaps by the married man? Maybe he had pursued her and attacked her? The person who shot her, in my opinion, did not mean to kill her, which is why they grabbed her out of the car and were holding her as the witness said. I think it's possible that the married man pursued/ was aggressive with Rhonda when she didn't pursue a relationship with him or he was jealous about this boyfriend she had. I think if the car and witness description had matched the boyfriend in any way, LE would have already made note of it. I would love to get more info on this case. I think in the next couple of days it will be 31 years since the murder and her family deserves to know the truth just as much as Rhonda deserves justice.

I agree 100%. I also think it's likely that Rhonda's killer/s were unknown to her, and were just some dumb teenagers trying to pull a stupid prank that got deadly.

[dynoguy88]

If her boyfriend was a married man, I think that information would have been released ages ago.

Stupid teenagers out having fun shooting, with this turning into a terrible accident sounds plausible. But this took place out in the country with no street lights. The only light you were going to get was from the occasional passing car, and this was late at night so your weren't going to see many of those. What kind of pranks can you pull with it being pitch dark? I guess it's possible the two males in the chevrolet could have been teens who simply got out of the car and pulled a rifle out as Rhonda drove off, not thinking they would hit anything. Police believe the shots came from there, right under the bridge.

This shot shows the distance from the bridge to where Rhonda ended up...



Whoever shot her, I'm surprised they would let themself be seen at her car when the witness later drove by.

[soilentgreen]

The phone call to the boyfriend is pretty interesting, given the timing. Why not call him from her own home, to let him know that she arrived home safely?

A really good thread on this case: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...highlight=rhon From post #26, it was being claimed during the filming of the segment that Rhonda had broken up with a boyfriend prior to her murder. That man's father supposedly was a minister and a hunter.

Nor do I think the perpetrator had to be someone with any greater proficiency than your average clay target shooter. While it could have been a prank or illegal hunting gone wrong, I'd have expected that sort of idiot to run off immediately, or to quickly look through the window or open the door and then really panic as the witness's car came towards them - not pull her body out of the vehicle and arrange her arms at her sides after the witness drove by.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by soilentgreen

While it could have been a prank or illegal hunting gone wrong, I'd have expected that sort of idiot to run off immediately, or to quickly look through the window or open the door and then really panic as the witness's car came towards them - not pull her body out of the vehicle and arrange her arms at her sides after the witness drove by.

That's actually part of the reason I think it was a hit. I think someone wanted to check that she was in fact dead, and move her where she'd be temporarily out of sight while he (or them) got out of the immediate area around Mineral Springs Mountain Road.

I don't think this person is a professional. I think he's something like an Elmo Florence.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

That's actually part of the reason I think it was a hit. I think someone wanted to check that she was in fact dead, and move her where she'd be temporarily out of sight while he (or them) got out of the immediate area around Mineral Springs Mountain Road.

That makes sense. An accidental shooting would most likely result in the shooter leaving right away. A hitman would be more likely to check and see if she were alive. I just don't understand the guy making no attempt to hide when the witness drove past them. What good does pulling her body to the ground do and how much time does it really buy you? He could just as easily felt her wrist for a pulse and then taken off running, leaving her slumped over the steering wheel.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

That makes sense. An accidental shooting would most likely result in the shooter leaving right away. A hitman would be more likely to check and see if she were alive. I just don't understand the guy making no attempt to hide when the witness drove past them. What good does pulling her body to the ground do and how much time does it really buy you? He could just as easily felt her wrist for a pulse and then taken off running, leaving her slumped over the steering wheel.

This is part of the reason I think this was an accidental shooting. The one witness to this case saw a car flying down the road (driving away from where Rhonda was found) before he saw the man holding Rhonda's body. I think the shooter was the one speeding away in a rush to get out of dodge. If there was a passenger with the shooter, who had felt some sort of remorse for Rhonda being shot, this would explain why someone would have went to the car, why they would let themselves be seen by a witness, and why this person would have attempted to pull Rhonda's body out of the car. A hitman would have done none of these things. Sure, they would have made sure she was dead. But a quick check of her pulse would have sufficed. It makes no sense for a hitman to pull her body from her car. It does however, make sense if it was someone who was attempting to revive/check on Rhonda.

Now that brings up the question: why hasn't this person come forward if Rhonda's death was in fact an accident? I think the main reason is simply out of fear for being implicated in her murder. If this person seen holding Rhonda's body was in fact not directly responsible for her death (aka the shooter), they still would be charged in this case in some capacity. And it's possible that the two of them (if there were two) made some sort of pact to keep quiet.

And as to the darkness of the road not being luminous enough for someone to shoot Rhonda, I disagree (in the context that this was an accidental shooting). Her breaklights alone would have illuminated her car enough for someone to have shot at it. Now if this were a hitman, or someone who was intent on murdering Rhonda, I don't see how this would have been possible on such a dark road. But if this were just some dumb teenagers shooting off a gun, they certainly would have had a huge target if they were simply aiming at her car and not trying to hit her directly.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

A hitman would have done none of these things. Sure, they would have made sure she was dead. But a quick check of her pulse would have sufficed. It makes no sense for a hitman to pull her body from her car. It does however, make sense if it was someone who was attempting to revive/check on Rhonda.

A professional hitman, perhaps. An individual just paid to shoot someone may or may not have the good sense to check a pulse.

Which also begs the question--if someone is simply trying to revive or check on Rhonda, why would he or she not just check her pulse?

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

A professional hitman, perhaps. An individual just paid to shoot someone may or may not have the good sense to check a pulse.

Which also begs the question--if someone is simply trying to revive or check on Rhonda, why would he or she not just check her pulse?

Maybe this person was in a panic after she was shot, and in a frenzy tried to get her out of the vehicle after they found no pulse in a half-assed attempt to do CPR and try to revive her?

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Maybe this person was in a panic after she was shot, and in a frenzy tried to get her out of the vehicle after they found no pulse in a half-assed attempt to do CPR and try to revive her?

Makes sense to me. I could see it going down like that. But I can also as easily see it happening the way I described as well. I can't discount her behavior before the murder. Something was going on in her life, and I think it might have had something to do with work.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Makes sense to me. I could see it going down like that. But I can also as easily see it happening the way I described as well. I can't discount her behavior before the murder. Something was going on in her life, and I think it might have had something to do with work.

I haven't seen the segment in quite some time, but IIRC wasn't there speculation that she was sexually assaulted? I don't know what to make out of the whole "married man" angle that was presented. It could just be a red herring, or maybe she was just infatuated with this married man who rebuffed her advances? This could explain her odd behavior.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

I haven't seen the segment in quite some time, but IIRC wasn't there speculation that she was sexually assaulted? I don't know what to make out of the whole "married man" angle that was presented. It could just be a red herring, or maybe she was just infatuated with this married man who rebuffed her advances? This could explain her odd behavior.

The sexually assaulted angle was brought up in theory to her constantly taking showers in the middle of the night the weeks leading up to her death. The showers would wake her mother up and Rhonda would always say, "I just can't sleep, I feel dirty."

Rhonda also began asking her dad to accompany her into town whenever she ran errands, according to the segment. On one trip, she told her father that she had something she needed to tell him but was afraid of how he would react. In the interview, the dad said he told Rhonda that no matter how bad this issue was, to tell him anyway, and she still didn't end up saying a thing despite bringing it up herself.

[Drakken]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

The sexually assaulted angle was brought up in theory to her constantly taking showers in the middle of the night the weeks leading up to her death. The showers would wake her mother up and Rhonda would always say, "I just can't sleep, I feel dirty."

Rhonda also began asking her dad to accompany her into town whenever she ran errands, according to the segment. On one trip, she told her father that she had something she needed to tell him but was afraid of how he would react. In the interview, the dad said he told Rhonda that no matter how bad this issue was, to tell him anyway, and she still didn't end up saying a thing despite bringing it up herself.

That's what he said after the facts, and maybe he was sincere. However maybe it didn't come off like that at the time of when he was driving Rhonda, and she prefered keeping it shut. After all, they lived in a small town where everyone knew everyone and she didn't want to involve her family in a scandal.

My best guess is that either she was coerced into sex by either one of her superiors, a big client, or a senior colleague, or she wanted it but she felt shame or remorse about it. That's the only thing I can see why she would feel so ashamed that she would continually shower herself so late and speak of herself that way, while continuing to work there and maintain a facade of happiness at work.

The "person" had to be in a position enough that talking about it would lead to serious consequences. Or, maybe she wanted to protect the man in question, and she was afraid that if she told anything her parents would raise hell. Remember that, if we go by the segment, she opened up to her mother by asking "if it was ever allright to go out with a married man". The way she phrased it doesn't sound like "sexual abuse" or being coerced, but more like a young girl wanting or already being involved with a man who is already married. Maybe she felt that her mother would judge her, and she tried to open up to her dad afterwards but in the end decided not to.

[TheCars1986]

I think it's entirely possible that Rhonda did go against her mother's advice and engage in an illicit affair with a married man, which would account for her behavior and her feeling ashamed.