On the morning of March 3rd, 1989, 5-year-old Justin Turner began his day with a bowl of Cinnamon Crunch cereal before getting ready for kindergarten. Justin resided with his biological father, Victor Turner, and stepmother, Pamela Turner, in Berkeley County, South Carolina. His routine included walking to a neighbor’s house in their rural neighborhood near Monk’s Corner to catch the school bus. However, that morning, Justin failed to appear at the neighbor’s house for his journey to school. The young boy disappeared somewhere along the path from his home to the neighbor’s driveway.
Justin’s fellow kindergarteners at Monk’s Corners were puzzled by his absence on Friday, March 3rd, 1989, as they noticed he didn’t board the bus bound for Whitesville Elementary School. Initially, his friends speculated that illness might have kept him home. Yet, this assumption was shattered when the afternoon bus returned to the neighborhood and Justin’s stepmother awaited him at the driveway’s end, as usual. When Justin didn’t disembark from the bus that afternoon, his stepmother promptly raised the alarm and reported his disappearance.
“He didn’t come over and he wasn’t on the bus, you know? So the first things you know, Justin must be sick,” a neighbor recalled. “And then me and my brother got home from school and my grandma’s, and we’re just playing, and his stepmom came over to ask if we had seen him. I guess 4:30, 5:00 in the afternoon. She asked if, you know, was he at school, and said no, he was on bus. I thought he was home sick, and then that’s basically, you know, when we knew something was wrong, ’cause, you know, why would his stepmom come over and ask?”
Family members and law enforcement officers scoured the vicinity for the sweet, blond-haired boy known for his amiable nature and no known instances of wandering off, but Justin was nowhere to be found. The disappearance of Justin Lee Turner left a trail of unanswered questions. Multiplying the mysteries surrounding this case was: Was Justin’s departure voluntary, or was he forcibly taken, or perhaps an even more sinister fate awaited the young boy?
Justin Lee Turner was born in 1983 to his parents, Vivien Elaine Pace and Victor Turner. Behind his cheerful facade lay the strain of his parents’ faltering marriage and subsequent separation, leaving him longing for familial stability. Victor Turner and Elaine shared a turbulent relationship fraught with difficulties right after their union in January of 1976. By the mid-80s, their marriage had deteriorated irreparably, culminating in divorce with Victor securing primary custody of Justin. Elaine, deeply devoted to her son, maintained contact through weekend visits and daily phone calls, determined to amend the custody arrangement.
Initially, authorities considered the possibility that Justin’s biological mother, Elaine Pace, might have been involved in his disappearance. However, their investigation revealed that Elaine and her current husband, Russell Pace, were both at their workplaces when Justin vanished.
“The day he went missing, his grandfather, which is my uncle, Elaine’s daddy, was at my mother’s house. He got the phone call that Justin had not gotten off the school bus and was missing,” a relative shared. “So I rode back to Somerville with him that day, so I was there whenever the search was going on. I assume they were thinking it was parental abduction. They were calling to ask her what she had done with Justin, and her response each time was, ‘I do not have my son. Will you please find my son?'”
Deputies James Gaither and Philip Mason promptly answered the 911 call from Justin’s stepmother, Pamela, later known as Megan Turner. The authorities thoroughly searched the residence, its adjacent property, the camper, and the entire compound. No stone was left unturned; ponds were dredged, wooded areas combed in a grid pattern, and fields were meticulously searched. With each effort, the unsettling possibility loomed larger: it appeared increasingly likely that Justin had been abducted by someone who had spirited him away from the area.
Just two days elapsed since Justin was last seen. The apprehensions mounting in the hearts of his loved ones intensified with each passing minute. On Sunday, March 5th, 1989, the search efforts expanded to over 100 individuals, including police, volunteers, and search and rescue teams, all of whom assembled to scour the Turner property. It wasn’t until the third day of the search that Justin’s father, Victor, made a grim discovery.
“Something’s in there! Everybody stand back! Everybody stand back!”
Victor found his son’s lifeless body concealed within a storage compartment of a travel camper located in the family’s property on Horseshoe Road, South of Cross Hill. Justin had been strangled and subjected to violation, though there was no evidence indicating ongoing abuse or mistreatment before his death. One of his small hands was clutching a clump of animal hair.
“I woke up the other morning on March 3rd and saw a picture on my office wall, Justin, and all the memories came flooding back,” said a family member.
Despite previous searches of the camper by law enforcement, Justin’s body remained undiscovered until Victor’s heartbreaking revelation, raising suspicions that his remains had been placed there after the initial search efforts commenced. The community was devastated by the discovery of the boy, the harrowing circumstances surrounding his demise, and the unimaginable suffering endured by the innocent young soul.
“You know, my little grandson, he loves to go across the street and play with a little bourgeois kid across the street, and you know, he’s not allowed to,” a resident stated. “In fact, I don’t want him in the front yard anymore. I want him in the back until somebody is caught and charged with this and found guilty. Um, that don’t mean we going to relax, but that will mean that there will be some tension off in this area.”
Investigators over the years had harbored theories and suspicions about who killed Justin, but key evidence implicating a suspect eluded them. “I can’t think of a more tragic, horrendous murder,” said one investigator regarding the 5-year-old boy.
After Justin’s body was found, Deputy Philip Mason claimed to have searched the camper prior to the finding but failed a polygraph test regarding the search. However, conflicting accounts emerged as Justin’s paternal grandmother and a neighbor also claimed to have searched the camper before Justin was discovered. Authorities faced challenges while securing the scene for evidence collection due to the numerous people who had been through the property in the preceding days. The sudden appearance of Justin’s body left the detectives puzzled about how someone could have placed him there unnoticed. The condition of Justin’s body, unusually cold to the touch despite mild temperatures in the region during his disappearance, led to theories about the body having been refrigerated before placement in the camper.
Justin’s body was taken for autopsy, with the investigation team joined by agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and crime scene technicians. Various items were collected for analysis, including a freezer and a storage shed on the property. The medical examiner testified that Justin was likely assaulted close to the time of death with uncertainty about the timing; however, the theory of refrigeration before placement in the camper was refuted. The second inquiry commenced with testimonies revealing further details and tensions within the family. During autopsy discussions, it was revealed Justin had food in his stomach, narrowing the time of death to between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the day he went missing.
Despite uncertainties, it seemed unlikely a stranger was involved in the abduction and subsequent hiding of Justin in the trailer. Criminal psychology expert David A. Caldwell suggested Justin was likely killed by someone familiar with him. Investigators focused on questioning the parents again, but none had answers about Justin’s presence in the camper. Pamela reiterated her initial story about Justin leaving for school while she was in the shower, unaware of any problem until she realized his absence on the school bus when it returned later in the day. Victor Turner claimed he was at his job as a pipe welder. Since no witness had seen Justin leaving his house that Friday, attention turned to Victor and Pamela, who both underwent questioning and polygraph tests, but failed.
The Turners had declined to communicate with investigators a few days after their polygraph test and also post the retention of their attorney. “Our purpose for meeting is try to work out some workable solution with the attorney so that we could finally eliminate the attorneys from being possibly involved, or anybody else for that matter, from being involved in it,” a sheriff explained. “We’ve been unable to talk to them since last Wednesday.”
Suspicion began to grow around them, prompting intense media coverage and speculation. Berkeley County Sheriff’s investigator, Lieutenant Sydney Ren, took it upon himself to address the reports. When asked if there was any evidence on the crime scene to indicate that someone who didn’t live there was involved, he replied, “To my knowledge, there’s no.”
Pamela later confessed to the account by a few witnesses that she had an altercation with the 5-year-old before the time she said she last saw him alive, and also that she allegedly gave misinformation to investigators about her whereabouts that day. Initially, they provided information that he got on the school bus and went to school but never got off of the bus. That was not true; he never got on that bus. He never got on that bus because he was dead inside that house. Following this evidence, the jury recommended issuing a warrant for Pamela’s arrest for homicide. Pamela was arrested but showed no visible reaction. The case was handed over for review and all charges against Pamela were dropped due to insufficient evidence linking her to Justin’s murder.
After the charges against Pamela Turner were dropped, information in the case was presented to a grand jury in the early 1990s, but no indictments were made. Pamela subsequently changed her name to Megan, and she and Victor Turner relocated from Berkeley County without further communication with the sheriff’s office regarding the case.
In January 1991, a 6-year-old witness emerged claiming to have seen Justin’s abduction on the day he disappeared. However, further investigation didn’t yield conclusive evidence. “He’s imagining certain things that might have happened just because of listening at other people say those type things and this is what it appears to be,” an officer noted.
Tragically, Justin’s biological mother, Elaine Pace, passed away in 2004 after fighting for 15 years to bring justice to her son. Russell Pace, though bound to continue Elaine’s fight, said, “I promised my wife before she passed away that I would continue the battle. She told me not to give up, keep it in the news, just you know, fight the battle for her. That was one of her last requests.”
In 2014, Justin’s family sought to reignite interest in the case. In 2020, over three decades later, the unsolved homicide was at the forefront of efforts by a Berkeley County Sheriff’s Cold Case team. It was one of nine cold cases that were being revisited by one full-time investigator and two volunteers. Sheriff Dwayne Lewis revealed new leads were being pursued thanks to technological advancements.
“We know for a fact that Justin was strangled to death. There was ligature marks on his neck,” the Sheriff stated. “We recovered what we believe to be the evidence of the murder. We have a lot of forensic evidence; we got here because new technology and forensic medicine.”
Because Justin’s body, clothing, and shoes showed no signs of outside debris, authorities suspected he was carried from his home to the camper. The specific location where the body was found suggested that it was concealed by someone familiar with the camper and its layout. According to the probable cause affidavit, the Turners were the sole individuals with access and keys to that camper. Before Justin’s body was discovered, Victor Turner was overheard nervously asking a law enforcement official at the scene regarding what would happen if someone within the family had caused harm to the victim.
The breakthrough in Justin’s murder case came in April of 2021, over three decades after his death. Forensic evidence linking fibers found in the Turner’s house to wounds on Justin’s neck and his clothing provided the breakthrough needed for the arrests. Sheriff Dwayne Lewis credited advancements in forensic science for enabling the arrest. “We have a lot of forensic evidence,” he said. “We got here because new technology and forensic medicine, and we kept pushing and plugging and pulling to finally get what we needed.”
The arrest of Justin Lee Turner’s stepmother, Megan Turner, and his father, Victor Turner, on January 9th, 2024, marked a significant development in the decades-long investigation into his murder. Both suspects were charged with one count of murder and taken into custody in Lawrence County before being transported to Berkeley County Detention Center for court appearances. Despite the passage of time, the Turners never contacted the sheriff’s office regarding the case’s status or potential new leads or suspects. This lack of engagement contrasted sharply with the active involvement of Justin’s mother’s family who remained supportive of law enforcement efforts.
A key piece of evidence emerged from an affidavit indicating that Victor Turner had found Justin’s body within seconds of entering the camper during search efforts on the morning of March 5th, 1989. This detail added to suspicion surrounding the Turner’s involvement. In court appearances in February of 2024, Victor and Megan were granted a release with a bond set at $50,000 each. Megan was released on February 8th, 2024, while Victor was released the following day. However, their legal proceedings took a turn when their attorneys sought to have the murder charges dismissed. The defense team presented a new theory suggesting that a serial killer, Richard Mark Evitt, may have played a role in Justin’s death. Prosecutors requested more time to investigate the evidence, acknowledging its significance. The judge consented to delay making a ruling to permit both parties to delve deeper into the implications of this new information.
“This is pretty explosive evidence, and obviously I think everybody needs time to explore that and digest that and investigate that,” the judge remarked.
Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting that a dog leash found in the home may have been used in Justin’s strangulation. However, the defense team cited the doubts from experts on whether the leash alone was responsible for the murder, suggesting that a dog collar may have been involved as well. Towards the end of their last trial, Victor and Megan were ordered not to contact Justin Turner’s biological mother’s side of the family. They were prohibited from traveling out of state while awaiting further legal proceedings.
“It’s just hard to believe that the person who did it can live their life for 25 years and knowing and thinking that they got away with it,” a relative noted. “It’s mindboggling.”
Represented by Justin’s cousin, Amy Parsons, the family expressed relief following the prolonged investigation and reaffirmed their determination to achieve justice for Justin.
“For 35 years you have enjoyed your freedom,” Amy addressed the suspects. “You did not observe one day outside of those prison walls for what you did to Justin. You were supposed to take care of him, love him, and instead you tortured, abused, and murdered him—your child. It takes a sick individual to do what you did to that baby, and I hope you never see life outside of those prison walls.”
Amy Parsons, who was just 8 years old when Justin was killed, had been a steadfast advocate for her cousin. She established the ‘Justice for Justin Lee Turner’ Facebook page and has tirelessly campaigned for answers and accountability in the face of defense tactics aimed at undermining the case. Parsons urged the public to remain steadfast and highlighted the importance of evidence in forming their conclusions. Despite facing obstacles, Elaine Pace never wavered in her pursuit of truth until her passing. Her unyielding resolve is a testament to a grieving mother’s enduring love.
“The hardest part is that Justin’s mother can’t be here to see what she wanted all these years,” a supporter said. “She wanted justice.”
As legal proceedings continue and the pursuit of justice presses forward, Justin’s family remains united in their quest to see Megan and Victor Turner held accountable for his murder. Though Justin’s life was tragically cut short, his memory lives on in the hearts of those who loved him, motivating their commitment to seek justice in his honor. Justin’s funeral, held at Somerville Cemetery in Malvern, Dorchester County, South Carolina, drew over 200 mourners, with him laid to rest surrounded by his favorite belongings. The untimely loss of Justin Lee Turner left an enduring impact on both his family and the wider community.
“I’m hoping and I’m praying that Justin is looking down from heaven rejoicing that today there’s some justice,” his cousin concluded.
