Lee Roy Martin was a 30-year-old textile worker and father of three when police traced him in February 1968 to a series of killings around Gaffney, South Carolina. He admitted killing four women and girls between May 1967 and February 1968, beginning with Annie Lucille Dedmond. By then her husband had been tried, convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison for her death. Martin was convicted on four counts of murder and sentenced to four life terms, according to FOX Carolina. Before he was caught, he had twice telephoned a local newspaper editor to say that he was the killer, and that the husband should be released.
Roger Zane Dedmond spent about ten months in prison for a death he had nothing to do with. The National Registry of Exonerations, which records wrongful convictions in the United States, lists his case among its exonerations and names a false confession and official misconduct as factors in it.
On May 19, 1967, Annie Lucille Dedmond and her husband, Roger, were seen fighting in a nightclub near Gaffney, according to the Registry's account. Roger Dedmond, then 28, later said the two had made up later that evening and driven to a restaurant in Gaffney. He went inside to buy coffee and doughnuts. When he came back out, his wife was gone.
She was found dead the next morning in Union County, South Carolina. How she died has not been reported. Her husband identified her body, and he was then arrested.
Little else is known of her life beyond her name and her marriage. FOX Carolina, writing in 2023, gave her name as Annie Louise Dedmond; the Registry calls her Annie Lucille Dedmond.
Roger Dedmond's conviction rested largely on police testimony that he had confessed while in custody. Dedmond denied it. He testified that after his arrest he was questioned for more than two days without a break, and that he never admitted knowing anything about his wife's death.
He also had an alibi. Witnesses testified that at the time she was killed he was in a cafe in Spindale, North Carolina. The jury did not accept it. On December 12, 1967, Dedmond was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The Registry later listed the contributing factors in his case as false confession and official misconduct. The trial judge, the prosecutor and the defense lawyers have not been named.
By February 1968 two young women were missing. FOX Carolina named them in 2023 as Nancy Christine Rhinehart and Nancy Carol Farris. The dates they disappeared, their ages and the stories of their lives have not been reported.
On February 8, 1968, Bill Gibbons, managing editor of a local newspaper, answered a call from a man who would not give his name. The caller said that he had killed Annie Lucille Dedmond. He also described two places where bodies could be found.
Gibbons called the sheriff. The sheriff went out with several deputies and found the bodies of the two missing young women.
Four days later, on February 12, the same man called Gibbons again. He said that more people would die. He repeated that he had killed Mrs. Dedmond, and this time he gave details of her killing that had not been made public. He said that her husband "should be released" from prison, as the Registry quotes him.
The morning after the second call, on February 13, 1968, Opal Dianne Buckson, 15, was abducted. Her brother and sister saw it happen and described the man who took her to police.
Two days later, two men saw a man who matched that description. He drove away quickly. The two men wrote down his license plate number and gave it to police. Officers searched the area and found Opal Buckson's body.
The Registry and FOX Carolina spell her middle name differently: Dianne in the Registry, Diane in the 2023 report. Little is known of her family or her life beyond her age and the brother and sister who were with her that morning.
The license plate was traced to Lee Roy Martin. He was 30, a textile worker and the father of three children, according to the Registry.
Martin admitted all four killings and led police to evidence connected with them.
Roger Dedmond was released from prison on February 29, 1968, shortly after Martin's arrest, and went home to his young son. Martin pleaded guilty to Annie Lucille Dedmond's murder. On September 16, 1968, the manslaughter charge against Dedmond was dismissed. He had spent about ten months in prison.
FOX Carolina reported in 2023 that Martin was convicted on four counts of murder and sentenced to four life terms. The court, the dates of the other three pleas or verdicts and the names of the judges have not been reported. FOX Carolina described the case as one that left the community in a panic in 1968.
In February 2023 the killings were part of a Black history exhibit at the Gaffney Arts and Visitors Center, in the town's old post office. FOX Carolina's Ashley Garrett reported on the exhibit, which walked visitors through stories of Black history and ran through March 3, 2023. The report said that 55 years after the killings, fear remained for some people in Gaffney. It said that Rosa Webber, a city councilperson, was working to keep a similar tragedy from happening again.
Spellings. The Registry gives the first victim's name as Annie Lucille Dedmond and the girl's middle name as Dianne. FOX Carolina, in 2023, wrote Annie Louise Dedmond and Opal Diane Buckson, and spelled the second woman's surname Farris.
The confession. Police testified at Roger Dedmond's 1967 trial that he had confessed in custody. He denied it under oath. The Registry lists false confession and official misconduct as contributing factors in his wrongful conviction. Whether any officer faced consequences has not been reported.
May 19, 1967: Annie Lucille Dedmond and her husband, Roger Dedmond, are seen fighting in a nightclub near Gaffney, South Carolina; by his account, she disappears later that evening while he is inside a Gaffney restaurant.
The next morning: She is found dead in Union County, South Carolina; her husband is arrested.
December 12, 1967: Roger Dedmond is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
February 8, 1968: An anonymous caller tells Bill Gibbons, managing editor of a local newspaper, that he killed Annie Dedmond, and describes two places where bodies can be found; the sheriff and deputies find the bodies of two missing young women.
February 12, 1968: The caller rings Gibbons again, says more people will die, gives unreported details of the Dedmond killing and says her husband should be released.
February 13, 1968: Opal Dianne Buckson, 15, is abducted; her brother and sister describe the man to police.
Two days after the abduction: Two men see a man matching the description and give police his license plate number; police find Opal Buckson's body. The plate leads to Lee Roy Martin, who admits all four killings.
February 29, 1968: Roger Dedmond is released from prison.
1968: Martin pleads guilty to the murder of Annie Lucille Dedmond; he is convicted on four counts of murder and sentenced to four life terms.
September 16, 1968: The charge against Roger Dedmond is dismissed.
March 13, 2018: The National Registry of Exonerations posts Dedmond's case.
February to March 3, 2023: The killings feature in a Black history exhibit at the Gaffney Arts and Visitors Center.