'When somebody cares, there is hope': Police continue investigating cold cases

Mar. 30—For the last six years, Julie Scott Greene has waited for the day her husband's case will be solved. Her wait continues.

"I just think my boys and I want closure," she said. "We want their dad to be able to rest in peace."

Greene is not the only one.

Local law enforcement agencies are trying to solve cold cases but it can be difficult due to lack of evidence, lack of new leads or witnesses, changing stories and vanishing witnesses.

Julie Scott Greene has been checking with the sheriff's department on her husband's case but so far there is no new information.

"I will never forget the day he died," Julie Greene said. "It was Jan. 7, the day after my son's birthday."

Capt. Eric Abdullah with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office said there is no new information on the case, and it is still an active investigation.

In 2017, Danny Greene, 54, of Graniteville, was found shot in the yard of the couple's home on Dragon Lair Road in Trenton. When Danny Greene was killed, the couple was in the process of moving.

"We hadn't even unpacked the stuff for the house," said Julie Scott Greene.

Julie Scott Greene said his death is still fresh in her mind. She remembers cooking chili because it was an unseasonable 23 degrees that day. She wanted to go with her husband to their new house but stayed.

"Danny was lying face down, and the coroner said he had been shot at 4 o'clock and found six bullets ... three in him, one in the kitchen wall, one on the ground and one out in the garage," Julie Scott Greene said.

Saying "I love you," were the last words Julie Scott Greene said to her husband.

"We had a family and a life and then, poof in 30 minutes he is dead," Julie Scott Greene said.

Capt. Marty Sawyer with the Aiken Department of Public Safety said the department has seven cold cases spanning from 1998 to 2020.

The 2020 murders of David Williams, 30, Eugene Simpkins, an Augusta man killed in a shooting outside an apartment complex in Aiken; and Lafayette Williams, who was killed in a drive-by shooting; are considered cold cases, Sawyer said.

Other cold cases included Moses Williams, a 19-year-old found shot in his car in 2012; and Ann Fox Smith, a school teacher found stabbed to death in her home in 2008.

Edgefield County Sheriff's Office Sheriff Jody Rowland said cold cases that come to his mind are Tammy Kingery, a 37-year-old Edgefield woman who went missing in 2014 and has not been found; Jermey Grice, a 4-year-old who went missing in 1985 and has never been found; Janice Westsinger, an Aiken County woman found stabbed to death in the woods near her house in 1997; and the murder of Larry Sanders.

He said the department keeps active files on the cases and cases like the Kingery case have been difficult.

"We have not been able to locate her body anywhere," he said.

How are the cases solved?

Sawyer said in terms of investigating cold cases, or any case really, they aren't assigned to a specific officer , and that officer could be working on at least 10 cases at a time.

Sawyer said cold cases aren't on their minds all the time and the older a case gets, it becomes harder to solve.

"We don't pay attention to these daily," Sawyer said. "It's just if new information comes in a once-a-year review."

Some challenges include not having a witness or evidence, the age of the case and people forgetting about it.

Julie Scott Greene never forgets about her husband's death and remembers taking trips to Walmart or the flea market in Lexington, telling jokes and him eating Little Debbie Snack Cakes.

"I just miss him because he was my best friend," she said.

Sawyer said cold cases make it harder for a family to seek or have some type of justice, but once a case is solved, it is a good feeling.

"It makes them feel good when you tell them that and the look of relief on their face, the smile they have or the tears they have, people react differently," Sawyer said.

Abdullah said some challenges the sheriff's office faces when trying to solve a cold case are that witnesses are no longer in the area, people's stories or memories have changed and there is not enough evidence.

He said investigators work the cases until they make a connection or find a witness connected to the case.

Abdullah said an investigator works on the case until it is passed on to another investigator to get a fresh set of eyes.

"They are all active cases, pending any new information that presents itself," he said. "These cases never die and we continue to work on them."

Rowland said some cold cases will sit until there is new information and once that happens, an investigator is assigned the case to follow the new leads.

"For us, it is not on our mind every day, but for the family, they suffer every day," he said.

Rowland said the Grice and Westsinger cases bother him the most.

"She is on my mind, as well as the Grice case is on my mind," Rowland said. "I don't believe they will ever be solved."

There is hope

Julie Scott Greene said her family has not been the same since her husband's death.

"We did everything together and now it is like everyone is scattered and everyone does their own thing," she said. "I miss it because my place used to always be full."

Once a month, Julie Scott Greene places flowers on her husband's grave and talks to him on his birthday and their wedding anniversary.

"For every season I change his flowers," she said.

Police said most of the cold cases can be solved because someone knows something but are scared of retaliation.

"Some of these cold cases would be solved if the community would have done their part and assisted us," Sawyer said.

Abdullah said cases can be solved if there is hope.

"I think any case can be solved," he said. "When somebody cares, there is hope."

Julie Scott Greene has hope that one day her husband's killer will be caught and her family will be given closure.

"I don't want to die not knowing, and I want to look them in the eye and ask them why would you kill someone over stuff," she said.