In Shattered: The Bodies Out Back, Investigation Discovery tells the story of how Donald Thomas and his cousin Lamar Lafferty were killed in April 1986 in Shubuta, Mississippi.
Based on the testimonies of the survivors, investigators were able to immediately find out that the two killers had escaped from prison the day before the murder. In this episode we see how the police were able to arrest them both and put them on trial. If you’re curious and want to know who did it and where they are now, here’s what we know.
How did Lamar Lafferty and Donald Thomas die?
Donald Ellis “ET” His cousin, James Lamar Lafferty was born on September 14, 1963 while Thomas was born on May 19, 1965. Donald worked in an oil field and went to work on April 26, 1986 around 7:00 a.m., as usual. Little did he know it was the last day of his life. He was last seen alive by Lamar’s father around 1:00 p.m. as he went to pick up Lamar and Brandon Lafferty, who was just a baby, in his truck.
The three people went to Donald’s RV on Shubuta Vossburg Road, about 11 miles west of Shubuta, Mississippi. They were found dead when police showed up hours later after receiving a call about a home invasion. There was blood on the lawn, and officers found drag marks that led them behind the RV. At around 3:35 p.m., they found the bodies of Donald, 20, and Lamar, 23, in a ravine about 500 feet from Donald’s trailer. The gorge was 35 feet deep.
The autopsy report for Donald said he was shot in the center of his forehead and in the lower part of his back. Both bullets came from about 15 feet away. Lamar had two small-caliber bullet holes close together in his head. The reports also stated that both men were alive when they were injured and that they died within minutes.
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Who killed Lamar Lafferty and Donald Thomas?
On April 26, 1986, between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Donald’s younger sister, Marty Thomas, and her older sister, BB Beach, drove to the trailer to play in the canyon. When they got to the trailer, there was a white, bald man with a gun waiting for them. He took her into the trailer, tied her hands and feet and said he would come back to rape and kill her if they didn’t leave. During their time as hostages, the girls saw another black man with a gun walking around the trailer.
As both intruders drove away in Donald’s silver Ford pickup, the girls freed themselves and ran to a friend’s house, where Marty called the police. At first they were afraid of their attackers, so they told the police lies about their appearance. But when Marty found out Donald and Lamar had been shot, she told police the truth about who did it.
When Shubuta police heard what the two young girls said about the people who broke in, they knew it was the same description of two people who broke out of the Clarke County jail the night before. Robert S. Minnick and James “Monkey” Dyess were the two people who ran away. The killers also took Donald’s pickup truck, three shotguns, three rifles, a handgun and some ammunition, police found.
The police began searching for the fugitives and searched the surrounding areas. Several miles from the crime scene, they found Lamar’s wallet and Donald’s checkbook. They decided to find the stolen truck and put the truck’s information on the NCIC network. On May 6, 1986, the truck was found in Florida. The missing car was being driven by a man named Paul Stanley Ward, who said he found it in New Orleans. Several New Orleans speeding tickets found under the seats proved his testimony.
On August 22, 1986, the San Diego Police Department notified the Shubuta Police Department that one of the killers, Robert, had been caught. When questioned, he admitted that he and James had escaped from prison and that he had taken over the prison and killed people the next day. He said that he and James went into the trailer to steal guns when a car carrying two men and a child pulled up. Robert says that James then shot one of them and put a gun to his head to get him to kill the other. He also said that he was the one who persuaded Dyess to let the baby and the other two girls live.
Where are Robert Minnick and “Monkey” James Dyess now?
Robert was sent back to Mississippi, where he was convicted of double murder during a robbery and sentenced to death in September 1986. In May 1992, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. According to official court records, he is in his late 50s and is currently serving his sentence at South Mississippi Correctional Institution.
On March 16, 1988, a Los Angeles, California police officer saw James and stopped him for a routine traffic stop. He was immediately caught and sent to Mississippi, where he was also found guilty of killing two people and robbing them. He was also sentenced to life in prison and sent to the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. He died at Promise Hospital in Vicksburg in July 2018. He was 62 years old.
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case
In Clarke County, Mississippi, James Dyess was found guilty of burglary in 1986. On April 25, he was scheduled to be taken by prison bus to Mississippi State Penitentiary, where he would serve a seven-year sentence. But before that could happen, he and a partner, Robert Minnick, broke out of the prison they were being held in. The next day, they broke into a trailer in Clarke County to look for guns. They then stole and killed the trailer’s owners, Donald Ellis Thomas, who was twenty, and Lamar Lafferty, who was twenty-two, with one of Donald’s guns. They put the bodies in a gully behind the trailer. Lamar’s son, who is two years old, was not injured. Two young girls who saw what was happening were tied up but not injured. The men then took Donald’s truck and drove away.
Minnick was caught in Lemon Grove, California on August 22, 1986, but Dyess was still out there. On September 29, he was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.
The result is recorded. On March 16, 1988, an officer stopped and saw Dyess for a routine traffic stop in Los Angeles, California. He was taken into custody without issue. He was sent back to Mississippi, found guilty of the murders, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died there in July 2018 at the age of 62.
Minnick was found guilty of the murders and initially received the death penalty. However, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Robert James “RJ” Minnick, who was 54 and a resident of Denham Springs, LA, died on May 19, 2018 in Long Beach, MS. Robert Bruce Minnick and Sarah Jane “Burch” Minnick gave birth to him in March November 1964 in Beaumont, Texas. He graduated from Tara High School in 1982. On October 11, 2016, he married Gay Minnick. He worked as a dispatcher at Roto-Rooter in Baton Rouge, LA. He loved his family and friends very much. He was a longtime volunteer with the Young Marines at Baton Rouge. His father, Robert Bruce Minnick, and mother, Sarah Jane “Burch” Minnick, predeceased him. He is survived by wife Gay Minnick of Denham Springs, LA, sister Elizabeth Minnick of Raleigh, NC, daughter Hanna Minnick and son Calvin Minnick, both of Baton Rouge, LA, and nephew Darin Foland and niece Krista Foland of Raleigh , NC. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 26 at 2:00 p.m. at 10975 Stanley Aubin Ln, Baton Rouge, LA 70816. Instead of flowers, please donate to:
When Shubuta police heard what the two young girls said about the people who broke in, they knew it was the same description of two people who broke out of the Clarke County jail the night before. Robert S. Minnick and James “Monkey” Dyess were the two people who ran away. The killers also took Donald’s pickup truck, three shotguns, three rifles, a handgun and some ammunition, police found.
The police began searching for the fugitives and searched the surrounding areas. Several miles from the crime scene, they found Lamar’s wallet and Donald’s checkbook. They decided to find the stolen truck and put the truck’s information on the NCIC network. On May 6, 1986, the truck was found in Florida. The missing car was being driven by a man named Paul Stanley Ward, who said he found it in New Orleans. Several New Orleans speeding tickets found under the seats proved his testimony.
On August 22, 1986, the San Diego Police Department notified the Shubuta Police Department that one of the killers, Robert, had been caught. When questioned, he admitted that he and James had escaped from prison and that he had taken over the prison and killed people the next day. He said that he and James went into the trailer to steal guns when a car carrying two men and a child pulled up. Robert says that James then shot one of them and put a gun to his head to get him to kill the other. He also said that he was the one who persuaded Dyess to let the baby and the other two girls live.
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