News

ELDERLY COUPLE MURDERED, LEFT INSIDE BURNING HOME

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:35 PM CDT

An elderly Pine Bluff couple was found dead in their burning home early Wednesday morning and police have classified the deaths as homicides.

Pine Bluff Commercial/Ray King Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services Fire Marshal Fred Tisdale (back to camera left) talks with police crime scene technicians Kim Phillips (from left), Cathy Ruhl and Sgt. Glenn Mixon at the rear of the home Wednesday during the early stages of an investigation into the deaths of the homeowners.

Chief Deputy Coroner Chad Kelley identified the victims as Cleophus Boyd, 79, and Minnie Boyd, 76, who were pronounced dead of apparent blunt force trauma at 3:32 a.m. inside their house at 3124 Pennsylvania St. Kelley said the bodies were sent to the state Crime Laboratory at Little Rock Wednesday afternoon, “to determine the cause and manner of death.”

The deaths bring to 17 the number of homicides in Jefferson County so far this year, with 11 of those inside the Pine Bluff city limits.

The couple’s vehicle, a blue 1990 Oldsmobile Delta 88, four-door passenger car was missing, and police were asking for help in locating the car. Detective Lt. Terry Hopson said Wednesday the car displayed Arkansas handicapped license 195070, and had a faded spot on the hood and top.

Locating the car would help us a great deal,” Sgt. Richard Davies said Wednesday morning. “We’re asking anybody that sees it to call the Detective Division or 9-1-1 immediately.”

Davies said officers and firefighters responded to a reported fire at the house at approximately 3 a.m., and in the process of extinguishing the blaze, discovered the two bodies.

“The injuries were not consistent with those that could have been caused by the fire,” Davies said.

On Wednesday morning, detectives, crime scene technicians and the fire marshal were at the house, collecting evidence and looking for the cause of the blaze, which had not been determined late Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re still in the early stages of the investigation,” Davies told a group of reporters outside the house Wednesday morning. “We’re questioning the neighbors and attempting to locate relatives, and we’re appealing to the public to call us if they have any information about these deaths.”

Questioned about crimes involving elderly people like Cleophus and Minnie Boyd, Davies described them as an “easy target.

“It used to be that people locked their screen doors and that was the only security they had or needed,” Davies said. “It’s difficult for people that grew up in that era to understand that there are vicious, cold-hearted people out there who will do them harm.”

Wednesday afternoon, the Rev. Jesse Turner, executive director of ICVR (Interested Citizens for Voter Registration) and the pastor of Elm Grove Baptist Church, which is located near the site of the double homicide, asked other pastors in the area to become involved in finding out who was responsible for the slayings, by placing anonymous tip boxes in their churches.

“The two elderly persons who tragically lost their lives early this morning begs for tougher penalties and a zero tolerance all over the city of Pine Bluff regarding crime,” Turner said in an e-mail to The Commercial. “These outrageous acts of violence only diminishes the opportunity to attract industry and businesses to the city. Therefore everyone must become involved in order to improve safety and the quality of life in Pine Bluff.”

Davies said no arrests had been made Wednesday afternoon, and anyone with information about the person or persons involved should contact the Detective Division at 543-5111 or 543-5112.

“Somebody out there knows something about these deaths and we want them to call us so we can bring whoever is responsible to justice,” Davies said, emphasizing that all calls will be kept confidential.

Print this story   |   Email this story