Chris Hansen: That he's comin' to for shootin' two other people on the Appalachian Trail. Chris Hansen: Dark out. He looked just like a normal camper. You can barely see. Just a day after arriving at Tom Lawson's jail, Randall Lee Smith diedalone in his cell. No one has been arrested in the homicide. He died in jail . The 1981 murders and 2008 attacks were depicted in the Investigation Discovery series Dead Silent: The Curse of Dismal Creek, season 1, episode 1, broadcast on October 25, 2016. Appalachian Trail Murders - Should You Hike With A gun? - Wild West Trail Gary Stafford's reaction to the killer's death was typical. It rings your head unbelievably. Tom Lawson: How-- how in the world could a person's life not be worth but seven and a half years? Randall Lee Smith, 68, Minot, died Tuesday, November 11, 2014 in a Minot hospital. And I was sitting there thinking, well, you know, he can't see. Randall Lee Smith | Criminal Minds Wiki | Fandom Randall murdered two social workers on the Appalachian Trail and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Although each man had two serious gunshot wounds, they both survived the harrowing ordeal. Astonishingly, he would later shoot two more individuals on the trail, although they survived his attack. But just a few hours later, that picture postcard day turned into a night straight out of a horror movie. Chris Hansen: Now, I'm not a radiologist, (laughter) but that looks awfully darn close to the spine. He began serving the prison term in 1981, and after spending fifteen behind bars, Randall was paroled in 1996. And there was a dog in the road. Jordan was acting "disturbed and unstable" and was playing his guitar and singing when he approached the group, the complaint states. But help is miles away from their Appalachian Trail campsite - a long, dangerous drive down a dark mountain road. Wounded and bleeding, the hikers made their way down the mountain to safety, armed with their own weapon: courage. Ironically, it seems Smith's photograph on a related poster ultimately led to his identification and subsequent arrest last week on attempted-murder charges. There was no more bullets, no more fire. The Victims Susan Ramsay & Robert Mountford Sean Farmer & Scott Johnston Links: Mpora Incidentally, the same area in Dismal Creek witnessed a terrifying murder in 1981, where hikers Bobby Mountford Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay were stabbed and shot to death by a man they met while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Randall Lee Smith was born on 1954 in Virginia, United States. I mean, we're both shot. Is Randall Lee Smith Dead or Alive? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. He said, "No, I didn't shoot nobody." Randall is survived by his wife of 48 years, Janice (Kniffin) Smith; children, Trudy Skalicky, Twyla Hofer, Derick Smith and Dustin Smith; eight . Scott Johnston: And I jumped up. the Appalachian Trail. Chris Hansen: What did you think you had on your hands in terms of a-- a profile of a killer? Pair encounters killer, lives to tell about it. He stuck a finger in the bullet hole to stop the gusher of blood. [8] He was befriended by the two men, who shared their dinner with Smith, before he opened fire on them without warning, shooting Farmer in the head and chest and Johnston in the neck and back; both would survive their wounds. new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help I owe you my life. But, it just didn't happen. And, I mean, the rocks are flying and there's trees, and I'm screamin', "Sean, Sean!" Chris Hansen: And you know you had to get that wound plugged? Sean Farmer: I was - I guess - so drained. An autopsy revealed Smith died of the injuries he suffered when he crashed trying to elude police. So I start the car. Randall was born December 10, 1977in Forsyth County, NC. If you must, fight for your life. Tom Lawson: The flooring, which was brand new, was very black, like someone had rubbed a substance on the floor. I mean-- just, you know, us. Sean Farmer: Just to stop him from shooting us. "I kept telling myself, you're tough, hang on, you're going to make it," he recalled. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. As Mountford turns over and starts to get up, he shoots him in the cheek. I knew then I was still alive and I-- I was happy. You are much more at risk by getting caught out by the weather or not having the right kit than you are being attacked by someone, says Phoebe Smith, an award-winning travel writer who has spent hundreds of nights wild camping alone. But we were, just, tougher than he was. And it was so close too. At one point during the flight, Johnston thought he must have died. But it turns out, violentcrime on hiking trails is more frequent than I initially thought. asked Virginia Smith, a neighbor who is not related to Randall Smith. Many people in Giles County believe Smith got off easy for the murders of the two promising young people from Maine. Randall Lee Smith (center) leaves the Giles County courthouse in Current uncertainty about the circumstances of Smith's death leaves some wondering whether he was released prematurely from Roanoke Memorial in Roanoke. OBITUARY: Randall Scotte Thompson - The Richmond Observer For seven and a half years for two people's lives, he died where he should a died. Bowles said her sadness about Smith's death is tempered by gratitude that his tortured life is done. Send Flowers. The two friends are also carrying around some new debt because of the shooting. The home of serial killer Randall Lee Smith in Pearisburg, Va., near A motive for the slayings was never established. Lawson found those murder weapons. Shooting survivors share incredible story with 'Dateline NBC' As far as away as possible. He had blood on his clothing when he was taken into custody, according to the complaint. The storied Appalachian Trail passes through the outskirts of town. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. But mystery has long surrounded the trail from disappearances to murder. I said, "Either I'll swallow, or I'll die." Smith infamously murdered two people along the Appalachian Trail in 1981 and allegedly tried last week to kill two more near the same spot. For a split second he thought someone had sneaked into camp and shot him, but he turned and saw a flash of fire from the stranger's hand, which now was stretched out toward Johnston. Their pulling together as a team, how they pulled off two of them trying to drive a truck over a road that's as windy as the road you saw, is to me almost an amazing feat. Smith served a 10-year prison term for those killings, was released in 1996 and returned home to live with his mother in Pearisburg, Va. His mother died in 2000. It charts travel writer Bill Brysons experiences hiking theAppalachian Trail. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Slow down." The two friends took us up to the campsite on brushy mountain where they cooked the stranger dinner, and swapped stories around the campfire. Around 3:12 a.m., the female victim called emergency dispatchers in Smyth County, detailing the attack. . There-- there's a small bridge that you have to cross the creek. He was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole. He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Robert Mountford Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay, who were killed while hiking the Appalachian Trail, in May 1981. And - and I can look over, and I can see he's shot in the face. Luckily the pair survived, but Smith was charged for attempted murder and murder of two hikers back in 1981. "He was a good friend and a good neighbor.". Jordan then allegedly tried to approach the hikers with a knife as they tried to leave the campsite, the complaint states. As a rule of thumb, youre more likely to encounter troublesome people within a mile or two of crossroads, rather than in the deep, dark forest. Thank y'all so much. Find out more in ourPrivacy Policy. Even then, the injuries were too severe to heal completely, and the doctors were unable to extract a bullet from Seans skull for fear of damaging it further. Smith returned to the Appalachian Trail in May 2008 and was arrested for shooting and wounding two fishermen near where he killed Mountford and Ramsey, authorities said. Melissa Miller answered the door, and couldn't believe what she saw. Two fisherman were shot on the Appalachian Trail by Randall Lee Smith. She then turned to face Jordan, raising her hands "as if to surrender," and Jordan allegedly stabbed her multiple times. Sean Farmer: It couldn't have turned out any better for us. Chris Hansen: Is that a good thing or a bad thing? And- and I felt the bullet hole. This was gonna make people despise you. ROCKINGHAM Randall Scotte Thompson, 55, of Rockingham, passed away Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at his residence. Eventually, ambulances would carry them to the local community center, where a helicopter picked them up to take them to a Roanoke hospital. Farmer was shot in the face and chest. This year, the guy running the Roanoke Kiwanis Clubs annual pancake breakfast is a character who spent 33 years working for the Central Intel. And when we got down to where there's three or four houses, for some reason, you know, we passed the first or second house. I could have been living with four murders now instead of two Randall Lee Smith was charged with two counts of attempted murder for his assault on Scott and Sean. For fishermen like Scott Johnston and Sean Farmer, days don't start any better than this. The positive identification of "Boulder Jane Doe" was an 18-year-old woman from Phoenix, Arizona named Dorothy Gay Howard. This crime-related article is a stub. While at the creek, Sean and Scott came across a complete stranger, and although they invited him to dinner, the man suddenly brandished a gun and opened fire on the two unsuspecting campers.
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