This one takes some explaining so it’ll be a bit long… bear with me my sewer brethren…
Richard Wren was a teenage cook at the Shoney’s nestled in Dumbarton Square Shopping Center, and as he got there that Saturday, March 25th, 1978, he had no idea the destruction and death he was about to find. The doors were still locked at 6:35am as they didn’t open until 7, but the bottom of the glass front door had been shattered. After walking through the broken glass he came upon the bloodied bodies of 3 of his coworkers, slain in the walk-in cooler: Steven Staples (20, Assistant Manager), Agnes Hicks (43, Server), and Franklin Cooley (35, Night Custodian). All were shot at close enough range to leave powder burns on their skin with .22 caliber bullets, later identified as 3 copper clad Winchester Western and 1 iron clad Remington. Agnes was shot twice in the head, Steven was shot in the upper right chest while also receiving a wound to his wrist, a fractured skull from an unidentified rectangular object, and a cut on his neck. Cooley was shot in the ear but miraculously still alive when found but never regained consciousness, dying a couple hours later in the hospital. Detectives deduced that the victims had died between 5:50 and 6:10 a.m.
When police arrived they saw that the safe door was still open and from the $4,500 counted the night before $3,983.77 was missing. The fire door that was equipped with an alarm was still locked, and due to a recent management change, only Staples had a key to the store and the combination for the safe. They also noted that the glass from the front door had shattered outwards, like it had been kicked out from the inside, instead of the opposite. Indicating that whoever did that must have known that the fire door would trigger an alarm.
Witnesses say on the morning of the murders that they saw a car that “fairly resembled” that of Charles Stamper in the employee parking lot at 5:40am, and that it left at 5:50am. Stamper was 26 and a $3 an hour cook at Shoney’s who wasn’t scheduled to work that day unless he was covering for someone else. He’d only been there for a couple months but had given his notice a week before the slayings citing the crap pay as the reason. He was later brought in for questioning, as all employees were, swearing nobody else had been in his car that weekend and he had an alibi. He hadn’t been at work since 3pm on the 24th, he had gone to a social that night, and then watched TV with his wife at Laburnum Apartments on Menole Rd into the morning hours of the 25th. He’d also been seen parked in the driveway at his parents’ home on Cleary Road on the morning of the 25th along with his wife Darlene, and friend Kearnard Bowling. While he was being questioned an officer noticed glass on the floorboard of Stampers locked car, they received consent from Stampers wife to collect it and he was then released. After being sent to a glass analyst it was shown that 20% of the glass matched the optical properties of the broken glass at Shoney’s.
The investigation into Stamper continued, his property was searched, including that of his parents as he’d been seen there on the morning of the murders. The keys to Assistant Manager Staples’ car were located in the woods close to Stampers parents home, behind Central Gardens Elementary School. A .22 caliber revolver was also found close by later on in the year, containing the empty jackets to 1 Remington and 3 Winchester Western bullets, matching the type and even order that the bullets killing his coworkers were shot. Diving into his financials it was found that he’d paid his rent that was past due ($100, he was about to be evicted), paid off a $63.55 debt to a jeweler, put $100 down towards a new watch, and co-signed on a note for a friend for $395. He also visited a car dealership on Hilliard Rd and discussed putting $1500 down on a $3500 1972 Lincoln, although no money was ever exchanged and the salesman never actually saw the money. This is after he’d literally never paid his rent on time the entire he lived in the apartments, had an eviction notice, and was making $3 an hour… kinda convenient right?
Charles Stamper was arrested on Friday May 12th, 1978 , along with his accomplice Kearnard “Kenneth” Tyrone Bowling (24, of Richmond) and held on $700,000 bond.
Bowling was a friend of Charles Stamper but had testified in court that he was not present on the day of the murders and robbery. He maintained that he was given $1,000 of the stolen money and Stamper had only told him of the murders. During trial though Bowlings own cousin, Frederick Clark, testified that Bowling had admitted to being present for the murders and robbery, killing Agnes Hicks himself and witnessing Stamper shooting Staples and Cooley. He also revealed how they entered, stating that Stamper had told Steven Staples that he was there to look for a wallet around 6am to gain entry to the restaurant, and that they had made the mistake of busting the front door glass from the inside instead of the outside.
A trial lasting 4 days ensued with jurors taking 11 hours to come back with a verdict. Some jurors described it as agonizing as they debated and then eventually compromised to reach a conclusion they could all be satisfied with. On December 15th 1978, Bowling was found guilty in the triple slaying and robbery at the Shoney’s on that fateful day. He was charged with first-degree murder for the slaying of Agnes Hicks and was only sentenced to 25 years, avoiding life in prison or death in the electric chair. In the deaths of Steven Staples and Franklin Cooley, he was found guilty to accessory after the fact, another charge that could mandate life in prison, but he received only 24 months. In total he received 38 years: 25 for the murder, 2 years for the accessory after the fact, 1 year for a firearm charge, and 10 years for robbery. He would be eligible for parole after serving one fourth of his time. I couldn’t find anywhere if he had been released after only serving 1/4 time, but if he didn’t gain anymore time while in prison he would’ve been released in December 2016.
On November 17th, 1978 the Circuit Court of Henrico County sentenced Charles Stamper to death for each count of capital murder (3), life for each count of use of a firearm (3), and 1 year on the count of robbery (1). He had automatic appeals and filed petitions for writ of habeas corpus but to no avail, his conviction was affirmed in each case. The only evidence that I couldn’t find any further explanation on is that there were 19 fingerprints and 1 shoe print that didn’t match him. Do with that what you will, I tried to find something that may have answered the question of who they belonged to but I couldn’t.
In prison Stamper became known as a snitch and was attacked by fellow inmates in 1988 with an ashtray, hitting him over the head and leaving him with a spinal cord injury. He was mostly confined to a wheelchair, although able to sometimes walk 10-15ft assisted by a walker. Because of this his execution date of Oct. 28th, 1992 was stayed upon further investigation by the governor, as a grant for clemency was requested. Governor Wilder had an independent neurologist and physical therapist, as well as the sworn testimony of 20 prison doctors and nurses to testify to Stampers condition. He was not paraplegic or quadriplegic, he could still technically walk, Disabled Advocacy groups requested that Wilder not treat him any differently because of his disability, “It has absolutely nothing to do with why he is where he is at this time,” said E. Davis Martin, Professor of Rehabilitation and Counseling at VCU. Wilder also met with 11 family members of the victims when he held an open house, they still requested the sentencing be carried out. Wilder ultimately made the decision to continue with the execution.
After his final appeal for clemency was denied Stamper was led to the electric chair. He had requested to walk to the chair, with the assistance of his walker, but that request was denied. No reason was given. According to Virginia’s Official Executioner at the time, Jerry Givens, “He had to be lifted from the wheelchair and placed in the electric chair. And he was perfectly calm” He had no last words but prison chaplain Russ Ford read a statement from Stamper saying he hoped his death “would yield abundant fruit,” but added that it “somehow bruised and demeaned humanity.” He was pronounced dead at 11:15pm on January 19th 1993 by electrocution.
On November 17th, 2016 the Shoney’s located at 7101 Staples Mill Rd, site of the murders, permanently closed its doors. It remains standing but vacant to this day.
Steven Lee Staples was laid to rest in Greenwood Memorial Gardens in Goochland, VA
Franklin Delano Cooley was laid to rest in McKendree Cemetery in Buena Vista, OH
Ella Agnes Hicks was laid to rest in Alberene Cemetery in Esmont, VA
I hope their families have found peace, although I’m not sure that’s totally possible when a loved one is taken from you so violently and suddenly.
Nightmares of The Month 