This murder has never been solved.
At the time of the murder, Miss Noble was 20 years old and was a student at Marshall University. Mr. Scott was 21.
The night of the murders, Jeff picked Karen up from her house at about 9:00 p.m. for a date. Less than three hours later, their bodies were discovered by a passerby. The inside of Jeff's Datsun truck had been soaked with gasoline and set on fire.
Jeff's body was pulled from the back of the truck. Karen's body was discovered 30 yards away, face down at the edge of the creek. Authorities believe the truck fire had been started only moments before the bodies were discovered.
At the time, authorities were quoted as saying they believed the couple was shot somewhere between Bluefield, W.V. and the Route 61 location and then brought to the isolated area where their bodies were later discovered.
Although officials stated they had "four or five good angles", nobody was ever charged in connection with the slayings.
The intent of this blog is to open discussion regarding this unsolved case. We welcome comments from anyone who remembers the case or who can add any additional information we have not presented.
Bravo for bringing this to the internet.
ReplyDeleteI was a newsman in the area when this happened.
The case has been in the corner of the attic of my memory for years.
I was especially intrigued by the attempt of authorities to pin the crime on a small-time criminal who hanged himself in the Russell Co., Va. jail some months after the murders.
Comments have also been posted to this blog:
http://a-loon.blogspot.com/2008/01/hanging-rock-murders-roanoke-county.html
I have wondered if this case had anything to do with the murders of Jeffrey and Karen:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/161156
And of course there was the much talked about rumor that the murders were committed by the scion of Bluefield wealth.
I wish you well, I wish you closure.
Interesting...I've been thinking about writing a short story on a cover-up in Roanoke and I awoke this morning and thought of this case and here you've started a blog.
Don't think folks have forgotten. For many in the region, they remember too.
Ponder this:
ReplyDeletePrior to this May, send letters to the News Editors of The Bluefield Daily Telegraph and The Roanoke times suggesting an article be written about this.
http://star-cult.bravehost.com/index.html
ReplyDeleteOh. hell is coming to Mercer Co. They just don't know it yet. ;)
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the previous comments, the one suspect was George Voster Bird.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Hanging Rock Murders, the link won't work but I'm very interested in hearing about this!
Thanks for the name of George Bird....I've been trying to remember this fellow's name for years.
ReplyDeleteI was working up near Bluefield when I heard the news that he hanged himself in the Russell County Jail in Lebanon.
What struck me at the time was they were trying to pin a notorious double murder on him...the murders of Karen Noble and Jeffrey Scott on State Route 61 along Wolf Creek in Giles County. The account of his death wrote of the suicide note saying "I'm sorry I can't help you with this Scott-Noble thing."
Bluefield College wrote of Bird in an article of students there "opening" an investigation into the Scott Noble case.....
To wit:
Lowder said around 9 p.m. he saw a blue Datsun with West Virginia tags pull up near his cabin and a young couple matching Scott and Noble's descriptions got out and headed toward the creek. About an hour later, he saw three individuals return to the vehicle and get in, driving off "at a leisurely pace." Lowder couldn't identify the three people due to the darkness. Later, under hypnosis, Lowder positively identified all three as Scott, Noble and George Voster Bird, an infamous criminal from Bland County who had escaped from the Giles County jail in February the year before.
Bird was in jail for charges related to a December 1976 rape, but he already had two previous rape convictions. Reports from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph state that he had escaped from jail by removing a window bar with a saw. With the lead provided by Lowder's testimony, police began the manhunt for Bird. In March 1979, Bird is believed to have kidnapped, raped and assaulted a young couple from Tazewell. The couple was able to escape after the young man drove his vehicle into a gas station and the suspect fled. Five months after the kidnappings in August, authorities tracked Bird to his mother's house along Route 61 in Bland County.
Lt. Tom Lawson, a lead investigator on the case at the time, told the students during an interview that he would never forget the day they found Bird. After searching the whole house and not finding him, investigators went up to the attic where they discovered an irregularity in the wall, Lawson recounted. After pulling out the insulation in that section of wall, police found Bird, cooped up in a hollowed out section of the wall, holding a gun to his head. It took authorities an hour and a half to talk Bird out of suicide, out of the attic and to place him under arrest.
Bird was sentenced to life plus 120 years in Russell County on convictions stemming from the kidnapping of the Tazewell County couple. Then, not long after he had been in jail, 14 minutes after a routine check, Bird hanged himself with strips of bed linen.
With Bird, the most promising suspect in the case, dead, some thought justice had been served. Others weren't so sure. There were too many unanswered questions, too many holes in the evidence. Even today, more than three decades later, people in the area familiar with the case still ask, "Who killed Jeff Scott and Karen Noble?"
Full story here: http://www.bluefield.edu/article/bc-students-investigate-local-cold-case/
I think Lowder knew something more .Involved??? Maybe.Why wasn't more checked out with him.
DeleteI had always heard rumors of Satanic worship done in the old abandoned buildings that used to be on top of ERM gift shop and restaurant maybe? The old stone building had the words "open your eyes to their lies" spray painted on it. Went exploring in them about 1987 and did find burnt candles and women's clothing thrown around the floor in both. We used to go up there on weekends and party in the 80s too but if memory serves me right most people had left by 1am. Seems like the police would sometimes run people off. As for the devil worship thing I had always heard rumors of it happening here and also somewhere on the rocky gap side too.
ReplyDeleteIs anybody still running this blog?
ReplyDeleteThis case is heartbreaking and perplexing. My gut tells my George Bird was the guilty party. Were there any similar crimes in the area after he was arrested?
ReplyDeleteWe're the cigarette butts found at the crime scene and the type O blood ever tested and compared to the DNA of George Bird?
ReplyDeleteThis is my question. What blood type was Bird?
DeleteI’m Karen’s cousin. What I can tell you is some sick person kept leaving presents on her grave and at my Aunt & Uncle's house. My Aunt eventually died not ever knowing who killed her daughter & I know it was from heartbreak. My Uncle died soon after.
ReplyDeleteThat’s horrifying. I’m sorry your aunt and uncle had to deal with that, on top of losing their daughter so horribly. I wish they could have found out who killed their daughter before they died.
Delete