The Good Son Goes Bad
(“In the Bag,” Forensic Files)
Jack and Linda Myers were an enterprising couple who operated a food market and pizza shop in tiny Houston, Ohio.
Serving up hot fresh slices of extra cheese with mushrooms can be an amiable business, but the Myers had two sidelines that tend not to create many fans.
They rented out residential properties they owned, and Jack fixed up used cars and resold them, often on credit.
Smallest victim. So when the Myers’ great-grandson discovered the couple murdered in their own bed, investigators wondered whether an evicted tenant or a repossessed-vehicle owner pulled the trigger.
But, as it turned out, the killer was someone the Myers trusted and knew far more intimately than any of Jack’s buyers or renters.
For this week, I looked for information about what happened to the great-grandson who lived with Jack and Linda and was just 4 years old when they died. I also checked on where the murderer is today.
So let’s get started on the recap of “In the Bag,” the Forensic Files episode about the case, along with extra information from internet research:
Strange story. On March 27, 2003, a sweet little guy in bloodstained pajamas and boots showed up an hour late for preschool.
Dameon Huffman (Forensic Files used the pseudonym “Johnny Huffman”) had run a mile to get to the classroom, which was part of the Oakland Church of the Brethren.
Staff member Marlene Harris would later testify that Dameon said his great-grandparents were “melting.” She called the sheriff’s office.
Police found Jack and Linda Myers shot to death inside their farmhouse on Martin Road in Darke County, Ohio.
Monster’s not just a nightmare. It looked as though an intruder had disconnected the phone lines, shot Jack in his sleep, and then turned the gun on Linda after she woke up. She had a defensive wound, and the gunshot to her face made her unrecognizable.
The couple had been happily married for seven years and had full custody of Dameon. His mother, Linda’s granddaughter Amber Holscher, was too young to care for him and had put him in foster care at one point.
Dameon said that the night of the murder, a “green monster” had looked in on him in his bedroom and apparently thought he was asleep. The only other eyewitness was a neighbor who remembered seeing an unknown minivan in the Myers’ driveway before dawn.
Cash and valuables untouched. Worried that the perpetrator would try to find and kill Dameon, the authorities placed him in protective custody in a secret location, away from all family members, according to “The Green Dragon,” an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn.
The killer hadn’t stolen anything valuable, so an outsider’s grudge seemed like a probable motive — until police started investigating the family.
Suspicion first fell upon Andrew Huffman, Dameon’s dad, after Amber told investigators there was a custody dispute between him and Linda, and he had threatened her.
But he was in Kentucky when the murders took place, and his employer confirmed his alibi.
Alienated son. Next up on the list came Jack’s first-born son.
Travis Myers, 28, and his father had warred over some financial matters, and Travis moved to Arizona to put as much distance between them as possible, according to On the Case.
Travis had returned to Ohio shortly before the murders, but he also had a solid alibi.
Surprisingly, investigators found a better suspect in Jack’s younger son, Gregg Myers, 25.
Forty acres and a fool. The mild-mannered Gregg had no criminal record, got along well with his dad, and was best man at his wedding, but had reportedly been rebuffed when he asked Jack for a loan to save his home.
Due to a bank foreclosure, Gregg was either scheduled for eviction the following month or had already been evicted (media accounts vary) from his house in the town of Piqua.
Gregg, who was the father of two small children, needed a new place to live pronto, and he conveniently stood to inherit Jack and Linda’s farmhouse and its 39 acres upon Jack’s death.
Evidence against Gregg began to stream in.
A family friend named Jon Helmandollar promptly ratted out Gregg, telling authorities that Gregg had asked him where he could get a gun to shoot his father.
Superstore spree. Gregg’s girlfriend, Jennifer Brown, told investigators that when she woke up on the morning of the murders, Gregg was already out of the house. It was earlier than he usually left for his job at NK Parts — when he showed up, that is. According to Forensic Files, Gregg had an absenteeism problem as well as a substance habit.
But it was the physical evidence that really made the case. A Walmart in the town of Sidney had receipts showing Gregg bought ammunition, masking tape, and batting two days before the homicides. Police had found remnants of tape and batting at the crime scene and believed the shooter used them to make a silencer.
A week before the killings, Gregg, who drove a van like the one spotted in Jack and Linda Myers’ driveway the day of the murders, had purchased latex gloves, a pair of Route 66 brand shoes two sizes too small, a green windbreaker, green pants, and black stockings.
After the murders, police discovered those items in a bag discarded in the Stillwater River, downstream from where they recovered a 12-gauge Winchester shotgun with the serial number rubbed out.
Firearm floating. One of the gloves had Gregg’s fingerprint inside, and the old “make foot impressions with the wrong shoe size” trick didn’t fool anyone for long.
Investigators uncovered enough of the gun’s serial number (Gregg clearly should have watched more Forensic Files) to trace it to a private owner named Eugene Adams who said he sold it to Gregg for around $175 on March 25, 2003.
Police arrested Gregg and set his bail at $500,000.
Taking his chances. Darke County Prosecutor Richard Howell offered a deal that would take the death penalty off the table in exchange for a guilty plea to aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated murder.
Gregg chose to go to trial.
Defense lawyer L. Patrick Mulligan said Gregg had the moral support of many people — even as they had to look at Linda Myers’ family members who came to court dressed in T-shirts with tribute silkscreened pictures of the murdered couple.
The jury convicted the baby-faced defendant on all charges after deliberating for eight hours.
Penalty phase. Travis Myers “buried his face in his hands” when he heard the verdict against his little brother, the Dayton Daily News reported.
“It tears us apart because we were close with Gregg,” said Linda’s daughter Kim Hudelson, according to the Dayton Daily News. “We got along with Gregg.”
At the sentencing hearing, defense lawyer George Katchmer played the unhappy childhood card.
He said Travis and Gregg “grew up in an abusive household without their father’s support,” the AP reported in a story dated May 2, 2004.
May Williams, Jack Myers’ sister, testified that Jack was the “family bully” and didn’t nurture his sons, the AP reported.
Spared the ultimate. It probably wasn’t much of a stretch to believe that a man who repossessed cars could be intimidating.
The jury spared Gregg the death penalty.
Instead, Gregg, then 26, received life without the possibility of parole plus five years for aggravated burglary and six years for use of a silencer.
The Ohio Supreme Court later upheld the conviction after Gregg filed an appeal alleging unfair jury selection in 2006.
Today, Gregg resides in Marion Correctional Institution, a severely overcrowded medium-security facility.
Marion was built to accommodate 1,452 inmates but has a population of 2,550, according to PrisonPro.
On the bright side for Gregg, who has no chance of parole, the facility “is known as having some of the most innovative programs of all institutions” and has a high percentage of inmates who complete certification programs.
Tedx even hosted an event, which inmates helped to plan and host, at Marion.
Littlest survivor. As for Linda’s granddaughter Amber Holscher, she had gotten married shortly before the murders and had been preparing to regain custody of her son.
Amber, who appeared on both Forensic Files and On the Case, said little Dameon had persistent nightmares about a green monster or green dragon during childhood but felt safer as time went on.
He got counseling to cope with the traumatic events of his youth and, at age 16, was doing well, according to the On the Case episode from 2014.
As of 2019, Dameon is a motorcycle enthusiast who works for a manufacturing company in Ohio.
Although he’s kept a low profile over the years, Dameon spoke on camera about the murders for “The Green Monster,” an episode of American Monster.
It includes never-before-seen home movies of family life with Jack and Linda Myers. You can watch the “The Green Monster” on the ID Network if you subscribe to cable. Amazon has the episode, too, but you have to pay, even with Prime.
That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube or Amazon Prime or Hulu
