Unsolved: Murder on the Constitution route

Written By David McNair

Unsolved: Murder on the Constitution route

Eight fatherless children. Two widows. One widower. Three grieving mothers– and three killers, presumably still walking around, never brought to justice for the three lives they took.

Albemarle County enjoys a low murder rate– two to three a year– and most of those are solved. Yet since the Albemarle Police Department was formed in 1984, three open cases linger: one as recent as last year, one in 1997, one stretching back to 1988.

(Charlottesville counts six unsolved murders since 1983 and one missing person case that was never classified as a murder.)

All three Albemarle slayings took place along Route 20– the Constitution Route– that stretches through Albemarle County from Scottsville to Stony Point.

These killings shook the community. Family members still grieve, denied the courtroom rituals and judgments society uses to respond to the deliberate taking of life.

"My life was never right after that," says Earl Shifflett, whose brother Roger was shot in 1988.

Worse, in at least two cases, the families– and police– believe they have a pretty good idea of who did the killing.

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Full Stories List for March 30th, 2006 issue #0513

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David McNair
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