6. Dead Ends

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Part 0: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Progress is not always linear. Some days it feels like I’ve made a groundbreaking discovery and other days it feels like I am right back to square one. It’s frustrating. It’s heartbreaking. It’s confusing. I know there are people out there who want this case solved. But I can’t shake the feeling of intense isolation I’m experiencing during this phase of the journey. 

My power is in sharing this story, getting people to talk about John Cornelius McGhee whether they knew about this case and forgot or if they never knew at all. 

At this point I’d like to go through and cross off the theories I can disprove, while honing in on those that are left behind – the theories that seem very likely to be true. But right now, it seems like as I take one small step forward, I’m pushed two giant steps back. 

We’re getting into the weeds and my limitations are becoming clearer. I’m relying on my family's reaction to this podcast to guide where I investigate next. And in the midst of all this confusion, some voices are getting louder.

Part 1: Recap the Theories

As I’ve gone through all the police files the last few years, I’ve outlined my own theories of what happened as thoroughly as I possibly could. The police files are a combination of what the police think happened with what they are hearing from witnesses — witnesses that they don’t trust.

Omar will never tell you the truth.

So then I started talking to my family. The time I spent interviewing them was enlightening. They provided context on some relationships and allowed me to read between the lines of the wheelings and dealings that didn’t make it into the police report. After going over everything, the police files and my new interviews — this is where I landed. Butchie and Daneen. Omar and the possibility of the home invasion gone wrong. And the police’s potential involvement or possible cover up. 

Detective Nippert: Well, we had to talk to you and Butch, you know, put two and two together here – you’re having a big custody battle.
Daneen: Well, I – but –
Detective Nippert: He hated John McGhee –
Daneen: Yes
Detective Nippert: John McGhee – uh – John McGhee’s found dead the day before the final hearing. I mean, why would we not talk to you?

It’s obvious Butchie and Daneen had a motive. Between the custody of Shane and not wanting to expose their participation in illegal activities, my dad getting murdered was convenient if nothing else.
If you remember, Butchie admittedly hated my dad. 

I remember this, too. I remember Butchie saying that he hated your dad but he would never do that to him.

Oh, I mean, I’ll be honest with you. Yeah, I hate the man. I do hate the man.

And even though he passed the sheriff’s voice inflection test, the prosecutor’s office dropped a huge easter egg when they mentioned that Tone could have been Butchie. 

Is Butchie Griffin listed in that? I know Tone is but I thought… Isn’t Tone… Is Tone Butchie Griffin? I don’t think we.. I don’t think those reports ever say who Tone is.

So I started looking into how Butchie could have been connected to the other accomplices there that morning. 

Really for Butchie – this was a best case scenario. He came out completely unscathed – his side hustle, relationship with Daneen, and his reputation remained intact. And afterwards, he went right back to whatever he was doing with no further association to my dad’s murder. 

Now with Omar – his ever-changing stories are a crucial part of this case. Not only does that make him look suspicious, but those stories were detrimental to this entire investigation constantly throwing people off. Omar sent all of those investigating this case on a goose chase and I’m scrambling to put together his pieces. 

Even if I took Omar’s word at face value and searched for a suspect based on his descriptions, I’d be looking forever. And he continually declined the Sheriff’s Department’s request for a polygraph. It’s not just clear to me, it’s clear to everyone –  Omar is not reliable. 

I’ll tell ya the person that needs convincing to tell the truth is Omar.

I can’t confidently say he is guilty of my dad’s murder without evidence. But I can say he is not innocent. At the very least, he admitted to lying on the stand. On Page 33 of the police report it says that Omar admitted to lying during the Grand Jury. There is a note that the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department *sound effect: recorder start button push* recorded that interview and kept it on a disk as evidence. Omar admitted to lying on the stand, under oath – and the police let him go. Perjury is a third degree felony in the state of Ohio. 

Omar’s the key. Will we ever get the truth out of him? I don’t know.

Why risk perjury charges to lie about this? This is a question I’ll continue to ask until I get an answer. Omar is the key witness in the murder investigation of his uncle – his mother’s brother, his neighbor  – from the second he called 9-1-1, the lies began. Not only do I want to know the truth. I want to know why. Why lie? If it’s not because he was involved then what was the reason?

Omar’s scared of something – either of implicating himself or these guys.

Let’s talk cops. Keep in mind, these episodes are being written and recorded in real time. You are in this with me. Last week, local news station WTRF insinuated that there is evidence that could be tested to solve this case. They interviewed the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department’s Lead Investigator Detective Allar who said that because the witness testimony is so unreliable, he has to rely on hard facts and evidence to help him solve this case. 

One of the reasons we’re doubling down on, going back and dealing with things that are solid and can’t be lied about you know direct evidence.

So if they’re relying on this “evidence,” let’s see it. 

A few things that still don’t make sense about their investigation efforts. They went to Pearl and Omar’s house first, instead of my dad’s house where they knew someone had been shot and killed. Alyssa was still on the phone with 9-1-1 while the police were outside and made entry into Pearl and Omar’s house. And they let my sister sit there, next to our dad’s body, for minutes before getting her out safely.

It’s unfortunate that the investigation of this case started off so rocky and so much useful information slipped through the cracks early on. If the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department is willing to step up their efforts to move the needle on this case – I guess it’s better late than never.

The police… didn’t investigate very good.

And that they didn’t take any more action to try to solve this is suspicious to me.

My goal was to rule out people because I thought that would push me in the right direction, but I can’t really rule out any of these theories. There just isn’t enough conclusive evidence. So even now, after all this time, all this research – everyone remains a suspect.

Part 2: Accomplices

I have been heavily investigating this case for years. Everything you have heard has been carefully considered and corroborated to the best of my ability. I am not just casually throwing out names in this podcast. So I am not listing every person that has been sent to me as a possible suspect because I haven’t had time to dive deeper into how they could be associated… yet. But I will. 

As I’m looking at these names, I am also looking for a number of suspects. But because of the inconsistencies in Omar’s witness statement, it’s hard to know how many guys broke into Omar’s house that morning.

Omar had changed the story from four people to eight people back to four people to three people to ten people.

To recap – I already looked into Daryl Smith, the only person initially charged. Duncan Waitts, one of the names I believe was redacted in the police report. And “Tone,” whose real identity still remains a mystery.

And just when it feels like this couldn’t get more twisted or more personal… it does. Someone in my family knows more than they are saying. In the police reports, my cousin Dwight, who was apparently living in Los Angeles at the time, had some connections to this group of guys. And he gathered the cousins together for a reason: to see if any of them had inadvertently caused this. According to the police files, Richard became very irritated about this conversation and had to leave the backyard to calm down. And I think there is something else happening here within the family, that I can’t quite pinpoint.

And I think the family knows this. They wanna admit it or not. I don’t know like I said you weren’t involved in their life. I don’t know if they don’t want a skeleton brought out. That’s a good possibility.

Let me be very clear. In past episodes, when I said “the family” I didn’t mean all one hundred of my cousins in Wheeling were directly involved in my dad’s murder. But I have seen how quickly word spreads within this group so I wouldn’t be surprised if quite a few of them obtained some information – or at the very least – heard something that could be helpful in this investigation that they are just sitting on. They cover this up under the guise that “it’s only hearsay” or “none of their business” but it’s worth tracking the rumors to find the dead ends. It could end with the rumor, but it could also lead to the truth.

And at the end of the day, I do think that family members were involved. I just can’t prove which ones. However you look at it, this is a family affair.

Part 3: The Things I Left Unsaid

There’s something in all of this – but it’s been diluted by inconsistent testimonies, shady characters, and too many people who don’t want their personal lifestyles exposed. There’s been moments recently I’ve felt the need to start over and look at this from a different perspective. For now, I’m going to try starting with the home invasion and moving forward. 

On July 11, 2002 – Daneen was immediately interviewed because of her obvious motive. But when Daneen died in 2020, so did any information she had about that day. If she knew these people, how she knew these people, is something I may never know. 

When Daneen gave her statement she had already heard some things… 

I know he got shot. I know that someone over here got tied up. Another thing I heard, his nephew’s the one that shot him. I mean, that’s my baby’s father. I didn’t want him dead.

At what point between the actual murder and the time she was brought into the sheriff’s department would she have “heard” anything? Her interview was just a few hours after the murder. Who would have told her any information about who was involved unless… she already knew or worse was involved. 

My sister thinks there was a woman in my dad’s house that morning. Maybe she was being used as a distraction. Alyssa remembers him checking on her more than usual that night and making sure she was asleep. 

I think somebody might have been downstairs – a female. Because I did hear stories about there was a girl there. But what I can remember from that night, he was awake all night which is not like him. The fact that he came into my room and checked on me three or four times that night alerted me that he was awake. And he kept going downstairs so I do think that there was a female there.

Then the police said they found women’s clothing downstairs.

Somebody was in that basement though because they said they found shorts down there that belonged to a female. Maybe shorts and underwear or just shorts that belonged to a female.

But to my knowledge, the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department didn’t collect it or test it for DNA. 

Was he hiding that someone was downstairs? Was it Daneen? If it wasn’t – who was it? A possibility I have heard is that it could have been a woman named Tiffany Lufft. 

Tiffany died in 2009 so it’s possible that I won’t ever know for sure if she was there. But this adds to the list of reasons why collected evidence and DNA testing could have closed this case. A lot of people who were involved or around at the time have passed away. But they should have been spoken to by the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department while they still had the chance.

The Belmont County Prosecutor’s Office had explained to me that the Grand Jury can be used as an investigative tool. When I met with them in person, they told me that they would consider taking this case back to a Grand Jury to interview new witnesses and see what new information they could find. But why hadn’t they considered it or reconvened a Grand Jury at all in the last twenty-one years? They could have spoken to all these witnesses – on the stand, under oath.

If you are telling us that some of these people know what’s going on we absolutely will consider convening a Grand Jury.

When looking at Butchie and identifying his motive, I had to also consider how he would have pulled this off. Would he have been naive enough to think he could get away with it? It’s possible that he could have had someone else do  it. The Prosecutor’s office had already led me down the path of associating the nickname Tone with Butchie – but what if Tone wasn’t Butchie, it was Butchie’s friend. 

Alyssa’s mom, Barb, mentions in her initial statement that Butchie’s best friend was Anthony Davis. What’s a common nickname for Anthony? Tony. Or Tone. 

Omar could be the scapegoat for someone. I’m struggling to figure out who but it’s not hard to understand why. His lifestyle opened himself up to these situations — when a debt is owed, someone always comes to collect.

It’s not like I’m telling the police department information they don’t already know – they knew about Omar and Richard’s side hustle. But I’m not interested in protecting the people who are protecting their already exposed reputations. I’m just shedding light on it again so that the police could also take a look at this case from a new angle. Because as of now, the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department has stuck to the same story.

Part 4: A New Angle

On July 11, 2023 – the twenty-first anniversary of my dad’s murder. I woke up before my alarm. It was so bright outside and I rolled over to see what time it was, in such a panic that I felt like maybe I had overslept. But it was 6:33 in the morning, right around the same time that Omar would have gone outside with these guys. On July 11, 2002 in Bridgeport, Ohio th  e sun rose at 6:04 in the morning. By 6:30 or so, the sun was high in the sky. And in the five minutes that Omar was outside, it should have been easy for him to identify these guys to the police. 

The big key to this is what happened when they took Omar outside.

Another strange thing about Omar. He changed clothes before the police arrived. A woman saw Omar running to the Brake and Block shop at the end of the street where he made his 9-1-1 call. Her name is Barbara and she was taking her son to work. Barbara says that Omar was wearing black boxer shorts and no shirt. When the people got to the scene, Omar was wearing blue and yellow shorts and a tank top.

Barbara asked a chilling question – why would Omar go somewhere else to call 9-1-1? 

Remember the safe those guys were looking for as they ransacked Pearl and Omar’s house? It allegedly belonged to Omar’s brother Richard. At the time, Richard lived in Columbus. That’s about a two hour drive from Bridgeport. I asked Kim if it’s possible that Richard could have been inside the house that morning. She knew Richard – his build, his voice. She didn’t believe he was there.

I don’t think so. The build – Richard’s short and chubby. Just the build wasn’t it or the voice.

My dad’s lawyer, Ed Susterstic, received an anonymous tip that Tone was from Columbus. Tone was not in the house, he was on the radio – possibly keeping watch. So just because Richard was not in the house, doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. The list of who Tone is doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter. Is it Butchie? Is it Anthony? Is it Richard? 

Here is where I will be protecting identities again – re-recorded interviews and distorted voices will be used to protect my sources. While I am taking every tip, every story with a grain of salt, I am not ignoring the possibility of truth behind the smoke and mirrors. I’ll reiterate again, without evidence from the police to help confirm or deny people’s involvement or presence at the scene, I have to keep exploring these avenues - taking a rumor and breaking it down until it’s either proven false or is corroborated by new information.

I spoke with someone who told me that Richard called them the morning of July 11, 2002 at 6:30, about ten minutes before my dad was shot.

Richard called me at 6:30 in the morning, and I remember because I had just left for work. And he told me ‘my uncle J is dead.’ How would he know that his uncle J was dead if he hadn’t even been shot yet?

How would Richard, or anyone, know that my dad was killed that morning before he was actually killed? This isn’t in the police reports, because the people coming forward to me aren’t eager to talk to the police.

I think Richard and Omar were in business together at the time – perhaps this was a family business, but who were they working for? I have my suspicions that another, more notorious cousin was running this “business” behind the scenes. 

Omar told the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department in 2005 that he did not come forward with as much information because he was afraid of retaliation. Every time he talks, it’s a new story. But this time Omar said that the night before my dad was murdered someone called my dad’s  house asking if Richard was there. My dad immediately hung up. A few hours later, he was killed. 

Omar said that my dad also had a safe with a few thousand dollars in it. He said that Richard would sometimes keep money at my dad’s house. Where did this money come from? Was it Richard’s money in the safe?

And Omar just says oh they threatened him saying “we want – we want the money.” What money? What money?

Another lead the police didn’t consider – following the money. 

You know a lot of this is hearsay, I’m not sure fact. I mean, you can track the money.

I’m at a point where my theories could overlap, and probably do. All of these names could be involved in some way or another to varying degrees. Some are relatives, some are strangers, some were enemies of my dad, and some were seemingly cordial. And by now we all know that Omar knows who at my dad’s house that day. 

He was right there. He was right there. How do you not see these people? He knows who they are.

Omar knows something. There’s no doubt about it.

But now I might (finally) be getting closer, too.

Part 5: The Other Theory

Whether Omar was compliant to save his own life, or directly involved in my dad’s murder is the major detail that I am not confident about. Regardless, Omar was the access point. He is the reason my dad  walked to the front door in the first place and  why I thought my dad didn’t grab a gun. 

I believe Omar was there when my dad was killed. And I think Omar’s closeness in relation and physical proximity to my dad created an opportunity for these people to do what they did.

In one of his last interviews in 2002, Omar tells the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department that he would sleep better without all these rumors swirling around. I’m sure it’s been a very long twenty-one years for Omar. I don’t think he pulled the trigger, I think one of these guys who did this home invasion did. And in an attempt to turn the puzzle to find a new perspective, I wanted to first figure out how this group was connected – to each other and to my dad. 

Part 6: The Common Thread

This case didn’t just need a closer look. It needed a magnifying glass. And then I found what I was looking for. In the pages of the witness testimony and the police reports – someone with a very strong motive for murder.

I’ve mentioned my dad’s snitch reputation, but there’s a very complicated backstory that explains why and how my dad became a Confidential Informant. 

J.C. worked for the Belmont Sheriff’s Office for a long, long time.

On August 8th 2002, Omar went back into the station because they were prepping for Daryl’s grand jury trial. They were trying to get the story straight so they could formally charge Daryl. While they were talking to Omar, he made an interesting connection between Daryl and my dad’s other nephew - Rico McGhee.

He said on Page 16 of that transcript that Daryl shot my dad because of Rico. When the detectives asked him what he meant by that he elaborated – telling them that Daryl and Rico were “tight” and that my dad testified against both of them in the same trial for drug trafficking. 

When Butchie was initially interviewed by the police about my dad’s murder, he mentioned that same trial Omar was referring to. Butchie told the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department, that my dad got Rico locked up for life and that Butchie was also charged at that time. 

It seemed like a lot of these drug dealers were connected to each other – and to Rico.

Uh, there’s a lot of drug dealers – J.C. has been – and there’s also been… I can start from the beginning. It all started back when J.C. told on his nephew. I don’t know if you know Rico. This was back in 1992 where I got my first charge at. This is when he sent his nephew to jail for life. See the situations were – J.C.’s a snitch. And there’s just a lot of people – hate him for that. 

When it comes to Richard, his connection to Rico is layered. They are cousins. And when Richard called my source to tell them about my dad’s murder he also mentioned something that felt like a clue.

Richard said another thing… ‘I feel bad for my family, but this could be good for Rico…’

Next Time on Ice Cold Case

I really don’t feel that comfortable talking about Rico.

‘Cause I feel like it’s gonna come out eventually anyway.

We get Daryl, he started bringing up some interesting facts.

Credits:

Ice Cold Case is brought to you by Yes!
It is written and produced by Madison McGhee
Also produced by Jeremy Benbow 
Recorded by Danny Sellers
Mixed by Cody Campbell
Our music is by Matt Bettinson
With creative direction by Austin Christianson