Recent killing spree reminds several longtime Gaffney residents of 'Gaffney Strangler'

Community members’ reactions to a recent killing spree in Gaffney are similar in several ways to when the “Gaffney Strangler” case happened in the 1960s, according to one resident.

Cody Sossamon was a high school senior during the strangler’s killing spree in the late 1960s. Sossamon’s grandfather was the publisher of the Gaffney Ledger at that time, as Sossamon is now.

“I think it’s almost unbelievable that a city our size could have two serial killers, ever,” Sossamon said Saturday.

Since June 27, an unidentified serial killer has fatally shot five people in the Gaffney area, according to authorities, making the death toll higher than that of the Gaffney Strangler, who killed four women in 10 days in 1968.

Gena Parker, 50, a teacher at Calhoun Academy of the Arts in Anderson who used to teach in Cherokee County, is one of the five people killed since late June, as is her mother, Hazel Linder, 83.

In the midst of his spree, the strangler, Lee Roy Martin, called Gaffney Ledger editor Bill Gibbons and told him where to find the bodies of two of his victims. Martin also threatened to kill even more women.

He eventually was convicted of four murders. In 1972, he was fatally stabbed in his prison cell.

The current killings do not appear to be similar in terms of method or motive to those in the 1960s, Sossamon said, but the fear felt in the community is similar.

As in the 1960s, people now are buying weapons in response to the threat, he said

“Everybody is armed and dangerous right now,” he said. “Everyone I know personally is carrying a weapon.”

Sossamon said his cousin owns a gun shop in the county and since Tuesday has sold out of various types of ammunition.

“People are very wary. They are afraid,” Sossamon said.

Friends of his canceled a planned July Fourth barbecue, and many other community members likely canceled their plans for the holiday, he said.

In the 1960s, Sossamon, like others, would at times ride around looking for the Gaffney Strangler before Martin was apprehended by authorities. And such patrols are how Martin eventually was caught, Sossamon said.

A golf professional in the area was “out riding around looking for the strangler and saw a suspicious car,” the publisher said.

Authorities believe the latest killer is driving a silver 1991-1994 Ford Explorer, and that information along with an artist’s sketch of the killer’s face has been publicized.

And community members are once again on the lookout, Sossamon said,

“People… want to find this guy,” he said.

Retired Cherokee County educator Zara Barnhill agreed that people are feeling some of the same emotions that were prevalent in 1968.

People are staying home and locking their doors, she said. Gaffney residents are arming themselves and calling ahead before they visit others, so friends and neighbors won’t need to be apprehensive about answering the door.

“It’s almost that you don’t want to stay in your house, and you don’t want to go out,” Barnhill said. “You just have this fear until they catch him.”

Blakely Funeral Home in Gaffney is handling funeral arrangements for Parker and Linder. The two women will be buried today in Frederick Memorial Gardens following a funeral service set to start at 4 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Gaffney.

In Anderson, a memorial for Parker has been planned for Monday at NewSpring Church just off Clemson Boulevard. The event will begin at 11 a.m.