In the summer of 1974, a dispute over the proceeds from a stolen boat led to the untimely death of 36-year-old Johnny Sellers. A resident of the Charleston area, Sellers had been an associate of Donald 'Pee Wee' Gaskins, a man who would later become known as one of South Carolina's most infamous serial killers. Their criminal partnership soured when Sellers demanded his share of the money from the illicit sale.
Fearing that Sellers would expose his involvement in the boat theft and other
criminal activities, Gaskins decided to silence him permanently. In June of that year, he lured Sellers to a secluded location where he shot him in the back of the head. To eliminate any potential witnesses, Gaskins also murdered Sellers' ex-girlfriend, Jessie Ruth Judy, at the same time. The bodies were then concealed, becoming part of a gruesome collection of victims Gaskins left buried in the South Carolina soil.
It wasn't until November 1975, when a different criminal associate of Gaskins confessed to police, that the extent of his murderous spree began to unravel. This confession led investigators to the shallow graves on Gaskins' property where the remains of eight of his victims were unearthed. Gaskins was subsequently arrested and, in May 1976, convicted for one of the murders and sentenced to death. Although that initial death sentence was overturned, he later pleaded guilty to nine murders, including that of Johnny Sellers, and received multiple life sentences. His reign of terror finally came to an end when he was executed in 1991 after murdering a fellow inmate on death row.
