In the winter of 1975, a sinister plot unfolded in the rural landscape of Florence County, South Carolina, culminating in the tragic death of Silas Barnwell Yates, a 45-year-old white male farmer. His life was cut short on February 12, 1975, not by a random act of violence, but by a calculated murder-for-hire scheme born from a soured relationship.
The conspiracy was set in motion by Yates's ex-girlfriend, Suzanne Kipper Owens, and her husband, John Owens.
The couple harbored a deep-seated animosity towards Yates and decided to take matters into their own hands, offering a payment of $1,500 to secure his death. The man they entrusted with this heinous task was the infamous serial killer, Donald Henry 'Pee Wee' Gaskins. The arrangement was facilitated through intermediaries, John Powell and John Owens, who helped orchestrate the fatal encounter.
On that fateful day, an associate of Gaskins, a woman named Diane Neely, played a crucial role in luring Yates from the safety of his home. Under the guise of needing assistance with her car, she drew him into a deadly trap. Once outside, Gaskins, accompanied by Powell and Owens, attacked and killed Yates. His body was then taken to a remote location and buried in an attempt to conceal the crime.
The murder may have remained a secret if not for the greed and fear that followed. Neely and her boyfriend later attempted to blackmail Gaskins for $5,000, threatening to expose his role in Yates's death. In a brutal act of self-preservation, Gaskins murdered them both. The unraveling of Gaskins's wider reign of terror eventually brought the truth of Yates's demise to light. Another of Gaskins's associates, Walter Neely, began cooperating with law enforcement and led them to the burial sites of several of Gaskins's victims, including Silas Yates.
The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of Donald 'Pee Wee' Gaskins, who was charged with multiple counts of murder. In April 1977, he was convicted for the murder of Silas Barnwell Yates and received a life sentence, one of several he would accumulate for his many crimes. Gaskins was later executed in 1991 for a separate murder he committed while incarcerated. Suzanne Owens was also brought to trial for her involvement in the murder-for-hire plot.
