Silas Yates

Death by Force

Silas Barnwell Yates, a 45-year-old white male farmer from Florence County, South Carolina, was murdered on February 12, 1975, in a calculated murder-for-hire plot. Yates had been involved in a contentious relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Suzanne Kipper Owens. Seeking to eliminate him, Owens, along with her husband John Owens, paid $1,500 to Donald Henry 'Pee Wee' Gaskins, a notorious serial killer, to carry out the murder. The arrangement was facilitated by intermediaries John Powell and Jo ...Read More

Former prosecutor calls paroled woman minor player in serial killings

Defendant Suzanne Owens, center, arrives in the trial for the murder ...

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