Stormy, Deadly Night - Selma, North Carolina

Small Town Murder

This episode details the senseless 1989 murder of 69-year-old Leland Mack Grice in his Selma, North Carolina trailer by two young men under the influence of lacquer thinner.

Key takeaways

• Franklin Dwayne Howell and Gordon Michael Marlowe murdered Leland Mack Grice on May 1, 1989, after hiring John Horton to drive them while they huffed lacquer thinner.
• The perpetrators stole only a tape player and loose change, underscoring the senseless nature of the crime.

Main topics

• Selma North Carolina murder case
• Lacquer thinner inhalation and substance abuse

Notable quotes

We have never had two men fucking sniffing thinner as their entertainment for the night before.

Conclusion

The episode highlights how substance abuse and petty greed can trigger fatal

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:15) Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yay and choo-choo. Yay, indeed, Jimmy. Yay, indeed. My name is James Petrigallo. I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you, folks, so much for joining us today on just another crazy edition of Small Town Murder. It never stops. Never stops. We've heard a lot of feedback on old Judy Bagwell. I'll tell you that much. That case, wow, that was a... Apparently, that really struck a nerve there. Somebody saving genetic properties and using them later really struck a nerve. We have a crazy story today for you. We will get to that. But first. Head over to shut up and give me murder.com. Absolutely. Head over there. Get your tickets for live shows. As a matter of fact, you can get tickets for this Saturday show if you're listening. Oh, boy. You're listening right when this comes out. Saturday. This is October the 3rd in Dallas. Get your tickets right now. After that. Next two more weeks, we got San Jose on October the 16th, October the 17th, Sacramento, November the 13th in Tarrytown. But that one is almost sold out. So if you want to get those, you better get them right this second. And then in Medford, which is just outside Boston, on November the 14th, get your tickets there. So good shows coming up for you. Also. San Jose, Sacramento. Those will be different shows. I know it's a very close together. So if you want to go to both, hey, go to both. You'll see two completely different shows. So do that. Shut up and give me murder dot com. Also listen to our other two shows, Crime in Sports, which we think you will like no matter what here. We have we have murder this week. So check that out. Definitely. Then your stupid opinions. Let's find out what people think about places we never want to go from people we don't want to hear from. It'll be. It's always hilarious. It's always fun. So check that out. Get yourself Patreon, too. That is important. Patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N dot com slash crime in sports, just like the name of our other show. What you get there is anybody $5 a month or above. You get everything we put out. As soon as you subscribe, you're going to get like 400 back bonus episodes immediately upon subscription. Then you're going to get new. You're going to get sorry. I got ahead of myself there. New ones every other week. Two new ones. One crime and sports. One small town murder. And you get them all, everybody. So you can do this. Get in there. First of all, for this week, crime and sports. We did the murder of a minor league baseball player's family. So there's no sports, really. This is all murder. It was a terrible day. One of the craziest apprehensions of a criminal that's ever taken place. Just a naked man running wild through the streets, literally attacking the cops while completely naked, and the cops retreat. It's wild. You got to hear about it. Then for small-town murder, an old-timey Halloween murder, the Trick or Treat murder from 1957, which they tried to disguise this murder as a Halloween. prank or something. It's wild stuff. Can't wait for you to hear that. Patreon.com slash crime in sports. And on top of that, you get all the shows we put out. Everything. Your stupid opinions, crime and sports, small town murder, all ad free with your Patreon as well. What? Deal. We can't help but give. That's all we can do is give. And on top of that, you get a shout out at the end of the regular show. Sure. It's all we can give to you. Our veins are open. Enjoy. That said, I think it's time, everybody, to sit back. What do you say here? You want to clear the lungs, which is a task for me since I've been sick for a week here. Clear the lungs here. Arms to the sky. Let's all shout. Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this, everybody. Let's go on a trip, shall we? Speaker 3 (4:00) We Speaker 2 (4:01) are doing it. We're going on a trip. We're going down to North Carolina this week. We're doing this a little earlier than we normally do. Normally, it'd be another probably six, eight weeks before we do in North Carolina. But the way things fell, we're doing North Carolina. And it's an Speaker 3 (4:14) interesting Speaker 2 (4:15) case. I know people don't really care. They're not going, hey, we're like five, six weeks ahead of schedule here. But I don't know. I feel like I have to say something. So there might be a couple really anal people out there that are like, no, no, no. This is ahead of... The whole thing, and they have a spreadsheet. It's Speaker 3 (4:30) not time. Speaker 2 (4:30) We have people with spreadsheets, so you never know. This is in Selma, North Carolina. Selma's in East Central North Carolina, about 35 minutes outside of Raleigh, about three hours to Charlotte. And about an hour 25 to our last North Carolina episode, which was Burlington, North Carolina, episode 707. That was Serial Granny. Remember her? Yeah. That was a wild one. Yeah, North Carolina, you bring the heat when it comes to murder. So we're impressed. Speaker 3 (4:58) There's a Selma right around the Speaker 2 (4:59) corner Speaker 3 (5:00) from Speaker 2 (5:00) this. Speaker 3 (5:00) Why'd they? Speaker 2 (5:01) Yeah, there's Selmas, as we know, a very famous Selma in the south there. This is in Johnston County. We'll find out why they named it Selma, by the way. Johnston County. This is area code 919. Population, it's pretty small around here. 6,317. Oh, very small. It's pretty rural. All of our principals live in trailers. It seems to be all trailers and things like that. Median household income here, $25,421. Let me repeat that. Median household income. Rest of the country, it's like 70 grand. $25,421. Broke. That is a whole family. That's a lot. Wow. That's crazy. And then median home cost is $245,100. Yeah. Doesn't make any sense. That's why everybody lives in a trailer. Right. They rent a trailer because what can you rent? That's crazy, those prices. So much trouble. Speaker 3 (5:56) Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:57) The motto here, not good luck buying a house, dickface, which should be the motto. Instead, it's the crossroads of tradition and innovation. Sure. I'm sure it is. Innovation? Innovation, which is coming up with new, weird, inhabited spaces that you can have. Trailers, maybe a hollowed out dumpster. A Speaker 3 (6:20) new cheap lean-to. Speaker 2 (6:21) Yeah, a lean-to. One of those shipping containers, if you want to grab one of those. Anyway, history of this town. May 1st, 1867, lots were sold all the way around a newly established station on the North Carolina Railroad. So this is one of those towns that only exists because a railroad came by. The town was built from these lots. and considered a railroad town for a long, long time. The town was officially chartered in 1873. So May 1st, 1867, they're rebuilding a lot of the railroads from the Civil War and building new ones here. They got electric lights and water system around 1913. So then we're shitting and it's going away. Now we got something going on here. And electric lights and everything else. You Speaker 3 (7:09) can see the Speaker 2 (7:09) poop leaf. Yeah, we could finally. In the dark. We can't see it at 3 in the morning. So they built a bunch of nice houses that are still around the downtown area still now, these big, nice, whatever, spacious houses. A lot of tobacco growing. First it was cotton, and then it switched to tobacco later on. And really, it was the Depression that flipped it. Cotton prices sank, and everybody ripped up their cotton, started planting tobacco instead. Really? People are smoking, but they're not buying new clothes. That's how the Depression worked. People were making clothes out of flower sacks. That's what they were making clothes out of. They weren't buying cotton. So it was just economic there. Reviews Speaker 1 (7:51) of Speaker 2 (7:51) this town. Let's find out what the hell goes on here. Five stars. I love my town and have lived here since I was born. That's good. I've had so many good experiences and have made so many friends that help each other out. Selma is a calm town and you wouldn't have any problems in this small, wonderful town. Well, that sounds great. Wonderful has two L's, so it's really full of wonder. It's packed with it. Full Speaker 3 (8:18) of wonder. Speaker 2 (8:19) Just jam-packed with wonder. Like Raisin Bran is with raisins. That's how much wonder is here. Two scoops of wonder. Two Speaker 3 (8:25) scoops of wonder. Speaker 2 (8:25) That's it. Three stars. I believe it's a great area. I like that, by the way. I'm told. I believe in it. In my heart, even though I don't see it. I believe it's a great area, but it's old and worn in some areas. I believe there could be more for the youth to keep them in school and off the streets. Speaker 3 (8:45) Like it's an old coat. Yeah. Speaker 2 (8:47) We hear that in so many of these small towns is that there's nothing for kids to do at all. Isn't that shocking? Huff things and do meth, you know? Yeah. It's very shocking. Here's two stars. Small town areas furthest away from the township are the ideal location to live. It is a quaint area for the country life. And there are quite a few locations that are Wi-Fi accessible. Oh, they have Wi-Fi there. There's quite a few locations where you can actually live in the 21st century. Isn't that amazing? There's a few places that'll let you get on the Internet. And this review is from 2021. This isn't from. 2012. There's not Speaker 3 (9:28) a single person there that's heard of us. Oh, God, no. Well, they will after this, and they all Speaker 2 (9:32) spread it on Facebook. This is the type of town where they all share it on Facebook, and then they all make comments saying how they hate us because we said their town is Speaker 3 (9:40) us. Speaker 2 (9:40) They got Speaker 3 (9:40) to Speaker 2 (9:40) go down Speaker 3 (9:41) to the coffee shop to get online Speaker 2 (9:42) to tell us they hate us. Tell us they hate us. Well, then they can gather and spread the word of our hatred of hatred, so it's fun. Here's two stars, finally. My name is Melanie Barbie. Hi, Melanie. Hi. Thank you, Mrs. Barbie. I guess. I live in Selma, North Carolina. Excellent. Selma is a really small town and has very minimum opportunities. I've lived in Selma 18 years, and the best part about it is you basically know everything that goes on. I think Selma could improve with more local park and family things to do. Again, no kid shit. Things to do here. The best Speaker 3 (10:17) thing is that you know everything. That Speaker 2 (10:18) seems like the worst thing you could possibly have. I don't understand that. Things to do, Selma Railroad Days. Yeah. That's right. It's a milestone festival. Has something for everyone. A parade, rides, a car show, live music, model train exhibits, all that shit. What's Speaker 3 (10:36) the milestone? Speaker 2 (10:37) Since, no real milestone. They call it a, what do they call it? Did I say milestone? Milestone festival, they call it. I don't know. I don't know what the hell that means. It's been around since 75. Like I said, a lot of barbecue cook-offs and shit like that. Really focused on the pageants, though. There is one where they have a poster, and I'm looking at it, and it is what a pedophile would put on the refrigerator. It's fucking disgusting. It is all young girls ranging from... There's toddlers here. There's pictures of them? Lining the whole poster are their headshots. Speaker 2 (11:15) Pictures of girls from three to, say, 13 maybe of glamour shots. And the three-year-olds are made up with their hair like JonBenet style. Why would they do that? And their names, too. And the town they live in in case you want to go kidnap them. Just in case your dick is that hard and you're that much of a piece of shit, you're going to go kidnap a child. Speaker 3 (11:34) Why are we pedophile fishing? Speaker 2 (11:36) I don't understand this. There's seven- to nine-year-old division. There's the junior miss at a... 10 to 12. Then there's a 13 to 15. Then there's Speaker 3 (11:45) a Speaker 2 (11:45) 16 to 18. They parse them that closely because they're like, well, you don't want to have their tits too developed. Like they're treating them like hogs or something down there. Yeah, a 13-year-old Speaker 3 (11:54) can't compete with a 17-year-old. She's so much hotter. Speaker 2 (11:57) Oh, so much hotter, man. Unless the skipper's your type. There's also mini-Miss Selma, which is... 12 months to two years is the baby miss category. The we miss. Speaker 3 (12:09) Everybody Speaker 2 (12:09) that shows up. Everybody that shows up with a penis gets arrested. We miss three to four years old and then tiny miss five to six years old. So everyone from a year old to 18 has a pageant for them. Arrest them all. Arrest them all. And there's bands. The bands, though, are. Not great. They have, let's find out. They have Gimme Back My Skinnered playing from three to five. Gimme Back My Wonder What They Play. Then seven to eight, Rev On, The Foreigner Experience. So a foreigner cover band. And if that's not enough for you, from eight to nine, Arrival, which is the music of journey. Speaker 2 (12:50) Enjoy, everybody. Arrival, yeah. Arrival of Journey. That said, let's talk. God, I'm creeped out by those pageant pictures. You got to see the posters, dude. They're disgusting. It's just so creepy. There's something for everybody. We Speaker 3 (13:02) got a little bit of Journey and then two other cover bands that only do other bands. That's Speaker 2 (13:07) it. So as I'm screenshotting those posters for this thing, I'm like, this is on my history. I took a picture of this. I'm disgusted with it. It's not good. Let's talk about some murder here. Oh, my God. June 18th, 1989. Let's start out. Yeah. Okay. June 18th, 1989. You can remember that being a little kid. Yeah. I'm sure. Well, yeah. Speaker 3 (13:35) There's about a three-year window there Speaker 2 (13:36) that Speaker 3 (13:37) I block out a lot of it. And that's right in the wheelhouse. Well, Speaker 2 (13:41) yeah, let's set the stage for us here so we can possibly remember. Let's find out the number one songs of June of that. Of 89? Of 89. Okay, I'll take you there. Is Speaker 3 (13:52) it Speaker 2 (13:52) Sir Mix-a-Lot? No, not even close. That was like 92. 91, 92. June 10th, the number one song that week is Bette Midler with Wind Beneath My Wings. Wow. Yeah, not Sir Mix-a-Lot. I say you couldn't get farther away from Sir Mix-a-Lot. That's why I said not even close because I'm like Bette Midler. I want to see a duet between them, but besides that, I can't figure it out. Was that Beaches? Yes, that's the Beaches one. Well, they're friends dying or whatever. Then June 17th, I'll Be Loving You Forever by the New Kids on the Block took over at the number one slot. So the day before this, the New Kids were number one. And then Satisfied by Richard Marks takes over the next week. Wow. Yep. And the number one hit that week just came out the box office on June 16th was Ghostbusters 2. What a great movie. Which opened to $29.4 million weekend, setting a brief three-day record. Then Batman came out on the 23rd and blew the fuck out of everybody. That was the first Batman. How about that? Batman knocked a pedophile right out of the charts. Right out of there. That's right. So that day, June 18th at 1989, a man named John Horton is meeting with a detective named Detective Beasley here. Okay. Now, John Horton, this detective, has heard tell around the way now about this John Horton might have information about a murder that happened back on May 1st. So they're going to talk to old John Horton. Now, John Horton meets with the detective at the home of his sister, Tammy Horton. Who he, of course, lives with because why not? Because you've got Speaker 3 (15:33) to have Speaker 2 (15:33) more than one person. Otherwise, you can't make it. No, no. Well, it's like his sister, his sister's boyfriend, him, and somebody else all live in a trailer. It's a lot of roommates. It's Speaker 3 (15:44) a Speaker 2 (15:44) lot of roommates in a trailer. Now, Beasley tells Horton, I'm a detective, and I've been told you have some information. You're going to sit right on down and tell me about it there, son. And Horton says, let's talk. I'm ready to tell you everything. So here we go. He then gives Beasley here a rundown of May 1st, 1989. So do you just now this is what the police know before they talk to Horton. OK, this is the murder that happened and what they're trying to find out about. And it's been a month and a half and they haven't really had much to go on. Now, they know that a man named there's a couple we'll talk about Leland Mack Grice. Speaker 2 (16:25) Mack Grice. That's a good name. Leland Mack Grice. He's 69 years old. He has a wife named Ruby Dozier Grice. She's also 69 years old. They also live in a trailer here. Now, Leland, a little bit about him. He's got two brothers and a sister. He's a retired carpenter. Now, they have a bunch of kids, too. They have two sons, William and Leland Jr. They have two daughters, Carol and Sharon. They have 13 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren. Speaker 3 (16:56) All because two people fell in love. Speaker 2 (16:59) Two people. Well, they at least fucked a lot in a trailer. I don't know. At least threw some dick at her. Either that or they just had a real sense of responsibility and duty, and they stuck around until they were 69 years old. So now they're each born in 1920. Both of them. In 1949, I found out old Leland Grice here was made the sergeant at arms for the local American Legion branch. So that's nice here. So they're into the community, basically. 1958, their son William was one of the people sent to Lebanon to. some sort of military action that was taking place in Lebanon in 1958. He was sent over there as one of a small force, actually. So that's pretty interesting. Now, Leland's, like I said, a retired carpenter. They live on Route 2 here. It's a mobile home. It's off of, this isn't, it's not even on this road. It's on Route 2. It's off of Rural Paved Road, 1934. Yeah. That's what they call it. Rural paved road. Nineteen thirty four. Fuck giving it a name. Speaker 3 (18:12) Why Speaker 2 (18:12) couldn't you just name it after anybody? Anybody pick somebody. Speaker 3 (18:17) Call it Leland's Road. Who cares? It's Speaker 2 (18:20) North Carolina. Dean Smith Avenue. Who gives a shit? Just name it. Michael Jordan Street. Does it matter? James Worthy Avenue. Is that good? It's a goddamn difference. Fuck, I like Bull Durham. Call it Cosner Street. I don't care. It's fine. My Speaker 3 (18:37) aunt's address was rural route. And I was like, what? And I was like, send Uncle Bruce a letter. And then she gave me that address. I'm like, what Speaker 2 (18:47) are we? Where are you? It's better than rural paved road. Because it sounds like they're bragging about the paved part. Like, we paved it on out there now. We paved some R roads. Oh, boy. So on the night of May 1st, 1989, there was severe storm warnings that are broadcast for the area. And there's a lot of real good storms here in this mid-Atlantic region here in the south. Now, this is weird. Mrs. Grice, Ruby, Ruby was afraid of storms. Yeah. At 69 years old. So this is the weirdest part. She leaves the mobile home that she lives in with her husband, leaves him there. Oh, she doesn't go with him? No, no, no. Leaves him behind, old Leland, to go to her daughter's house, Carol Daniels. So you go, she must live like far away and in like a big brick house. No, she lives in another trailer less than a mile down the road. Well. How are you safer there, feel safer there than being there with your husband? It doesn't make any sense. Maybe a real big storm just came through there and Speaker 3 (19:57) lightning doesn't strike twice. Speaker 2 (20:00) Maybe. I'm not sure what's going on. But she's down there. This is about 8.20 p.m. She left to go to her daughter's house. Apparently the storm subsides within a three-hour window. Because at about 11.20 p.m., Ruby leaves her daughter's house to drive home. Right up the road, less than a mile. Now, the back door of the residence was the one that everyone used. Everybody just went in and out the back door of the trailer. And now apparently that she left the residence when she left originally to go to her daughter's. Leland was sitting at the end of the table in the dining room with his back to the door. Speaker 2 (20:38) Okay. So the door in question is the only one at that entry point, and there's no storm door on it. It's just an open door to the outdoors. So the weather's stormy, like we said. Now, she said she couldn't remember, Ruby, that she closed the door when she left, but they think she did. And later on, she said, I think I locked it even, I thought. Oh, it's a swinging door. Well, no, it's a regular door, but they keep it open for air. What door doesn't swing? Speaker 3 (21:09) An Arcadia, a slider. I've seen a lot of those on a Speaker 2 (21:12) trailer. Oh, yeah, no, no, no. This is a door door, a regular old door here. So that's a good point, though. Now, they think, though, that on a stormy day, he wouldn't be sitting at the dining room table with the door completely