killer still walking free. i would say tiktok, you r coming and we re not giving up. hello and welcome t dateline melvin roberts was a vip in hi tight-knit community, and juli phillips was the light of hi life the couple seemed inseparable, then, a murder shattered the love affair and exposed th dark underbelly of a zip code, where it s considered polite t smile at your friends and your enemies. here is andrea campaigning wit death in the driveway. awesome york, south carolina, a town seeped with america history and southern manners its charm is deeply embedded a the pride of the people wh live here. it s a nice southern count, it s very quiet. it s not the sort of plac you d expect evil to com knocking my life just changed, forever. and these are not the sor of people you d expect to be victims of a vicious crime he s a prominent man in a small town she s a good christian woman sweet southern belle and in the end, what woul forever haunt this peacefu place
Wrapped in duct tape. He didnt say anything. Ill kill you. So what was the motive . Was it money or maybe revenge . There was a thick file of possible suspects. He could definitely have a laundry list of people who would want to kill him. But was his killer an enemy or a friend . Those could be fighting words for someone. Pretty strong words. I could see where somebody could get quite upset. And the mystery that haunts a small, southern town. Is a killer still walking free . I was say tick tock the clock is ticking. Youre coming . Were coming. And we aint giving up. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Here is andrea cannon. Reporter york South Carolina a town steeped in American History and southern manners. Its charm as deeply embedded as the pride of people who live here. Its a nice southern town. Its very quiet. Reporter its not the sort of place you would expect evil to come knocking. My life has changed forever. Reporter and these are not the sort of people you would expect to be
Wrapped in duct tape. He didnt say anything. Ill kill you. So what was the motive . Was it money or maybe revenge . There was a thick file of possible suspects. He could definitely have a laundry list of people who would want to kill him. But was his killer an enemy or a friend . Those could be fighting words for someone. Pretty strong words. I could see where somebody could get quite upset. And the mystery that haunts a small, southern town. Is a killer still walking free . I was say tick tock the clock is ticking. Youre coming . Were coming. And we aint giving up. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Here is andrea cannon. Reporter york South Carolina a town steeped in American History and southern manners. Its charm as deeply embedded as the pride of people who live here. Its a nice southern town. Its very quiet. Reporter its not the sort of place you would expect evil to come knocking. My life has changed forever. Reporter and these are not the sort of people you would expect to be
Friendly. Reporter and the woman who called police to the scene was Julia Phillips melvins longtime girlfriend. She was worried that melvin was dead. She said she didnt know what had happened to him. Reporter investigators of the scene told julia the devastating news melvin had been murdered. Reporter is that a little jolt Melvin Roberts was the victim . Yeah. Because melvin is not the type of a person to be a victim of anything. Reporter melvin was the longest practices lawyer in South Carolina. He defended both the rich and poor for 55 years. He almost sounds like a bit of a smalltown celebrity whether he liked it or not. The thing about melvin was he was into everything. Reporter he was so influential, the street where he lived was named after him, roberts avenue. A true renaissance man devoted to his family. He was everything to me. He was my best friend. He was my mentor. Reporter melvin had two sons david and ronny. He was instrumental in making me into who i am. Reporter the thr
narrow down the long list of potential suspects they learned that the angr tenet who fit the descriptio of the man they were looking for couldn t possibly be the color. he was at work prosecutor chris hodge you had to clock in nin clock out. and his employer verified at the time he was there, that he had not left stayed until a shift was over. so he an airtight alibi. then there was the handyman jeanne mosque, who d had a argument with melvin shortly before the murder. when detective billy mumaw question mosque, he said he wa at home with his wife. that s kind of a shaky alibi, your wife? yes, a phone call was mad to him by another fellow later he said he heard his wife in the background on the home line? correct that was just after the murder moss was cross off the list detectives were running into nothing but dead ends. they spent a lot of time delving into melvin s life now detectives wanted to loo for clues in julia s background they took a ride 40 kilometers west as