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 for somebody would get quite upset. And the mystery that haunts a small southern town is a killer still walking free . I always say tick, tock, clocks tickin. Youre coming . Were coming. And we aint giving up. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres andrea canning. York, south carolina. A town steeped in American History and southern manners, its charm as deeply embedded as the pride of the people who live here. Its a nice southern town. Its very quiet. Its not the sort of place youd expect evil to come knocking. My life just changed, forever. And these are not the sort of people youd expect to be victims of a vicious crime. Hes a prominent man in a small town. Shes a good christian woman, sweet sou
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
Murder. Its just nothing but lights. Thats when you know that aint goo good. She was with him, found bruised and e was with him, found bruise ed in ductan tape. If you say anything, ill kill you. What was the motive . Was it money, or maybe revenge . There was a thick file of 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 would get quite upset. And the mystery that aunts a small southern town is a killer still walking free . I would say tiktoick tock, w coming. We aint giving up. Hello, and welcome to dateline dateline. Melvin roberts was and his girlfriend seemed inseparate rabble. Then a murder shattered their love affair and exposed the dark underbelly of a zip code where its considered polite to smile at your friends and your enemies. Heres Andrea Canning with death in the driveway. Reporter york, South Carolin
250 pounds, thats not excessively large. They need to work on their tables and get adequate facilities to be able to take care and give massages to a person of that size. 250 pounds is pretty average in this day and time, and i agree with darren that 12 jurors may be just as big as she is or bigger. This would be a great case to take to trial. Quickly, darren, ten seconds or less. If the table did break under her, could she then have sued the massage place . Maybe, but look, we wouldnt tolerate this kind of bullying if it happened in our schools, kids taunting each other for being large, we shouldnt tolerate this in business either. Darren and carrie, thank you for being with me all day today. A lot of interesting stuff to discuss. Thanks for watching, everyone. Newsroom international comes up next. Welcome to newsroom international. Im suzanne malveaux. Were taking you around the world in 60 minutes. We begin in south africa. Pretoria, south africa. Court is adjourned for the day with