Our card this week is Bobby Ray Jones, the 8 of Clubs from Florida.

Bobby Ray had just moved back to Walton County in the late summer of 1971. It was a

rebirth of sorts for this 33-year-old man. After getting caught up in a love

affair and running off to Alabama, he had only recently returned to the Sunshine State to try and reconcile with his wife.

And seemingly he was on track to do just that.

He had already found a new job and a place to stay. Things were starting to turn around, so much so that on September 29th he'd even told his mama she had no reason to worry about him, that he didn't have an enemy in the world, but that very next morning,

Bobby Ray was murdered. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is the deck. Oh, Picture this scene. It was the wee morning hours of September 30th

1971 in a rural area of Walton County Florida, which is in the panhandle and only a

stones throw away from the Alabama state line. The Moon was almost full and

shining bright, and Walton County Chief Deputy Wilmer and his partners, Deputy Randy and

Deputy B. J. Sanders, were on a stake out in the woods. You see there had been

some local bad guys secretly cutting and stealing copper wires from power lines to sell

them for cash and tonight was the night that these spry deputies would finally, hopefully

catch them in the act.

Our reporter Madison was able to connect with B.J. Sanders,

one of the long since retired deputies over the phone,

and he remembers that night in vivid detail.

Everything was quiet on their stake out. Right up until

the clock struck 1 a.m. Randy said let's go get a cup of coffee from Wilmer. I

seen he had a thermus. So we went back up there. He pulled us a cup of coffee and we were drinking

that and they'd come over the radio that they'd had this shooting up at this knife and gun club

up where we were.

...