Unsolved Murder - Sammy Don Massengill

DOB: 11-09-57   DOD: 02-24-01

Mrs. Massengill answered a phone call that delivered news no mother wants to hear; her child is dead. She had received a similar call only eight months before when her younger son had died and now her oldest son was gone.

Sammy Don Massengill had been found murdered at his residence at 426 Old Pinson Road. Sammy had lived at this address for nine years but had recently decided to move back to the family home in early March. Sammy was the proud father of three daughters’, ages 18,15 and 13. He had last seen the two youngest at Christmas but with his impending move, he hoped to spend more time with them. He wanted to take them camping and maybe float the Buffalo this summer; he was already making plans.

From a very young age Sammy Don had a fascination with Harley-Davidson. He loved riding as well as repairing motorcycles. He made his living cleaning cars. It paid the rent and he really enjoyed the work. While talking to his mother, I learned that all things mechanical were a challenge to Sammy. He would take things apart just to see if he could reassemble them, which in most cases he did with very little trouble. He was always willing to give his neighbors a helping hand repairing a car, moving furniture or in one case, chase off a snake from a neighbor lady’s yard.

His mother went on to tell me that if she and her husband went somewhere, they could always depend on Sammy to rescue them if they had car trouble. There was a silence on the phone; I could hear her crying, then in a soft voice she said, "We don’t have that anymore, someone took our rescuer away when they killed our son."

Sammy Don Massengill was a quiet, simple man who enjoyed being at home, watching the History Channel, reading about the battles of different wars or walking in an old cemetery on some country road. That all came to an end on the night of February 24 of this year when someone came into his trailer and brutally ended Sammy Don’s life.

There were two anonymous calls into Central Dispatch around 10:30 p.m. stating there had been a disturbance at 426 Old Pinson Rd. Two white males had been seen walking on Old Pinson Rd. around 10:30 that evening. Another report was of a slim, medium build, white male driving a Black 4-door late model Camry. This man had been seen with Sammy a few days prior to his death. The investigators from the Sheriff’s department would like to talk to these individuals; they may have the information needed to close this case.

If you have any information about this or any other case we have covered please call Crime Stoppers at 424-8477 or the Jackson Police Department 425-8400.