Greg Johnston, regional vice president for Sam's Club, asks the public for information about the killing of David Holt. The manager spoke at Sam's Club in Augusta with Investigator Wayne Bunton (left) and Lt. Wayne Collins. MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF

Break in case possible

Web posted June 19, 1999

By Clarissa J. Walker and Meghan Gourley
Staff Writers

Law enforcement officials said Friday that they have suspects in the year-old murder investigation of Sam's Club Manager David Holt.

``Yes. That's right,'' admitted Lt. Wayne Collins of the Aiken County Sheriff's Office when asked about suspects after a news conference updating the status of the case.

Investigators would not say whether the suspects were from the Augusta or South Carolina areas nor reveal how many are believed to be involved in the case in which Mr. Holt's body was found in the trunk of his burning car.

``We're close,'' Richmond County Sheriff's Investigator Wayne Bunton said in an earlier interview. ``We're close to bringing this thing to an end, but we don't want to do it hastily. We only have one shot.''

For the past year, the sheriff's department has been working with Aiken County authorities, the FBI and South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division to find Mr. Holt's killer.

Sam's Club Regional Vice President Greg Johnston said the company held the Friday's press conference to reaffirm its commitment to finding those involved in the slaying.

The company is offering a $200,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

The day after the killing on June 21, 1998, Wal-Mart announced it was offering a $25,000 reward for information in the death and the reward has been climbing ever since.

A candlelight vigil will be held in memory of Mr. Holt at 9 p.m. June 27, at Sam's Club on Bobby Jones Expressway.

``We will not rest until justice has been served,'' Mr. Johnston said, asking those with information to come forward ``so that the family can go on with their lives.''

Mr. Holt was last seen walking an employee to her car in the Sam's Club parking lot on Bobby Jones Expressway. Moments later -- just after midnight -- he set the alarm, locked the store and left.

He presumably was on his way home to Cayce, S.C., near Columbia, where he lived with his wife, Donna, and their two sons -- Christopher, 15, and Adam, 13.

But instead, Mr. Holt apparently returned to the store about 1:30 a.m., likely at the coercion of the robbers, and the alarm was dismantled and the store's safes emptied.

Although police found video surveillance cameras in the store without tapes, police aren't sure whether the tapes were stolen or if the cameras did not have tapes to begin with.

Officials made a grisly discovery after firefighters were called to extinguish a car fire in a secluded wooded area just over the Fifth Street bridge. Mr. Holt's body, burned beyond recognition, was found in the trunk of his Mazda Protege. A subsequent autopsy showed he died in the fire.

``We feel certain somebody saw something, they just don't realize what they saw,'' Investigator Bunton said. Perhaps a car speeding away from the desolate site or other unusual activity. He wouldn't say, however, what kind of car police suspect the killers may have been driving.

Because Mr. Holt was burned alive and suffered no other obvious trauma, investigators say it's possible the thieves had no other weapons.

``It would have taken more than one person to carry it out,'' Investigator Bunton said. ``It appears it was planned and not a random thing.''

``The name of the game is to identify the killers and prosecute them,'' said Harold Harrison, special agent in charge of Augusta's FBI office. ``If I said we were going out tomorrow to arrest someone, I'd be lying to you. But we haven't run out of good, solid suspects. We're following up on leads that look pretty promising.''

Whether Mr. Holt was targeted also is unknown. He may have just been the manager on duty the night the store was to be robbed or he may have been targeted because the robbers thought he would resist the least.

``We still believe the motive to be robbery and we can't say for certain that he was chosen,'' Special Agent Harrison said. ``We have found no evidence to confirm either way.''

Though she told herself she wouldn't cry, Sam's employee Lynne Clark sobbed listening to speakers at the press conference.

``We will let his name go on until they arrest the people who killed him,'' said Ms. Clark, adding that she knew Mr. Holt during the eight years they worked together at the store. ``We feel that we owe it to him.''

Clarissa J. Walker and Meghan Gourley can be reached at (706) 724-0851.