Richmond County Sheriff's Sgt. Wayne Bunton, lead investigator in the David Holt case, adjusts stacks of notebooks on his desk that detail the investigation. JEFF JANOWSKI/STAFF

Arrest may be near in slaying

Web posted June 21, 2000

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By Mark Mathis
Staff Writer

In the corner of his office at the Richmond County Law Enforce-ment Center, homicide investiga-tor Wayne Bunton has a daily, waist-high reminder of Sam's Club manager David Holt.

Evidence surrounding the 2-year-old homicide is stored in 13 notebooks stacked in the cor-ner, growing a little taller periodi-cally.

Interviews and notes pertaining to the case are also stored in 27 diskettes next to his computer.

``It has been the most detailed case I've ever worked,'' Sgt. Bunton said. ``This is my pet peeve. If I never solve another case, this is the one I want to solve.''

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In the early morning hours of June 21, 1998, Mr. Holt's burned remains were discovered in the trunk of his Mazda Protege, parked off of Sand Pit Road in Aiken County, just across the river from downtown Augusta.

Investigators also discovered that the Sam's Club on Bobby Jones Expressway had been robbed. They say they believe someone forced Mr. Holt to unlock the store's door and the safe sometime after the store had closed for the night.

``It gets to me the fact that they burned the man on Father's Day unnecessarily, in my opinion, after they had already committed the robbery,'' Sgt. Bunton said. ``The manner in which the homicide was carried out was very cruel and unusual. Because of that I believe the people should be punished and I want it solved.''

Wal-Mart, which owns Sam's Club, offered a $200,000 reward last year for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Mr. Holt's killer. Billboard signs placed throughout Augusta the past two years ask the question ``Who murdered David Holt?'' while reminding drivers about the reward.

Representatives from Sam's Club will address the Augusta community at a news conference in front of the Richmond County Law Enforcement Center on Thursday, spokeswoman Melissa Berryhill said.

She would not confirm whether the news conference will be about the reward amount.

The investigation has involved the Richmond and Aiken County Sheriff's departments, the local and Washington offices of the FBI, the Georgia and North Carolina Bureaus of Investigation and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

But despite hundreds of leads and interviews coming from a variety of sources, Sgt. Bunton said he still thinks he knows who committed the crime.

``As of yet, we have not been able to eliminate this one group,'' he said. ``We have been aware of this group from the onset and in the last two years, we have not been able to exclude them.''

A year after saying the investigation was close to coming to an end, Sgt. Bunton said investigators are now closer to making arrests but still have to keep the focus on the ultimate goal of convicting Mr. Holt's killer.

``What we want the public to understand is as much as we would like to bring a close to this case, we have to make sure that every i is dotted and every t is crossed,'' he said. ``We don't want to leave any outs for the people we ultimately charge with this. We want convictions, not just arrests.

``We're so close, but not close enough for me. I wish we were closer, but then again I have to remember that fools rush in and I don't want to do that.''

Reach Mark Mathis at (706) 823-3227.