Jack and Linda Myers shot by son Gregg Myers

Many of my initial questions about this case arose from the relationships of the family members involved. Minimal internet research indicates that "Johnny" is an alias for Linda Myers' great-grandson. A 2006 opinion filed in response to an appeal by Gregg Myers denotes that Damian Huffman was the four-year-old in question (though other sites spelled it "Dameon"). Our episode and other sources indicate that Damian's mother was a teen when he was born, and not yet equipped to raise him properly. I always have gratitude when family steps in to share the burden of a challenging situation, and it seems Linda Myers (along with Jack) shouldered this responsibility.

Family matters

But by the time of their murder, Damian's mother, Amber Holscher, was maturing and getting her life on track. She had married, and she sought to regain custody of her son. I'm interested to understand why Amber's mother was overlooked as Damian's potential caregiver. Was it deemed Jack and Linda were a better fit for the young boy? They were certainly younger than one might imagine great-grandparents to be. Linda was only 55 at the time – Jack merely 51. Darlene O'Neal was Linda's daughter, but it didn't seem that Amber was Darlene's daughter. Otherwise, it'd seem Darlene would've acknowledged "Johnny" as her own grandson. I'm guessing Amber's mother was Darlene's sister, making Darlene young Damian's great-aunt. If you can't tell, I enjoy speculating about familial relationships – just regard Pete McFillin and his nephew (and victim) Nathan Allen in Tagging a Suspect (s10e10).

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Also linked with Linda's family was Andrew Huffman, Damian's father. Linda Myers and Andrew had an acrimonious relationship – in fact, Huffman was initially a suspect in the murder of the sleeping couple. Linda did not allow Andrew to see his son, supposedly because he refused to pay child support. I'm sure other family members weren't Andrew's biggest fan either, considering this and the fact that he'd impregnated Linda's teenage granddaughter. I just hope Andrew was younger than he looked, especially four years prior so that nothing statutory occurred.

Linda and Jack had been married seven years at the time of their murders. In one of the closing interviews, Darlene O'Neal states about Gregg Myers, "He was supposed to be my close brother." It seems the blended family had bonded with the Myers' marriage. Darlene was genuinely saddened that the young man she'd trusted and loved as a brother had betrayed them all out of greed.

Our hardworking men in blue

Thankfully, the authorities from Drake County (and Miami County) were diligent in their painstaking investigation. Along with Andrew Huffman, they ruled out a number of other potential suspects. These included Amber Holscher and her husband Jason, who'd apparently had been hostile toward Linda in the past. And our episode mentioned persons who'd had business dealings with Jack Myers through his rental properties and car loans. Evictions and repossessions can quickly escalate into retaliation.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Though Gregg was a solid suspect, investigators initially had nothing linking him to the murders. Old fashioned police work would soon remedy that. Logic predicted that Gregg would only take one of a few routes from the crime scene to his workplace on the morning of March 27, 2003. They mapped and explored these 30-mile stretches of roads and bridges for five days. Finally, a deputy and an officer from the Division of Wildlife suggested a look at the Stillwater River and its bridge. Sure enough, on April 1, a shotgun was located in a shallow portion of the river where it crosses SR185 in Miami County.

Knowing there was likely more evidence, investigators had the tenacity to continue looking. They covered more than a half mile of the river's bank by foot, and they found the garbage bag. To Gregg Myers' misfortune, the plastic bag had gotten caught in overhanging branches. Given the river where the shotgun was found, and the bag with its contents, it seems Gregg never believed police would search long or hard enough to find them. But even if they did, Gregg still thought he'd outmaneuvered the police.

Gregg Myers' plan and its flaws

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Grinding the serial number off the shotgun had been one of his strategies. But maybe Gregg should have been watching Forensic Files. The pilot episode The Disappearance of Helle Crafts (s01e01) aired in 1996 – if Gregg had seen this, he'd have found that filing or grinding the serial number off of the chainsaw Richard Crafts used to dismember his wife Helle's body did not fool police. Gregg also had bought and worn shoes that were two sizes too small for him. But these shoes did more to link him to the murders than to exonerate him, since they too were found with all of the damning evidence. Overall, Gregg grossly underestimated the police's experience and persistence.

In the episode's introduction, our favorite narrator Peter Thomas states, "The killer did almost everything right." On the surface of this case, this seems true. But once you start adding up the small mistakes Gregg Myers made, his arrest and conviction were inevitable:

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

• Why choose an evidence dump site that's between the victims' house and your workplace? Wouldn't it make more sense to drive in the opposite direction to dispose of the incriminating evidence?
• Why choose the "Stillwater" River? Another river that's deeper or harder to navigate would make more sense (though I'm not sure the "Raging Deep" River runs through Miami County).
• Why stage the scene as a robbery but not steal anything? If you're going to throw off police with an alternate motive, you should do so convincingly.
• What was the purpose of the homemade silencer, and was it necessary? The same quilting material from the crime scene was found in the plastic bag of evidence.
• Why leave a portion of the masking tape on the barrel of the shotgun? It's probably hard to remember everything after committing a double murder of your family members, but the tape quickly identified the shotgun as the murder weapon.
• Why use the classified ads in your town's local paper to locate and purchase the murder weapon? Shouldn't Gregg have sought advertisements from other towns' newspapers?
• Why use your own phone to call the classified ad? And why give the seller your real name? It was easy to identify Gregg's cell phone calls to the classified ads just two days before the murders occurred.
• Why buy your ammunition at a local guns-and-ammo store? 12 gauge shotgun shells are easy to find in western Ohio – wouldn't it make sense to drive a little further for this purchase?

Again, of course, much of this evidence might not have mattered if the plastic bag or the shotgun were never found, or if Gregg's fingerprint hadn't miraculously survived on the inside of the latex glove's fingertip. Solid policework is occasionally assisted by a little luck.

Image credit: TheCinemaholic (thecinemaholic.com)

A specific "what if" scenario played through my head throughout this episode: What if Gregg had seen, or even believed, that his step-grandson Damian had been awake? Recall that the four-year-old saw a "green monster" in the middle of the night. If Gregg thought he'd been witnessed, I truly believe he'd have shot and killed Damian as well. As heinous as his crimes were though, I feel bad for Gregg. He looked quite young (even younger than 25) and scared in the photos and footage from the trial. And it was obvious that he dealt with substance abuse issues – a disease that can quickly drive good people to do bad things.

Where is Gregg Myers now in 2024?

Gregg Myers' trial began in April of 2004. A jury found Gregg guilty on both charges of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated robbery. He received two life sentences without parole. Gregg Myers is serving his time at Ohio's Marion Correctional Institution.