Donald Thomas and Lamar Lafferty Murders: Where Are Robert Minnick and James ″Monkey″ Dyess Now?

In “Shattered: The Bodies Out Back,” Investigation Discovery tells the story of how Donald Thomas and his cousin Lamar Lafferty were killed in April 1986 in Shubuta, Mississippi.

Based on what the survivors said, investigators were able to figure out right away that the two murderers had broken out of jail the day before the murder. In this episode, we see how the police were able to catch them both and bring them to justice. If you’re curious and want to know who did it and where they are now, here’s what we know.

Donald Thomas and Lamar Lafferty Murders
Donald Thomas and Lamar Lafferty Murders

How did Lamar Lafferty and Donald Thomas die?

Donald Ellis “E.T.” His cousin, James Lamar Lafferty, was born on September 14, 1963, while Thomas was born on May 19, 1965. Donald worked at an oil field, and on April 26, 1986, he left for work around 7:00 am, as he always did. He had no idea that it was the last day of his life. He was last seen alive by Lamar’s father around 1:00 pm, when he went to get Lamar and Brandon Lafferty, who was just a baby, in his truck.

The three people went to Donald’s mobile home on Shubuta Vossburg Road, which is about 11 miles west of Shubuta, Mississippi. They were found dead when police showed up hours later after getting a call about a home invasion. Blood was on the grass, and the officers found drag marks that led them behind the mobile home. At about 3:35 p.m., they found the bodies of Donald, 20, and Lamar, 23, in a gully about 150 yards away from Donald’s trailer. The gully was 35 feet deep.

The autopsy report for Donald said that he had been shot in the middle of his forehead and in the lower part of his back. Both bullets came from about 15 feet away. Lamar had two small-caliber bullet holes close to each other in his head. The reports also said that both men were still alive when they were hurt and that they died within a few minutes.

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Who killed Lamar Lafferty and Donald Thomas?

On April 26, 1986, between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m., Donald’s younger sister Marty Thomas and her older sister B.B. Beach drove to the trailer to play in the gully. When they got to the trailer, a white, bald man with a gun waited for them there. He took them into the trailer, tied their hands and feet, and said he would come back to rape and kill them if they didn’t leave. During their time as hostages, the girls saw another black man with a gun walking around the trailer.

When both of the intruders left in Donald’s silver Ford pickup truck, the girls broke free and ran to a friend’s house, where Marty called the police. At first, they were afraid of their attackers, so they told the police lies about how they looked. But when Marty found out that Donald and Lamar had been shot, she told the police the truth about who had done it.

When the police in Shubuta heard what the two young girls said about the people who broke in, they knew it was the same description of two people who had broken out of Clarke County Jail the night before. Robert S. Minnick and James “Monkey” Dyess were the two people who ran away. The killers also took Donald’s pickup truck, three shotguns, three rifles, a pistol, and some ammunition, the police found.

The police started looking for the fugitives and searched the nearby areas. Several miles away from the crime scene, they found Lamar’s wallet and Donald’s checkbook. They decided to find the truck that had been stolen, so they put the truck’s information into the NCIC network. On May 6, 1986, the truck was found in Florida. The missing car was found being driven by a man named Paul Stanley Ward, who said he had found it in New Orleans. Several parking tickets from New Orleans that were found under the seats proved what he said.

On August 22, 1986, the San Diego police told the Shubuta police that one of the killers, Robert, had been caught. When he was questioned, he admitted that he and James had run away from the prison and that he had taken over the prison and killed people the next day. He said that he and James went inside the trailer to steal weapons when a car with two men and a child pulled up. Robert says that James then shot one of them and held a gun to his head to make him kill the other. He also said that he was the one who persuaded Dyess to leave the baby and the other two girls alive.

Where Are Robert Minnick and “Monkey” James Dyess Now?

Robert was sent back to Mississippi, where he was found guilty of two counts of murder during a robbery and given a death sentence in September 1986. But in May 1992, the sentence was changed to life in prison. According to official court records, he is in his late 50s and is currently serving his sentence at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution.

On March 16, 1988, a police officer in Los Angeles, California, saw James and pulled him over for a routine traffic stop. He was caught right away and sent to Mississippi, where he was also found guilty of killing two people while robbing them. He was also given a life sentence and put in the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. In July 2018, he died at Promise Hospital in Vicksburg. He was 62 years old.

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Case

In Clarke County, Mississippi, James Dyess was found guilty of burglary in 1986. On April 25, he was supposed to be taken by prison bus to the Mississippi State Penitentiary, where he would start serving a seven-year sentence. But before that could happen, he and a partner, Robert Minnick, broke out of the jail where they were being held. They broke into a trailer in Clarke County the next day to look for weapons. Then, they stole from and killed the trailer’s owners, Donald Ellis Thomas, who was twenty, and Lamar Lafferty, who was twenty-two, with one of Donald’s guns. Behind the trailer, they put the bodies in a gully. Lamar’s son, who is two years old, was not hurt. Two young girls who saw what was going on were tied up, but they were not hurt. The men then took Donald’s truck and drove away.
Minnick was caught in Lemon Grove, California, on August 22, 1986, but Dyess was still out there. On September 29, he was put on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.

Captured is the result. On March 16, 1988, an officer stopped Dyess for a routine traffic stop in Los Angeles, California, and saw him. He was taken into custody without any trouble. He was sent back to Mississippi, found guilty of the murders, and given a life sentence. In July 2018, at the age of 62, he died there.

Donald Thomas and Lamar Lafferty Murders
Donald Thomas and Lamar Lafferty Murders

Minnick was found guilty of the murders and was given the death penalty at first. His sentence was changed to life in prison, though.

Robert James “RJ” Minnick, who was 54 years old and lived in Denham Springs, LA, died in Long Beach, MS, on May 19, 2018. Robert Bruce Minnick and Sarah Jane “Burch” Minnick brought him into the world on March 10, 1964, in Beaumont, Texas. He got out of Tara High School in 1982. On October 11, 2016, he married Gay Minnick. He worked at Roto-Rooter in Baton Rouge, LA, as a dispatcher. He loved his family and friends very much. He helped out with the Young Marines in Baton Rouge for a long time as a volunteer. His father, Robert Bruce Minnick, and mother, Sarah Jane “Burch” Minnick, died before him. He is survived by his wife Gay Minnick of Denham Springs, LA, his sister Elizabeth Minnick of Raleigh, NC, his daughter Hanna Minnick and son Calvin Minnick, both of Baton Rouge, LA, and his nephew Darin Foland and niece Krista Foland of Raleigh, NC. On Saturday, May 26, at 2 p.m., there will be a celebration of life at 10975 Stanley Aubin Ln, Baton Rouge, LA 70816. Instead of flowers, please donate at:

When the police in Shubuta heard what the two young girls said about the people who broke in, they knew it was the same description of two people who had broken out of Clarke County Jail the night before. Robert S. Minnick and James “Monkey” Dyess were the two people who ran away. The killers also took Donald’s pickup truck, three shotguns, three rifles, a pistol, and some ammunition, the police found.

The police started looking for the fugitives and searched the nearby areas. Several miles away from the crime scene, they found Lamar’s wallet and Donald’s checkbook. They decided to find the truck that had been stolen, so they put the truck’s information into the NCIC network. On May 6, 1986, the truck was found in Florida. The missing car was found being driven by a man named Paul Stanley Ward, who said he had found it in New Orleans. Several parking tickets from New Orleans that were found under the seats proved what he said.

On August 22, 1986, the San Diego police told the Shubuta police that one of the killers, Robert, had been caught. When he was questioned, he admitted that he and James had run away from the prison and that he had taken over the prison and killed people the next day. He said that he and James went inside the trailer to steal weapons when a car with two men and a child pulled up. Robert says that James then shot one of them and held a gun to his head to make him kill the other. He also said that he was the one who persuaded Dyess to leave the baby and the other two girls alive.

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