Blue Ridge Savings Bank Murders

Case background and investigation

Early on the afternoon of May 16, 2003, an alarm was triggered at the Blue Ridge Savings Bank in Greer, South Carolina. According to reporting published on the twentieth anniversary of the case, the alert came from a cash drawer at about 1:28 p.m. When police reached the building minutes later, they found three people shot to death in a utility room at the back of the bank.

The victims were Sylvia Holtzclaw, the teller on duty, and two customers, James Elbert "Eb" Barnes and his wife Margaret "Maggie" Barnes. Holtzclaw was a lifelong Greer resident and the mother of two sons. Eb Barnes was a physics professor at the University of South Carolina Upstate who was close to retirement, and Maggie Barnes, his wife of 38 years, worked for the National Beta Club in Spartanburg. Wikipedia's entry on the case gives their ages as 56, 61 and 58.

Investigators determined that all three were killed with a .40-caliber Glock handgun. Cash was taken from the teller drawer, though the anniversary reporting describes the amount as small and says no marked bills were among it. The Unsolved Mysteries summary of the case notes that the VHS tape from the bank's security recorder was also missing, leaving police without any images from inside the building. There was little physical evidence and no sign of a struggle.

The main lead came from cameras at nearby gas stations, which recorded a red car on the road in front of the bank, followed by the Barneses' truck. The red car, thought to be possibly an Oldsmobile Alero, was seen again leaving the area around the time of the shootings. Police have said they would like to identify its driver.

Over the years investigators examined several people without being able to tie anyone to the crime. The most widely reported involved a man who shot himself during a traffic stop in Georgia; he had been driving a stolen rental car taken from Columbia. According to the anniversary reporting, investigators found no evidence that he had been in Greer, and he was never confirmed as being involved. Wikipedia's entry says other individuals were also looked at and none was conclusively linked; no one has been named by police as responsible.

Greer police and the FBI have pursued hundreds of leads, and the case remains open. Greer Police Chief Matt Hamby told reporters in 2023 that solving it would be a highlight of his career. Sylvia Holtzclaw's son, David Holtzclaw, has worked to keep attention on the case, and tips are directed to the Greer Police Department and Greenville Crime Stoppers.