January 23rd was a dark day for St. Augustine

Yesterday marked a very dark day in St. Augustine’s history — the 36th anniversary of the yet unsolved murder of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley as well as a study of the crime published by Historic City News Editor, Michael Gold.

In the early evening of January 23, 1974, unsuspecting St. Augustine socialite Athalia Ponsell returned to her Marine Street home after a day of shopping in Jacksonville with her estranged husband, former mayor James S. “Jinx” Lindsley.

When Communications Officer Embree of the St. Augustine Police Department received the call from Locke McCormick at approximately 6:12 p.m., it was logged as a “domestic going on at 124 Marine St.”

Lt. Duhon, Investigator Nicklo and Officer Dobbs, Janson, O’Loughlin and Larrow responded to the scene. At 6:15 p.m., Sheila Bacon, then a dispatcher with the Sheriff’s Office, notified Embree that an ambulance was enroute to the address; they had a Sig. 7 (Signal “7” means a dead person) with “possible foul play”.

At 6:24 p.m. Officer Ronald Janson requested some deputies. Deputy Sherman Robinson, Robert Bissell and Investigator Jim Cannon responded.

The investigative report filed by F. M. O’Loughlin, of course, told the horrible story of what he found upon arrival at 124 Marine Street.

“On arrival at 124 Marine St. a white female was found lying on the front steps. Victim was dead at time of viewing. Death probably caused by a sharp instrument which had struck the victim a number of times about the head, face, arms and hands. Victim identified as: Athalia Ponsell Lindsley W/F 124 Marine St St. Augustine, Fla D.O.B. August 1917 (56 yrs)

A search of the area was made but the assailant nor the murder weapon have been found at this time. The body was viewed by James Lindsley who identified her as his wife. Body removed by Associated Ambulance to Halifax General Hospital Daytona Beach, per Asst. States Atty. Richard Watson, for autopsy”

This homicide has been the subject of much discussion in the press, in a book, on television, and in coffee shops in America’s oldest city for over thirty years.

“All Evidence to the Contrary” is a study compiled and edited by Gold; who, in addition to editing Historic City News, is also a licensed private detective and was a deputy sheriff with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Department during the high profile trial of the only suspect that was ever prosecuted.

“St. Augustine was emotionally split by controversy, religion and politics surrounding this crime”, Gold said.

The Identity Clues Project is undertaking research and a thorough analysis of thousands of pages of witness statements, trial testimony, crime scene photographs, documents and personal interviews collected in the criminal investigation into the violent Lindsley murder.

“I was a young man then, pursuing a college degree in Criminal Justice and working as a deputy sheriff for a man about to spend the next year of his life in the unsuccessful pursuit of the only person to be prosecuted for this horrific crime”, Gold said.

This Internet based project (www.identityclues.com) is about Athalia’s murder, the people, the places, the statements, and the evidence used at trial against Alan Stanford, who was acquitted.

The project also plays an essential conservator’s role for the preservation, cataloging and archiving of these legal artifacts in order that they may be used as the basis for academic and scholarly research and discussion in the future.

A lot has happened since the Lindsley murder and the story of this home-grown who-done-it is still repeated 36 years later — it possibly still will be 36 years hence.

Sheriff Garrett who was 43 years of age at the time of the murder, served in office from 1970-1980. He died Friday, November 2, 2007 at the age of 76 in Crestview, FL.

James S. Lindsley, Athalia’s husband and one time suspect, died Thursday, March 3, 1983 at the age of 73 in St. Augustine, FL.

Alan G. Stanford, Jr., who was acquitted and remains the only suspect ever to be tried in this murder, died Wednesday, September 6, 2006 at the age of 81 in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

On January 23 this year, I wanted to pause and reflect on the one indisputable fact in this case of many theories; a murderer has never been punished for the brutal slaying of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley — another human being who was a neighbor in our community.

Photo credit: © 2010 Historic City News: Courtesy of Michael Gold
All Evidence to the Contrary, on the Internet at http://identityclues.com (visited January 24, 2010).