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So join me and the fun 28 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.039 sign up now at Chumba casino dot com No. 29 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:01.240 Just Necessary Dad, where every I lost EA terms as. 30 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:14.760 You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking 31 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:17.879 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 32 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:25.239 written about them Gasey Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker DTK. Every 33 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:28.959 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 34 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:33.239 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your 35 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:48.400 host journalist and author Dan Zupansky, Good Evening Under the 36 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:51.400 Trustle is the true story of the most compelling murder 37 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:56.560 case in Virginia history. In nineteen eighty, Beautiful Gina Renee Hall, 38 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.680 a Radford University freshman, went to a Virginia teen nightclub 39 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.760 on a Saturday night. She was never seen again. Her 40 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:08.039 abandoned car was found parked beneath a railroad trestle bridging 41 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:12.039 the New River with blood in the trunk. The investigation 42 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:16.080 led police to a secluded cabin on Claytor Lake, where 43 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:20.439 there was evidence of a violent attack. Former Virginia Tech 44 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:24.680 football player Stephen Epperley was charged with murder, despite the 45 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.240 fact that Gina's body was never found. In Virginia's Trial 46 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:33.400 of the Century, prosecutor Everett Shockley presented an an entirely 47 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:38.159 circumstantial case. Key witnesses against Epperley included his best friend, 48 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:42.560 his mother, and a tracking dog handler later believed by 49 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:46.199 many to be a fraud. Three former Virginia Tech football 50 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:50.159 players testified, including a Hokies quarterback once featured on the 51 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:54.560 cover of Sports Illustrated. Would Epperley become the first person 52 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:58.560 in Virginia history convicted of murder without the victim's body, 53 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:03.240 an eye witness or confession, And would authorities ever find 54 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.439 the body of Gina Renee Hall. Book they are featuring 55 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.319 this evening is Under the Trestle, the nineteen eighty Disappearance 56 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:14.680 of Gina Renee Hall and Virginia's first nobody murder trial, 57 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.879 with my special guest, journalist and author, Ron Peterson Junior. 58 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:21.800 Welcome to the program, and thank you very much for 59 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.759 agreeing to this interview. Ron Peterson Junior. 60 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:28.039 Well, thank you, Dan, it's great to be here. 61 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:33.199 Thanks, thank you very much, very very very interesting and 62 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:38.360 unique case. And we'll get to that. First off, I 63 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.719 want to ask you how you came to want to 64 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:43.599 write this, how you came to be in a position 65 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:46.319 to write this book. Under the Trestle. 66 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.520 Well, good question, Dan. Interestingly enough, I attended Radford University 67 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:55.719 in the nineteen eighties. I got there about four years 68 00:03:55.800 --> 00:03:59.680 after Junior Rene Hall's disappearance, and as I was a 69 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:03.319 student there there there was a rumor, or an urban myth, 70 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:07.360 that there was a former student buried somewhere either on 71 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:12.560 campus or around town in a clandestine grave. And I 72 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:15.560 was always curious about the case, and as I approached 73 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:17.279 my senior year, I did did a little bit of 74 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.639 research on it and actually referenced it in an article 75 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:23.279 in the student newspaper. My senior year, I was an 76 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:26.519 editor in the student newspaper and just briefly mentioned it. 77 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.600 And then over the years, you know, it's one of 78 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:32.720 those cases. It's so fascinating. It never never left my mind. 79 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:35.240 And as I got a little older, I became a 80 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:38.639 father myself, I was a little more interested in the 81 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:42.560 case emotionally, and you know what Gene Hall's family went 82 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:46.959 through and that part of it. And after researching the 83 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.639 case online over over a period of several years, about 84 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:55.120 two years ago, I started doing detailed research. Actually found 85 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:58.360 the public record of the court transcript at the seven 86 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:01.800 day trial. There was also audio recordings of the murder 87 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:05.040 trial itself. Took the time to listen to that, and 88 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:08.560 then reached out to Gena Hall's family and just to 89 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:11.199 see if they would be okay with me writing a book. 90 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.279 Met with one of Gena Hall's family members and they 91 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:16.480 gave their blessing on the project, only asked that I 92 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.519 tell this story accurately, and then went from there to 93 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:24.399 interview the prosecutor in the case, the lead state police investigator, 94 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:29.360 the defense attorneys, as well as witnesses in the murder trial, 95 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:32.800 even a few of the jurors, as well as friends 96 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.720 and family of both Stephen Epperley, the killer and Gina 97 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:39.720 Renee Hall, the victim. I interviewed a totally about one 98 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.160 hundred people that were involved in the case. 99 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:51.639 Yes, incredible job. Let's talk about Stephen Epperley, but first 100 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:57.160 tell us a little bit about Radford, its location, population, 101 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.399 sort of what kind of place it really is. Let's 102 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:05.560 talk about the background of Stephen Epperley, how he grew up, 103 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:09.399 and before we talk about Gina Hall. 104 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:15.720 Sure this sounds good. Radford is a small town in 105 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:20.279 southwest Virginia, at a population of ten thousand. It's known 106 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:23.720 by most as a college town. Radford University is now 107 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:27.800 has grown since nineteen eighty, but at the time, Radford 108 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:31.879 had about four or five thousand students. And Radford was 109 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:37.920 a typical southwest Virginia working class town and it's alongside 110 00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:41.199 the New River. The town is actually located in a 111 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.240 bend of the New River, which is a river that 112 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:49.240 flows actually from North Carolina through Virginia into the Ohio 113 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:53.279 River and then eventually into the Mississippi. So Guests could 114 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.759 best be described as just a scenic small town, you know, 115 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:58.959 like a lot of small towns in Virginia, just a 116 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:02.600 lot of folks with good family Christian values that live 117 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:03.079 in the town. 118 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:12.040 Right, Let's talk about Stephen Epperley and his upbringing and 119 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:14.480 the kind of person he becomes. It's very important to 120 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.759 as you do, paint a picture of who this person is, 121 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:21.720 and you really do fantastic job of doing that. Let's 122 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:25.439 talk about Stephen Epperley, his upbringing, what he has, his 123 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:29.839 aspirations to become, and what actually happens before we get 124 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:32.920 to July twelfth, nineteen eighty and claytor Lake. 125 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:38.680 Sure well, Steve Epperley at the time of the murder 126 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:42.240 was older than Gina Hall. He was twenty eight years old. 127 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:45.279 He was originally from the town of Radford and still 128 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:47.839 still lived in the town. He's what college kids would 129 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:52.360 call a towny, and a lot of college towns. Eply 130 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:58.680 and high school friends describe him as generally a fairly 131 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:02.240 normal guy, although a lot of friends used the same 132 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:04.800 phrase to describe him that he had a screw loose. 133 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:07.199 In his younger years in high school, he was an 134 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:12.439 accomplished athlete football player, was in All Conference football player 135 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:16.959 at Rapid High School and eventually went on to play 136 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.639 football at Fareham College and later at Virginia Tech, graduating 137 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:24.680 from Virginia Tech in nineteen seventy eight. It was interesting 138 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:27.399 to interview people that knew Apperly and you just see 139 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:30.480 a pattern of deviant behavior from the time of his 140 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.200 senior year in high school, when there were some incidents 141 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:36.840 when he was violent with family members. On at least 142 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.039 one occasion, the police were called to the house when 143 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:42.840 he struck his sister and became physical with family members, 144 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.679 and then the summer after senior year, there were accounts 145 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:49.320 from friends, for example, going on a double date with 146 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.279 Epperly and everything seemed to go okay through the evening, 147 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.799 but then the next day they'd hear account of Eppley 148 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.360 more or less forcing himself on his date, you know, 149 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:02.759 and what would later be known as a date rape 150 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:07.320 kind of situation. And also along with that accounts of 151 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.200 just a just a violent guy, a lot of fights, 152 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.559 a lot of bar fights, and not just you know, 153 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.159 just beating people up, but beating them up very badly 154 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:18.960 and in a number of incidents and around the small 155 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:19.840 town of Radford. 156 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:30.879 He also is a person that again likes to likes 157 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:38.519 to go on dates and sorry, he's a person that's 158 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:41.919 interested in women. He's interested in hunting, fishing, and sports. 159 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:49.120 Tell us what he looks like and what you talk 160 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:52.919 about him being in the in training and then bulking 161 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.519 up one summer twenty five pounds of muscle. Tell us 162 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:58.840 a little bit about some of this and its effect. 163 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:04.759 And he used this in his dating, in his relationships 164 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:05.200 with women. 165 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:08.480 At the time of the murder. Was he was about 166 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:11.559 six feet tall, was an athletic guy, you know. He 167 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.120 was described as a guy who lifted weights before lifting 168 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.879 weights was was cool, you know, if you can imagine 169 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:20.000 that back in the seventies. Graduated from high school in 170 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.480 nineteen seventy and had aspirations of playing college football. It 171 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:27.320 was a bit undersized though. He wasn't fast enough to 172 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:31.039 play a skill position you know, on offense like wide 173 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.759 receiver or running back, and then wasn't big enough to 174 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:38.279 be alignman. So he went to a junior college, went 175 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.960 to Fareham Junior College, and there, over the course of 176 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.320 two years, he was able to bulk up quite a bit, 177 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.080 which a lot of college football players do. You know, 178 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:49.120 their first few years in college. There was a pretty 179 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:54.039 steady regiment of lifting weights, you know, eating in the 180 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:56.840 school cafeteria, a lot of things that football players did 181 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:00.279 then to beef up and get bigger. So within about 182 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:03.200 two or three years of being in college, he was 183 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.399 a was a pretty big guy, you know, certainly had 184 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:09.080 the look of a college football player, and is described 185 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.159 as people, you know, as someone who certainly had an 186 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:16.320 intimidating appearance. And as I mentioned, you know, there were 187 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:20.679 many accounts of violence and fights, and he's described as 188 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.679 someone in his post high school years in the the 189 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:26.960 eight or nine years leading up to the murder that 190 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.320 just had an expectation that any woman who was with 191 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:35.120 him in a dating situation or a social situation, you know, 192 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:37.600 was one way or another she was going to sleep 193 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:41.360 with him. 194 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:47.159 Now, you also talk about his aspirations in football and 195 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:51.559 those aspirations not being fulfilled, and this has to play 196 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:55.600 into his psychology and some of the actions that happened 197 00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:00.200 afterwards tell us what happens and as opposed to some 198 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.200 of the friends that he has, and again, how important 199 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.879 this these aspirations in football were to him. 200 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.320 Yeah, that's a good question, Dan, and one that I 201 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:15.919 tried to look into pretty deeply. He was very ambitious 202 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:19.840 as far as playing football on the next level. The 203 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:22.960 town of Radford is right next to Blacksburg where Virginia 204 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.559 Tech is. Virginia Tech was then and is now, you know, 205 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:30.720 a big time football program. So clearly Upperly's aspirations were 206 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:34.759 to play to play big time college football. Several of 207 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:38.360 his friends were on that track. They were more accomplished 208 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:41.919 football players than he was. And they were including his 209 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.960 best friend Bill King, who he was with the Knight 210 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.320 of the murder and who later testified against him in 211 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.000 the trial, was one of several people that were from 212 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:54.600 Radford who were within Epperley's network of friends who were 213 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.960 more successful and more accomplished as college football players on 214 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:01.200 what would be a you know, a big time division 215 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:05.240 IE level, and there's many indications that Eperly was frustrated 216 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:10.240 with that. His parents, who were both you know, described 217 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.720 as lower middle class folks. He had a lower middle 218 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.519 class upbringing. His dad was working class, worked in the 219 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:20.039 local arsenal there in town or right outside of town, 220 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.240 and his parents sacrificed a great deal in order for 221 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:25.200 him to go to college, to go to the junior 222 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:27.720 college that he went to, and then later to transfer 223 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:31.559 to Virginia Tech. So there was just you know a 224 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:35.279 lot of commitment from his family as well for him 225 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:38.799 to reach his athletic goals, and those goals, unfortunately for him, 226 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:42.080 went unrealized. When he later transferred to Tech, he was 227 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:44.679 on the football team there for one year, but did 228 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.279 not get any significant playing time, and his playing career 229 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.840 ended in about nineteen seventy five when he had used 230 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:55.639 up all his college eligibility and it was certainly, you know, 231 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:00.799 not a football career of note, and according to friends 232 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.360 and acquaintances, he was really frustrated about that and in 233 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:07.399 a lot of ways felt like a failure because of it. 234 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:18.960 After that, after that disappointment, what was the employment that 235 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:24.679 he finally attained and what was his behavior like, we'll 236 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.879 say just proceeding the year preceding July nineteen eighty in 237 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:34.679 terms of his normal behavior, what was his attitude at 238 00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:38.840 that time? Like and from examples you give. 239 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:43.679 Well after about eight years of college after he finally 240 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.879 graduated from Virginia Tech in nineteen seventy eight, and he 241 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:53.279 was a business administration major, had no real job prospects 242 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.240 when he graduated from Virginia Tech, spent the summer of 243 00:14:56.279 --> 00:14:59.080 nineteen seventy eight in Richmond, where a friend had a 244 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:03.159 line on jobs than there successful living on his own 245 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:05.759 en Richmond, moved back to Radford at the end of 246 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.639 that summer, and then for the two years prior to 247 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:13.759 Juna Hall's murder, he went for a variety of jobs. 248 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:16.240 Probably the best opportunity he had was in real estate 249 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:20.759 at a local real estate agency in town, where the 250 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.759 owner was well connected and certainly willing to support his career. 251 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.480 That didn't work out for him. He worked as a 252 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:30.960 delivery person for an office supply company in town. Was 253 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:34.720 also a substitute teacher at the nearby high school, Kulaski 254 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.799 County High School, where there are a lot of accounts 255 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:42.559 of him challenging the male students at the high school 256 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:46.919 physically and then making inappropriate comments to the female students 257 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.039 that he taught as a substitute teacher, many accounts of that. 258 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:53.200 And then at the time of the murder he was 259 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.799 working as a landscaper on the campus at Radford University, 260 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.960 just a grounds of labor doing that kind of thing. 261 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:03.639 So certainly not the kind of Wark history you'd expect 262 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.120 from a college graduate. 263 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:11.440 Yes, certainly. Now let's get to Gina Hall. She was 264 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.480 eighteen years old and tell us she went to Colburn 265 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:19.159 High School in Wise County. Tell us a little bit 266 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:22.759 about Wise County in Colburn and the kind of person 267 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:27.639 Gina was from the accounts from her sister, her father 268 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:31.200 tell us about her life. What was she? Gina Hall? 269 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:35.879 Like, thank you? And really the real story with this 270 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.080 is just the wonderful kind of that Gina Hall was. 271 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:41.559 She was from the small town of Coburn, which is 272 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.559 about an hour and a half two hours west of Radford, 273 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:49.720 tiny little town nestled right in the heart of coal 274 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:54.679 mining country in Wise County. Gina was most popular in 275 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:59.000 her graduating class and in nineteen seventy eight from Coburn 276 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:03.759 High nineteen seventy from Cobra and High School, GA. She 277 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:09.920 was petite, very attractive young woman, had a variety of interests. 278 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:12.920 She was perhaps ahead of her time. She was very athletic. 279 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:16.920 She played on the men's golf team and on most 280 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.039 occasions she beat all the men on the team. Also 281 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:23.400 did gymnastics and then was an accomplished tennis player as well. 282 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:26.359 Went to the state championship at her high school in 283 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:29.799 tennis and was noted for her skills as a doubles 284 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:34.880 player because of her sense of teamwork and camaraderie. It's 285 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.759 important to note Gina had suffered a childhood accident when 286 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.359 she was two years old at her house. She was 287 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.920 wearing a pair of cotton pajamas and brushed up against 288 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:49.920 a stove. The pajamas ignited and she had terrible burns 289 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:52.599 on the right side of her body, covering about ninety 290 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.119 percent of the right side of her body from her 291 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:58.920 right arm down to just above her knee. These were 292 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:03.759 third degree burns and she required required surgeries and excisions 293 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:06.839 and skin grafts throughout her childhood up and up until 294 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:10.000 you know, till her eighteenth birthday, shortly before she died. 295 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:14.279 So because of those scars, Gina was really modest in 296 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:18.319 her relationships with men. Now she did. Every account is 297 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.640 she did keep the scars covered up. Even in the summertime. 298 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:24.319 She'd wear a pair of tights under her clothes, and 299 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:28.640 she'd wear long sleeves and long pants, so she would, 300 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:32.240 you know, she'd have the apparent appearance of an attractive 301 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:35.880 young woman, which she she certainly was. But more importantly 302 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.079 than that, she was she was just a wonderful person, 303 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:41.319 just had a had a bright future. She was active 304 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:45.400 in her church, she volunteered with with teaching Bible school 305 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:49.519 and uh teaching dance classes to you know, to young 306 00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:54.039 girls in town. There and morally. There were character witnesses 307 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:56.319 in her murder trial that stated she was the kind 308 00:18:56.359 --> 00:18:58.759 of person would would typically never have more than one 309 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:02.720 alcoholic drink, in fact, usually drank a non alcoholic drink 310 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:05.960 if she was out socially, and was certainly not the 311 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.160 kind of a person to be promiscuous or as was 312 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.799 later alleged, to leave a nightclub on her own with 313 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:19.279 another man, you know, for romantic reasons. So that's basically 314 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:21.119 a little bit about about the kind of person Gena 315 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:21.680 Hall was. 316 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:26.200 I think it's important to mention, as you do, that 317 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.799 this extensive scarring that she experienced and she had and 318 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:36.480 all these operation surgeries to correct that, still she was 319 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:41.519 very modest and that would have factored into her decision 320 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:45.440 to have relations with someone that she didn't know and 321 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:48.200 wasn't comfortable with. So that was part of what her 322 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:53.359 sister Jlana said later that there certainly was that as 323 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:57.880 a major factor in her being more inhibited than most 324 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:01.240 people in terms of getting in to meet with someone. 325 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:06.680 Absolutely and and and uh yeah, Dan, that's that's important 326 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:10.000 to note. She was, you know, with someone who would 327 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.319 would most definitely not put herself in an intimate situation 328 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:16.920 with the man. And her sisters even stated at the 329 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:20.559 trial and afterwards that that, uh Gina was very concerned 330 00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:22.720 that that she'd ever even be able to conceive a child. 331 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.279 That was something she had she discussed with her mother 332 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:29.519 and her sister because of this this scarring that she had, 333 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:33.359 and and you know, that certainly contributed to her her 334 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:39.680 modest behavior and in her romantic relationships. Any relationship she 335 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:42.720 had with you know, with boys or men growing up, 336 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.200 you know, was more more just friends. And that's kind 337 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:49.200 of the way she was socially and romantically. Yes. 338 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:54.759 Another important thing is too you you talk about her athleticism, 339 00:20:54.839 --> 00:20:59.200 but also that she loved dancing and that that was 340 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:02.319 one of her activities that she really enjoyed, was dancing. 341 00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:08.079 Let's talk about the Blacksburg Marriott. You say, on campus 342 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:13.640 at Virginia Tech here, and what happens that she goes 343 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:19.240 out dancing on that date, July twelfth, nineteen eighty. 344 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:25.359 Tell us about that circumstances. And one small correction, Dan, 345 00:21:25.400 --> 00:21:28.319 it was the night of her disappearance was June twenty 346 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:33.039 eighth to nineteen eighty, so it was Gene was actually there. 347 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:36.759 She was taking summer school classes with her sister Delana. 348 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:40.880 They lived together in an off campus apartment. And being 349 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:43.079 the summer, you know, there was not the night life 350 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:45.039 was there was not as much going on as there 351 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.599 typically would be during the school year. As I mentioned, 352 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:51.119 the town of Radford and Radford University is only only 353 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:55.400 about ten to fifteen miles from Virginia Tech. So socially, 354 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:57.880 students tend to, you know, Radford students would tend to 355 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:01.000 travel to Virginia Tech to go to park using nightclubs 356 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.680 and so forth, and on the evening of June twenty eighth, 357 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.920 nineteen eighty, Grena had just finished a really challenging schedule 358 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:12.720 of midterm exams. She'd studied hard for them, you know, 359 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:15.920 had pulled all nighters the week before, and Gina was 360 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:17.160 in the mood to go out and blow off a 361 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.759 little steam. And for her, that was was to go 362 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:23.039 out dancing. All her friends, anyone who knew her said that, 363 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.440 you know, Gina was, she was a great dancer. She 364 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:28.519 loved to dance, and you know, was happiest when she 365 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:31.960 was dancing. So she wanted to go out that night. 366 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:36.039 Gina's sister elected not to go out with her that night. 367 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:42.200 Her sister, Delana, was was apparently you know, tired from 368 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:46.119 studying for exams and elected to stay home. So Gina 369 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.599 did something that night she had never done in her life, 370 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.000 and tragically enough, she decides to go out by herself. 371 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.799 She barred her sister's car, went to the Blacksburg Marriott Lounge, 372 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:01.119 which in the nineteen seventies and nineteen eighty that was 373 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:03.279 the place to go. 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