Posted on 03/13/2009 8:57:03 AM PDT by Pete-R-Bilt
Published: March 10, 2009 04:00 am print this story email this story
Arrests made in man's murder By Mark Boshnack Staff Writer
A Schoharie County man murdered in South Carolina on Thursday was apparently killed for $7, the Calhoun County sheriff said Monday.
Three South Carolina men are facing charges in the murder of Jason Rivenburg, 35, of Fultonham, said county Sheriff Thomas Summers at a press conference Monday. He was reached for comment later in the day.
Rivenburg, a 1991 Schoharie Central School graduate and Cobleskill native, was driving a tractor-trailer and had pulled off at a rest stop on I-26 when the "ambush" occurred, said Summers. He died of a gunshot to the head, the county coroner said.
Rivenburg was talking to an unidentified friend in New York on his cell phone in the cab of the truck at about 10:30 p.m. when the friend heard Rivenburg say, "Oh my God," Summers said.
Willie Pelzer, 22, of Saint Matthews, S.C. was charged with murder, Summers said. He fired a .45 caliber handgun at close range, hitting Rivenburg at least twice before rummaging through his pockets, according to Summers.
"He never had a chance to give him the money," Summers said. Seven dollars was believed to have been taken, Summers said.
Jimmie Haygood and Willie Reed, both 21 and also of Saint Matthews, were each charged as accessories after the fact of the murder, Summers said.
Pelzer is being held at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center without bail pending a hearing later this month. The two codefendants were on a personal release bond, Summers said.
Rivenburg was married, and the couple had a 2-year-old son. They were expecting twins, a family member was reported as saying.
Family could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Truckers mourn loss of slain NY trucker
Truckers around the country are mourning the senseless loss of one of their own.
More than 1,000 people, including some drivers the family of slain trucker Jason Rivenburg said they had never met, showed up to pay their respects at his visitation on March 11 in Fultonham, NY.
While stopped to take his mandatory 10-hour break on March 5, Rivenburg was fatally shot during an apparent robbery. He was parked at an abandoned gas station at mile marker 136 off Interstate 26, south of Columbia, SC.
He was shot twice in the head at close range through the cab window of his truck. Three suspects are in custody and have been charged with the crime. The suspects are accused of making off with the estimated $7 that Rivenburg had in his wallet.
Rivenburg’s father-in-law, Carl “Butch” Savage of Fultonham, NY, said the family appreciates all the support they have received from the trucking community. Some truckers convoyed to the New York state capital in Albany on Wednesday, March 11, to gain public awareness on the issue of providing adequate and safe parking for truckers.
“Some didn’t even know him, but they were truckers who heard about it and came to support,” he told Land Line Now on Sirius XM.
Rivenburg drove part-time for Frank and Donna VanderVeen who own VanderVeen Trucking Inc. of Delanson, NY.
The VanderVeens recently returned from South Carolina, where they had to pick up the truck.
Donna said that even the tow truck company, R & B Auto Repair and Collision in Swansea, SC, were touched by what happened to Rivenburg when settling the $500 bill on the towing costs.
“So Frank gave him his credit card and he paid the bill. Then the tow truck driver asked the name of the driver’s wife … And he turned around, and this fellow’s wife wrote out a check to Hope Rivenburg for $500.”
Rivenburg leaves behind a 2-year-old son. His wife is pregnant with twins.
Donna said they were “amazed” by the tow truck company’s kindness. Ricky Baker, who owns R & B, was the first one to tell them about Rivenburg’s death when he called early Saturday, March 7, because he was notifying the VanderVeens that he was towing their truck to an impound yard.
“I kept asking him what about the driver. … I must have asked him two or three times and then he realized we didn’t know yet,” she said.
Savage said the Rivenburg family plans to meet with U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, on Saturday, March 14, about the petition they are circulating to push for legislation to address the growing truck parking problem. Click here if you would like to sign the petition.
“Everybody’s for it. Everybody agrees there’s got to be parking for trucks,” Savage said.
In addition...
Family of slain NY trucker wants to make sure this doesn’t happen again
The family of a 35-year-old slain truck driver plans to turn the senseless tragedy into an opportunity to educate state and federal lawmakers about some of the dangers truckers face while out on the road.
Federal law requires truckers to pull off and take a mandatory break for 10 hours. This is what the victim’s father-in-law, Butch Savage, said Jason Rivenburg was doing when he was fatally shot during an apparent robbery.
The Fultonham, NY, trucker was parked at an abandoned gas station at mile marker 136 off Interstate 26, south of Columbia, SC.
Investigators believe Rivenburg was talking on his cell phone around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, when he was shot twice in the head through the cab window of the truck. He wasn’t found until early Saturday morning.
Three suspects are in custody and have been charged in the crime. The arrests were made after police recovered shell casings at the crime scene and then searched a list of gun owners who had recently purchased a .45-caliber handgun.
The suspects are accused of making off with an estimated $7 that Rivenburg had in his wallet.
Savage told Land Line Now on Sirius XM that Rivenburg’s family and friends have already begun circulating a petition, which the family plans to take to their lawmakers, about the need for states to provide adequate and safe parking options or safe havens for truckers.
A former trucker himself and also a resident of Fultonham, Savage said he is aware of the growing difficulty drivers are experiencing trying to find a spot to pull off and that the government needs to protect its taxpayers.
“Let the government spend money to protect the people who are paying the taxes,” he said. “So what we’re trying to do is get enough petitions to go to the legislators – whether it be state, federal, whatever – and try to get some safe havens for these trucks so (drivers) haven’t got to worry about, or anybody else hasn’t got to go through, what we are going through right now.”
A part-time trucker for Vanderveen Trucking Inc., of Delanson, NY, Rivenburg was scheduled to deliver organic milk to a grocery store in the nearby town of Elloree at 8 a.m. on Friday morning. He was filling in for another driver after his construction job ended for the winter.
Savage said his family appreciates all of the support they have received during this difficult time, from the truck stop employees who looked in their lots after Rivenburg failed to make his delivery, to the support they have received from the trucking community.
“I used to drive truck myself, and I know truckers are close. We always helped each other out as much as we possibly could,” he said. “He’s just an excellent guy. I am going to miss him a lot.”
Savage said his son-in-law wouldn’t have thought twice about handing over his wallet, or even the truck for that matter, if the suspects had asked, instead of shooting first.
“If those thugs down there had turned around and opened the door and pointed the gun at him and said, ‘I want your money,’ he’d have probably got out of the truck and told them to take the whole damn truck because his family and his life meant everything to him,” Savage said.
Rivenburg leaves behind a 2-year-old son. His wife is pregnant with twins.
As states look at closing their rest areas as a way to save money, eliminating critical truck parking spaces, Savage said he will do his best in the future to ensure that other drivers have a safe place to take their breaks.
“We’ve got to get these people in every state and in Washington, DC, to understand that trucks make the country,” he said.
– By Staff Writers Clarissa Kell-Holland and Reed Black
Why were the other two accomplices to murder released?
I missed that in the story. The other two men are out on PR bond. Is some judge sleeping? The two men should be charged with murder. Someone died during the commission of a felony. They should all be held without bond.
Photos of the victim, his family, and the perps here.
It was pretty much what I expected.
And here’s one of the comments from that site:
“To add to that, Rivenburgh couldn’t legally carry his own personal firearm in a commerical vehicle (THANKS TO OUR FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT) . . . If this poor, tired truck can’t sleep on the side of an exit ramp (FOR FEAR OF BEING TICKETED BY STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT-THANKS TO OUR GOVERNMENT) . . . and then chose an old abandonded gas station because quite possibly all the truck stops were filled to capacity and because he couldn’t sleep in rest areas (THANKS AGAIN TO OUR GOVERNMENT!!) . . . and then to add insult to injury, he then gets robbed and has no way to defend himself because his own government won’t let him carry his own pistol with him to defend himself . . . .SCREW THE GOVERNMENT!! I DRIVE FOR A LIVING AND I’D RATHER BE TRIED BY 12 JURORS THAN CARRIED BY 6 FRIENDS TO MY GRAVE.!!
BIG GOVERNMENT, AIN’T IT GREAT????”
Though, the articles I've heard over the last week seemed to picture that it happened unexpectedly (obviously) and of course may have ended up with the same result.
It is a dangerous world and all we can do is try to prepare ourselves for the possible dangers...
Prayers to Jason’s family.
I never did long haul but did in-state for a few years. I still cringe when I see trucks parked on the freeway onramps. It always looks like a prime location for jacking.
I always drove armed and on one occasion “discouraged” a robbery.
Be safe...
I was recently told by a co-worker that there were Federal regulations against me carrying my weapon in my commercial vehicle, so I called the Federal DOT office in Columbia, SC and asked about it.
I was told that there are NO federal restrictions, but that you are subject to each state's laws.
Perhaps someone on here knows something that the government flunky didn't. If so, please enlighten me.
Until then, I'm still packin'.
I have no idea who wrote that comment, although he claims to be a trucker. He may well be confused between federal and state regulations.
I imagine that if you drive from New York to South Carolina, you may run into various problems along the way. I know there are signs on the Massachusetts border forbidding anyone to enter with a gun in their vehicle. I haven’t checked all the states recently, but I suspect there may be restrictions in New York and New Jersey.
So I can’t vouch for the accuracy of what he says. But he’s right to suggest that truckers need to have safe places to rest, and I doubt if they can afford to stop in motels all the time these days with the price of fuel being what it is.
Amen
I really fear this is going to become all to commonplace as this country hurtles into total economic destruction. My condolences to his extended family...
Prayers for the family.
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