The murder of a World War II veteran has been solved, more than 50 years after he was found shot to death.
Hiram “Ross” Grayam became a milkman after facing “the horrors of the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of two concentration camps,” the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said.
He was delivering milk in Florida in April 1968 when he failed to return home after work.
Police launched a search and his body and milk truck were spotted from a plane in the Vero Beach area.
When those searching for him arrived on the scene, Mr. Grayam “was lying next to the milk truck with gunshot wounds, killed in an execution,” Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said.
“Despite considerable efforts, his killer escaped justice,” the sheriff’s office said.
Decades later, “that fateful night still lingered in the minds of detectives,” a cold case team searching for leads.
A witness told police she saw Mr. Grayam talking to two men walking on the side of the road, WPEC-TV reported.
“She said Mr Grayam engaged them in conversation and said he would be back shortly,” Mr Flowers said.
The three men all left in the milk truck, he added.
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“Through the determination and cooperation of witnesses, new leads have emerged,” the sheriff’s office said.
Thomas Williams, who died in 2016, had confessed to Mr Grayam’s murder, it was reported.
As early as 2006, rumors were circulating that Williams may have been involved in the crime.
He wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper “saying he had been charged with the murder, but he denied any knowledge of it or involvement in it,” the sheriff said.
The case has gone cold again.
However, once Williams died, his ex-wife and a friend of his sister came forward.
Mr. Flowers said the witnesses – none of whom knew each other – told investigators that Williams had previously confessed to them that he had killed Mr. Grayam.
Both witnesses said they viewed Williams as a threat to them and their families while he was alive, Mr. Flowers said. “But the fact that he is now dead gave them the courage to come forward.”
Detectives are hoping anyone who knows the identity of the second man seen with Mr Grayam will get in touch.
