SAMPSON COUNTY: Who was George Capps? He was a salt-of-the-earth guy from Selma doing his job.
But one fateful winter night, doing his job may have meant becoming a target for assassination.
It’s been nearly 25 years. It was during a time when rising fuel prices and an increase in highway user fees for trucks spawned a national strike among members of the Independent Truckers Association.
Truck drivers became targets of violence falling prey to other fellow disgruntled truck drivers who were looking to bring attention to the issue.
Hit with gunfire, tires slashed, trucks set ablaze, drivers who continued to make normal deliveries often feared for their lives when they set out on the road.
During the first day of the strike, the violence that erupted cost 34-year-old George Capps of Selma his life. Capps was a driver for Standard Trucking Company. On the night of January 31, 1983, he left home to make one of his usual deliveries.
While headed to Wilmington, at about 11:00pm that night, out of nowhere, Capps was shot and killed while driving.
Though his was the only fatality during this turbulent time, more than 1,000 incidents were reported and more than 50 people were injured, some seriously.
One day after Capps’ murder, authorities began looking for the driver of an early 1970’s model blue Ford Ranchero that was last seen driving down Highway 70 near Smithfield and Clayton. They say a truck driver saw the car pull over and turn off the lights.
When the truck passed, the driver heard two gunshots go off.
Since then, few leads and little information have surfaced. However, family and investigators are asking for your help to provide them with answers to their endless list of questions.
There's a $60,000 reward being offered in connection to this case.
From An Earlier Report by WRAL-TV
Cold Case Reopened into Trucker's Death
It was a shot heard across the country in 1983.
George Capps, 34, was shot in the throat with a high-powered rifle as he drove his tractor-trailer into Newton Grove. It was a difficult case from the beginning, according to the sheriff back then.
Today, the case remains unsolved.
“I’ve prayed for justice for 24 years, and I still do. That's the only thing that's kept me going,” said Esmond Capps Elliott, Capps’ widow. “When I look at my life, it’s like a puzzle laying on a table with a big gaping hole in the middle.”
Sgt. Tracey Brogden with the Newton Grove Police Department reopened the cold case this week. There are no new leads, but authorities and the family said they believe someone in the area knows what happened.
“I will follow it and chase it as long as I got something to follow,” Brogden said.
The murder made national headlines, because it happened during a violent Independent Truckers Association strike. Other working drivers where threatened and even shot at on the highway.
“The theory is, during that time it was related,” Brogden said.
Capps' family said they are grateful investigators are back on the case.
“How could you murder someone in cold blood that's never done anything to you and go on living? How does someone live with something like that?” Capps Elliott said. “It does give me some hope. I know he's not being forgotten.”
The Highway Patrol began escorting truckers during the strike shortly after Capps was murdered.
If you have any information about this case, call the Newton Grove Police Department. Over the years, the reward has grown to about $60,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
