01-31-2011, 09:58 AM
WOOD8
BANGOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Locked in a jail cell in Paw Paw, Junior Lee Beebe told his family a different story -- that he didn't kill Amy Henslee, relatives told 24 Hour News 8 on Sunday.
Beebe's family said Junior shot and killed Tonya Howarth to save his own life.
Even from the beginning, the story didn't make sense to Beebe's relatives.
"I couldn't imagine him having any problem with Amy," said Beebe's sister, Rebecca Nickerson, on Thursday night. "Amy's too sweet of a person. She's too much of a good, kind-hearted person for anybody to ever be angry at her."
Family members visited Junior in jail on Saturday and he explained to them what happened in the Van Buren County woods Monday morning.
The first shots were fired by Howarth, Beebe's girlfriend, in a jealous rage after catching Junior and Henslee having an affair in a camper.
It started Monday morning, when Beebe left his mother's house; where he lived and had spent the night with Howarth, the family member said.
Beebe then went to pick up Henslee in his black pick-up truck -- the one witnesses reported seeing.
Henslee and Beebe were intimate in that camper in the woods, according to Beebe, when his mother dropped Howarth off at the property where the camper sat. Howarth started looking for Beebe after seeing his truck, and found him with Henslee.
That's when Beebe claims Howarth picked up a shotgun already in the camper and shot Henslee to death. Beebe then wrestled the gun away from Howarth and shot her, his family said. Next, he got scared and buried the bodies -- where they were found Thursday night.
The shotgun was out because Beebe and his son had been working on target practice on the property.
"It's just a bad situation that went down all at once," the family source told 24 Hour News 8 on Sunday. "It answers a lot of questions."
Beebe has been charged with both Henslee and Howarth's murders, but police say he has only confessed to killing one woman.
"It says that you did murder Amy Sue Henslee," a judge said in court last week.
Asked Beebe: "I did, or didn't?"
"Did," the judge answered.
Said Beebe: "No."
One of the property owners said he didn't suspect Junior because "he acted natural, and wasn't dirty," Phillip Beebe said. "I didn't see nothing unusual."
Henslee's loved ones don't believe Beebe's story.
"We all know that's a (bold-faced) lie," family friend Wendy Boyd said.
And Amy's husband doesn't believe she would have an affair.
"Amy would never do that," James Henslee said. "I don't want anybody trying to slander my wife's name. ... They have charged him with a double homicide for a reason."
But Beebe's family supports him.
"We support him and he knows that," said Jennifer Hardin, his niece. "And that's all that matters.
"It breaks my heart to know that two moms are gone, and their kids don't have a mom no more," she said Thursday.
Beebe feels bad about what happened, his family said, and "you couldn't be human if you didn't feel bad about it," one relative said.
"He wanted people to know that he did not shoot Amy."
24 Hour News 8 will continue to work on this developing story. Beebe declined an interview from jail, and investigators won't comment on what he told relatives.
BANGOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Locked in a jail cell in Paw Paw, Junior Lee Beebe told his family a different story -- that he didn't kill Amy Henslee, relatives told 24 Hour News 8 on Sunday.
Beebe's family said Junior shot and killed Tonya Howarth to save his own life.
Even from the beginning, the story didn't make sense to Beebe's relatives.
"I couldn't imagine him having any problem with Amy," said Beebe's sister, Rebecca Nickerson, on Thursday night. "Amy's too sweet of a person. She's too much of a good, kind-hearted person for anybody to ever be angry at her."
Family members visited Junior in jail on Saturday and he explained to them what happened in the Van Buren County woods Monday morning.
The first shots were fired by Howarth, Beebe's girlfriend, in a jealous rage after catching Junior and Henslee having an affair in a camper.
It started Monday morning, when Beebe left his mother's house; where he lived and had spent the night with Howarth, the family member said.
Beebe then went to pick up Henslee in his black pick-up truck -- the one witnesses reported seeing.
Henslee and Beebe were intimate in that camper in the woods, according to Beebe, when his mother dropped Howarth off at the property where the camper sat. Howarth started looking for Beebe after seeing his truck, and found him with Henslee.
That's when Beebe claims Howarth picked up a shotgun already in the camper and shot Henslee to death. Beebe then wrestled the gun away from Howarth and shot her, his family said. Next, he got scared and buried the bodies -- where they were found Thursday night.
The shotgun was out because Beebe and his son had been working on target practice on the property.
"It's just a bad situation that went down all at once," the family source told 24 Hour News 8 on Sunday. "It answers a lot of questions."
Beebe has been charged with both Henslee and Howarth's murders, but police say he has only confessed to killing one woman.
"It says that you did murder Amy Sue Henslee," a judge said in court last week.
Asked Beebe: "I did, or didn't?"
"Did," the judge answered.
Said Beebe: "No."
One of the property owners said he didn't suspect Junior because "he acted natural, and wasn't dirty," Phillip Beebe said. "I didn't see nothing unusual."
Henslee's loved ones don't believe Beebe's story.
"We all know that's a (bold-faced) lie," family friend Wendy Boyd said.
And Amy's husband doesn't believe she would have an affair.
"Amy would never do that," James Henslee said. "I don't want anybody trying to slander my wife's name. ... They have charged him with a double homicide for a reason."
But Beebe's family supports him.
"We support him and he knows that," said Jennifer Hardin, his niece. "And that's all that matters.
"It breaks my heart to know that two moms are gone, and their kids don't have a mom no more," she said Thursday.
Beebe feels bad about what happened, his family said, and "you couldn't be human if you didn't feel bad about it," one relative said.
"He wanted people to know that he did not shoot Amy."
24 Hour News 8 will continue to work on this developing story. Beebe declined an interview from jail, and investigators won't comment on what he told relatives.