Friday, February 12, 2010

How Hillbilly Heaven Earned a Reputation of Violence

I mentioned earlier that Hillbilly Heaven in Lorton had a reputation for violence, so I looked up some examples. I know it's no surprise, but I found a couple...

One night in 1976 Pvt. Cedric Danns and Franklin Thompson headed out to a party in Gum Springs. They moved on to a friend's apartment in Gum Springs to score some heroin, but the party "wasn't hip" (no heroin?). They split from the party and we're "supposed to be getting a couple of girls". The two guys drove to Hillbilly Heaven to pick up Paula Thompson (no relation), who was a topless dancer at Caear's Steak House in Woodbridge. They picked up Thompson and a guy named Pancho (yes, you're reading that right!). The group left Hillbilly Heaven to go to Prince William Forest Park. Danns was in the front seat and he heard some rumbling in the back seat and heard the word "blackmail". A few seconds later the stripper was shot dead. Danns was then driven back to Hillbilly Heaven and ordered out of the car.

In 1981, Manfred Bast of the Marumsco trailer park on Jefferson Davis Hwy took part in a brawl in the parking lot of Hillbilly Heaven. The manager of Hillbilly Heaven, Randall Herron, reported that two car loads of rowdy people pulled into the parking lot before 2 AM. Apparently, a brawl followed and Manfred Bast died.

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