August marks a time to revisit cold cases before the hustle and bustle of fall begins. We’re shining a light on James Homer Payne’s story in hopes that someone might help bring his family the justice they’ve been waiting for.
Monday, April 12, 1976, Clark’s Mill Road in Hollywood. Retired Navy Chief James Homer Payne lived at the head of a long gravel road on Cuckhold Creek. Just before dinner, he visited with his neighbor William Allen. At 6:55 p.m., Mr. Payne left the Allen home and then headed to the end of that long gravel road to check on another neighbor’s house, a vacant summer place on Cuckold Creek.
Around 8 p.m., Mr. Payne’s wife grew concerned because he had not returned home for dinner. She called a few relatives and friends, and they began searching for James Homer Payne. At 8:15 p.m., they stopped by that vacant home at the end of the gravel road.
Looking through a basement window, they found James Homer Payne lying in a pool of blood. He had been shot once in his back and once in the back of his head.
Sheriff George Sanger assigned five deputies to the investigation. Over the first weeks, they interviewed over 125 people and administered several polygraph tests. Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab found several sets of fingerprints at the scene, as well as two small caliber cartridges; robbery was ruled out as a motive, as the homeowner told police nothing was taken.
48 years later, the case remains open, and arrests have yet to be made.
James Homer Payne was 56 years old. A veteran of World War II, he retired from a career in the Navy at the rank of Chief.
At the time of his murder, he was a civil service employee at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. He was a past Worshipful Master of the Thomas J. Shryock Masonic Lodge and a member of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon and the Scottish Rite. He now rests at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Great Mills.
If you have any information on the murder of James Homer Payne, please contact Detective Tyler Payne at [email protected] or by phone at 301-475-4200, ext. 8010.
