Dallen Bounds

Case summary

Dallen Forrest Bounds (August 9, 1971 - December 23, 1999) was an American serial killer. After killing two acquaintances, he barricaded himself with two women and ultimately committed suicide. Law enforcement officers closed four murders in Greenville and Pickens counties of South Carolina, and officials in the state of Washington suspected he was involved in several other murders.

Early life

Dallen Bounds was born to Dallen Terry Bounds and Sharon Lee Forrest Bounds in Ashland, Oregon.

The offence

June 26, 1999 — Radio Shack killing (Greenville, South Carolina)

Jonathan Lemuel Lara, a Radio Shack employee, was restrained with flex ties to a chair in the back room of a Radio Shack in Greenville, South Carolina. Lara was stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver and subsequently died.

The killer left through a back door after locking the front door, turning off the lights and hanging a closed sign in the window. There was no sign of a struggle.

December 22, 1999 — florist killing (Greenville, South Carolina)

A florist was killed in the back room of a floral shop in Greenville. The florist was identified as Karen Moore Hayden. Hayden was found face-down in a back storage room in a pool of blood after the shop lights were turned off and the “Sorry, we’re closed” sign hung in the front window. Hayden’s throat had been slit. A delivery man sent from the main Greenville-Pelham Florist Shop found her body after having to unlock the door to get inside.

The interior of the flower shop was undisturbed, and the vases and flowers Hayden had been working with had not been touched.

December 23, 1999 — killings at the Easley home and hostage-taking (Easley, South Carolina)

Bounds killed his girlfriend, Sandy Roberts Ott, and her ex-husband Timothy Ott in his girlfriend’s ex-husband’s home in Easley. Bounds fled the house and took refuge in a neighborhood several miles away, holding two women hostage.

Pickens County Sheriff’s deputies responding to a 911 call at Timothy Ott’s residence on Antioch Road found Sandra Ott on the floor near the kitchen with a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities found the Ott’s 5-year-old son asleep in his bed. Timothy Ott had apparently fled his home and ran to a neighbor’s house to call police. Authorities said Bounds, who had apparently broken in through a living room window, followed Ott into the neighbor’s home and shot him in the head before fleeing the scene. The neighbor was later found hiding in a closet.

Nearly 12 hours later, Bounds was located at a nearby home on South Third Street in Easley where he had taken two women hostage. When Easley police entered the home, Bounds put a semi-automatic gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

Investigators later said Bounds was likely stalking Sandra Ott, who was identified as his girlfriend.

Investigation

Law enforcement officers initially were not sure what they were dealing with when Jonathan Lemuel Lara was found dead in the back room of a Radio Shack. Nearly six months later, investigators noted the scene was repeated when somebody entered a tiny flower shop on a busy street in broad daylight and killed the 30-year-old clerk, Karen Moore Hayden.

Ed Blackburn, serving at the time as the lieutenant over the Detective Division, said:

“There are some similarities,” he said at the time. “A lot of similarities. It bothers me.”

A Greenville Police Department investigation later linked Bounds to the killings. Mike Bridges, Greenville’s police chief at the time, confirmed that authorities were investigating whether Bounds was responsible for the unsolved murders at the Radio Shack and the Greenville-Pelham Florist. Bridges identified Bounds as the killer the following day. An anonymous phone call from a woman to police after the Easley murders linked Bounds to the other killings, and forensic evidence confirmed it.

Officials in Washington later named the Ashland, Ore., native as a suspect in at least three unsolved murders there.

Arrest and custody proceedings involving an accomplice

Two weeks after the murders at the Radio Shack, Greenville police announced the arrest of Casandra Cae Laster, 29, on a charge of accessory after the fact of murder in connection with Lara’s murder. Laster lived with Bounds at his East Park Avenue apartment.

Law enforcement indicated to the court that Laster had not notified them of Bounds involvement until after he killed himself in December 1999.

Timeline

• June 26, 1999 — Jonathan Lemuel Lara was restrained with flex ties to a chair in the back room of a Radio Shack in Greenville, stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver, and died.
• December 22, 1999 — Karen Moore Hayden was killed in the back room of a floral shop in Greenville.
• December 23, 1999 — Bounds killed Sandy Roberts Ott and Timothy Ott in Easley, fled, took two women hostage, and committed suicide by shooting himself shortly thereafter.

Trial and appeals (accomplice: Casandra Cae Laster)

Casandra Cae Laster was found guilty of accessory after the fact of felony murder in 2001. Laster appealed her sentence of 15 years, but the case was dismissed in 2003 by the South Carolina Court of Appeals. She has since been released.

Outcome

Bounds committed suicide by shooting himself on December 23, 1999 after holding two women hostage during the Easley standoff.

Other details

• Bounds lived on East Park Avenue in Greenville less than a mile from the Greenville County Law Enforcement Center during the period of the killings.
• Jonathan Lemuel Lara was found dead in a back room of the Radio Shack after the killer locked the front door, turned off the lights, and hung a closed sign in the window.
• Karen Moore Hayden, identified as the 30-year-old clerk, was found in a back storage room after the delivery man entered following the discovery that the store lights were off and the “Sorry, we’re closed” sign was hanging in the front window.
• Pickens County Sheriff’s deputies responding to a 911 call at Timothy Ott’s residence on Antioch Road found Sandra Ott with a gunshot wound to the head and the Ott’s 5-year-old son asleep in his bed.
• Authorities said Bounds followed Timothy Ott into a neighbor’s house and shot him in the head before fleeing the scene; the neighbor was later found hiding in a closet.
• Bounds took refuge at a nearby home on South Third Street in Easley, where he used a semi-automatic gun to his head and pulled the trigger when police entered.