CLEARWATER, Fla. – For 45 years, the murder of James Hendrickson is still unsolved. Hendrickson was stabbed to death in Clearwater on June 7, 1978.
Henrickson, 29 years old, was found in the trunk of his own vehicle. Investigators believe the suspect, or suspects, were attempting to transport and discard Henrickson’s body when the vehicle broke down.
Hendrickson’s car was located about one block from his home at 612 Sally Lane in Clearwater.
“There was a woman who was interviewed in the beginning who had a friendship with the victim, and she possibly was romantically involved with him despite being married,” Hasty, a sergeant with Clearwater police’s homicide unit, told TBN Weekly back in 2019, “She denied it and didn’t have much to say, but her fear appears to have been legitimate. She was living in a situation with domestic abuse.”
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Hasty said the woman who was now elderly and widowed, broke her silence and said that her husband committed the murder.
“She told us her husband did it, “but she feared for her life,” Hasty told TBN Weekly.
“Without sufficient evidence, we can’t close the case.”
Hasty said that ‘they have a lot of smoke’ but haven’t found the fire yet.’
“It’s unfair to the victim if we’re not certain.”
“We’re talking the decomposition of flesh, so a stab wound can be obliterated,” Hasty said to TBN, “If you have someone die from something like asphyxiation from a pillow, you’ll still find fibers in the lungs. A bullet will likely go through bone or stay in the body. But a stab wound, unless it hits bone, is different.
“What we do know is that he didn’t die from natural causes and then put himself in the trunk of his car.”
If you have information in reference to this case, please contact the Clearwater Police Department at (727)- 562-4383.
You can also call Crime Stoppers of Pinellas County, Florida, at 1-800-873-TIPS; you may be eligible for a cash reward.
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