The investigation into Pauline Casey’s disappearance and death lasted less than six hours. Officers arrived at Teddy Bear Bar at 11:31p.m. and arrested Mr. Suggs at 5:06a.m. - just five hours and 35 minutes later. After that, investigators testified they stopped their investigation into alternative suspects.

It is deeply concerning to consider that Mr. Suggs may be executed for a crime that was investigated for less than six hours, when other suspects with motive existed and were known to investigators. It is deeply concerning that the mysterious death of a Walton County resident was considered “solved” though evidence was never collected or investigated by detectives assigned to the case. The two other main suspects in the case were never seriously investigated at all - their alibis were not looked into, their homes and cars were not searched, their motive was forgotten.

It is not justice to execute a man after so little investigation has been done to place him on death row.

Ernest Suggs was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his friend Pauline Casey. He has been on death row for more than 30 years now, though he has always maintained his innocence. During this time, the victim’s daughter has also been fighting against his execution because she, too, believes he is innocent. Mr. Suggs was convicted based on purely circumstantial evidence coupled with junk DNA evidence and fingerprint evidence that cannot be dated and is most likely from Mr. Suggs and the victim being together earlier in the day on the day she went missing. Investigators apprehended then arrested Mr. Suggs just 6 hours after Pauline disappeared and after that they stopped looking at other suspects because it “just wasn’t their priority anymore.” 

The Full Story

On August 6, 1990, bartender Pauline Casey disappeared from the Teddy Bear Bar on Highway 30A in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, where she was working. Her friend, Ernest Suggs, was the first and only suspect police identified and investigated. He was arrested just six hours later.

Pauline was the only bartender on shift that night. Her husband’s friend, Ray Hamilton, had been at the bar before she disappeared, leaving less than 50 minutes before she was known to be missing. While at the bar, he spoke on the phone to Pauline’s husband, Steve Casey, and even handed the phone over to Pauline so she could briefly talk to Steve. He left shortly after that. At approximately 11:25 p.m. that night, Dian and Jon Hosmer stopped by the bar. They noticed that the front door was ajar and the lounge was empty. They waited a few minutes, assuming the bartender had gone to the restroom or stepped out back. After no one appeared, they searched the bar then called their friend, Ted Valencia, who owned the bar. He told them Pauline should be there, and to call 911 . Officer Frank DiRisio was the first to arrive on the scene. He observed that there were no signs of a struggle, the cash register was open, and the jukebox was still playing.

Ray Hamilton was located and brought to the bar to be interviewed by investigators. He told them he had left the bar shortly after speaking on the phone to Steve Casey at 10:30 p.m. When he left, he told investigators Pauline was playing pool with a white male in his 30s, approximately 5’11”, 225-240lbs, dressed in a light colored pull over shirt, sport shorts, with long brown hair and possible freckles on his arms. There was also a green Jeep vehicle left in the parking lot when Ray left the bar.

Pauline Casey is discovered missing

Walton County Sherriff's Department put out a BOLO with the description Ray Hamilton had given of the green Jeep and the white male in his 30s with long brown hair. Officers simultaneously continued their investigation at Teddy Bear’s Bar. They interviewed witnesses such as Steve Casey and Ray Hamilton, and processed the bar and parking lot for evidence. At approximately 4:25 a.m., their investigation of their bar was complete, and officers turned the bar over to Ted Valencia.

At 5:04 a.m., less than 6 hours after the Hosmers stopped in for a drink and discovered the Teddy Bear Bar to be empty, an officer identified a vehicle matching the BOLO. The officer pulled the vehicle over and identified the driver as Ernest Donald Suggs. At that point, Mr. Suggs was not under arrest and police officers had little to connect him to Pauline’s disappearance other than Ray Hamilton’s description. Nonetheless, officers asked Mr. Suggs to accompany them to the substation for questioning, and he agreed even though he had no obligation to do so.

When Mr. Suggs heard that Pauline was missing he expressed concern and told officers he wished she would “soon call in.” He talked openly with investigators, corroborating Ray Hamilton’s story that he had stayed at the bar after Ray left, but he told investigators he left shortly after Ray and that he saw another car pull into the lot as he was leaving. After that, he went straight home to work on his parent’s dock — the activity he had been in Florida for in the first place. When officers asked to search his home, Mr. Suggs voluntarily consented — again under no obligation to do so.

A few hours after Mr. Suggs was pulled over, officers found Pauline’s body off the side of a dirt road. Officers immediately arrested Mr. Suggs for murder.