The Pride Of Hot Springs, Virginia

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This driver's license photo of Beacher Hackney was taken in Feb. 2009.

Nestled between two valleys in the Allegheny Mountains stands the Homestead Resort. It is the pride and joy of Hot Springs, Va.

The resort was established a decade before the American Revolution, and Thomas Jefferson was among those who sought out the area's rejuvenating mineral springs. Today, the Homestead continues to attract both young and old with activities like golf, tennis, and horseback riding. 

But to the people of Hot Springs and surrounding Bath County, the Homestead isn't a vacation destination -- it's their livelihood.

Michael Stinnett, a security officer at the Homestead, is the third generation of his family to don a Homestead uniform.

"The Homestead in terms of pride is the most important place within the county. My grandfather and grandma both worked here," says Michael.

But the family bond is rooted deeper than generations. The employees at the Homestead create their own family.

"We're always laughing and joking, making sure everybody is okay no matter what their job is," says Jennifer May, a member of the Homestead's tight-knit kitchen staff.  "You know, we try to help each other as much as we possibly can just like family would."

At the helm of the Homestead's family -- a father and son who weren't. Dwight Kerr, a Jamaican national who came to the Homestead through a work exchange program in 2000, and lifelong Homestead employee Ronnie Stinnett, Michael's father.

It was as if Ronnie and Dwight both had two families -- their family at home, and their extended family at the Homestead. Ronnie and his wife lived in Bath County. Dwight and his wife, Kimberly, had a baby girl named Carmen and lived 20 miles from the Homestead in Covington, Va.

The two supervisors were as close to family as possible without being related. Ronnie referred to Dwight as his other son, and Michael called Dwight his brother.

"Dad was trying to get Dwight citizenship in the U.S.," explains Michael. "Dad was like, it's almost like I adopted him, and from that point on we started calling him my brother. And then after awhile, it wasn't a joke anymore, I just felt like he was."

The Black Sheep

But like most families, the Homestead also had a relative who didn't quite fit in with the rest. His name was Beacher Hackney, a janitor who worked the quiet overnight shift -- and preferred it that way.

Those who worked with Hackney say he stayed almost completely to himself, speaking so rarely that many thought he was deaf. Little was known about him. Strange as it was to the members of the Homestead family, isolation was actually a cornerstone of Hackney's past.

Always A Loner

According to police, Hackney grew up in W.Va. without a lot of money, material possessions, friends, or schooling -- in fact, they say Hackney failed 7th grade three times before finally dropping out completely. Hackney worked menial jobs, surviving day to day on very little.

As far as those who know him can tell, Hackney was estranged from most of his family by the time he got married in 1983. His wife was a woman named Delores who had two children, Loretta and Anthony, from another relationship.

Loretta says growing up in Hackney's household was like "living in the Amish age" because of his preference to live like a loner.

"He wanted to stay to himself, stay away from everybody, keep away from everybody," says Loretta. "We had no house phone... no running water, no toilet."

Delores and Hackney gave birth to a daughter during their marriage, and Loretta claims Hackney favored his daughter over her and Anthony, and even abused them in horrible ways.

"He'd tie Anthony to a tree and put honey on him and tell him he was using him for bear bait. Anthony had a cut on his leg and I asked Anthony how he got it and he said Beacher had cut him with a knife to bring blood from him to where the wild could smell blood," Loretta says.

Loretta says she and her brother endured Hackney's abuse for years, until their mother unexpectedly died at the early age of 41 from a massive heart attack. Many who knew Hackney say that's when something inside of him snapped.

A Decent Into Madness

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Crime scene photo of the Homestead's main kitchen where Hackney allegedly shot his supervisors, Ronnie and Dwight.

Cops say Hackney slipped even deeper into isolation, losing touch with Loretta, Anthony, and even his daughter, who went to live with one of his relatives. Loretta says Hackney visited Delores' grave frequently while bouncing from job to job before landing a gig as a night cleaner at the Homestead on October 3, 2003.

For years, Hackney worked the quiet overnight shift, preferring the lonely halls over the bustling kitchen. When Hackney did interact with the rest of the staff, each encounter seemed stranger than the next.

Instead of asking someone who was in his way to move, employees remember Hackney standing and staring at them until they moved, never excusing himself.

In the smoke room where most interacted and laughed while taking a break from the grueling kitchen work, employees say Hackney would move all of the chairs several feet away from him and sit by himself in the corner -- sometimes even clanging the chairs together or knocking them down to the floor.

They never saw him eat or drink. One snowy winter, he refused to wear a coat.

"We'd all say, 'Where's your jacket at, Beacher?' and he'd say, 'It's keeping my closet warm and walk off,'" Jennifer remembers.

But by early 2009, Hackney's eccentricities were no longer the main issue. According to Michael, his father was frustrated because Hackney wasn't getting his work done at night. When after several warnings Hackney's work ethic didn't change, his shift did.

Ronnie moved Hackney to the busy dinner shift where he could be closely supervised by Dwight. The change in shift further agitated Hackney. But employees say that agitation turned to anger when Dwight told Hackney to conserve trash bags -- a seemingly innocent request.

Jennifer remembers Hackney using a new trash bag for every trash can's contents instead of emptying several cans into one bag, filling it completely. She says Dwight playfully told Hackney to "use his head and conserve trash bags," causing Hackney to storm out of the kitchen.

After work, cops say Hackney would head home to his tiny, apartment in Covington, barren except for a bed, a dresser, an out-of-date and unplugged television, and homemade window shades made out of black trash bags. His only company was the anger cops believe he was holding just beneath the surface.

March 21, 2009

It was one of the first busy nights the Homestead had experienced since the economic downturn.

"Everybody was everywhere that night trying to get stuff done," says Jennifer. "We were like bees."

But busy as it was, Hackney still wasn't doing much. Another overnight cleaner known as "Pee Wee" says Hackney had his hands in his pockets, standing in the corner.

"Supervisor told him to go find something to do. All of a sudden he went to the schedule and told me to get out of the way," says Pee Wee.

That's when cops say the unthinkable happened. They say Hackney brandished a gun and began shooting at Dwight, who was taking dishes off the dish line. Jennifer says Dwight ran from Hackney, who chased him out of the dish room before taking him down with another shot.

Witnesses in the kitchen say when Hackney came out of the dish room, he immediately set his sights on a second target -- Ronnie.

"It was like he was hunting animals and he didn't even care," says Jennifer.

Cops say Hackney chased Ronnie around the kitchen, shooting at him. Despite Ronnie's attempts to get away, cops say Hackney was determined to kill him. In the end, police say Hackney succeeded in his apparent mission: to kill the two supervisors he felt had done him wrong.

Surveillance video shows Hackney leaving after the murders through the loading dock by the kitchen. In the video, panicked kitchen workers can be seen running for their lives before Hackney appears, walking calmly down some steps while fiddling with his gun. Police believe Hackney was actually reloading his magazine -- perhaps preparing for a confrontation outside. Cops say Hackney then headed around the perimeter of the hotel, vanishing into the night.

Hunting Hackney

Police launched a huge manhunt for Hackney, bringing in dogs and a helicopter to aid in their search. But Hackney was nowhere to be found.

Cops recovered the vehicle Hackney drove to the hotel that night, but it held no clues. A search of Hackney's apartment also uncovered little evidence. Among the items they did find were the keys and titles for both of his vehicles. Cops believe he laid them out for his family to collect after he left -- a sign of premeditation. A gun digest was also found in his apartment.

Hackney's spartan surroundings showed police Hackney was a man who could live on very little. Cops believe he could live in a shack, a trailer, or an outdoor shed and be completely fine. He appeared to be a neat freak with very few material possessions.

According to cops, Hackney's exact motive is still unclear -- but cops theorize he was a ticking time bomb who exploded when he was moved to a busier shift where he had to be around many people. Of the hundreds upon hundreds of guests and workers at the Homestead that night, cops say Hackney targeted only Ronnie and Dwight, the two people responsible for the shift change.

While Hackney is on the run, living with little, Dwight and Ronnie's families are living with a lot of heartache.

"I mean, it's a nightmare," says Kimberly Kerr. "He hasn't been captured and is still out there and he could possibly be smiling when a lot of times I'm not, so that's really hurtful. And Carmen is without her father for the rest of her life."

Michael says the magnitude of grief still hasn't completely sunk in.

"It still kind of feels like Dad is at work. I'm kind of expecting to see him run through the kitchen when I walk up there, " he says. "It's kind of like, 'where is he?'"

Police are hoping someone in the public knows where Hackney is hiding. In the past, Hackney has kept a P.O. Box, and has paid for everything in cash or money orders. He's described as a great tenant since he is quiet and neat. He is a loner, a neat freak, and a minimalist who doesn't need human interaction -- but cops think he's got to emerge sometime.

He is considered armed and dangerous.