A Murder at McDonald’s: The Case of Delma Ramsey
For this case I watched an episode of Cold Blood. It’s season 3 episode 13, titled ‘Fast Food Fatality.’
A 49 year old McDonald’s manager is killed while working the graveyard shift.
Background
Delma Ramsey lived in the small town of Germantown, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis. She lived with her husband Dennis, and they had been married for about 31 years.
Delma was known to many people. She had worked at McDonald’s for almost 20 years, and worked her way up to assistant manager. She was described as a happy person, who always had a smile on her face.
The Crime Scene
In the early morning hours of November 5, 1997, Delma’s co-worker and friend Emma Owens arrived at McDonald’s around 4am. Emma knocked on the door, expecting Delma to open it for her. When she didn’t answer, Emma went back to her car and drove around the lot. She called the police after seeing Delma’s car in the parking lot.
Patrolman Bruce Cannon responded to the call. He said he and Emma walked around the parking lot, and saw Delma laying on the ground through the drive thru window. One of the other doors had been found unlocked, and he entered the restaurant.
Delma had obviously been beaten around her head and face, and had been strangled. Patrolman Cannon heard a gurgling noise, and discovered Delma was still alive, but barely. The paramedics and back up were dispatched to the McDonald’s on Germantown and Poplar Roads. Delma was rushed to the hospital, but she died on the way.
The Germantown police weren’t used to murder investigations, the only crimes that happened there were speeding incidents and a few mailboxes being smashed. The Tennessee State and Memphis police departments were also called in to assist.
The McDonald’s. 2030 Germantown Rd, Germantown, Tennessee.
The Motive
The police discovered that about $1,200 were missing from the restaurant. It was believed that robbery was the motive. However, there was no forced entry, and police believed Delma knew her killer.
There were multiple bloody footprints around the scene, but the police had to take shoe impressions to rule out the paramedics. It was also hard to determine if the fingerprints found were the killers or if they were from the employees that worked there.
A set of bloody keys were found outside in a grassy area, and the police believed this is how the killer or killers had gotten out of the restaurant.
The Surveillance Video
The police obtained video footage from an ATM at the First Tennessee Bank, which was across the street from McDonald’s. The video was very grainy, but the police could at least make out a few details.
At 2:22am, Delma is seen arriving to work. The video also showed a shadowy figure that Delma let into the store. The police now believed that it was someone Delma knew, and possible a past or present employee.
Delma’s injuries were also very personal. Her face had been fractured from the bridge of her nose to her jaw. There was also a sign that a ligature had been placed around her neck.
The Friend
The police wanted to speak to past and present employees from McDonald’s, starting with Emma Owens.
Emma said that she and Delma were very close, and they had worked the graveyard shift together for the past five years. Delma had even given Emma’s grandsons Maurice and Robert a job. Delma referred to the boys as her brothers.
Emma said she remembered something from that night. She said Delma had called her at 3am, to wake her up for work like she usually did. About 15 minutes later, she received another call from the restaurant, and only heard gurgling noises. Emma’s phone records showed that both calls were most likely from Delma, and that the second call was most likely an accident.
The police asked Emma about her grandsons, and Emma said they had moved to Decatur, Illinois, just a few weeks before.
The Husband
After interviewed over 100 employees or former employees from McDonald’s. the police turned their attention to Dennis Ramsey, Delma’s husband.
Dennis worked in construction, and he and Delma slept in separate bedrooms, due to them working opposite schedules.
The police asked Dennis to come into the police station. He was very cooperative, and agreed to take a polygraph test. He actually took several polygraphs, and passed all of them. He was ruled out very quickly.
The Weird Couple
The case stalled just six months into the investigation. The police decided to look over their files and interviews again. They found that an anonymous tip had come into the police about two people who had been in the McDonald’s parking lot at the time of the murder.
This couple was Ron Siegel and his wife Mary Muskett. They were described as being odd and unique. Ron was 30, and Mary was 47. Mary owned a store called Crabtree and Evelyn, and Ron worked there part-time. Mary and Ron were known to go to McDonald’s to feed the stray cats.
Ron and Delma had gotten into a few arguments. One was over them feeding the cats, and one was over the fact that Ron didn’t get his stir stick when he came through the drive thru one day.
Ron and Mary were brought in for questioning. The police had the surveillance footage that proved that they were at McDonald’s during the time of the murder. Ron said they didn’t see or hear anything. Ron was asked to take a polygraph test, and failed. Ron also made a comment that he didn’t kill Delma, but if he did would he be able to be protected in jail.
The police obtained a search warrant for the couple’s home. They had about 20 cats, and animal control had to be called before they could search the home. The house was dirty and had a strong odor from the cats. Inside the house, the police found some rope that was collected to compare it to Delma’s injuries. A stack of newspaper with articles about Delma’s case was found, and a pair of pants with what looked like blood on them.
The news spread about Ron and Mary being possible suspects, and the small town decided they were guilty. However, they were both eventually ruled out. The stain on the pants was not blood, and the police had no evidence against them.
The Grandsons
The case stalled again, until about a year after the murder. A tip came into Memphis Crime Stoppers. The tip said the real killers were Robert Evans and Maurice Lane, the grandsons of Emma Owens. Robert and Maurice had also worked at McDonald’s previously, and were close to Delma.
At the time, Robert and Maurice were both in custody in different cities in Illinois for unrelated crimes. The police went to Illinois, and started by speaking to Maurice. It didn’t take long for Maurice to talk.
He said Robert told him he needed money. He said when they arrived at McDonald’s on that night, Robert went up to the door, and Delma asked him why he was there. Robert apparently said he came to help her, but she wouldn’t let him inside. Maurice said he never went into the store with Robert. The police didn’t believe his story, so they wanted to see what Robert had to say.
Robert was described as being very cold, and was in prison for stabbing his best friend 20 times over a car stereo. The police showed Robert portions of Maurice’s interview, and Robert agreed to talk. Robert pointed the finger at Maurice. Robert said on the night of the murder, Delma wouldn’t let him inside the restaurant, but she let Maurice in. Robert said Maurice was in the store for around 20-30 minutes, and came out with money.
The police believed that they were both lying, and didn’t have any evidence that they were connected to the murder.
The Real Confession
About 2 years after Delma’s murder, the police went to speak with Emma Owens again. They believed that her grandsons were involved, and that she knew what happened.
Emma told the police that she could have made a mistake about when the boys moved to Illinois, and that they could’ve been in town during the time of the murder.
The police decided to take another trip to Illinois to speak to Maurice and Robert. The police only believed Maurice’s story this time because it matched the evidence.
Maurice said on November 5, 1997, he and Robert were out driving around and smoking weed. They knew that Delma would be alone at McDonald’s, and wanted money. Maurice said Robert went into the restaurant alone after Delma let him in. However, he went to the back of the store where the money was, and Delma tried to stop him. Robert beat Delma in the face and head, strangled her with strings from her apron, and then took $1,200.
The police also believed that Maurice knew about the robbery, but didn’t know that Robert was going to kill Delma. Maurice also told the police one more key detail, he saw Robert toss the keys exactly where they were found.
Arrests and Convictions
Robert Lee Evans and Maurice Lane were both charged with murder.
At the trial, Emma insisted that she didn’t know about their plans to kill Delma.
Robert was found guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Maurice cooperated with the police, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Robert Evans, Maurice Lane and Delma Ramsey
Other
Ron Siegel was interviewed in this episode. He said he will never forgive the police because the investigation against them ruined his marriage and their business. He ended up moving back to Canada, where he was from.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Another case where someone is killed over something so small. Delma was killed over $1,200. However, she knew her killers, and considered them family. The two boys didn’t give a shit about her, and knew she would be at the restaurant alone. I believe that the robbery was planned for some time, and maybe they didn’t plan to murder her, but they did and deserve to rot in prison.
Sources
https://www.mcmurder.com/mcarchive/1990/1997-11-05.html
https://www.mcmurder.com/1990/1997-11-05-2/
