The Murders of Mike and Missy MacIvor
This is the third episode into the ID series I’m covering called American Nightmare, the episode is titled ‘Paradise Lost.’
A popular couple is murdered in their beautiful Florida home in 1991. It would take the police years to go through many suspects to finally solve this brutal case.
Warning, this case talks about sexual assault.
Background
Missy and Mike MacIvor
Mike and Missy MacIvor met in 1986, and Mike’s family said it was love at first sight. Mike worked in aviation and Missy was an elementary school teacher. They had also just moved into a beautiful home in Tavernier Keys, Florida, due to Mike’s job and were expecting their first baby, a son they were going to name Kyle.
They were so excited to finally start their family. They had even hired a contractor to paint and refurnish one of their bedrooms and make it into a nursery. A storm and a killer was about to sweep through Florida and change all that for this family.
The Murders
On August 21, 1991, the police responded to a welfare check at the MacIvor home. A co-worker of Missy’s had called them when Missy hadn’t shown up at work for a few days, which was unlike her.
The police walked in and noticed their was no obvious signs of a struggle, at least on the first floor. They went up to the second floor, and immediately found the body of Mike MacIvor. He was in the living room, laying on his back. He had been beaten and stabbed, and his face was wrapped in tape. There was also a footprint on his throat, and a metal bar found that was thought to have been the murder weapon. It was sent in for testing.
They walked into the back bedrooms, and found Missy in the master bedroom. She was laying on top of the sheets, on the floor. She had also been beaten, stabbed and sexually assaulted. Her head was also wrapped with tape, and her wrists had been bound with rope and a belt that the police thought came from their home. A drawer with other belts in it was found opened, and an address book was found on the bed with the pages for G, H and I were torn out.
Mike and Missy weren’t the only victims that day, the couple’s unborn son, Kyle was also killed.
Another photo of the MacIvor’s
Suspects
The police now had a triple murder on their hands, and they wanted to find whoever did this fast. They wanted to inspect the house one more time. They found a ladder going up to the room that was being remade into a nursery. They also found boot prints outside that they thought could be from the killer. The police also found that the phone wires had been cut from the house.
The ladder and the boot prints turned out to be from their first suspect, Leon Hardy, the contractor. He was ruled out when his DNA didn’t match.
The next suspect was James Haraway, he was a neighbor of the MacIvor’s. He was also ruled out when his DNA didn’t match.
A tip came in from someone who knew Missy. Missy’s former dentist from Dade County, Florida, had called the police and said Missy’s ex-husband, Gene Billings, was jealous that she had remarried. Gene had apparently seen the murders in the news and found out she was expecting a baby.
Gene was brought in for questioning, and he said he was in Miami with friends, over two hours away when the murders occurred. His alibi checked out and his DNA didn’t match the crime scene.
With all three suspects ruled out, the police were back to the beginning.
Theories
With no suspects, the police had to determine who the intended target was. There was one tip that came in from a man who was involved in drug smuggling. He said that two brothers, Jose and Miguel Santos, wanted to buy an airplane from Mike.
Mike’s family worked in aviation and Mike had an obsession with planes and flying them. The police even traveled to Belize, where the Santos brothers were from. The turned out to be a dead end, when the tipster had made the whole thing up to avoid jail time.
The police then received information from Mike’s sister. She said she had talked to Missy a few days before the murders. Missy had told her that she was being harassed by a man that worked at the nearby gas station. He knew she was married and expecting a baby, but that he didn’t take no for an answer.
An Obsession
In fact, the whole family knew who this man was. His name was Thomas Overton, a local burglar and a cashier at the local gas station.
The police remembered seeing receipts in the MacIvor home from that gas station. Mike’s family said they would all go there quite often to fill up their cars and their boats.
The police didn’t have any evidence that Thomas was the killer, but they did surveillance on him for several days. He was arrested in 1996, when a tip from someone Thomas was close to came in that he was going to rob a house. Thomas was picked up at that house before he had a chance to break in.
Thomas was questioned by police at the jail. He said no to his DNA being taken, but the police caught a break after Thomas asked for a razor and cut himself.
The police wanted to question him further, and they decided to try to get Thomas to confess, by showing him photos of crime scenes that he had nothing to do with. He was shown a picture of the MacIvor house, and asked if he had ever robbed it. He said no. He was then shown a picture of Mike and Missy, and asked if he knew them. He said Missy looked familiar.
Thomas was then confronted about his DNA being a match to the scene. His semen was found on Missy. Thomas had nothing to say and was asked to be taken back to his cell.
Arrest and Conviction
In 1999, Thomas was found guilty of the murders of Mike and Missy, and their unborn son. He was also found guilty of sexual battery.
Thomas Overton
He was sentenced to death and is currently on death row in Florida.
He tried to appeal his sentence many times and the last one was denied in 2012.
Other
Thomas Overton was also a suspect in a murder in 1990. A 20 year old woman had disappeared from a movie theater in the same area that the MacIvor’s lived in.
Thomas Overton at age 60
FINAL THOUGHTS
What a disgusting human being. I have a lot of thoughts about death row and the death sentence, but he deserves to be executed. He apparently showed no remorse, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he in fact had kidnapped or killed this other woman. He also killed an unborn baby, who is the most innocent victim of all.
I’m glad he’s on death row and rotting in prison, because he is scum!!! I would love to know your thoughts about the death sentence and if you believe in it or not. Please comment below!
Sources
https://www.distractify.com/p/where-is-thomas-mitchell-overton
https://www.flkeysnews.com/news/local/article110568012.html
