January 31st, 1992. Geraldo Rivera on his namesake talk show brings us the story of John Wayne Hearn, who posted a classified ad and ended up murdering, as well as family members of the victims.
‘..when I placed the ad in Soldier of Fortune it was with the full intention of what I checked into and talked to other people about, was doing bodyguard work…’
Mr. Hearn is on remote location from the Kirkland Correctional Institution in South Carolina, where he serves time for murder. He claims he never intended to hurt anyone when originally placing the ad, although without have much of a defense when confronted by family members of the deceased. Interspersed in this segment we hear from Ben Green, author of the book ‘Soldier of Fortune murders’, as he sheds light on how these events occurred.
In 1985, Robert Black was sentenced to die by injection for hiring John Hearn to kill his wife. A spate of lawsuits related to these murders also found Soldier of Fortune magazine partially liable.
This day, Geraldo’s television history.