Naman Shrestha
When four teenage employees of the Burger Chef joint in Speedway, Indiana, disappeared from the restaurant on the night of November 17, 1978, and found murdered in the woods of Johnson County, the people of the small town were left shell-shocked as it made them question the safety of their respective children. The tragedy is explored in detail in the documentary movie directed by Luke Rynderman and
Adam Kamien — ‘The Speedway Murders.’ The film also focuses on the different theories that the detectives came up with during their investigation. According to one of them, the Speedway Bomber, Brett Kimberlin, could also be a possible suspect in the murders.
Besides Being the Speedway Bomber, Brett Kimberlin Also Dealt Drugs
Born in 1954, Brett C. Kimberlin grew up to become responsible for different kinds of crimes. During his high school years, he was reportedly dealing with drugs. When a drug investigation was conducted at his high school, he lied and testified that he had no part in selling LSD. But when the grand jury learned that he lied, he was convicted for it and ended up serving three weeks out of the one-year sentence he received for that charge. He got entangled in more problems with the law after he passed out from high school. In 1973, he was found guilty of felony perjury for lying to a grand jury investigating drug trafficking. Despite his conviction, Brett allegedly did not stop dealing drugs, and by 1976, he reportedly used to earn thousands of dollars each month.
In order to make the most of his earnings, he spent his profit in multiple businesses, including a vegetarian restaurant, an Earth shoe franchise, and a retail health food store. However, his life turned upside down when he became a prime suspect in the murder case of Julia Scyphers in Speedway, Indiana, in 1978. Seemingly to distract the authorities with something much more fatal, Brett conducted multiple bombings across Speedway, Indiana, in the first week of September 1978. Although there were no casualties earlier, his last bombing resulted in a severe injury to Carl DeLong, who lost his right leg. On September 20, 1978, Brett Kimberlin was arrested for several unrelated charges, including illegal use of the seal of the president of the United States, possession and illegal use of Department of Defense insignia, and impersonation of a federal officer.
Following a search of his house and vehicle, the detectives came across evidence linking him to the Speedway bombings. They also found more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana and a couple of cases of Tovex 200 in his residence. After the Burger Chef murders took place, even he was considered a prime suspect in the case. However, he claimed that he had no hand in it. After getting convicted of the possession of marijuana and the other charges, Brett was then convicted of being responsible for the Speedway bombings in 1980, despite him maintaining his innocence. For all his convictions, he received a total of five decades in prison.
Brett Kimberlin is Heavily Involved in Non-Profit Work in Maryland Today
Having served 13 years in prison out of the 50 years he was sentenced to, Brett Kimberlin was released on parole in February 1994. However, three years later, his parole was revoked in 1997 because he failed to make the court-ordered payments to the DeLong family. After spending four more years in prison, he was re-released in 2001. After getting out of prison, the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate began working on redeeming himself. In 2003, he co-founded a non-profit organization called Justice Through Music in Washington, DC. According to reports, he also had a hand in establishing an activist organization called Velvet Revolution.
In addition to serving as the Director of Justice Through Music, Brett also handles the responsibilities of being the US Director of EuromaidanPR/UKraineFrontLines, an independent citizen media organization founded in 2014. Over the years, the company has only grown, and Brett has played a vital role in making it “one of Ukraine’s most influential English-speaking media, news, and Twitter operations.” Currently residing in Bethesda, Maryland, he appealed to get his convictions overturned in 2021 in order to get relief from a few civil disabilities. However, the district court denied his petition. On the romantic and personal front, not much is known about him as he appears to prefer keeping that part of his life private and away from the prying eyes of the media.
Read More: The Burger Chef Murders: What Happened to the Restaurant Employees?
