Murder of Club Pro Remains a Mystery

1972-1990

By Avery Chenoweth, Published in the Charlottesville Observer, May 29- June 3, 1992

As Stephen King made clear in The Shining, every decent hotel has its share of creepy stories. But while the Keswick country club is no Overlook Hotel, it does have one mystery to its morbid credit -- an unsolved murder.

The killing happened in the late 1970s, say two Albemarle County detectives who worked on the case. They say that one night after a company tournament the club pro, Belden MacMillan, who was in his 40s, was alone on the premises with his wife. He was driving his truck and she was with him, and also in the front seat was the night deposit bag with the cash take for the day.

He parked by the club and aimed his headlights at her car so she could see to unlock her car door. As she did she heard a shot, then heard him call out to her. She ran over and found him shot in the chest.

She had a radio in her car and used it to call her son, who called the ambulance and police; when they arrived, MacMillan was dead. The night deposit bag was still in the front seat, and because of the glare of his truck's headlights, his wife never saw anyone else at the scene.

One officer who describes the crime as "very weird" says they never established a motive or a suspect. And yet while the statute of limitations does not expire in murder cases, another officer says he has no intention of looking into the case and considers it closed.


Avery Chenoweth