The Strange Murder Of John Hardin

After returning from work, shortly prior to midnight, Hardin noticed his work truck burning from his bathroom window.Shortly prior to midnight.Hardin showered and saw his work truck on fire from the bathroom window. Hardin ran down the back stairs in his flannel shirt and jeans, then went into his yard to save the truck. The killer then ambushed him with a shotgun blast to the back. Police and investigators found the culprit set the truck on fire to lure Hardin out of the house.Lure Hardin out of the house.The culprit seemed unconcerned about his wife and child inside.

Neighbors who saw the burning truck called the fire department and rushed over to help.

The Hardins' house back featured a driveway turn-off leading past the back porch into the yard.Police believe the culprit waited for Hardin that night.Hardin suspected the family might find him if they did not use the front door to enter the home that night.

After burning Hardin's work truck, the killer likely went back into the shrubs to wait for Hardin to come down the stairs. As Hardin moved toward his truck with a fire extinguisher, the killer shot him in the back with a 20-gauge.

Neighbors alerted to the fire either heard the shotgun blast or saw the flames from their homes.Mistook the sound for an explosion.Or saw the flames and called emergency services. Hardin's body was already on the ground when community members arrived. It took one minute from the call to arrival for emergency services. Neighbors helped put out the small truck fire quickly. The fire's small size made police think the fire was a tool to get Hardin outside.The fire was a tool.To get Hardin outside.

Hardin died from his injuries around 11:25 pm after being rushed to the hospital.

Hardin lived at 486 West Osceola Street with his second wife, Victoria, and their nine-month-old child. Hardin was a refrigerator repairman who owned his business.

That night, a...A client called Hardin from a restaurant in Groveland requesting service.The entire family left for the restaurant Groveland job in Hardin's work truck. Police believe the culprit cut the home's phone lines during this time.

Although police compiled a list of suspects...None of the evidence gave enough probable cause for an arrest.Investigators found the shotgun in the Hardin house bushes. Pellets littered the ground and stuck in doorframes. No suspect connection was made.

The home sits near the boat ramps and the riverfront district of Clermont.Some people suggest...The killer simply walked away from the Hardin home to a waiting boat.

Another strange detail involves...Hardin's first wife, Rita.High school sweethearts married around 1961, living in Jacksonville with their kids. After fourteen years, Hardin left Rita and the children. He married his second wife, Victoria; the couple moved with their infant child to the Osceola home in Clermont around 1974 or 1975.

A later owner estimated Victoria was 20; her husband was 32 when he died on March 22, 1975.

Hardin received a headstone.The military gave Hardin a headstone.The military gave Hardin a headstone in Clermont's Montverde Cemetery. The last name was wrongly printed as "Harden," and his birth year read 1942 instead of 1943.

These mistakes added more confusion to Hardin's life and end timeline.

Sources report Hardin's widow, Victoria, never stayed in the house after her husband died. Several families bought and lived there starting in 1976. One story claims the home was haunted.Sources say an elderly couple was involved.The visiting grandson allegedly left the house to meet a girl. When he came back through the back stairs, his screams woke his grandparents.

His grandfather ran to the stairs and slipped in blood. When the grandmother found the pair, the grandson had a head cut from a fall, and his husband lay nearby, unconscious from his own fall. Allegedly, the grandson forgot the evening and refused to go near the house again. The grandparents sold the home right away and moved.

Long after Hardin died and haunting stories spread among Clermont townsfolk, a woman namedJune FarrisJune Farris allegedly had dreams about a Victorian home.

After moving from Virginia to Florida, Farris visited an open house for the Hardin House in 1974. She said it was the home she dreamed about for years, and the Farris family moved in four years later. The family later claimed strange things started happening at once.

TheThe Farris family claimedmusic boxes in the home wound up and played. They heard tapping, footsteps, slamming doors, and other sounds that seemed unrelated to anyone living there. June Farris also claimed she saw a man in his 30s upstairs.

Later, her husband saw a "vapor-type spirit" shoot at him, which he later thought was Hardin's killer.

The Farris family looked into theThey began looking into the history of their home in 1985, learning about Hardin's slaying. The back staircase he used to the backyard was the same one June Farris dreamed of before moving to Florida and finding the house. They decided the man in his 30s they saw in the house was Hardin based on his look and habit of checking on their grandchildren. Also, June believed he hoped to solve his death through her.

Ken and Donna Hatley bought the house in 1990 after selling it. They felt the same alleged haunting as the Farris family. During a business meeting, Ken spoke about his house experiences.Unsolved MysteriesProducer Nikki WineNikki Wine successfully pushed for the house and its stories onto the television show in 1991.

After hearing about the haunting from the current owners, Unsolved MysteriesNikki Wine put Hardin's case on the show. The audience for the only unsolved murder in Clermont pushed police to Declare the case fully openand await tips or calls from the show. Unfortunately, No new leadscame from the show, despite its high viewership.

Show producers claimed that Eighty percent of the casesthey highlighted were solved. Police got no calls the day the show aired. As of August 2019, the case stays unsolved.

While the Hatleys lived in the Hardin House, they used the Center for Paranormal Studies in Gainesville (CPSG) to check their haunting. Dr. Andrew Nichols of CPSG said the house Met the criteria for being hauntedthe investigation found a photo of the spirit. The Hatleys thought the evil that happened that night in 1975 filled the home with Hardin's presence and suggested more ghosts might roam.

The Hatley family said the hauntings ended in 1992, even though Hardin's case remains unsolved.

After theUnsolved Mysteriesepisode showed Hardin's unsolved case and the alleged hauntings in his old home, Ken and Donna Hatley, the current owners, said the Activity stopped in 1992. Before the haunting ended, the Hatleys reported seeing the ghostof a man in a flannel shirt and jeans in their home. Producer Michael Anthony supposedly saw Hardin's ghost in the house in 1991, with angels, and spent time praying with Donna later.

Another guest at a 1992 dinner party allegedly joked about the ghost before it showed up to him and the other Hatley guests. Claims also included doorknobs turning on their own, cold air bursts, and other paranormal events during their time in the house.

Clermont, FL, has about 35,000 people and is near Orlando, allowing access to the tourism industry of nearby Disney World.

Murders happen rarely; when a murder occurs in Clermont, the success rate is almost 100%. Only John Hardin's murder remains unsolved in Clermont.