Five Stories You Will Not Hear on the Plaza Tour
Pensacola’s history does not remain quietly inside museums or behind courthouse doors. Sometimes it lingers on a street corner. Sometimes it hides behind the polished façade of a familiar building. And sometimes, when we slow down long enough to look, an ordinary stretch of downtown reveals a story of murder, mystery, suspicion—or justice.
Palafox Street
Your guide, Michael Earl Simmons, is a former Pensacola homicide detective, retired police sergeant, police historian, and author of more than a dozen books on local law enforcement and crime. At each stop, he will combine historical research with an investigator’s perspective—examining the evidence, conflicting accounts, and unanswered questions behind the stories.
On Thursday, August 13, Sweet Tea Murders will introduce an entirely new walking experience:
Old Palafox: Crime, Mystery and Justice
This is not a repeat of Crimes Around the Plaza. The route is different. The locations are different. Most importantly, the stories are entirely different. We will begin at Bodacious Bookstore and follow a trail through downtown Pensacola, stopping at places connected to five remarkable cases. Some involve murder. Others involve investigation, unanswered questions, and the difficult search for truth. Here is a glimpse of what awaits us:
A Killing on Palafox Street
In 1905, a confrontation involving John White and Edward Dansby turned deadly in the heart of downtown Pensacola. The case unfolded during an era when the city was rapidly changing. Electric lights were replacing gas lamps, automobiles were beginning to appear, and Palafox Street was becoming the commercial center of a growing community. But beneath that progress remained old resentments, personal disputes, and the ever-present possibility of violence. Standing near the place where the confrontation occurred allows us to see the case differently—not merely as a newspaper headline, but as something that happened on a busy street surrounded by ordinary people going about their lives.
The George Cooley Case
In 1919, another deadly encounter unfolded along the route we will walk. The killing of George Cooley became more than a story about the moment a weapon was fired. It became a story about motive, responsibility, and how a community decides whether a death was murder, self-defense, or something in between. As a former homicide detective, I will examine the case not only as a historian but as an investigator.
What did the witnesses see? Whose account could be trusted? And when conflicting stories emerge, how do investigators begin separating truth from fear, loyalty, and rumor?
The Downtown Connection to Judy Buenoano
Decades later, Pensacola became the setting for one of Florida’s most notorious criminal investigations. In 1983, an explosion destroyed a car connected to Judy Buenoano and her son, John Gentry. Gentry survived, but investigators soon began asking questions that reached far beyond the bombing. Those questions eventually exposed a disturbing pattern involving insurance policies, poisoned victims, and deaths that had previously appeared natural or accidental. Our walking route includes a location connected to the bombing investigation—the event that helped bring Judy Buenoano’s carefully constructed story crashing down. I have a personal connection to this case. As a Pensacola police officer, I transported Buenoano and later attended portions of the proceedings against her. During the tour, I will explain how one violent act opened the door to a much larger investigation.
The Demetra Parker Story
Not every historic case fits neatly into the familiar pattern of victim, suspect, arrest, and conviction. The Demetra Parker story carries its own mixture of relationships, accusations, emotion, and courtroom uncertainty. It reminds us that murder investigations do not occur in isolation. They unfold inside families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities. Long after the trial ends, questions and divided loyalties may remain. This is one of the lesser-known stories on the tour—and one that deserves to be remembered.
The Death of Hank Killam—and the Shadow of JFK
In March 1964, Pensacola businessman Hank Killam was found dead beside a shattered downtown storefront. Authorities ruled that his death was accidental.
But questions remained. Killam had family connections to Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. In the months after the assassination, investigators were searching for anyone who might have information about Oswald’s background, acquaintances, or activities. Was Hank Killam’s death simply a tragic accident? Or did he know something that placed him in danger? The evidence does not provide an easy answer—and that is precisely what makes the Killam story one of Pensacola’s most enduring mysteries.
More Than a Walk
Old Palafox: Crime, Mystery and Justice is not designed as a parade of gruesome details. It is an opportunity to stand where history happened and consider the people behind the headlines: the victims, the suspects, the witnesses, the investigators, and the citizens who struggled to understand what had taken place in their city. We will examine what was known, what was alleged, what could be proven—and what remains uncertain. Every stop offers a different question. Was justice served? Was the official explanation convincing? Did investigators overlook something? And when the evidence is incomplete, how much of the story can we truly know?
Event Information
Old Palafox: Crime, Mystery and Justice
A Sweet Tea Murders Walking Tour
Thursday, August 13, 2026
6:00 p.m.
We will meet at:
Bodacious Bookstore
110 East Intendencia Street
Downtown Pensacola
The tour will begin and end at Bodacious. Please wear comfortable shoes, dress for a summer evening, and bring water. Attendance is limited so that everyone can remain close enough to hear the stories and participate in the experience.
This is the first edition of an entirely new Sweet Tea Murders tour. None of the cases from Crimes Around the Plaza will be repeated. Come walk with me through Old Pensacola—where familiar streets still hold unfamiliar secrets.
This is more than a recital of old crimes. It is a guided investigation into Pensacola’s past, presented by someone who spent a career studying evidence, interviewing witnesses, and searching for the truth behind violent events.
Reserve your place at SweetTeaMurders.com.
