Pensacola’s Lover’s Lane

By Mike Simmons

Arthur and Bernice were in love, or thought they were. Arthur Hinote was 17. He lived at 1118 West Chase Street. Bernice Bryars was 15. She lived at 2500 West Cervantes Street. They had plans to spend the rest of their lives together. On Thursday night, October 22, 1931, they piled into Arthur’s car from Arthur’s sisters house and headed out on a date. They stopped at the Half Moon filling station on Ferry Pass Highway and got some gasoline. Life was good. 

The October 24, 1931, edition of the Pensacola News Journal reported that John Engstrom and John Birthright headed out on Friday morning along the dirt road to the wooded area on the north side of Bayview Park, near today’s Avery Street and Escambia Avenue, to get a load of wood. That’s when they found Arthur’s car. On the ground beside the driver’s door was the faceless body of Arthur Hinote lying in a pool of blood. A shotgun blast had taken part of his head off. On the passenger side in her own pool of blood was the lifeless body of Bernice Bryars. It looked like she had been attacked and beaten to death with a blunt object. She had not been shot. She must have seen the first murder, because she fought back when her time came. She had been partly disrobed, indicating possible sexual attack.  

The Pensacola Police Detectives got right to work and discovered some interesting information. At 8:00 PM on Thursday night, the young couple left from 1000 East Brainerd Street, the home of Mrs. Henry Teate, Arthur’s sister. They said they were headed to see a movie. They usually returned by about 10:30, but not tonight. When they didn’t show up, the search began and lasted all night, although almost everyone in both families were convinced the young couple had eloped. Arthur’s mother, however, was convinced something was wrong, and she didn’t sleep at all.  

When the police interviewed the operators at the Half Moon filling station, they found some surprising news. When the lovers pulled into the station, a third man was in the car with them. He was dressed in dark trousers and a white shirt. He was not wearing a coat or hat. Even though he was not driving, he ordered the gasoline.  

The Pensacola Police Detectives were consumed with the investigation for the next few weeks. To this day, the case is open and unsolved. Sad.