A graphic video recently posted online and depicting a man being beaten unconscious, having his head stomped on and having his bloodied body dragged from a Dumfries martial arts dojo as an instructor looked on, has spurred renewed interest in the incident among the public and authorities.
The video, purportedly filmed in December 1984 and viewable here (CAUTION: it contains extremely graphic violence), opens with the dojo leader, identified as former Marine Bobby Joe Blythe, joking with an unidentified man who said that he learned karate from Jesus and that he wants to show off his skills to other karate masters.
A sparring session ensues between that man and another unidentified man dressed in a karate gii and black belt. After minutes of sparring, Jesus' grasshopper asks for the fight to end, but the black belt continues attacking him, eventually getting him to the ground and repeatedly kicking him in the head, knocking him out cold and drawing blood.
The original YouTube post of the video -- it has since been removed -- included comments that the victim was left dead in a dumpster after being dragged from the scene because he messed with people he shouldn't have. However, police in Dumfries and Prince Williams County contend that no homicide ever occurred, The Washington Post reported.
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
"We appreciate that the video was sent to us and that people saw it and were concerned," said Sgt. Kim Chinn, a Prince William police spokeswoman. "This is going to happen more and more now with the Internet, and you often can't tell the times or the dates, who's in the video or if it is real or not."
Capt. Ronald Mackey of the Dumfries Police Department said that the video appears to be real but that police have confirmed that the victim was not killed, since he was interviewed after the fact.
Police also said that no charges were ever filed in connection with the incident and if case files ever did exist, they likely would have been destroyed years ago.
