Clarence “Booda” Sullivan (Ace of Diamonds, South Carolina)
2023-08-09 00:12:27
For years, some law enforcement agencies have replaced the faces of traditional playing card decks with images of missing and murdered people and distributed those cards in prisons hoping inmates would come forward with information needed to crack these cold cases wide open. Now, audiochuck is dealing you in. Each week, we will be working with investigators and family members to bring you the details of some of the coldest cases from around the country in hopes that someone listening can finally bring these victims the justice they deserve.
Our card this week is Clarence Buddha Sullivan, the Ace of Diamonds from South Carolina.
I'm sure you've already noticed, but we released two episodes today, two shorter ones.
But despite the lack of information or length, we knew that these stories had to be told.
In May 2013, 40-year-old Buddha was gunned down in his quiet South Carolina neighborhood.
For years, investigators have tried to bring his killer to justice, but rumors surrounding
his life have muddied the waters.
I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Death.
It was a bit past 3 a.m., and Rhonda Renee Cunningham was inside her Anderson, South
Carolina home, waiting for her boyfriend, Buddha, to get there.
The two of them didn't officially live together, actually Buddha had a house just a mile or
As she waited for him to walk through the door at any moment, she suddenly heard a really
loud banging.
According to the Independent Mail, Rhonda thought it was Buddha knocking on the door
because he'd forgotten his key or maybe was stuck outside, but when she opened it, what
she saw was a scene that would be ingrained in her memory forever.
Her boyfriend Buddha was sprawled out on the front porch, covered in blood, and lying beside
a knife that police describe as a, quote, miniature samurai sword.
And that sword was also covered in blood.
Rhonda bent down and picked it up to examine it, but as she held it, Buddha, who was barely
clinging to life, said something weird.
Here's Sergeant Kendall Cash.
According to Ms. Cunningham, he tells her, don't touch the knife.
They brought that with them, put it down.
As Buddha lay there on the porch, bleeding out, he told Rhonda that they ran toward the
fence in the backyard.
Unbeknownst to Rhonda, as Buddha was recounting to her what had happened, police were already
on their way because a neighbor who was outside with her dog at the time of the attack had
called 911.
First responders were quickly on scene, rendering aid to Buddha.
It was clear that he'd been shot, and multiple times.
He also had cuts to the back of his head and on his arms and hands from that little samurai
sword.
But despite his extensive injuries, he was still alive and conscious.
So responding deputies asked him, who did this to you?
And once again, Buddha said something unexpected.
He said, basically, screw off, I'm not talking to you.
I'm not going to tell you what happened.
That would be one of the last things Buddha said.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
When law enforcement got the news that their attempted murder case was now a homicide,
they were already hard at work processing the scene.
They combed the property for evidence and collected both spent and unfired ammo, as
well as several personal items like a Coke bottle and a $20 bill that they weren't sure
what to the crime, but they collected anyway.
Based on what Rhonda recalled Buddha saying after the attack and information that they
got from the 911 caller, investigators knew that the killer fled on foot.
So they organized a dog track to see if they could retrace this person's steps and see
where they went.
The dog started at Rhonda's house and followed the killer's scent to the fence, which was
where Buddha told Rhonda they had run off to.
The dog followed the scent for a few more blocks until the dog suddenly lost the scent
a couple of streets over.
Investigators figured this meant that whoever the killer was had been picked up by a car
on that street.
After clearing the crime scene, police quickly turned to the local media, pleading with the
public to call in any tips, but also reassuring the community that they had every reason to
believe that Buddha's killing wasn't random.
Investigators' reason for believing this wasn't just because of what he said to authorities
when they arrived on scene.
It was also because he had recently been the victim of a targeted property crime.
In April, about a month prior to his murder, Buddha awoke to find that his car had been
vandalized overnight.
Here's Sgt. Cash reading from the police report.
The deputy responded to the incident location in reference to damages made to Mr. Sullivan's car.
Mr. Sullivan, while on scene, stated that he woke up, he came outside that morning,
and he noticed some derogatory words that were written into the side and back of his vehicle.
It looked as if somebody had dug into the vehicle and scratched the paint off.
According to the Independent Mail, scratched into the car, along with profanity, were the
words, I hate you, and I'm going to get you.
So it seemed like a reasonable assumption that these two events, the vandalism and his
were carried out by the same person or people.
But whoever that was didn't stop there.
Just days after the murder, Buddha's home was broken into.
The house was completely ransacked, just totally turned upside down.
It was clear that someone had it out for Buddha.
So investigators began compiling a list of people who might have had an axe to grind with him.
And as they talked with Buddha's loved ones and acquaintances, that list of potential
enemies grew to be longer than anyone expected.
You see, there were rumors that Buddha was involved in illegal activity.
He'd never been charged with anything in relation to that alleged criminal activity,
though, so Sergeant Cash didn't want to go into detail about what it was.
But investigators quickly began to piece together a theory that this supposed activity is what
led to his murder.
And the rumors didn't stop there.
Some people told police that Buddha knew that the lifestyle he led was risky.
So supposedly he took precautions.
He didn't go anywhere without two bodyguards with him.
He had people that were meant to protect him at all hours of the day and night.
That whole bodyguard thing wasn't something police were able to prove 100 percent.
But it's what they were being told by those who knew Buddha.
And it left investigators with the question you're probably asking yourself right now.
If these purported bodyguards were supposed to be with Buddha 24-7, where were they the
night he was killed?
When detectives tried to get to the bottom of that, they heard a few different stories.
Allegedly, what happened was that when he got to the incident location that night, he
was supposed to be with his bodyguard who was going to walk him to the door of the residence.
That was his job.
That's what he got paid to do.
Well, that bodyguard wasn't there.
He didn't show up.
He didn't walk him to the door.
We have some witness statements that said that the bodyguard was in the car with him.
But for some reason, he didn't get out of the car and walk him to the door.
Investigators tried to track down the alleged bodyguard who was supposed to be with Buddha
that night.
But they couldn't even get a name for the guy, let alone talk to him.
As investigators were hitting a wall with their investigation, Buddha's loved ones
were mourning their sudden and unexpected loss.
Whatever risky lifestyle he may or may not have lived, his friends and family knew a
different side of him.
They created a memorial page on Facebook for him, which is still up today, and it was flooded
with messages of people sharing memories and talking about how much they missed him.
Despite the army of people longing to see Buddha's killer brought to justice, his case
grew cold, and it stayed virtually motionless for two whole years.
But in October 2015, Buddha's case switched hands, and the new detective wanted to go
through the whole case with a fine-tooth comb.
One of his first moves was revisiting those closest to the case, including Rhonda.
Now, Rhonda's story hadn't changed from what she initially told police, and she even
said that she hadn't heard much as far as rumors go since they last spoke.
But she did have two whole years to sit on this and think, and she had a strong feeling
that all of this was an organized hit job.
She stated that prior to his passing, Buddha had always been accompanied by either one
of those two bodyguards.
Always.
It didn't matter what time of day, week, it didn't matter what it was, he was going
to be with one of them.
She said that she had heard it was specifically one of their terms to escort him home, but
they were not with him.
And I don't know if she means he was never in the car, or if that means he just didn't
walk into the door, but that's what she's saying right now.
The detective spoke with others who were close to the case, and even more rumors surfaced
about Buddha's supposed involvement in other illegal activity, but it was nothing
that could be proven, and nothing that led to any investigative breakthroughs.
Since then, Buddha's case has kind of been stuck in a rut.
But it is far from being forgotten.
Police today are leaning on DNA to help them crack the case.
They still have that miniature samurai sword in their possession, which they're hopeful
they'll eventually be able to get the killer's DNA or fingerprints from.
Sergeant Cash believes that the last time any of the items in this case were tested
was way back in 2016, and the results that they got then weren't exactly what they were
hoping for.
I can tell you the tests that we have run, with some of the evidence we have, did not
yield any kind of significant result to help us with this investigation.
Not yet.
That samurai sword is something I still can't get over.
Like, did the killers bring it along because it was a sharp item that could be used in
the attack, or was it meant to be some kind of symbol?
We asked Sergeant Cash what he thought about it, and he said that as far as he knows, there's
no symbolism or particular significance concerning the sword.
And that's very possible.
Maybe there is nothing more to it, but it is just so weird, and I keep spiraling on
it.
Was it that Buddha didn't want to say who attacked him?
Was that because he thought he would live and didn't want to be labeled as a snitch
for the rest of his life?
Or was he aware that he was on his deathbed and just didn't want his own murder case
to be solved?
Was he trying to protect someone?
Frankly, we may never know the answers to these questions because the answers died with
Buddha that day.
And whoever else might hold the answers has been keeping them close to the vest for a
As far as suspects go today, detectives still haven't zeroed in on one person, or even
a few people.
But they do know one thing for sure.
This was not somebody random.
This was somebody who knew.
For 10 years, whoever stole Buddha's life has gotten away with it.
They've been walking the streets, moving on with their lives, with Buddha's family
left to pick up the pieces.
So please, if you have any information about the May 2013 murder of Clarence Buddha Sullivan,
call the Anderson County Sheriff's Office at 864-260-4435.
The Deck is an AudioChuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis.
To learn more about The Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com.
So what do you think, Chuck?
v1.0.0.260408-1-a910ba6_os