Daughter of Bledsoe County homicide victim wants to be interviewed by TBI

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The daughter of one of the victims in a 2016 double homicide in Bledsoe County, Tenn., said she's frustrated with the pace of the investigation and believes she might be able to help if someone would talk to her.

Allison Panter is one of the late Robbin Martin's three children. On July 4 or 5, 2016, Martin was killed along with 41-year-old James Henry Songer at the couple's home on Brock Hollow Road in the south end of the county.

Martin was shot "multiple times" and was found inside the home, while Songer was shot once in the chest and found outside. Songer is survived by two children, according to obituary information on Pikeville Funeral Home's website.

Authorities said early on that they had a "person of interest" in the case, but there have been no suspects named or charges leveled since.

Panter, 34, said this week those details are the only official information she has received from state or local investigators in the last nine months. She said no one has been willing to talk with her about her mother's death or information she believes she has that could help the case.

TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said in an emailed response on Thursday that the case was "very active and ongoing" but that "we aren't able to discuss specifics related to potential subjects or persons of interest."

Niland said investigators try to limit the number of people, even relatives, who are privy to case details because "it could impact the integrity of the investigation and affect the outcome of the case."

Details investigators have released so far are more specific to when and where the couple was last seen.

Martin and Songer were last seen alive while attending a July Fourth celebration in Dunlap, Tenn., in neighboring Sequatchie County, according to authorities. Their bodies were found around 6 p.m. CDT the next day.

The couple's home is 5 or 6 miles from the Bledsoe-Sequatchie county line near the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. The area has a few homes scattered across a patchwork of pastures and woods.

Niland said it's unlikely the TBI will provide much more information on the case until an arrest is made.

"But at this very critical stage in an investigation, we need to keep certain details close so as not to adversely affect the eventual prosecution of the individuals charged," she said.

Twelfth Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor said Thursday he would see that the TBI agent gets in touch with Panter to discuss what they could about her mother's death and find out what information she has that may be pertinent to the investigation.

Taylor said he'd been given no new recent information but he hoped to at least address Panter's concerns as much as he could. Aside from that, Taylor could only say the probe continues.

Panter said Thursday on her way to work that she was glad to hear she would get to talk to someone.

"It's heartbreaking," she said. "To them, maybe she wasn't nobody. But to me, she was my mom."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND or 1-800-824-3463.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

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