When a friend goes missing, emotions run high. So when the friends of a missing Marshville, North Carolina, man learned that one Tony Lorin Blakeney had found their buddy’s car on his property, they immediately concluded no one could be more qualified in getting to the bottom of things than they.

Ten men arrived at Blakeney’s home. Ten men accused him of some role in their friend’s disappearance and, when Blakeney offered no answers, 10 men beat him to death. Meanwhile, across town, police were arresting the actual culprit.

Authorities say that they have no reason to believe Blakeney had anything to do with the murder of Patrick McClendon. The actual killer, Leonard Lomart Staton, abandoned McClendon’s car on Blakeney’s property, which was directly beside the wooded area in which, he told police, he’d abandoned McClendon’s body. Stanton was charged with kidnapping and murder. The 10 men that attempted to bring justice down upon Tony Blakeney were charged with murder.

» Scott Saxon