What happened to Earl and Terry Robertson? Details explored ahead of Homicide for Holidays on Oxygen

The day of November 25, 1997, brought the town of Rock Hill to a standstill as the double murders of Earl and Terry Robertson shook the neighborhood. The Homicide for the Holidays episode on Oxygen depicts the cold-blooded murders of two parents at the hands of their son, James Jimmy Roberston, over wealth and drug abuse.

Earl Robertson was found beaten dead with his brains splattered next to him while his wife, Terry Robertson, lay next to her bed with her neck slit, her body covered in stab wounds and a bludgeoned head.

The synopsis for the first episode of the second season of Homicide for the Holidays reads:

"Earl and Terry Robertson are found brutally murdered in their home just before Thanksgiving. It it investigated whether this is a holiday robbery gone terribly wrong, or a crime committed by someone the couple knew and trusted."

The episode, titled Thanks-Killing, re-airs on November 23, 2023, at 8 pm EST on Oxygen.

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Earl and Terry Robertson's son killed them in a fit of rage

Earl and Terry Robertson lived a quiet life in their home on Westminster Drive, in Rock Hill, a small town in South Carolina.

Earl Robertson was a successful man with an engineering degree and 27 years of experience as a top-level executive at Springs Industries. On the other hand, Terry was also a working professional with an office job.

The Robertsons had two sons, James D. Robertson (Jimmy) and Earl L. Robertson Jr. (Chip), and were church-going people in the neighborhood.

A dated wedding picture of Earl and Terry Robertson (Image via FindAGrave)

James Robertson had moved in with his parents after he was expelled from the prestigious Atlanta Georgia Institute of Technology. He had been enrolled on the engineering program, making use of his math skills, following the footsteps of his father.

What happened to Earl and Terry Robertson?

Two days prior to Thanksgiving 1997, Terry Robertson failed to show up to work, which bothered her colleague as she missed attending an important meeting.

Terry's co-worker, Debbie Brisson, decided to drop by their Rock Hill house on November 25, 1997, but was taken aback when she became the first one to discover their dead bodies.

A still of Earl Robertson (Image via Robertson family)

Earl Robertson's body lay almost naked on the second floor of the house while Terry was found dead next to her bed. The nature of the crimes was not only shocking but gory, to say the least.

The detectives entered the home to blood splattered all over the walls and up to the ceilings while Earl's brain matter lay oozing out of his skull. Their eldest son, James Robertson, had killed both the Robertsons in a fit of rage and under the influence of Ritalin.

James, better known as Jimmy, had recently moved in with his parents following his expulsion from university and had taken up odd jobs in and around South Carolina as his parents cut him off financially.

Unable to continue his addiction, James conspired with his then-girlfriend, to have his parents killed in the early hours of November 25, 1997.

A still of Terry Robertson (Image via Robertson family)

While James left deep flesh bruises on Earl's body with a baseball bat, he hammered his head with the claw end to an extent that broke his skull.

Terry's body was left with multiple slashes, stabs, and bruises over her face, arms, neck, and back. Her skull was bludgeoned with a hammer as well.

One particular slash measured from her wrist to her elbow. The attack was made with force and depth that exposed her arm bone and separated the blade from the knife.

James Robertson has been accused of multiple minor crimes aside from the fact that he killed his cell-mate, a s*xual predator, Frank Hart, in prison.

He is presently awaiting his execution as he lives the death sentence that he has appealed multiple times now.