20 Years Ago: The Great Hank Williams Jr. Jewelry Heist

You’ve got to have some kind of courage to sneak into a man’s house and steal an entire 60-pound safe full of some estimated $500,000 in jewelry, especially when that man, his wife, and his kids are sleeping in the house at the time. You’ve got to be even more courageous when the owner of said house is Hank Williams Jr., known for writing and singing such songs as “A Country Boy Can Survive,” and owning more guns than some Canadian provinces.
It was 20 years ago today—January 19th, 2005—that a 22-year-old man by the name of Ryan Daniel Binkley decided to sneak into the 10,000-square-foot country retreat of Hank Jr’s near Paris, Tennessee. If you listen to the lyrics of “A Country Boy Can Survive,” that pretty much describes Hank Jr’s Paris property. It’s is the place where Hank Jr. keeps his Civil War cannon that he shoots off every 4th of July near Kentucky Lake.
In 2005, some new neighbors had moved in down the way, and that included Ryan Daniel Binkley. He might have been dealing with some drug issues at the time, and was looking for a payday. How Binkley knew exactly where the safe was, and how he was able to sneak into the house undetected is uncertain. He might have been invited into the home previously and scoped it out. What we do know is that according to police, there was an alarm system on the property, but it wasn’t armed at the time.
When Hank Jr. and family later determined that the safe was missing, they had no clue, and no leads of where to start looking. It was like it vanished into thin air. It was only a stroke of luck that it was found.
Ryan Binkley was picked up on unrelated drug charges, and thrown in jail. Binkley then told his mother to look in his room where he had lots of jewelry she could sell to pay for a defense lawyer and bail. When the mother started looking through the jewelry and saw a ring from the CMA with Hank Jr.’s name engraved on it, she put two and two together.
The mother didn’t call the police, but she blathered about the matter to a friend who eventually did. “She got throwed between a rock and a hard place,” Sgt. Ron Eaker of the Henry County Sheriff’s Department said about the mother, and why they decided not to charge her. “She was basically scared.”
Binkley was already in the clink, but now he was charged with aggravated burglary and theft of property as well, along with the pending drug charges. His potential at bail was also revoked.
When the press got a hold of Hank Jr.’s long time manager and fellow musician Merle Kilgore, he said it best. “The real miracle is that Hank Jr. didn’t shoot that kid. Hank is an excellent shot and is surrounded by guns.”
As for Hank Jr. himself, when the press put in requests for comment about the incident, they were told he couldn’t be reached. Hank Jr. was out hunting.
January 19, 2025 @ 10:36 am
Thank you for the story!
We need more of those.
January 19, 2025 @ 12:44 pm
wonderful story. thanks mucho.
January 19, 2025 @ 1:36 pm
Druggies murders beware he’s lucky to be alive
January 19, 2025 @ 1:50 pm
Hank jr.rules
January 19, 2025 @ 5:22 pm
If only some methhead would steal Luke Bryan’s collection of skinny jeans. Also 60 pounds is very light for a safe.
January 22, 2025 @ 7:21 am
Tell us you’re a criminal without telling us your a criminal! 60 pounds is a lot of weight for a safe, considering it was basically his jewelry box. Also, why are you looking at Luke Bryan so much that you assume all he wears is skinny jeans. You do know that lots of celebrities have stylists and they stye the celeb for concerts, award shows along with any other kind of public events. What he wears on stage might be total opposite than what’s in his closet. Oh and saying “60 pounds is very light for a safe” is just an odd thing to say, kinda like a backhanded compliment, but like I said considering it was a damn jewelry box seems like it’s pretty good weight and size.
January 23, 2025 @ 12:55 pm
Luke has a cute wife with some serious boobage. Who cares what he wears?
January 19, 2025 @ 5:54 pm
Gotta love ole Hank Jr. And yes if he were up, he would have shot the intruder, and rightfully so. Probably best for all he didn’t. Worked out
January 19, 2025 @ 5:56 pm
A half a million dollars in jewelry in one safe?
(And one that isn’t even bolted down.)
And here I was under the impression that Hank and his wife wear flannel and denim and leather and such and buy guns and maybe other fancy hunting and fishing equipment
Had no idea that bling was his thing.
January 20, 2025 @ 10:36 am
Watch his video of ” Country Boy Can Survive ” He’s wearing alot of it playing his guitar.
January 22, 2025 @ 7:38 am
Here we go again, obviously you don’t know Hank Jr! Also, the article said the ring the thief’s mother found was given to him from an award show. Just google some pics of Hank mid to late 1980s. Hank’s more likely to be in camo gear before flannel and his late wife was a very beautiful lady and what pics I’ve seen she dressed in nice dresses and jewlery. Also what does the jewlery have anything to do with anything your trying to insinuate? Just such an ignorant comment dude.
January 22, 2025 @ 2:45 pm
Making jewelry, belt buckles was or is one of his hobbies.
I think it is the greatest hits 3 album, has some photos of some of his stuff he made/wears.
source: life long Hank Jr. fan, I remember weird things I’ve read about him, dunno why.
January 19, 2025 @ 9:50 pm
Do happy that they got there jewelry back
January 19, 2025 @ 11:03 pm
There’s more to this then we all know. I don’t know anything but it’s obvious there was more. Maybe eventually we’ll know the truth. Sounds like Jr is embarrassed and doesn’t want the public to know
January 19, 2025 @ 11:45 pm
@DC–Hank Jr.’s not a public official or person with responsibility over anyone, so I don’t really feel a need to get to “the truth,” but, just the same, I think you’re probably right.
January 20, 2025 @ 12:00 am
How about that Bocephus, he just come in here to drink whisky and beer and say howdy to you all, what Im saying is Mr Lincoln I wish you were here the republics changed a lot in a hundred years, and the Pressure is on so let’s all get Buck Naked in our birthday suits and end up Whiskey bent and hell bound cuz all my rowdy friends are coming over tonight. We love you Hank.
January 20, 2025 @ 9:43 am
this read like one of those drunken Bocephus soundboard tapes that he had to apologize for on TNN.
January 20, 2025 @ 10:30 am
“The republics [sic] changed a lot in a hundred years”? What is this supposed to mean? Do you know in what year President Lincoln was assassinated? Or are we living in 1965 and I just didn’t notice?
January 20, 2025 @ 3:16 pm
Are you really that oblivious or just not a fan sir? All I’ll say is if you know ….you know….you got that right I lean toward the older ways….and there’s DAMN. FEW BACKWOODS LAWYERS LEFT TODAY…… AMEN
January 20, 2025 @ 4:01 pm
Hey, I live in a tiny backwoods town. We have a lawyer here. So do some of the other backwoods towns in the vicinity of our little burg. None of this changes the fact that Lincoln was killed in April 1865, which even someone with my limited math skills knows was not 100 years ago.
Nothing personal, by the way, in pointing that out, even if with a degree of exasperation . I think we can all agree that this great President wasn’t assassinated at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1965.
January 20, 2025 @ 4:35 pm
Go listen to some Hank Jr. kid. Start with America, the Way I See It. just Don’t give us a reason to come gunning for you….
January 20, 2025 @ 2:26 am
How did he get the safe opened?
January 20, 2025 @ 4:40 pm
Naw, I’ll pass on Hank Jr., of whom I’d had quite enough before you were born, son.
It’s often said that talent skips a generation. The original Hank and his grandson were the talent-carriers of the family.
January 22, 2025 @ 9:34 am
@JC–Hank Jr. is a legend and cultural icon in his own right–a hit albums and singles artist and and concert draw and writer who influenced many country artists that followed him from Travis Tritt to Blake Shelton, etc.. Hank III is a a footnote. Junior has even outlasted him.
It’s scary to think what Hank Jr. might have accomplished if he had talent. lol
January 22, 2025 @ 12:24 pm
Hank Jr. is an object lesson on how far somebody can go with no particular talent except for singing — and running his mouth — on a lowest common denominator scale. It’s a long list, Lucky. Just look, in this contest (there are plenty of others in the history of popular mediocrity), at the overwhelming majority of country hits. No wonder the industry calls them “product.”
Yet you dismiss the third Hank (whatever he’s calling himself these days) for thinking of himself as an artist with a distinctive, creative vision as opposed to some guy who’s out to accumulate a mountain of money for himself and his label, thus Hank Jr.’s ability to satiate his lust for bling. All I want to do is look away, but hey, that’s just me.
I don’t equate big sales with much of anything beyond keeping accountants busy. All of my life I’ve been listening to roots-minded outside-the-mainstream musicians whose considerable gifts had nothing to do with their minimal recognition and income. I think Trigger’s effort to push less known, independent artists is admirable even as I wish he hadn’t brought Hank Jr. into the discussion. SCM is, however, Trigger’s operation to do with as he wishes — he’s been extraordinarily generous to us, his readers — and it’s neither my place nor my desire to quarrel with that.
Those who want to venerate Hank Jr. are free to do so, of course. I just hope you’ll respect the preferences of those who don’t.
January 20, 2025 @ 3:19 am
What about Jordan Lee copous
January 20, 2025 @ 6:50 am
If that young man had been black,Hank WOULD have shot him.(Wonder why?)
January 20, 2025 @ 8:24 am
Seems like a presumptuous statement to make, seeing how according to the police and reports at the time, Hank was sleeping. I think it would be safe to say that it doesn’t matter who it was, if Hank was awake and knew there was an intruder, they would have been shot.
January 20, 2025 @ 8:32 am
You’re too circumspect to say it, but your fantasy Hank is an incorrigible racist. I condemn your fantasy Hank without equivoacation.
January 20, 2025 @ 9:44 am
Maybe because black people tend to be noiser when committing crimes.
January 20, 2025 @ 10:39 am
Idiot user name, idiot opinion.
January 20, 2025 @ 9:19 am
Stupidity has no race, so let’s not go there. Remember for 43 dollars his friend lost his life, and he has a 45.
January 20, 2025 @ 11:01 pm
My favorite Hank Jr, story is how an impersonator showed up at a Shreveport bar and had the crowd fooled, getting plenty of free drinks, etc. A local journalist, alerted to this big story, called manager Merle Kilgore, who said Hank was in Montana.
January 21, 2025 @ 12:47 am
@pf–When you’re a rich star, shouldn’t you be the one buying drinks for common folk, rather than the other way around?
January 22, 2025 @ 6:55 am
You’d think so, but wealthy celebrities often get free drinks, dinners and clothes that normal folks would have to pay for. And normal folks often like to say they bought some celebrity or star athlete a drink. Not my thing, but it happens.