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Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders: With Beth Tedrow, Larry Welch, Kevin Bascue, Gwyneth Frack. Could the two men behind the infamous Clutter family murders have killed the Walkers as well? His femur turned up another unknown female profile. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Don McLeod got up at 5:30am on December 20th, 1959 in Osprey, Florida and headed over to his friend Cliff Walkers place so they could go out together to hunt wild hogs. This didnt alarm Christine, and logically, the occupant of that car was then known to her, letting them in before being attacked. Months later in 2013, McGath was at her desk in Sarasota reading a report on the DNA from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. One assumption is that he was already waiting for her when she got there and that he was the one who was parked in her usual spot. Described as wild, he was violent and boisterous when drunk, many believing him to be mentally unwell. He cried as he told his story. Myers could not imagine it being anyone else either. Neither of their children ever got an opportunity to go to school or play on a sports team, or kiss a person they loved. 1. Wilbur Tooker, a neighbor of the Walkers, was thought to have an obsession with her. Clark said he still hoped to get Christine's DNA, to clear up longstanding confusion. While the killers were still at large, legendary writer Truman Capote learned of the killings and decided to write about the slaughter, traveling to Kansas alongside childhood friend Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mocking Bird. The files tell the story of a murder mystery that changed a community and continues today. Lucy wasnt one to eavesdrop, so all she remembered from hearing one side of her friend's conversation was that at one point they were talking about exchanging their current car. In mid-September, Myers clenched his jaw as he lifted his wife with a gait belt, transferring her from wheelchair to recliner at their modest home. The 1959 murder of Herbert Clutter and his wife and kids in Holcomb, Kansas by Perry Smith and Richard Hickock was, by itself, rather unextraordinary. He was referring to the Walkers' three hound dogs in the yard - just another stray detail he picked at, worried over. Not long afterward, Cliff also returned home with Jimmie and Debbie. The notorious "Bloody Benders" were a German immigrant family who owned both a general store and small inn in the early 1870s in Labette County . He kept making unwanted advances, and eventually Christine told her husband about her fear. On December 19th, 1959, an entire family was found brutally murdered in Florida. The house was dark as McLeod approached, but as he got closer, he saw a light flickering through the window. Even the worst fears of his imagination couldnt have prepared him for the carnage that greeted him. Cliff and Jimmie were slumped in the corner, and upstairs, Debbie lay in a blood-filled bath. The details of their travels came out after their eventual capture in Las Vegas on Dec. 30, 1959, during interviews with investigators and other law enforcement. The best chance to solve a decades-old quadruple murder in Florida ended Tuesday when sheriff's deputies said they could not link DNA to the two killers profiled in the book "In Cold Blood." The . "You get an arrest occasionally. What does society owe, say, the family of Cliff and Christine Walker? As it turned out, the tests exposed contamination at the lab. There was no shortage of suspects. Emmett Monroe Spencer was a multi-murderer who was captured some time after the Walker massacre. Having McLeod take a few polygraphs was the extent of officials investigation of him in the fifties and sixties. But I dont know. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. I dont know if anyone ever collected or tested his DNA. Police hope genealogy sites will help solve more cold cases, Colombia wants to deport "cocaine hippos" to stop them from multiplying, Alex Murdaugh found guilty of murders of wife and son, How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh, killers made infamous in Truman Capote's true crime classic "In Cold Blood. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This might have been how the two men gained access to the Walker home: on the pretense of selling their car. I dont know if these were only rumors or how thoroughly they were investigated. The culprits were eventually arrested six weeks after the killings in Las Vegas and ultimately executed by hanging on April 14, 1965. Working at the scene, police began to search the home for evidence and soon discovered that items were missing; some of them seem quite bizarre. Please enter valid email address to continue. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. "The morning of the murders all bus drivers were told to avoid that street due to the caution tape scene. Could they be from Christine's heel? Hickock and Smith slaughtered the Clutter family on November 15, 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas, about 34 days before the Walker family homicide. Smith and Hickock took cash at the first crime scene and two easy to carry and simple to pawn items in a radio and binoculars. interactive scene of 1959 walker family murders. Cliff Walker wanted to trade in the family car for a 1956 Chevrolet, a two-tone . [7] Spencer's confession was "determined to be cleverly constructed from real murders written up in newspapers and true-crime novels that he liked to read. The pair shot and killed Herbert Clutter, his wife Bonnie, and two of their children in . Chilling crime scene photos within the book. However, like all states, we have seen our fair share of bad folks, including these 10 infamous Kansas serial killers and homicides that won't soon be forgotten. His sister's murder was never far from his mind. At the same time, DNA analysis has become more exact, especially in the past two decades, with testing that once required a million cells now potentially able to identify someone with a single cell, said DNA expert Greg Hampikian, director of the Idaho Innocence Project and a biology professor at Boise State University. They are also the main suspects for the massacre of the Walker family in Florida a month after the Clutter murders. Cliff was shot in the face immediately, followed by Jimmie, the young boy eating a lollipop hed been bought as a treat. There came a point that his older sister, Novella, couldn't handle going anymore. The relief the 82-year-old felt had come through on the phone. A boat crashes at a bridge near Parris Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, on February 24, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach, according to the South Carolina Attorney General in documents . And in Kansas, authorities had been focused on the Clutters, an agency spokeswoman said, and they have no evidence that officers interrogated the killers about the Walkers. Clues found during the investigation included a bloody cowboy boot and a fingerprint on the handle of the bathtub faucet. No child had been spared. They werent valuable items: Cliffs pocket knife, his cigarettes, and most strangely, Christines beloved drum majorette uniform she was saving in a chest so her daughter Debbie could wear it one day. "[8] In 1994, a bartender in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania contacted the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office, claiming that one of her customers had boasted of killing the Walker family; this tip was never verified.[9]. It's important to keep that in perspective.". interactive scene of 1959 walker family murders. That had never been clear, McGath replied. [3][4] News stories noted there were gifts around the Christmas tree. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. Out of ammunition, the killer took the baby to the bathroom and drowned her in the bathtub. 1959 murder case. Another is that it might have been someone she knew and voluntarily let in. [13] Said relative was later proven innocent through DNA testing.[14]. No one had documented the wrapping paper, and the minister was long dead. It seems almost sure that there was more than one attacker, with forensic evidence discovering a dark-colored hair in the bathroom and a long blonde hair inside Christine Walkers dress. The second one didnt miss. [6] The case remains open. Christine asked Lucy if she could use their telephone. "[5] The pair was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 30, 1959, for the Clutter murders, and were executed by hanging on April 14, 1965. This was such a young family. Myers, 71, had pleaded for answers most of his life, sometimes dropping into the sheriff's office when the phone fell quiet. The infamous killers hanged for the murders of a Kansas family may have also been responsible for the deaths of another family in Florida. A day after they were sentenced to death, Hickock and Smith answered questions about the Florida murders while strapped to a mid-century lie detector test. The pair got away with a radio, a set of binoculars, and less than $50. He said . After killing the Clutter family, Hickock and Smith fled to Florida in a stolen car, where they bought items from a department store in Sarasota, just a few miles away from the Walker home, on the very day that the Walkers were killed. Ozie Youmans, who was married to Cliffs sister, made unwanted advances toward Christine on multiple occasions. As late as the 1990s, police got a tip from a woman that an elderly gentleman she served at a bar had confessed to her about committing the murders. It is strange to think about this being almost a blessing, but it did keep him from seeing what happened to his wife and children. It sounds like his night could have been too busy to carry out the crimes. Perry Smith, left, and Richard Hickock were arrested in Las Vegas in connection with the November 15, 1959, murders of four members of the Clutter family in rural Kansas. In all, hundreds of suspects were interviewed and given polygraphs. Now . Before she left the agency, McGath said, her supervisors declined her requests to do more genetic testing of the stain. A woman came to police claiming that Butch had confessed to her about murdering the family, and also tried to hide bloody clothing in her presence. And he did move extraordinarily quickly. (Wayback archive copy)", "Walker Slaying Confession Discredited by Sheriff", "The murderous journey from lies to prison and redemption", "Cold case: Stroudsburg bartender may hold key to unsolved Florida murders", "Walker investigation shows parts of 'In Cold Blood' don't add up (Wayback archive copy)", "DNA From 'In Cold Blood' Killers Could Solve 1959 Florida Cold Case", "No DNA link between Walker murders, 'In Cold Blood' killers", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walker_family_murders&oldid=1138389492, December 1959 events in the United States, Unsolved mass murders in the United States, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 12:07. The leads went nowhere, and the case was soon going cold until police believed they had a break in 1962 when serial killer Emmett Monroe Spencer claimed responsibility. They had decided to unearth Christine from her grave in the next month. This story is based on more than 8,000 pages of records, most from the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, but also the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and archives of the Sarasota Journal, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times. "However," the release said, "DNA testing seems unlikely to provide conclusive evidence one way or the other.". As the sun set shortly after 5 p.m. on December 30, 1959, a driver stopped a 1956 Chevrolet . DNA has failed to connect two men featured in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood to the 1959 murders of a family of four in Osprey, but relatives still think all the evidence points to notorious killers. He was seeking permission to exhume her from her grave. interactive scene of 1959 walker family murders. The list goes on. Sixteen stents kept his heart pumping, another five expanded veins in his legs. COLD BLOODED: THE CLUTTER FAMILY MURDERS is a docuseries that focuses on the crime that shocked the nation - the 1959 brutal murder of four members of the Clutter family. But national clearance rates have sunk. Working at the scene, police began to search the home for evidence and soon discovered that items were missing; some of them seem quite bizarre. Larry Hendricks wipes his eyes as he recounts finding the bodies of four members of the Clutter family that were murdered in Holcomb, Kan., in 1959. The bodies were exhumed on December 18, 2012, but it wasnt until August of 2013 that results were officially announced. Murderpedia. It seemed to authorities for years that he would never be ruled out, but when technology changed, he was happy to provide a sample of DNA. The murder is of particular note because it potentially involved the suspects of the murders that inspired the creative non-fiction novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Blood evidence suggests that he wasnt killed by the first bullet and that the assailant continued to shoot at him while he crawled over to be next to his fathers body. However, the best suspect at the time was possibly Curtis McCall, a man described as a troublemaker with a history of violence. Each new detective who came along just couldn't get to the last piece of the puzzle. After calling out and making further attempts to ascertain the problem, Daniel looked further around the property. McCall underwent three separate polygraph tests, and during each one, the suspect was so nervous that they all ended inconclusively. Tire tracks from the mystery car were likely gone now that there was a police vehicle parked in its place. The actual cause of death is unknown, and she could have been shot in the bathtub. Over the next six weeks, Hickock and Smith traveled about 10,000 miles, from Kansas and California to Mexico and Florida. Yet, the test showed that he was highly likely lying when asked if hed withheld information. On December 20th, 1959 Don McLeod, a coworker and friend of Cliff Walker, arrived at the Walker home at sunrise to pick up Cliff for hog hunting trip they had planned. Admit killing one family but not the other. Brandon Clark done, since they'd met a year and a half earlier, to solve the murder of his sister? The detective picked up almost immediately, and Myers told him he wanted an update. The bullet only brushed against the side of her skull; she died of a gunshot wound to the chest, though it is unknown if the shot came during the original struggle or some time afterward. The Bender Family. He had initially believed the family had simply slept in, amused as his friend was also known to be a habitual early riser. Herbert Clutter, 48, his wife, Bonnie, 45, their daughter, Nancy Mae, 16 and son Kenyon, 15, were bound hand and foot and gagged. In December of 2012, it was announced that Smith and Hickocks bodies would be exhumed to match their DNA to semen samples taken from Christine back in 1959. All rights reserved. A ranch worker for the Palmer Ranch, McLeod started his morning by getting ready, and then travelling to the home of his coworker Cliff Walker. The detective persuaded officials to dig up the bodies last December in Kansas, where Smith and Hickock murdered the Clutter family in 1959 one month before the Walker slaying and were . Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are notorious as the perpetrators of one of the most grisly mass murders of the 20th century: the slaying of four members of the Clutter Family in Kansas in 1959. Christine, his half-sister, was dead - beaten, raped and shot with two different handguns. The Christmas tragedy that fell on Osprey in 1959 was an unimaginable horror and one that by all rights deserved justice. It is therefore believed that Smith and Hickock may have gained entry to the Walker home on the pretense of selling their car. I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. Peering through the windows, there was a very dim light on inside. McGath's recommendations at this time.". At some point that day, Smith and Hickock bought items at a Sarasota department store, just a few miles from the Walker home. At another, the cowboy test drove a Hudson Jet. They were robbed of all the things we bring children into this world to experience, and thats devastating. Forty-seven years after Perry Smith and Richard Hickock were hanged for murdering a Kansas familythe crime profiled in Truman Capote's historic book, "In Cold Blood"they are under . Christine drove home first that afternoon. A lieutenant told him that Clark had presented the plan to the sheriff. Robbery was ruled out pretty quickly, though some things were taken from the house. Herbert and Bonnie, and their children, Nancy, 16, and Kenyon, 15, died from shotgun blasts to the head. Christine had a lot of admirers. The husband was stabbed, while the wife was raped and shot. Smith's tooth returned a female DNA profile - that of the examiner who analyzed the bones. A Miami Beach detective discovered that the day before the murders, the pair had checked in at a motel there, paying $18 for a week's stay. My bus unfortunately had no choice but to go on that street.