On December 19, 1959, Christine and Cliff Walker and their two children were murdered at their home in Osprey, Florida. All Rights Reserved. "Go ahead, dig her up," Myers told him, for a second time. Baby Debbie, they found in the bathtub, facedown in 4 inches of water, also shot in the head. These days McGath, 52, works with rescue horses and writes books. The bodies were exhumed on December 18, 2012, but it wasnt until August of 2013 that results were officially announced. Tooker died in the mid-sixties, and I dont believe theyve tried to salvage DNA from his long-buried remains. June 30, 2022 . Considering how far away the Walkers lived, and the fact that Christine stopped to put air in the tires, its likely she would have arrived home around 4. After killing four members of the Clutter family in Kansas, 34 days before the Walker murders, Smith and Hickock fled to Florida in a stolen car, and were spotted at least a dozen times between Tallahassee and Miami. Now, this case remains officially unsolved and will likely stay that way forever. The husband was stabbed, while the wife was raped and shot. Some fingerprints and shoe prints were found on the property, but even more contamination was revealed when one of the boot prints was proven to have come from a county-issued sheriffs deputy boot. Officers found, beneath the car seat, a toddler shirt and a pink jacket that could have matched Christine's dress, as well as an Army gas can and burlap bags that could have come from Cliff's military-style Jeep. Indeed, the Walker family killings are given several pages in In Cold Blood, the author dismissing any connection. It was hard to imagine, McGath often told Myers, in their sometimes meandering phone calls, that anyone wouldn't classify the men as suspects. The actual cause of death is unknown, and she could have been shot in the bathtub. . A while later, Cliff and the children were invited to stay at the McLeods for dinner, but he declined, wanting to get home to his wife. (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. Now, Clark was telling Myers, as he had several times before, that his suspicions lay elsewhere. Capt. But Jimmie didnt die. Sarasota Sheriff Ross E. Boyer believed he was searching for someone local. A similar circular print had been found in blood near Christine's body and at the Kansas scene. "[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. Join Mike and Gibby for this 'Best Of' episode as they discuss the facts of the murders and walk through the various suspects. In December of 2012, the Sarasota County Sheriffs Department requested a court order to exhume the bodies of Hickock and Smith, in order to run DNA tests in an attempt to connect them to the Walker family murders. So, if youre looking for a publication that will keep you up at night, True Crime Detective is the perfect choice! It would be arguably the most significant true-crime work of all time, In Cold Blood. 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. Myers wondered how much longer he would be able to make the three-hour drive to Sarasota. The Christmas tragedy that fell on Osprey in 1959 was an unimaginable horror and one that by all rights deserved justice. It doesnt seem like thats what happened to me. "Let me say this, Mr. Myers," Clark said. The culprits were eventually arrested six weeks after the killings in Las Vegas and ultimately executed by hanging on April 14, 1965. In every direction McGath turned, she was met with blunders and blurred results, common problems in cold cases. For all of the agency's early efforts, even obsession, investigators left stones unturned, resulting in dozens of men in the tiny Sarasota County town living under the frost of suspicion, many until their deaths. 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 . The Walker investigation was yet another of America's quarter-million unsolved homicides - a mounting crisis in the minds of justice experts - and a case study into how thousands of hours, tens of thousands of dollars, exhumed bodies, DNA tests, fingerprints and bullets can fail to add up to answers. Hickocks former cellmate had worked for the Clutters, telling him that the father, Herb Clutter, kept a large amount of cash on the premises. 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. Brandon Clark. I can be contacted for projects through my website MichaelEastWriter.com where youll also find lots more content. However, for one Florida family, the Christmas season became a nightmare.. The Walkers' wood frame cottage stood plain and white, surrounded by pasture land and hardwood forest. The next morning, McLeod dropped by to go hog hunting with Cliff. Cliff had threatened to kill him but he had a watertight alibi for the time of the murders. I am a freelance long-form writer who writes on true crime, politics, history and more. Recently, she'd told Myers she'd found a picture of Hickock with two small marks on his chin. But he decided he would wait until something actually happened. According to the sheriffs department, the Walkers had been considering buying a car of the exact make and model that Hickock and Smith had stolen. When officers arrived, Herb Clutter, 48, lay sprawled on a mattress in the basement, stabbed, his throat slashed and a shotgun charge fired to his head. They'd found blood spattering the heels of Christine's suede pumps, surmising she'd used them as weapons. Cliff and the kids followed a half hour later in his work Jeep. Another is that it might have been someone she knew and voluntarily let in. To have a theory was one thing; to have proof was another. He told Myers, if he could get the OK, he was still after a true copy of Christine's DNA. Yet, Spencer was a known pathological liar, and his claims were soon dismissed as a false confession by Sarasota County Sheriff Ross Boyer. Christine had grown up in one of those households. He said what was thought to be sperm was more likely Christine's blood or skin cells. By Leonora Lapeter Anton, Tampa Bay Times, February 6, 2023 / 12:00 PM Scientists managed to capture partial DNA for both of the men, however. Richard Luscombe in Miami. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement serology supervisor confirmed the news to McGath and apologized. It was time to give Clark, the Sarasota detective, another nudge. The year afterward, Capote published the book. The bullet killed him instantly. After lunch, they went to the McLeods. We saw the caution tape scene. 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 . The year before, she had convinced a judge in Kansas to exhume the remains of Hickock and Smith to see if their DNA matched an unknown profile in Christine's underwear. But Myers observed that letting the case languish, passing it from one detective to another and failing to exhume Christine 15 years ago to obtain her DNA, as he and his sister had asked, had cost the agency more money and delayed the results. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab had pulled partial DNA from the men's femurs and teeth. With Hickock and Smith long dead and now reburied, though, its likely their connection to the Walker murders will remain strictly hypothetical. The first person worth talking about is Don McLeod, the man who found the bodies. 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. Don McLeod got up at 5:30am on December 20th, 1959 in Osprey, Florida and headed over to his friend Cliff Walker's place so they could go out together to hunt wild hogs. He'd opened the place after two decades in the orange groves. 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. 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. 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 town is small, comprising just a few thousand people, and residents enjoyed the relative peace that comes alongside that. The entire Walker family was dead, all murdered, including the children. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, White supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes kicked out of CPAC, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Biden team readies new advisory panel ahead of expected reelection bid, At least 10 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, House Democrats unhappy with White House handling of D.C.'s new criminal code. What does society owe, say, the family of Cliff and Christine Walker? | https://linktr.ee/MichaelEast. They were in the area at the time and had already committed one atrocity. Keep in mind that over 500 suspects have been questioned since 1959. On June 7, 2021, agents with the South . Butch Dennison was also a popular suspect among armchair detectives. There have been minor developments in the case in the years since the scent went cold. Smith stopped Hickock from raping a young woman in the Clutter attack. The infamous killers hanged for the murders of a Kansas family may have also been responsible for the deaths of another family in Florida. The public looked at Smith and Hickock as serious suspects for the Walker case, and their whereabouts at the time suggest that their involvement isnt impossible. So when he called one day in late August 2022, she responded. At one lot, Cliff, 24, who spent most of his time atop an Appaloosa horse, considered a two-tone 1956 Chevrolet 210. [6], In December 2012, Sarasota County investigators announced they were seeking an order to exhume Smith's and Hickock's bodies from Mount Muncie Cemetery, in the hopes that mitochondrial DNA extracted from their bones could be matched to semen found at the Walker home. His hands were bound and his mouth was taped shut. Some suspect Stanley Mauck, the man who read the meters for the Walker residence, as he was the same meter reader who serviced the home of another recently murdered family. / AP. For example, in 1994, a woman called the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office and claimed to be a bartender in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Upon release, the pair met up and slipped into the Clutter farmhouse outside Holcomb late on the evening of Nov. 15, 1959 - about five weeks before the Walkers would be killed. The long-unsolved Walker murders bore surface similarities to the . Christine lay barefoot, bruised and bloody, her pink flowered dress pulled up, her slips and petticoats in a muddle. Cliff was ambushed and killed by gunshot. On the Walkers' final day, they headed a dozen miles north for used car lots in bustling Sarasota. Entering, she wasnt attacked straight away and had enough time to store the groceries before she was ambushed by the assailant or assailants. Life in Ina was simple. They were seen a dozen times on the way. Giasone wasn't sure why previous leaders didn't pursue additional testing 10 years ago. Capote was obsessed with the case of the . 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. He discovered the grisly scene. 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 morning of the murders all bus drivers were told to avoid that street due to the caution tape scene. After the slaughter at the Clutter family farm, the duo had stolen a car and began to make their way to Florida, headed for Miami. However, based on the personal items that were stolen, Katherine Ramsland, of the University of Pennsylvania, finds Smith and Hickock unlikely and instead suspects that the killer knew at least one member of the Walker family. This case has possible ties to the famous Clutter family murder that occurred in Kansas . And the DNA from Christine's underwear, the report concluded, wasn't theirs. Boyer's conviction about a local killer influenced the probe for decades. The Clutter murders were the topic of Truman Capote's 1965 best-selling true crime book In Cold Blood. The same day, they were positively identified at a department store just a few miles away. Jan 29, 2012. Cliff Walker wanted to trade in the family car for a 1956 Chevrolet, a two-tone . Instead, it was parked a cars width to one side, possibly indicating that another car was parked in her usual spot when she arrived. The notes for the planned book ran to 8,000 pages. Chilling crime scene photos within the book. He said the agency remains committed, however long it takes. The Walker family of Osprey, Florida, included father Cliff (25 years old), mother Christine (24 years old), a son named Jimmie (three years old), and a daughter named Debbie (two . Now Myers related to McGath what he'd heard from Clark: Though not a conclusive match, Tooker could not be discounted. That motive has to be discounted in the Walker family case. They were robbed of all the things we bring children into this world to experience, and thats devastating. 1. In February of 2018, DNA testing found that Smith did not provide the semen at the Walker crime scene. On November 15, 1959, Richard Hickock, 28, and Perry Smith, 31, slipped through an unlocked door into Herb and Bonnie Clutter's house and cut the phone lines. All had been shot in the head. Only partial DNA could be retrieved, possibly due to degradations of the DNA samples over the decades or contamination in storage, making the outcome one of uncertainty (neither proving nor disproving the involvement of Smith and Hickock). Now, Myers asked her, "What I don't get is, how did they get in the house with the dogs sitting there?" He'd had an alibi for most of the evening, she explained. Myers asked, five rows of wrinkles amassing above his large blue eyes. 2023 www.heraldtribune.com. On Nov. 15, 1959, the Clutter family home was the scene of an unforgettable tragedy. 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. With a little investigation, however, it was determined that so much information had been leaked to the media that any civilian could have that kind of knowledge of the crime. He had initially believed the family had simply slept in, amused as his friend was also known to be a habitual early riser. After committing the "In Cold Blood" murder of Herbert Clutter, his wife and two children on Nov. 15, 1959, Smith and Hickock hit the road, hiding out from law enforcement in Mexico and Florida . With the DNA testing in shambles, McGath turned to boot prints. Due to the passage of time, only partial samples could be retrieved from the bodies, and these could not be matched to samples taken from the Walker home. But you need dedicated detectives primarily working on cold cases, and across the country in law enforcement, we're not seeing that.". Its theorized that the outlaws were interested in dumping the car they were currently using, and when they learned the Walkers were in the market, proposed an exchange. Myers could not imagine it being anyone else either. Two suspects. That had never been clear, McGath replied. He used to live there. Joe Giasone, a 30-year veteran of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, said the agency has 32 cold cases, ranging from the 1959 Walker murders up to a 2019 missing boater. Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. 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 . 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. Christines high school majorette uniform was gone, as was Cliffs pocketknife. One witness said that the taller of the two men "had a scratched-up face. Wilbur Tooker, a neighbor of the Walkers, was thought to have an obsession with her. Ozie Youmans, who was married to Cliffs sister, made unwanted advances toward Christine on multiple occasions. This article was originally published in the Tampa Bay Times. Christine, 24, bubbly and spirited, hung back with McLeod's wife. Kimberly McGath in 2013 and last summer. The Herald-Tribune gained unprecedented access to investigators' files, which span more than four decades. On the night of the murders, at least seven men had been fishing at a nearby creek. The discovery was interesting as it would be unlikely that a stranger to the area would know the shed. Police are said to have investigated Butchs father, but never even spoke to Butch. McLeod hastily ran from the house and called the police. Elbert, on the other hand, would be on the police radar for some time. Hickock and Smith slaughtered the Clutter family on November 15, 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas, about 34 days before the Walker family homicide. The assailant covered little Debbies face with Jimmies hat and shot her in the head, failing to kill her. Now her strokes had robbed her of articulation. The day before, the Walker family had driven into nearby Sarasota to run errands. Tire tracks from the mystery car were likely gone now that there was a police vehicle parked in its place. Detectives had told the public to look out for suspects with cuts. 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. Unfortunately, the sheriff noticed when he walked in that several things had been done to contaminate the crime scene. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. Courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal Archive. In a recent interview, retired Sarasota Lt. Dario Valente recalled speaking with one of Boyer's chief investigators, who told him that while one of the Kansas killers denied the Walker murders, another confessed. The Herald Tribune reports investigators are probing the possibility that the killers, who were the inspiration for Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," brutally murdered the Walker family of Osprey, Fla. in 1959. Safe house. [Via: Wikipedia; NY Daily News; Tampa Bay Times;Daily Mail], Featured Photo of The Walkers: What Lies Beyond. But science has ruled him out. Myers felt like he was ricocheting between theories, like a pinball. No one had documented the wrapping paper, and the minister was long dead. Sarasota Police sent out county deputies to investigate. The Walkers were looking for a car. The case is unsolved as of February 2023. He said . Read on to learn about the Walker Family Murders, who were found brutally murdered in their home on December 20, 1959. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. [10], The Sheriff's Office admitted that Hickock and Smith had been considered suspects as far back as 1960. 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. The name "Dardeen" resonates with the residents of Ina, Southern Illinois, who think back to a gruesome quadruple murder that took place in their sleepy hamlet in the late 1980s. This didnt alarm Christine, and logically, the occupant of that car was then known to her, letting them in before being attacked. A family of four was killed in Florida five weeks after the murder of the Kansas family featured in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood.More than six decades later, a brother fights for answers. And he did move extraordinarily quickly. This could have been because he was curious or concerned about the other car, but he cant have been too worried, as he left his loaded shotgun in the back of the jeep. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Capote personally thought it was unlikely that the two were responsible for the Walker murders. Here are 10 revelations from the series: 1. In all, hundreds of suspects were interviewed and given polygraphs. Robbery was ruled out pretty quickly, though some things were taken from the house. The relief the 82-year-old felt had come through on the phone. You can join my mailing list for the latest articles and also like my Facebook page. So, with that being said, I lean toward Stanley Mauck, the meter-reader. In 1959, the Walker family was getting ready to spend their second Christmas together as a family of four. Homicide detectives often are told to work on older cases when they have time. Over the past decade, though, the Walker family murders have taken on another chilling dimension, as the prime suspects are, at present, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Im also active on Twitter. You Are Here: unblocked sticky ninja east london walking tour self guided interactive scene of 1959 walker family murders. This was a very odd thing to do. She had no hard feelings, she said, but wished the sheriff's office had allowed her to keep pursuing the men. Please enter valid email address to continue. Rare photos show the "In Cold Blood" house in Holcomb, Kan., where the Clutter family was murdered was opened to the public in 2006 when the property was put up for sale. After six decades, several police agencies had destroyed or misplaced evidence connected to the Walkers. "Do you realize, in December, it's going to be 64 years?". Or maybe it was a home invasion that, for a second time, ended in slaughter. However, the Clutter family killing resulted from false information, with the home deliberately targeted in the belief it contained significant cash. He told the Sarasota Journal at least four people said they had seen the men, including a saleswoman at W.T. I dont know if these were only rumors or how thoroughly they were investigated. However, its possible that the police already had the killers in custody. Love triangles can certainly make people do crazy things, but killing small children? Both killings involved a home invasion, and both involved the occupants being executed with a firearm. Nov 14, 2022 at 9:00 am. He ran from the house and jumped into the jeep, as his own truck had a trailer attached and he needed to get to a telephone as fast as possible. [3][4] News stories noted there were gifts around the Christmas tree. A neighbor had observed him in the area the afternoon of the murders. The Clutter murders and subsequent investigation were documented in Truman Capote's true crime novel, In Cold Blood. Perry Smith, 31, and Richard Hickock, 28, met as petty thieves serving time at the Kansas State Penitentiary. Smith stopped his friend from raping Nancy first but was likely responsible for pulling the trigger on all four killings. But the Walker murders had consumed detectives, then spit them out, for half a century. Hickock and Smith confessed to the murders of the Clutter family, for which they were hanged in April of 1965. It was only days before Christmas, and the Walker family had already begun to put a few presents around the tree in anticipation of Christmas morning. The agency issued a press release, noting Hickock and Smith were the most likely suspects. They are also the main suspects for the massacre of the Walker family in Florida a month after the Clutter murders. In a 2020 email, a spokesperson responded to a question about whether the agency was seeking boot testing this way: "We are not pursuing any of Det. I dont know if anyone ever collected or tested his DNA.

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