"Let me say this, Mr. Myers," Clark said. Walker family murders | Detailed Pedia 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. Equally, Smith prevented Hickock from carrying out a rape at the Clutter Farm, whereas Christine was assaulted before her execution. Mystery Monday: The Walker Family Murders Pandorah's Box It was quiet, which was odd as the family was known to rise early. Along with Richard Hickock, Smith took part in the burglary and multiple murder at the Clutter . Indeed, the Walker family killings are given several pages in In Cold Blood, the author dismissing any connection. He'd met Ella, now 68, on the school bus and proposed to her over the lunch table in high school. The bullet killed him instantly. They found nothing. She had never been able to fully put the case aside. At the time of the murders, the Walkers had been thinking about buying a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air, and this was the same car that Smith and Hickock had stolen back in Kansas, using it during their flight across the country. It did not match the semen at the scene. interactive scene of 1959 walker family murders 15 Tennessee Murders That Will Keep You Up At Night - OnlyInYourState 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. One spring day in 2013, Myers sat alone inside his barbecue restaurant in Lake Placid, where a painting of cowboys wrangling a steer hung on the wall. Boyer interviewed suspects in at least five other states. Cliff and another ranch hand, Don McLeod, headed off to hunt. Arriving at the house when Christine was alone, she wouldnt have suspected their real intention. There have been minor developments in the case in the years since the scent went cold. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Capote had insisted that the pair had an alibi for the time of the killings. 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. And the DNA from Christine's underwear, the report concluded, wasn't theirs. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. McGath understood why Myers needed this. "I put a lot of faith in that," said Ron Albritton, a retired Sarasota detective and distant cousin of Cliff's who oversaw the inquiry through the 1980s and 90s. These polygraph machines were outrageously unreliable and werent administered by experts, but DNA eliminated all suspicion when they tested the semen in 2005 and McLeod didnt match. The culprits were eventually arrested six weeks after the killings in Las Vegas and ultimately executed by hanging on April 14, 1965. Parking his truck outside the Walker family home on the 100,000 acres Palmer Ranch, McLeod will have noticed the darkness emanating from the house. At around 3:30 PM on December 19, 24-year-old Christine pulled into the family farm after running a few errands. There was a bloody and discarded cowboy boot, a cellophane strip from a cigarette wrapper, and a fingerprint on the bathtub faucet. [10], The Sheriff's Office admitted that Hickock and Smith had been considered suspects as far back as 1960. By 2020, the rate was 54% - meaning more cases grow cold. 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. High among them: The killers made infamous in Truman Capote's true crime classic "In Cold Blood.". On November 15, 1959, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock broke into the home of Hetb and Bonnie Clutter in a failed robbery that ended up with the brutal murder. Many justice experts recommend prioritizing cases where an arrest can be made. Jimmie was shot, and Debbie was shot in addition to being drowned in the bathtub. The crime, seemingly without motive, would later be chronicled in Truman Capote's seminal book, In Cold Blood. He'd played his violin - badly, according to the conductor - at a concert in Bradenton. A couple and their four children were systematically hunted down as they vacationed in their cottage near Good Hart in the summer of 1968. Sarasota Sheriff Ross E. Boyer believed he was searching for someone local. 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. Smith, a drifter from Nevada, had been placed in an orphanage at age 13 after his mother, an alcoholic, choked on her vomit. 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. Truman Capotes wildly popular book In Cold Blood was written about the crime, and is considered the first real true crime novel. The house located in Osprey Florida was rent free for the Walkers in exchange for the hard, honest work Cliff did on the large Palmer Ranch. interactive scene of 1959 walker family murders ; Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may . 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. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON . They were arrested in Las Vegas in late December after the inmate who had told them about the safe tipped off police. These 10 Kansas Serial Killers' Stories Will Chill You To The Bone Cliff Walker wanted to trade in the family car for a 1956 Chevrolet, a two-tone . PodcastOne: Best Of - The Walker Family Murders The following year, the mother of three would leave the agency to prioritize family. Afterward, he left the bodies in the house and left the scene. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This was such a young family. "Go ahead, dig her up," Myers told him, for a second time. He had initially believed the family had simply slept in, amused as his friend was also known to be a habitual early riser. Herbert and Bonnie, and their children, Nancy, 16, and Kenyon, 15, died from shotgun blasts to the head. He caught a glimpse of Cliffs wife Christines feet on the floor, toes pointed toward the ceiling. There was no shortage of suspects. interactive scene of 1959 walker family murders The children also stayed behind to watch. 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. He was shot from a considerable distance as he entered his home. Knowing they were seen throughout the state looking for work, investigators have theorized that the duo bumped into the Walker family and got talking or simply contacted them, either way under the pretense that they were planning on selling the vehicle. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. 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. Just days before Christmas 1959, the Walker family was murdered in their small Sarasota County home, a case that became one of Sarasota's most notorious unsolved crimes. Despite this, many still believe that Hickock and Smith are the most likely suspects in the slaying. But depending on what time he went to dinner, its possible that he was unaccounted for during the time of the massacre. He just wanted someone to write it in a report, to confirm it, to put it to rest. It is therefore believed that Smith and Hickock may have gained entry to the Walker home on the pretense of selling their car. 50 Years After 'In Cold Blood,' a New Look at the Clutter Family Murders On December 19, 1959, Christine and Cliff Walker and their two children were murdered at their home in Osprey, Florida. 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 Christmas tragedy that fell on Osprey in 1959 was an unimaginable horror and one that by all rights deserved justice. It was among Florida's oldest unsolved crimes on record, notorious for its brutality, as well as for a pool of suspects that numbered over 600. When Don discovered the bodies of the Walker family, he was heartbroken and terrified. 1959. [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. He passed a polygraph, and even though there is significant controversy over the validity of early tests, in 2006, Elbert was eliminated through DNA. Authorities suspected the pair of murderingthe Walkers as well, but could never secure acharge after Hickock and Smith werecleared by the results of a polygraph test. People gossiped about a fight Cliff had gotten into a few days before the murder. 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. She had no hard feelings, she said, but wished the sheriff's office had allowed her to keep pursuing the men. But the Walker murders had consumed detectives, then spit them out, for half a century. If you nenjoyed this story, please consider purchasing my book: Nordic Noir: 14 Unsolved True Crime Cases available now at Amazon. After six decades, several police agencies had destroyed or misplaced evidence connected to the Walkers. The Walkers' wood frame cottage stood plain and white, surrounded by pasture land and hardwood forest. On December 19th, 1959: The entire Walker Family was shot to death as the suspect left the home, Christine walker was home at the time of the attack to fight off her attackers as police believe that she was raped and shot, her husband; Cliff Walker was also shot as he came home along with their three year old son Jimmie and Debbie, who was two years old was drowned in the family's bathtub. It was cold, but not expressly so, and he was headed to meet his friend and co-worker Cliff Walker to go hog hunting. He said . In 2012, their bodies were exhumed to have DNA extracted to . Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders - IMDb In this photo taken Oct. 19, 2009, the former home of the Herbert Clutter family is seen in Holcomb, Kan. Fifty years ago, the home was the scene of the brutal murder of Clutter, his wife Bonnie . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkZUtJDbwn8. But he told police he had seen the Walkers' neighbor, Wilbur Tooker, at their house at least two dozen times. The waitress reported all of this to the police, but didnt provide a name for the man. 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. Elbert had also previously made advances toward Christine, and family members thought the grief shown was fake, the suspect fainting twice at the funeral.