To try to locate new witnesses, investigators posted a message on the police departments Facebook page. She eventually was promoted to the homicide division and focused on active cases. He always got the same answer: Sorry, nothing new has emerged. He sped to the Walkers home, which was less than a mile away. Judy was distraught. The History of the Paloma, Summers Simplest Cocktail, How I Made Smoked Skirt Steak Fajitas, Three Ways, The Poison Lady in Gatesville Doles Out Deadly Advice, A Texas Monthly Editor Stumbles Into the Sordid World of the Massage Parlor King, How San Antonios Baby-Killing Nurse Finally Got Justice, The Positively True Adventures of the Kilgore RangeretteKidnapping Mom, Tom Browns Body, Chapter 9: Another Day in Canadian. You cannot purchase these tools in Walmarts physical stores. If you are planning a wedding and already have your rings organized, you might be interested in wedding cakes, which Walmart sells! The blood on her dress had come from Rodneys head wounds. They will only resize rings that have been purchased from Walmart, whether in-store or online. There was indeed a Glen Samuel McCurley Jr. And hed been living in Fort Worth at the time of the killing. We wanted to make sure Carla was never forgotten, Konnie Karnes Myers, Carlas close friend since childhood, told me. Its been too long. You know why? she asked. After the sun rose, more joined the hunt. She had a boyfriend that she was going to marry. (Weve had our ups and downs.) She said that their younger son Roddy lived with his wife and children outside Fort Worth. Retired homicide detective Jim Minter took the stand to talk about the original investigation into Carlas murder, and Wagner and Bennett testified about their own police work. He looked stricken. Wagner had joined the department in 2000, first working in patrol before being named detective in 2013. Kuykendall decided to fly to Nashville to attend CrimeCon, an annual three-day true-crime convention that most recently attracted some five thousand fans (the majority of them women) who flock to see celebrity authors, podcasters, and broadcasters. He took on handyman jobs and did part-time maintenance work at a fitness club. They got a couple dozen responses, including one from a woman who claimed that her ex-husband had grown up in the same neighborhood as Carla and had kept a stash of newspaper articles about her murder, which he occasionally rereada likely sign, said the ex-wife, that he was responsible. It would be the easiest way to eliminate him as a suspect, she explained. Her blue dress was bloody and ripped in several places, her bra was pushed up above her breasts, and her underwear and pantyhose were wadded up together at the entrance to the culvert. They stopped at a couple of teen hangouts, Mr. Quick Hamburgers and Taco Bell. I went over there to see if I could help. Were going to break this thing, police chief H.F. Hopkins promised. Bennett, a trim, middle-aged man who works in the commercial construction business, had been helping the department since 1997, working mostly nights in the patrol division responding to 911 calls. This past December, however, McCurley let me visit him at the Gib Lewis Unit, the prison where hes incarcerated, about an hour north of Beaumont in the far East Texas town of Woodville. He asked Mittelman if anyone in that McCurley family tree was named Glen Samuel McCurley. She had been strangled with a cord. Lastly, if you have purchased a wedding ring from Walmart and are not happy with the quality or size, you can read our guide on the Walmart jewelry return policy to see if you can get a refund. McCurley had resided in west Fort Worth for nearly fifty years. Then I go to the electric chair, he said, his voice barely audible. Judy said she had spent 32 years at Ridglea West Baptists day-care program, finally retiring in 2004 because of health issues. The detectives began the laborious process of tracking down everyone on Bennetts list. His attorneys argued in their court filings that the Othram labs DNA test was flawed and that Wagner and Bennett had coerced McCurley into a false confession. It was Carla. Wagner and Bennett did a background check on McCurley. She had been strangled. Everyone at Western Hills liked Carla.. This Immigrant Entrepreneur Got His Start Hawking Jewelry in Houston Flea Markets. She started reading, but she didnt get far. She was dating Rodney McCoy, a wiry, good-naturedkid who was quarterback of the football team. He was still in his wheelchair, and his health had visibly declined. (Strange, by the way, is a pseudonym. We have no idea, Jim replied. The more McCurley talked, the more confounding his claims became. And you need to confess and bring closure to these other victims families. McCurley kept his eyes fixed on the floor. Judy kept on. McCurley captivated her. I mentioned the names of the other women that Wagner and Bennett suspected him of murdering. Since Carlas death, the technology of DNA identification had not only been developed but had progressed beyond anyones expectations. He turned to the gallery, glanced briefly at his wife, and blew her a kiss. They stood in the hallway, visibly discomfited. Wagner, however, was intrigued by the work. They stopped kids in the hallways, asking if they knew anyone who would want to hurt Carla. Hi, said Wagner. Instead, he told the detectives hed heard a girl screaming in a nearby car. Judy gave birth to two sons, Craig and Roddy. I guess they now believe I did all those things the police said I did., Judy, Roddy, and other members of McCurleys family declined my interview requests. My plan was to overpower him and take him someplace far awaymaybe somewhere out in West Texas, where no one could hear him scream., Jim would occasionally jog down Vickery Boulevard, past a street called Marks Place. Jim and Cindy were allowed to make witness-impact statements. By fall 1976, when Carlas little brother Jim arrived at Western Hills High for his freshman year, Carlas name wasnt mentioned in the hallways like it once was. It wasnt until January 2019, a year after shed first talked to Jim, that she returned to her cold case job. Bennett pointed at the photo and said, Mr. Bennett began leafing through his binders and took a deep breath. McCurley had been her loyal husband, or so she had thought, for nearly sixty years. He asked Beverly to lead him over to Roddy. Leave them blank to get signed up. But in 2018 she moved to the cold case unit. During our hour together, McCurley gave me no hints about why he had strangled Carlaor anyone else, for that matter. This big guy had her up and against the door, jerking her around., McCurley said he opened the front passenger door, got into a tussle with the boy, pushed him off Carla, led her back to his car, and then drove her to another parking lot. Later, after dropping off the others, Rodney and Carla drove to a nearby bowling alley, Brunswick Ridglea Bowl, so that she could use the bathroom. He was frantic. Was there a Glen McCurley Jr.? That depends on the type of ring you want to get resized and how difficult it is to alter. To me, he still looks like this today! she declared. When she climbed back into the car, they started kissing. Rodney and Carla talked about enrolling together at Texas Tech University. Do you remember us? She placed a photo of Carla on the table. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); QuerySprout helps consumers answer their nagging queries about products, services, and companies. They learned that Towers purse had been found in a dumpster behind Cheers, a bar on Camp Bowie Boulevard. If you want to buy a ring and would rather not have to get it resized, you can always measure your ring size at home. When the police department offered a free seminar on self-defense, more than three thousand attended, most of them women. Bennett took another breath. Marques is also the head writer and founder of QuerySprout.com. Jim was also there with his wife, Beverly. Wagners office, a small, windowless cubicle, adjoined a storage room filled with nearly a thousand files documenting unsolved murders dating back to 1959. Bennett asked. Wagner and Bennett were introduced, as was Jim Walker. Learn more here. McCurley repeatedly denied that he had raped Carla, but he did say that after they finished having sex, he started choking her because he was afraid shed tell on me or something. But he said Carla was still alive when he drove away. They arrived unannounced at the McCurleys home. Its been too many years. He wasntwhats the word?creepy.. Her body was found almost seven weeks later. No matter what you need, Walmart probably has it in stock, even including rings! Jim had no idea who the McCurleys werehed never even met the familys eldest son, Craig, who was two years behind him at Western Hills High. On November 26, Kathryn Jackson, another local middle school teacher, was found naked in her bathtub with the water still running. He didnt wait for an answer. Im Carla Walkers little brother, Jim said. By February 1961, hed left Westview and was in Abilene, where he stole a car. They studied contact sheets of photos taken at the dance, looking for anyone who seemed out of place. They had their last sample from the bra strap shipped to Othram. Your dad devastated your family just like he devastated mine.. Jim also regularly called the Fort Worth Police Departments cold case unit to ask about developments in Carlas murder investigation. The case, of course, was open-and-shut. As well as the style and price of the ring, youll also need to think about the size. But he never said anything vulgar about her, at least not to me. Officers soon arrived at the scene. McCurley gave me an obstinate stare. One woman had even sent a letter to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram praising him and Judy for returning her lost wallet. Youd drive by and see that car parked in the driveway. I liked my day job, but law enforcement was my passion, he told me. I guess they now believe I did all those things the police said I did. . Walmart does resize rings that have been purchased from Walmart only as of 2022. One man on the list was a 31-year-old truck driver named Glen McCurley. Jim left a voice mail. They heard someone banging at the front door and were stunned to see Rodney, blood dripping down his face. Parents at the center loved Judy. Carlas parents, Leighton and Doris, were still awake, playing dominoes in the dining room with relatives. And then, on July 9, 1980, the body of a nineteen-year-old woman named Denise Hough, described in the newspapers as an unemployed drifter, was found a few feet from a creek bridge in southeast Fort Worth. One day in 2017, he told his wife, Erica, that he planned to create a podcast about unsolved murders in Texas. She had on some pedal-pusher pants and a brown sweater and some kind of white-looking shoes., Like Bennett, I couldnt help but think that McCurleys memory was slipping and that he was recalling a separate crime. Its time to let things go., When I asked after his wife and his son, McCurley said they hadnt written or visited. Eleven days later, after lab techs verified that the DNA from McCurleys cheek perfectly matched the DNA found on Carlas bra strap, the members of the U.S. He had a neatly trimmed beard and tattoos covering both arms, and he often wore black T-shirts featuring various punk bands. Jim filled her in and added, If the person who killed her is still alive, hes got to be getting on in years. He liked working with his hands and watching home improvement shows on television. Black ropes hanging from metal stanchions surrounded the plaque so that no one could walk on it. The officers were members of the elite Delta Team of the U.S. He turned and looked at his wife, Judy, who had appeared beside him, wearing a bathrobe and leaning on a cane. McCurley and Judy enrolled their boys in the public elementary school, and they joined Ridglea West Baptist Church. Glen McCurley? Eddleman asked. He was not going to rest, he told me, until he knew Carlas killer was behind bars., When Jim turned sixteen and got his drivers license, he began spending his free time helping his dad hunt for the killer. Bennett carried them to his home office and immediately began reading. In 1974 Carla Walker was a seventeen-year-old junior at Fort Worths Western Hills High School. In fact, jewelers can only resize rings made of metal materials, such as gold or platinum. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force arrived at his house to arrest him. In any case, no matter what type of ring you want to be resized, it should be returned to your local Walmart within three weeks. At one point, I suggested that if one man had murdered Carla and all those other young women, he must have been ingenious to repeatedly escape the scrutiny of multiple police task forces. Okay, he said, tears welling in his eyes. He was a big guy, with close-cropped brown hair, dark brown eyes, Johnny Cash sideburns, and an endearing dimpled grin. An aerial view of Glen McCurleys neighborhood in 2022. After he graduated from college, he moved back to Fort Worth and applied to become an officer with the citys police department. Illustration by Victoria Millner/Texas Monthly. According to someone who knew her, she was a good girl who hadnt dated much. Jim tried to avoid the plaque. There were original police reports, an autopsy report, and summations of interviews that detectives had conducted with friends and acquaintances of Carla. No, Walmart will not resize a ring that you purchased at a different store. I did do it, I guess., He told the detectives that on the afternoon of February 16, 1974, hed drunk whiskey and beer for several hours. He said he began driving around and parked in some parking lots. At one point, he drove to the bowling ball place., It seemed as if McCurley were about to confess. As far as they could tell, other than his 1961 criminal conviction for stealing a car when he was eighteen, hed had no encounters with police. But he continued hunting for Carlas killer. She clearly adored him. They also played three hours of the videotaped interview that Wagner and Bennett had conducted with McCurley after his arrest. He wrote down names and addresses of potential suspects, and he drew circles on maps where he had been told the killer lived. But for a more complex resizing or a more intricate ring, then it could cost between $50 and $150. I never hurt any woman., He paused for a few seconds. He took notes and kept them in a metal box the size of a cigar box, said Jim. Back in 1974yall were living here at the time, so you may have heard about itthere was a young lady kidnapped from a bowling alley., I know exactly which one youre talking about, Judy immediately said. Looking on, Judy told the detectives, I hope you find out [who killed Carla]. Walker, theyve got her, he shouted. Rodney would later say that he caught a glimpse of a tall man with short brown hair. He said his first story was going to be about Carla Walker, whose murder he had read about while poking around the internet. A detective named Leah Wagner returned the call. We aim to provide in-depth, well-researched, and accurate information in easy-to-follow guides and articles. Not all rings can be resized. But the police couldnt identify her through the usual meansfingerprints or dental records. Pretty sure? asked Bennett. There were a lot of homicides that occurred during that time, he said. Police officers wearing bulletproof vests piled out of unmarked cars and fanned out around a small, one-story, tan-colored home in a working-class neighborhood of far west Fort Worth. He could fix anything: dryers, equipment, treadmills. When I asked if she had ever noticed McCurley eyeing any of the younger females who worked out at the club, she replied, Never.. Fort Worth officials formed a task force of detectives from area police departments. Cheers was only half a mile from the Brunswick Ridglea Bowl parking lotthe place where Carla had been kidnapped in February 1974. Ive never seen her before, he said. Carla leaned back against the passenger door, using her purse as a pillow. Everybody believed that policewoman and policeman, but nobody was hearing my side of the story., We kept talking. Im no desperado. The killerif it was one killerseemed to have retreated. Was it an impulsive, drunken act? For more than an hour, he wouldnt budge. My hour with McCurley was up, and I realized I had learned nothing new about him. Wearing a green jail-issued jumpsuit, McCurley was pushed into the courtroom in a wheelchair. The task force promptly eliminated him as a potential suspect. The police department formed another task force. She had been strangled and beaten over the head with what one reporter described as a sharp, heavy object.. McCurley was no longer driving trucks full-time by then. The next day, at a crowded news conference at the downtown Fort Worth Police Department, officials announced McCurleys arrest for Carlas murder. And on the evening of December 22, just days before Christmas, 21-year-old Regina Grover was seen with her boyfriend walking out of the Keg, a restaurant on Camp Bowie. Her family deserves answers., McCurley finally began to crack. At the reception, a photographer snapped a picture of them cutting the cake. He prefers to keep his real name private.). At some point, the guns magazine clip dislodged and fell to the parking lot. Like the other killings, the Tower case remained a mystery, though a few days after her murder, detectives received a curious bit of news. From that fluid, they were able to develop a full DNA profile, which they uploaded to CODIS, a nationwide law enforcement database that contains the DNA of millions of criminal offenders. In our neighborhood, people didnt even lock their doors, Carlas sister, Cindy, told me. Jim elected to stand directly in front of McCurley. Marques Thomas graduated with a MBA in 2011. During one meeting, the task force detectives did discuss another unsolved murder that had taken place on February 7, 1973, almost exactly a year before Carlas. many of these have been taken out in recent years. The detectives learned that the magazine clip found in the bowling alley parking lot belonged to a newer-model .22 Ruger handgun. Because there were no ligature marks around her neck, investigators believed that the killer had choked her using his hands. If she wasnt having sex with her high school boyfriend, Wagner said, people are going to have a really hard time believing that she was going to willingly have sex with you.. She brought along eighty copies of a pamphlet shed written about Carlas case, which was based mostly on Stranges podcast. McCurley looked briefly at the picture. On Sundays he and Judy worshipped at a nearby church. Welcome to Alphaland, the Disney World for Bodybuilders, Three Generations Have Kept Underwoods Cafeteria Serving Barbecue for 76 Years, Welcome to Party Island on Lady Bird Lake, The Bronc-busting, Cow-punching, Death-defying Legend of Boots ONeal, East Texass Most Exciting New Store Is Hidden in a Small-town Mansion, After Nearly Closing, This El Paso Barbecue Joint Opens Two Restaurants in One Week, The Free Speech Elephant in Alex Joness Courtroom, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition. Then the passenger door flew open. Its a huge case, she said. In contrast, rings made from other materials such as silicone, wood, and ceramic cannot be resized. Carla Walker., Judy later told the detectives she could remember where the Walker family lived, on Williams Road. The only welcome news was a lull in murders. She was found the next day, strangled and drowned in a creek under a bridge in north Fort Worth. But on February 20, four days after Carlas disappearance, two of the officers assigned to look for her were driving along a remote two-lane road near Benbrook Lake, about five miles southwest of the bowling alley. If you end up with one thats too big or too small, you might find yourself wondering: does Walmart resize rings? Our familyhad been destroyed by Carlas murder, Jim told me. There were now even laboratories that specialized in genealogical mapping, in which technicians use freely accessible databases to link DNA from an unknown person to the DNA of that persons relatives. Who knows? Jim said. Since then, Marques has worked in the retail and consumer service industry as a manager, advisor, and marketer. Wagner and Bennett walked in. Was that even possible? I wouldnt know her if she was standing beside me., Carla was seventeen years old, Wagner said. However, while Walmart used to have dedicated jewelry departments in all of its physical stores, many of these have been taken out in recent years. On the third day of the trial, McCurley changed his plea to guilty, and the judge quickly sentenced him to life in prison. Just four foot eleven, Carla had a thick mane of honey-blond hair that fell below her shoulders. It was a long time ago.. My plan was to get promoted to detective, get my hands on Carlas files, and find her killer, he told me. But does that mean you can get any ring resized at Walmart? I dont know who she is, he said. I raised my hand and said goodbye. City residents were getting more worried about the prospect of a serial killer, a fear that law enforcement officials said was unfounded. But such concerns grew when Catherine Davis, a 23-year-old aspiring model, went missing on September 9, 1984. The safe play for Wagner and Bennett would have been to store the DNA and wait for newer technology to emerge. It is also not possible to resize rings with gemstones set around the entire band. They considered him a person of interest in at least three other killings of young women during the seventies and eighties.

Sitemap 28