Midwest Murders: Starkweather
The Starkweather Case: History of a Mass Murder
In 1958 infamous killer Charles Starkweather, along with 14 year old girlfriend Caril Fugate went on a killing spree throughout the Midwest that left eleven dead.
The Murders
Charles Starkweather was born in 1938 in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he came from a poor family of eight. Starkweather’s misshapen legs and slight speech impediment caused teasing and bullying at school. Obsessed with James Dean, Starkweather became rebellious. An inferiority complex and fear of a life of poverty might have set off the killing spree that claimed eleven victims. Recently evicted and fired from his job as garbage collector and forbidden to see his fourteen year old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate, Starkweather may have thought he had little to lose.
His first crime took place on December 1, 1957, when he robbed a service station in Lincoln, abducted an employee, and shot him in the head. More violence was to follow. On January 21, 1958, he brutally massacred Caril’s entire family. Stepfather Marion Bartlett and mother Velda Bartlett were shot in the head, and Caril’s baby sister, Betty, was clubbed to death. After the murders, the two lived in the house for several days. They told relatives stopping by that everyone was sick with the flu. By the time a search discovered the bodies in the chicken house and outbuildings, the couple had already left to begin their killing and stealing spree across Nebraka.
Pursuit
The fugitives had armed themselves and purchased ammunition. They intended to hide out at the farmhouse of August Meyer, an elderly friend of the Starkweathers. Before they got to their destination, their car became stuck in the mud. When two Benet High School students came by to offer help, Robert Jensen and Carol King, Starkweather shot them in the head. He then attempted to rape the girl. They stuffed the bodies in an abandoned storm cellar before moving on to August Meyer’s farmhouse.
Starkweather shot Meyer and hid his body before returning to Lincoln. He then entered the home of wealthy steel company president, C. Lauer Ward. Clara Ward and the housekeeper Lilan Fend were bound, gagged, and stabbed to death. When Lauer Ward returned home, he was shot and stabbed at the front door. The two then took his 1956 Packard and headed toward Wyoming. Fear swept over the entire area. A posse of 100 men armed with rifles was formed, and the national guard was called in.
Their next strike was near Douglas, Wyoming, where they attacked Merle Collison, a traveling salesman who had pulled off the highway to sleep. He was shot in the head nine times. When Joe Sprinkle stopped to help, he was also threatened with a rifle, but the approach of Deputy Sheriff William Romer prevented his death. At that point, Caril ran to Deputy Romer for protection, and Starkweather took off alone in the Packard. After a high-speed chase, he was soon apprehended.
Aftermath and Sentencing
Eleven victims were killed in Starkweather's murderous spree, including the gas station attendant he had shot in December. Both were charged with murder, and Starkweather readily confessed. At first he claimed he had held Caril Ann hostage, but later, after she turned against him, he stated that she had been an accomplice. Starkweather pleaded not guilty, his lawyers using the defense that the murders were attributed to paranoia. He was soon found guilty and given the death penalty. He was executed on June 25, 1959 at the age of twenty.
Caril continued to maintain that she was held hostage and had remained with Starkweather for fear of her life. Starkweather contradicted her testimony by saying she had plenty of opportunities to escape. On November 21, she was sentenced to life in prison.
Starkweather was executed June 25, 1959. He was the last person to be electrocuted in Nebraska. Because of her age at the time of the murders, and her model behavior as an inmate, the parole board eventually commuted Caril’s sentence. After serving 18 years, she was released from prison.
"Natural Born Killers" and other Works of Fiction Sources:
Several films based on the murders have been made, including "The Sadist","Badlands", "Starkweather" ,"Murder in the Heartlands", and "Natural Born Killers."
Novels based on the Starkweather murders include Born Bad: Charles Starkweather-Natural Born Killer by Jack Sargent; Starkweather: Inside the Mind of a Teenage Killer by William Allen,and Waste Land: The Savage Odyssey of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate by Michael Newton. Liza Ward, granddaughter victims C. Lauer and Clara Ward also wrote a novel Outside Valentine, which is based on the events surrounding the murders.
The Mammoth Book of Murder, edited by Richard Jones
Mass Murder: America's Growing Menace
For articles on another serial killer, Jack the Ripper, see
Jack the Ripper:Case Still Open
Was Lewis Caroll Jack the Ripper?
by Jack Levin and James Alan Fox
