December 19, 1959. Osprey, Florida. After spending the day running errands and visiting a family friend, 25-year old Cliff Walker, his 24-year old wife Christine, and their two children, three-year old Jimmie and 23-month old Debbie, head back to their rural home in separate vehicles. The following morning, the family’s bodies are discovered inside their house. They were each shot in the head before Debbie was drowned in the bathtub and Christine has also been sexually assaulted. Over the next several decades, investigators would look at a number of different suspects, but two of the most promising turn out to be Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, who were responsible for the murder of the Clutter family in Kansas one month earlier, a crime which became the subject of the iconic book, “In Cold Blood”. However, DNA testing on the deceased killers turns out to be inconclusive and there is no evidence to conclusively implicate anyone. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” covers the harrowing murders of an entire family which have remained unsolved for 60 years. Special thanks to listener Alanna LaForce for providing the opening narration for this episode.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_family_murders

“In Colder Blood” by J.T. Hunter

http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20051218/unsolved

http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20051219/the-suspects-a-litany-of-names-and-clues

http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20051220/a-last-hope-dna-could-crack-the-case

http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20121209/what-if-in-cold-blood-got-it-wrong-about-walker-murders

http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20121209/what-in-cold-blood-said

http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20130813/no-dna-link-between-walker-murders-in-cold-blood-killers

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.