Caril Ann Fugate

Last updated
Caril Ann Clair
Caril Ann Fugate Nebraska 1958.A.jpg
Caril Fugate, pictured in February 1958
Born
Caril Ann Fugate

(1943-07-30) July 30, 1943 (age 81)
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Criminal statusReleased
Spouse
Fredrick Clair
​
​
(m. 2007;died 2013)​
Conviction(s) First degree murder (2 counts) [1]
Criminal penalty

Caril Ann Fugate (born July 30, 1943) is the youngest female in United States history to have been tried and convicted of first-degree murder. [2] She was the adolescent girlfriend of spree killer Charles Starkweather, being just 14 years old when his murders took place in 1958. [3] She was convicted as his accomplice and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1976, she was paroled after serving 18 years.

Contents

Background to crime spree

Fugate lived in Lincoln, Nebraska with her mother and stepfather. She attended Whittier Junior High School in Lincoln and was an intelligent student who was well-liked by her peers. In 1956, at age 13, she formed a relationship with Charles Starkweather, a high school dropout five years her senior. They met through Caril's sister, Barbara, who was dating Starkweather's friend, Bob von Busch.

Fugate and Starkweather, c. December 1957 Charles Starkweather Caril Ann Fugate Lincoln Journal Star 28 January 1958.png
Fugate and Starkweather, c. December 1957

On January 21, 1958, [4] Starkweather shot and killed Fugate's stepfather, Marion Bartlett, and her mother, Velda. Starkweather then clubbed to death Fugate's two-year-old half-sister, Betty Jean. Fugate claimed she came home to find Starkweather there alone, waiting for her with a gun. She said he told her that her family was being held hostage and that if she did exactly as he said, her family would be safe. During the next six days, Starkweather kept Fugate in the house and turned away all visitors, which made Fugate's relatives suspicious. The bodies were found later in outbuildings on the property. [5]

Fugate, pictured while detained in Converse County, Wyoming on the morning of January 30, 1958 Caril Ann Fugate Detainment Breakfast January 30 1958.jpg
Fugate, pictured while detained in Converse County, Wyoming on the morning of January 30, 1958

Cross-state crime spree

Starkweather and Fugate then fled, driving across Nebraska and ultimately into Wyoming on a murder spree that claimed seven more lives, plus those of two dogs, before they were arrested on January 29. [5] She admitted holding a .410 bore shotgun on a young high school couple, Robert Jensen and Carol King. [6]

Sentencing

Starkweather was sentenced to death and executed in the electric chair on June 25, 1959. He insisted that although he had personally killed most of the victims, Fugate had murdered several as well. Although she continued to maintain her innocence, she was tried and convicted for her role in the murder spree. Based on the evidence presented that Fugate had opportunities to leave her captivity and Starkweather's own testimony, the jury found her claim that she was Starkweather's hostage not credible. She was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York, Nebraska. [2]

In 1973, the Nebraska Board of Pardons commuted Fugate's sentence to 30–50 years, making her eligible for parole. Governor J. James Exon and Secretary of State Allen J. Beermann voted in favor of the commutation, while Attorney General Clarence A. H. Meyer dissented. [7]

Release from prison

Considered to be a model prisoner, Fugate was paroled on June 20, 1976, from York Women's Reformatory in York, Nebraska, after serving 18 years' incarceration. [8] [9] She lived for a time in the Lansing, Michigan, area after being paroled. [10] Following her release, Fugate worked as a janitorial assistant and a nanny. She has since retired.[ citation needed ]

In 2007, Fugate married Fredrick Clair, a machinist who also worked as a weather observer for the National Weather Service. Their most recent city of residence was Hillsdale, Michigan.[ citation needed ]

Fugate was seriously injured on August 5, 2013, in a single-vehicle accident near Tekonsha, Michigan. Her husband, who was driving their sport utility vehicle when it went off the road and overturned, died at the scene. [11]

Fugate, going by her married name of Caril Ann Clair, was denied a pardon by the Nebraska Board of Pardons in February 2020. Relatives of the murder victims supported her pardon application. She maintained her innocence in the 1958 slayings and requested a pardon to "alleviate the burden" of being known as a convicted killer. Her pardon was denied because the role of a pardon is to restore a felon's rights and because her request was too broad for the parole board. [12]

Legacy

Film and television

The Starkweather–Fugate case inspired the films The Sadist (1963), Badlands (1973), Kalifornia (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994) and Starkweather (2004). Fugate was portrayed by Fairuza Balk in the made-for-TV biographical film Murder in the Heartland (1993), with Tim Roth starring as Starkweather. Stark Raving Mad (1981), a film starring Russell Fast and Marcie Severson, provides a fictionalized account of the Starkweather–Fugate murder spree.

Fugate appeared on a 1983 episode of Lie Detector hosted by F. Lee Bailey. [13]

The 1996 Peter Jackson film The Frighteners features central plot elements with characters almost identical to Starkweather and Fugate, who commit a murder spree. The fourth episode, "Dangerous Liaisons", of season three from the ID series Deadly Women (aired September 2, 2010) was about the Starkweather–Fugate murders. The first episode, "Teenage Wasteland", of season four from the Investigation Discovery series A Crime to Remember (aired December 6, 2016) portrays the murders and subsequent trial. "The Thirteenth Step", the January 11, 2011, episode of Criminal Minds , depicts newlyweds on a North Dakota-Montana killing spree similar to the Starkweather–Fugate case. [14]

An investigative true-crime documentary miniseries that portrayed Fugate as the titular "12th Victim" of Starkweather was released on Showtime in February 2023. [15] [16] [17]

Literature

The 1974 book Caril is an unauthorized biography of Fugate written by Ninette Beaver, B.K. Ripley (pen name of Alexandra Ripley), and Patrick Trese. [18] Liza Ward, the granddaughter of victims C. Lauer and Clara Ward, wrote the 2004 novel Outside Valentine , based on the events of the Starkweather–Fugate murder-spree. The book Pro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate by Jeff McArthur follows Fugate's defense team through the trial and appeals process. [19]

In 2011, art photographer Christian Patterson released Redheaded Peckerwood, a collection of photos taken each January from 2005 to 2010 along the 500-mile route traversed by Starkweather and Fugate. The book includes reproductions of documents and photographs of objects that belonged to Starkweather, Fugate, and their victims. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Starkweather</span> American spree killer

Charles Raymond Starkweather was an American spree killer who murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming between November 1957 and January 1958, when he was nineteen years old. He killed ten of his victims between January 21 and January 29, 1958, the date of his arrest. During his spree in 1958, Starkweather was accompanied by his fourteen-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Nebraska. In 2015, the state legislature voted to repeal the death penalty, overriding governor Pete Ricketts' veto. However, a petition drive secured enough signatures to suspend the repeal until a public vote. In the November 2016 general election, voters rejected the repeal measure, preserving capital punishment in the state. Nebraska currently has 11 inmates on death row.

A thrill killing is premeditated or random murder that is motivated by the sheer excitement of the act. While there have been attempts to categorize multiple murders, such as identifying "thrill killing" as a type of "hedonistic mass killing", actual details of events frequently overlap category definitions making attempts at such distinctions problematic.

"Nebraska" is the title song of Bruce Springsteen's 1982 solo album. The stark, moody composition sets the tone for the LP, the content of which consists mostly of songs about criminals and desperate people, accompanied only by acoustic guitar and harmonica. The song has been covered by other artists, including Steve Earle, Chrissie Hynde, and Aoife O'Donovan.

<i>Murder in the Heartland</i> 1993 American TV series or program

Murder in the Heartland is a television miniseries that aired on ABC in 1993. It was based on the 1957–58 murder spree carried out by 19-year-old Charles Starkweather throughout Nebraska and Wyoming. Starkweather is played by Tim Roth. The first half of the miniseries covers the murders. The second half covers the trials of Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, his 14-year-old girlfriend accomplice. Their increasingly disparate versions of events are contrasted as the trials unfold.

The Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP) is a state correctional facility for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Located in Lincoln, it is the oldest state correctional facility in Nebraska, opening in 1869. Until after World War I, it was the only adult correctional facility in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney River McDonald's murders</span> 1992 murder at a fast food restaurant in Sydney River, Nova Scotia, Canada

The Sydney River McDonald's murders was a shooting spree and armed robbery that occurred on May 7, 1992, at a McDonald's restaurant in Sydney River, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Wichita Massacre, also known as the Wichita Horror, was a week-long violent crime spree perpetrated by brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr, in the city of Wichita, Kansas, between December 8 and 15, 2000. Five people were killed, and two people, a man and a woman, were severely wounded. The brothers were arrested and convicted of multiple counts of murder, kidnapping, robbery, and rape. They were both sentenced to death in October 2002. Their vicious crimes created panic in the Wichita area resulting in an increase in the sales of guns, locks, and home security systems.

<i>The Sadist</i> (film) 1963 American exploitation film by James Landis

The Sadist is a 1963 American thriller film written and directed by James Landis. It stars Arch Hall, Jr. as a psychopathic spree killer, patterned after Charles Starkweather, who takes a trio of hostages at a junkyard. The low-budget, independent film is notable for being the debut of future Academy Award-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. It was distributed by Fairway International Pictures in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska Correctional Center for Women</span>

The Nebraska Correctional Center for Women (NCCW) is a state correctional facility for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Located in Baker Precinct, York County, Nebraska, just west of York, it is the only secure state facility to house adult women.

This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Joe Long</span> American serial killer (1953–2019)

Bobby Joe Long was an American serial killer and rapist who was executed by the state of Florida for the murder of Michelle Denise Simms. Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least eight women in the Tampa Bay area in Florida during an eight-month period in 1984.

<i>Outside Valentine</i> 2004 debut novel of American author Liza Ward

Outside Valentine is the 2004 debut novel of American author Liza Ward, the granddaughter of two of the victims of spree killer Charles Starkweather. The book was first published on August 12, 2004 through Picador and is told from the perspective of Caril Ann Fugate, Starkweather's accomplice, the son of two of his victims, and the son's wife.

Infamous Murders was a documentary television series shown on The History Channel in the U.S. and the U.K. The U.S. edition was narrated by Don Peoples. In the U.K. edition the narrator is uncredited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry N. MacLean</span> American lawyer

Harry MacLean is a writer and lawyer living in Denver, Colorado, who writes true crime books and won an Edgar Award for his book In Broad Daylight (1988).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andre Crawford</span> Convicted American serial killer

Andre Crawford was an American serial killer, rapist and necrophile who killed 11 women between 1993 and 1999 in Chicago. Many of the women were addicted to drugs or worked as sex workers. He also had sex with their corpses. In 2009, Crawford was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

<i>Stark Raving Mad</i> (1981 film) 1981 American film

Stark Raving Mad is a 1981 American crime film directed by George F. Hood, written by Don Gronquist, and starring Russ Faust and Marcie Severson. It depicts a fictionalized account of the Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate killings of the 1950s. It was released in January 1983.

Scott William Cox is a suspected American serial killer, convicted on two separate counts of homicide in 1993 in Portland, Oregon, and suspected of many more. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison but was granted parole in 2013, five years early. He currently is serving a post-prison supervision term of life. He is also the prime suspect in 20 unsolved murder cases throughout the United States and Canada, although charges were never brought against him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stevens Berry</span> American lawyer

John Stevens Berry Sr. is an American attorney and the founder of Berry Law Firm in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is notable for a number of high-profile cases including the defense of Green Berets in Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry and Danny Ranes</span> American serial killers

Larry Lee Ranes and Danny Arthur Ranes were American serial killer brothers who committed their crime sprees predominantly in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Larry, a suspect in the murders of five people in the 1960s, was sentenced to life imprisonment for one murder in 1964; Danny was convicted of four sexually-motivated murders between March and August 1972 with accomplice Brent Eugene Koster, for which both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Their case is notable for the fact that, unlike other siblings who engage in crime, Larry and Danny operated completely independently of one another.

References

  1. ↑ "Fugate v. State".
  2. 1 2 Cawthorne, Nigel (2007-01-01). Serial Killers & Mass Murderers: Profiles of the World's Most Barbaric Criminals. Ulysses Press. ISBN   9781569755785.
  3. ↑ Rule, Ann (2004). Kiss Me, Kill Me: Ann Rule's Crime Files. Simon and Schuster. p. 224. ISBN   978-0-671-69139-4 . Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  4. ↑ Wishart, David J. (2004). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. U of Nebraska Press. p. 462. ISBN   978-0-8032-4787-1 . Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Caril Fugate is Found Guilty, Gets Life Term". St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Main ed.). Associated Press. November 21, 1958. pp. 1, 15.
  6. ↑ Duggan, Joe (April 2009). "Friends of murdered teens wonder what might have been". Lincoln Journal-Star. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Fugate". The Gazette. 1973-10-31. p. 22. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  8. ↑ "Caril Fugate leaves prison after 18 years", AP report in Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1976, p. 1
  9. ↑ Flowers, R. Barri; H. Loraine Flowers (April 2005). Murders In The United States: Crimes, Killers And Victims Of The Twentieth Century. McFarland. p. 176. ISBN   978-0-7864-2075-9 . Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Caril Ann Fugate Clair critically hurt in I-69 crash | Former girlfriend of Charles Starkweather was convicted in 'Badlands' murders".
  11. ↑ "Caril Ann Fugate, Infamous 1950s Murder Spree Convict, Critically Injured In Crash That Killed Husband". HuffingtonPost.com. August 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016..
  12. ↑ "Notorious killer Charles Starkweather's ex-girlfriend denied pardon by Nebraska". NBC News. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  13. ↑ Parks, Chris (1983-02-22). "Starkweather companion feels 'vindicated' - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  14. ↑ "Criminal Minds Recap: The Thirteenth Step". CBS.com. October 14, 2011. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  15. ↑ "The 12th Victim (Official Series Site) Watch on Showtime". SHO.com. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  16. ↑ Finn, Natalie (2023-02-18). "The 12th Victim: The Truth About the Murder Spree That Inspired Every Onscreen Killer Couple". E! Online. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  17. ↑ Campione, Katie (2023-01-24). "'The 12th Victim' Showtime Docuseries Re-Examines Murder Conviction Of Caril Ann Fugate In 1958 Killing Spree". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  18. ↑ Beaver, Ninette; Ripley, B. K.; Trese, Patrick (1974). Caril . Lippincott. ISBN   978-0-397-00997-8 . Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  19. ↑ McArthur, Jeff (2012). Pro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate. Bandwagon Books. ISBN   978-1479108374 . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  20. ↑ O'Hagan, Sean (2011-12-01). "Christian Patterson goes on the trail of America's natural born killers". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.