The Killer Who Thought He'd Never Be Found | Glen McCurley | World's Most Evil Killers

[00:00:00][audio logo] [suspenseful music] narrator:<i> On the 16th of</i> <i> February 1974, in Fort Worth,</i> <i> Texas, after attending a high</i> <i> school dance, 17-year-old</i> <i> Carla Walker was abducted.</i> Jim Walker: The predator came out of the darkness and he said, you're going with me, aren't you, sweetie?

[00:00:25]Narrator:<i> It was the last time</i> <i> Carla would be seen alive.</i> <i> When police found</i> <i> her body, they</i> <i> knew they were looking for a</i> <i> callous and merciless killer.</i> - She was beat from head to toe and strangled and raped.

[00:00:41]Cathy O'Neal: It was horrific.

[00:00:43]It was simply horrific.

[00:00:44]I had nightmares.

[00:00:45]narrator:<i> It would take</i> <i> almost half a century</i> <i> before Carla's</i> <i> depraved attacker</i> <i> was revealed to be church-going</i> <i> family man Glen McCurley.</i> - He is the kind of person that we tell our daughters about, makes us not go out alone at night.

[00:01:05]♪ ♪ He is the evil predator of our nightmares.

[00:01:11]narrator:<i> Glen</i> <i> McCurley had finally</i> <i> been exposed as one of the</i> World's Most Evil Killers.

[00:01:18][theme music] ♪ ♪ <i> It was a murder that went</i> <i> undetected for nearly 50 years.</i> <i> When 17-year-old schoolgirl</i> <i> Carla Walker was murdered</i> <i> in Fort Worth, Texas,</i> <i> in February 1974,</i> <i> nobody knew the identity of her</i> <i> killer until decades later.</i> <i> Cutting-edge DNA testing</i> <i> finally led investigators</i> <i> to 77-year-old Glen McCurley.</i> - All of a sudden, we had-- after 47 years, we had finally solved it.

[00:02:14]narrator:<i> The brutal killer who</i> <i> had escaped justice for so long</i> <i> had no place left to hide.</i> narrator:<i> Carla's</i> <i> grieving family</i> <i> would learn that her murderer</i> <i> had been living in their midst</i> <i> all along.</i> Vincent Strange: Of course, everybody immediately gets on their computers and does research on this guy.

[00:02:40]They discover he's a guy who lived blocks from Carla.

[00:02:45]Jim Walker: Everybody on his street thought he was a great guy.

[00:02:47]But when he's looking at you, he's not looking at you as a friend.

[00:02:52]He's looking at you as a real possibility to come see you one night when you're asleep or by yourself.

[00:02:58][sinister music] narrator:<i> On the surface,</i> <i> Glen McCurley</i> <i> was a church-going family man.</i> <i> But beneath the mask, he</i> <i> was a calculating predator.</i> <i> This killer's story</i> <i> begins in 1943.</i> <i> Glen Samuel McCurley was</i> <i> born on January the five</i> <i> in Holmes County, Florida.</i> <i> His childhood was</i> <i> spent in West Texas.</i> - He was the eldest of three brothers.

[00:03:29]When he was a teenager, he was sent away from his family to the Westview Boys' Home in Southwest Oklahoma.

[00:03:37]narrator:<i> In 1961, weeks after</i> <i> McCurley's 18th birthday,</i> <i> he found himself</i> <i> on the wrong side of the law.</i> Jim Walker: He stole a car and led the Highway Patrol on a high-speed chase, and they finally caught him.

[00:03:50]Then he was convicted of car theft.

[00:03:54]Jane Monckton-Smith: He served 11 months in Huntsville Unit Prison before being granted parole.

[00:04:01]Geoffrey Wansell: Not long after he gets out, in February 1963, he marries a girl called Judy.

[00:04:08]They had a son and another son a year or two later.

[00:04:13]At this point, Glen McCurley is working as a truck driver.

[00:04:17]They've moved to West Fort Worth in Texas.

[00:04:23]narrator:<i> The suburban</i> <i> neighborhood suited the couple.</i> <i> It was an ideal place</i> <i> to raise children.</i> [dramatic music] - It was very family oriented, very church going, very laid back and trusting, and what you would think of as an idyllic childhood.

[00:04:41]The neighborhoods were full of kids, and we walked everywhere and had pretty much the run of the place.

[00:04:49]It really was a great place to grow up.

[00:04:51]♪ ♪ Vincent Strange: It was definitely thought of as a place where you don't necessarily have to lock your car doors and your kids are safe to run around the streets and go to parties and do what they do.

[00:05:05]narrator:<i> Just over</i> <i> a mile away from</i> <i> the McCurleys was 17-year-old</i> <i> Carla Walker's family home.</i> ♪ ♪ Cathy O'Neal: Her father was the strict military disciplinarian but also the protector of the family.

[00:05:20]They were really that typical all-American family.

[00:05:25]narrator:<i> Jim Walker</i> <i> was the family's</i> <i> fifth and youngest child.</i> Jim Walker: I had a mom, Charlene.

[00:05:31]My dad was Leighton.

[00:05:33]I had two older brothers, Charles and Steve, and two older sisters, Cindy and Carla.

[00:05:40]Had a good life.

[00:05:41]It was a good life.

[00:05:45]Carla was five years older than me, and she was just kind of entering the prime of her life.

[00:05:50]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> At Western</i> <i> Hills High School,</i> <i> Carla was a popular student.</i> Cathy O'Neal: Carla was different.

[00:06:02]She didn't belong to really a clique sort of thing.

[00:06:05]She was one of those students who traveled easily among all the different sort of groups.

[00:06:10]And so that's what made her the all-American kind of girl and very approachable and that girl-next-door sweetheart.

[00:06:18]Jim Walker: She's 4 foot 11, 95 pounds, blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, beautiful teeth and lips.

[00:06:27]Just incredibly cute.

[00:06:29]♪ ♪ Cathy O'Neal: She was dating the football player Rodney McCoy, who was in my class.

[00:06:38]He was not your typical jock.

[00:06:40]He wasn't full of bravado.

[00:06:41]He was also very approachable and personable and got along with all kinds of different kids.

[00:06:46]♪ ♪ Jim Walker: Carla was on the cheer squad.

[00:06:52]Rodney was a quarterback.

[00:06:54]And from all accounts, they were, kind of, the it couple at the high school.

[00:06:58]They were a very sweet couple to everybody and to each other.

[00:07:02][sinister music] narrator:<i> In the winter of</i> <i> 1974, Carla had just turned 17</i> <i> and had an exciting</i> <i> date on her calendar.</i> Jim Walker: It was a Saturday.

[00:07:14]Carla and Rodney were going to a high school Valentine's Day dance on February 16.

[00:07:20]The dance went from 8:00 to 12:00.

[00:07:23]Carla got dressed here.

[00:07:26]The ladies were all fussing over Carla, getting her all fixed up.

[00:07:29]And Carla was beaming and smiling and had her beautiful dress on.

[00:07:32]♪ ♪ - Carla was wearing a baby blue dress with lots of white ruffles.

[00:07:41]It was very cute and pretty and went with her strawberry blonde hair.

[00:07:46]I don't think any of us will ever forget that dress.

[00:07:50]Jim Walker: Rodney pinned on the corsage and pictures were taken.

[00:07:53]And aunts and my mom fussed over Carla.

[00:07:57]Dad and the guys talked a little bit to Rodney and said, y'all be safe. Have fun.

[00:08:01]See you when you get home.

[00:08:03]And that's not exactly how it went that night.

[00:08:07]♪ ♪ Cathy O'Neal: Too but I went to the Valentine's dance that year because I was yearbook editor.

[00:08:14]And I do remember seeing Carla and Rodney and just saying hi to them.

[00:08:19]Vincent Strange: It was kind of a typical high school dance, you know.

[00:08:23]After that, they rode around with some friends, kind of going by the usual haunts, the hangouts.

[00:08:30]- There were two fast food restaurants right there on a-- further on Camp Bowie, Highway 183.

[00:08:37]It was Mr. Quick's Hamburgers in one part and they shared a parking lot with the Taco Bell.

[00:08:42]And so that's kind of where the high school students would congregate.

[00:08:45]Jim Walker: They drove through the parking lot, got out, would talk with everybody.

[00:08:49]But unfortunately, the bathrooms had been shut down.

[00:08:51]They weren't working.

[00:08:52]So Carla needed to use the restroom, and Rodney drove her a block and a half south of Camp Bowie to an all-night bowling alley.

[00:09:01]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> The couple</i> <i> visited the bowling alley</i> <i> twice during the evening.</i> <i> On the second occasion, just</i> <i> after midnight, they decided</i> <i> to remain in the parking lot.</i> <i> It was a decision that would</i> <i> change their lives forever.</i> Vincent Strange: They began making out in the car and leaning up against the passenger side door, as they were, using her purse as her pillow, I believe, and the door jerks open.

[00:09:32]Jim Walker: Carla started to fall, and Rodney grabbed her back of her head and started to pull her back in.

[00:09:37]But when he reached down to grab her, he started seeing stars.

[00:09:43]He didn't know what was happening.

[00:09:45]Geoffrey Wansell: And he attacks him viciously and he's very dazed.

[00:09:49]The man hits him again.

[00:09:51]Jim Walker: He was just stunned.

[00:09:52]He had no idea what was going on.

[00:09:54]Rodney said he saw a hand come in and grab Carla and say to Carla, you're going with me, aren't you, sweetie?

[00:10:02]And Carla was pulled out of the car.

[00:10:05]- Rodney's suffering head injuries, bleeding all over the place in his eyes.

[00:10:09]Pretty bad.

[00:10:10]So Carla tells the man, I'll go with you.

[00:10:13]Stop hitting him.

[00:10:15]narrator:<i> Rodney had been</i> <i> beaten with a handgun.</i> <i> When the beating stopped, his</i> <i> attacker spoke directly to him.</i> Jim Walker: He was in the darkness looking in, and all Rodney could see was the pistol coming in to his face.

[00:10:29]Rodney says, guy points it right at my forehead and says, I'm going to kill you.

[00:10:33]♪ ♪ The guy pulled the trigger and it just clicked.

[00:10:39]narrator:<i> The evening, which</i> <i> had started like a fairy tale,</i> <i> had turned into a horror story.</i> <i> And the nightmare</i> <i> had only just begun.</i> <i> The night 17-year-old Carla</i> <i> Walker was abducted from</i> <i> a parking lot</i> <i> in Fort Worth, Texas,</i> <i> her family was expecting her</i> <i> and her boyfriend to return</i> <i> home from a school dance.</i> ♪ ♪ - We waited for Carla and Rodney to come back to hear about all the fun details of the dance.

[00:11:20]narrator:<i> In the parking</i> <i> lot of the bowling alley,</i> <i> Rodney regained consciousness.</i> <i> He knew he had to get help.</i> - He hightails it to the Walker home.

[00:11:32]Jim Walker: I was standing over by the front door and I heard a car tires hitting a curb head on, going pretty quick.

[00:11:39]My parents and aunt and uncle did too.

[00:11:42]- He's pretty frantic, saying they got her.

[00:11:44]Mr. Walker, they got her.

[00:11:46]Jim Walker: His right side of his face was lit up and it was all bloody.

[00:11:49]Big, long cut, like somebody had taken a knife and slit his cheek open a couple inches.

[00:11:55]- Every mother's nightmare, every parent's nightmare, their daughter's been abducted at gunpoint by an unknown man.

[00:12:02]♪ ♪ - I stepped back with my back toward the fireplace watching all the events take place up here.

[00:12:12]To see these people who were solid, solid people become panicked.

[00:12:17]When Dad found out what had happened and where it had happened, he got his pistol.

[00:12:22]And he was out this door to my left.

[00:12:25]narrator:<i> At 2:01 AM,</i> <i> the police were called.</i> <i> A search of the area</i> <i> surrounding</i> <i> the Brunswick Ridglea bowling</i> <i> alley was carried out.</i> <i> Detectives recovered</i> <i> Carla's purse.</i> Cathy O'Neal: I found out about it on the news with Carla's picture.

[00:12:43]It was just shocking.

[00:12:44]And from that point on, I was riveted.

[00:12:48]All of us were to where she was, what had happened to her?

[00:12:52]- Carla's abduction launches this gigantic search.

[00:12:58]And you got high school kids from her school searching.

[00:13:01]You have virtually every law enforcement officer in the area searching.

[00:13:06]Helicopters, dogs, all that stuff.

[00:13:09]Jim Walker: They're searching alleys behind buildings, construction sites, pastures, rivers, gorges, tunnels.

[00:13:19]Vincent Strange: There was a magazine in the parking lot.

[00:13:23]Rodney told police the story of being hit on the head with a gun.

[00:13:26]Obviously, when he tried to shoot Rodney, the magazine had fallen out in the parking lot.

[00:13:30]Jim Walker: The reason the pistol didn't go off, the perpetrator was hitting Rodney when Rodney fell out with Carla.

[00:13:37]He ejected his own clip.

[00:13:38]And there was a bullet in the chamber, but that gun could not be fired without the clip being inserted.

[00:13:45]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> Police had their</i> <i> first real piece of evidence.</i> <i> The attacker had a Ruger</i> <i>.22 pistol, a recent model.</i> <i> What they didn't have</i> <i> was Carla or the name</i> <i> of the person who'd taken her.</i> ♪ ♪ - It was frightening to know that there was someone out there who could do something like that.

[00:14:09]Jane Monckton-Smith: Carla was abducted from a public place.

[00:14:13]She was abducted in front of a witness as well.

[00:14:16]Now, that's an incredibly reckless thing for the abductor to do.

[00:14:22]This is somebody who's particularly dangerous.

[00:14:26]Jim Walker: There's a panic in this house, spirit of fear.

[00:14:29]♪ ♪ Law enforcement started constantly streaming through that front door for several days.

[00:14:37][somber music] narrator: On the Monday morning, her shell-shocked classmates at Western Hills High School struggled to make sense of what had happened to their friend.

[00:14:51]Cathy O'Neal: They were devastated.

[00:14:52]They were like shell shocked.

[00:14:54]I don't know how they managed through school that day.

[00:14:56]♪ ♪ - There was a lot of speculation about it being classmates and even Rodney McCoy.

[00:15:03]- Maybe he's got her captive somewhere.

[00:15:05]Maybe he drove her out of town.

[00:15:07]It was those kinds of speculations.

[00:15:10]♪ ♪ Jim Walker: 98% of the time, it's somebody that knows their victim and the victim knows the perpetrator.

[00:15:21]narrator:<i> The school itself</i> <i> became a focus of inquiry.</i> <i> Detectives spoke</i> <i> to students about the night</i> <i> of the dance in a bid</i> <i> to locate anyone Carla</i> <i> may have interacted with.</i> Cathy O'Neal: I went to the principal's office.

[00:15:35]And when I got there, there was a police officer and a detective and our principal.

[00:15:41]They explained to me that because of what had happened to Carla.

[00:15:44]They would like for me to look at all of the photo negatives from the Valentine's dance that the yearbook photographer had taken.

[00:15:51]And I didn't see anything.

[00:15:54]narrator:<i> As the hours</i> <i> turned to days,</i> <i> local, state,</i> <i> and federal forces,</i> <i> as well as family</i> <i> and friends were all</i> <i> active in the hunt for Carla.</i> Jim Walker: She just disappeared out of the parking lot.

[00:16:08]I met FBI agents, Texas Rangers, sheriff's department, City of Fort Worth, Benbrook, detectives, law enforcement officers.

[00:16:18]I do remember a palpable tension because I think these seasoned law enforcement officers knew the longer without results, the more likely negative outcome.

[00:16:29][suspenseful music] Cathy O'Neal: A lot of my classmates were part of those search groups that were just going out and walking fields and walking around Benbrook Lake, walking at different places where they thought that they could find something, anything that would have to do with Carla's case.

[00:16:46]Jim Walker: A team of officers were working a road that's now called Pearl Ranch Road.

[00:16:51]There was cattle culverts you could hardly see.

[00:16:54]One of the officers got out of the car while the other officer was waiting, and he went over and leaned over and looked under, and he said, she's here.

[00:17:02][somber music] Vincent Strange: She was found in a culvert, concrete culvert where cattle crossed through under the road.

[00:17:13]And she's found deceased.

[00:17:15]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> At 6:35 PM</i> <i> on the 20th of February,</i> <i> three days after she</i> <i> was taken, Carla's body</i> <i> was found 5 miles southwest</i> <i> of the Ridglea bowling alley.</i> <i> The case was now</i> <i> a homicide investigation.</i> - I don't know if you've ever heard a guttural scream from a mom who just found her baby dead.

[00:17:48]♪ ♪ It was one of those kind of screams.

[00:17:51]It's hard to articulate the sound.

[00:17:55]Cathy O'Neal: That night at the 10 o'clock news, there was actual footage of them taking the body bag out of the culvert near Benbrook Lake.

[00:18:04]I will never forget that feeling of seeing a body bag and knowing that there was someone I knew inside that body bag.

[00:18:12]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> That same evening at</i> <i> the All Saints Hospital morgue,</i> <i> Carla's body was autopsied.</i> <i> It revealed multiple injuries,</i> <i> evidence of sexual assault,</i> <i> and strangulation.</i> Cathy O'Neal: They found traces of morphine.

[00:18:34]Yeah, the medical examiner did say that she had been kept alive and hadn't been dead that long.

[00:18:40]But she didn't die there in the culvert.

[00:18:42]She had died before.

[00:18:43]Jane Monckton-Smith: During that time, she was probably going through the most horrendous experience.

[00:18:50]And the person who abducted her was clearly enjoying hurting her, making her frightened, dominating her or he would have killed her straight away.

[00:19:03]Vincent Strange: I know the parents were freaked out and beginning to keep their kids in at weekend nights.

[00:19:08]Cathy O'Neal: From that day forward, we locked our car doors.

[00:19:12]To this day, when I get in the car, the door gets locked.

[00:19:16]narrator:<i> On February</i> <i> the 22nd, just two days after</i> <i> the discovery of her</i> <i> body, Carla's funeral</i> <i> was held at the Western</i> <i> Hills Church of Christ.</i> <i> It was attended by more</i> <i> than 1,200 mourners.</i> Jim Walker: 1,000-plus people were there.

[00:19:32]The procession line going from the church, which was law enforcement had it all wired up and was recording, taking pictures of everybody thinking that perhaps the suspect would be there.

[00:19:43]Jane Monckton-Smith: There's always the possibility that in a crime like this, that maybe the killer will turn up at the funeral or will be standing around on the edges or will be watching.

[00:19:55]And the police will always want to be mindful of that.

[00:19:59]Cathy O'Neal: They had us all file by the open casket, and that is probably one of the most traumatizing things I remember from that, especially at that age.

[00:20:07]The poor girl had been beaten and strangled and it was simply horrific.

[00:20:13]I had nightmares.

[00:20:14]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> The funeral yielded</i> <i> nothing on Carla's killer.</i> <i> The best lead investigators had</i> <i> was eyewitness Rodney McCoy.</i> Jane Monckton-Smith: Carla's boyfriend, Rodney, would be a prime suspect.

[00:20:31]When a woman dies, the first suspect will always be the intimate partner, the boyfriend.

[00:20:38]Geoffrey Wansell: Rodney McCoy, was interviewed.

[00:20:41]But the problem the authorities had was that because of his head injuries, he couldn't remember very clearly what had happened to him on that fateful night on the 16th of February, 1974.

[00:20:53]They sent him to a hypnotherapist to see if they could dislodge his memories.

[00:21:21]- He said the guy was dressed like a cowboy.

[00:21:24]I do remember him saying he had a vest of some sort.

[00:21:27]narrator:<i> Basing</i> <i> their investigation</i> <i> on the magazine cartridge</i> <i> left at the scene,</i> <i> the Bureau of Alcohol,</i> <i> Tobacco, and Firearms</i> <i> were enlisted to find Fort</i> <i> Worth-registered owners</i> <i> of Ruger pistols.</i> <i> With no gun database,</i> <i> it was a mammoth task</i> <i> taking hundreds of man hours.</i> Vincent Strange: So they began a check of all the Ruger pistols which that magazine belonged to in the area.

[00:21:55]- Authorities came back with around 30 names.

[00:21:58]The police take their time and interview each one of the 30 people who owned a Ruger 22.

[00:22:06]One of the people they interview is Glen McCurley Jr, the truck driver.

[00:22:12]narrator:<i> As with</i> <i> the other Ruger 22 owners,</i> <i> McCurley was brought</i> <i> in for questioning.</i> Jim Walker: He said that his gun was stolen.

[00:22:22]He said I was fishing and my-- always took this gun for safety.

[00:22:27]Had it wrapped up in a towel under the front seat of my truck and I could hear a truck spinning off and taking off.

[00:22:33]And so I went up there to check my truck, and lo and behold, my gun was gone.

[00:22:36]And he said that happened, like, before Carla was abducted.

[00:22:39]Vincent Strange: Police didn't have anything else on this guy.

[00:22:41]They gave him a polygraph test.

[00:22:43]And from what I understand, he passed.

[00:22:46]- Very, very little evidence.

[00:22:48]We're in the days before DNA.

[00:22:50]There's no CCTV.

[00:22:51]There's no number plate recognition.

[00:22:54]It just goes cold.

[00:22:55]narrator:<i> Despite</i> <i> the efforts of investigators,</i> <i> all leads had been exhausted.</i> <i> For over four</i> <i> decades, the stranger</i> <i> who abducted, raped, and</i> <i> murdered Carla Walker remained</i> <i> a free man until invisible</i> <i> evidence left behind</i> <i> at the crime scene</i> <i> finally led detectives</i> <i> to the killer's door.</i> [dramatic music] <i> In the decades that followed</i> <i> the 1974 rape and murder</i> <i> of 17-year-old Carla</i> <i> Walker, her family in Fort</i> <i> Worth refused to give up hope.</i> Vincent Strange: Cindy, her sister, and Carla's mom spent a lot of their time, a lot of their lives keeping Carla's story alive.

[00:23:46]Jim Walker: I saw my mom from '74 until really '79 what I know now to be go through chronic clinical depression.

[00:23:57]She still got up.

[00:23:58]She still washed clothes, made dinner, tried to have happy Christmases, happy events.

[00:24:04]But she had changed.

[00:24:05]My dad was, to me, my hero because he carried my mom.

[00:24:09]narrator:<i> The mystery of Carla</i> <i> Walker's unsolved murder</i> <i> was one which never went away.</i> - These cases never get absolutely shut down.

[00:24:19]They never say case closed where they haven't arrested anybody.

[00:24:24]So it becomes what we refer to as a cold case.

[00:24:28]- 1974, 1978, 1985, every time a new lead came in, they jumped on it and they investigated it thoroughly.

[00:24:35]It was one of those cases that detectives worked their whole careers on.

[00:24:38]And so as the cases would go through and technology would change, it would come back up.

[00:24:43]- Things kind of quieted down and then things would pop up if there was a suspect.

[00:24:49]But then they would say that he had been cleared or whatever.

[00:24:52]Kim D'Avignon: You would have conversations semi-regularly about, hey, there's this new technology.

[00:24:58]Should we try it?

[00:24:59]Hey, we are thinking about sending this off for testing.

[00:25:01]What do you think?

[00:25:04]narrator:<i> In 2016, Carla's</i> <i> story caught the attention</i> <i> of podcaster Vincent Strange.</i> <i> It would catapult the case</i> <i> back into the spotlight.</i> - I came upon Carla's story, just, kind of, internet search, and it grabbed me right away.

[00:25:24]There was one Facebook page.

[00:25:27]It was Justice for Carla, and there was just no activity on it.

[00:25:31]There was nothing happening.

[00:25:33]We need to get this out before the public.

[00:25:36]Shine a light back on it.

[00:25:38]- When Vincent called me out of the blue at my job one day and just he introduced himself.

[00:25:44]And he said, I was told that you were the high school yearbook editor and that you knew a lot of people and that you might be able to help me get it started.

[00:25:53]narrator:<i> Carla's</i> <i> friends and family</i> <i> took part in the podcast.</i> <i> The renewed interest</i> <i> in her murder</i> <i> motivated her</i> <i> brother to give it</i> <i> one more shot with the police.</i> [light music] Geoffrey Wansell: Jim, who was only 12 when the killing took place, never forgot and kept in touch with the detectives throughout the ensuing years, badgering them to look into what might have happened, keeping on at them.

[00:26:24]Kim D'Avignon: Fort Worth PD had reopened the case at Jim Walker's urging.

[00:26:28]He literally called up the cold case department and said, all right, I hear there's a new detective and I need y'all to start looking at it again.

[00:26:35]- Leah Wagner, cold case detective, received a call from Jim that was stern and pretty to the point.

[00:26:41]Jim Walker: You've worked hard.

[00:26:43]Problem is, whoever killed my sister is either dead, dying, or getting extremely old right now.

[00:26:51]I think we need a new set of eyes on Carla's case because we're running out of daylight.

[00:26:56]And I would like to find this person while he's got a pulse.

[00:27:00]narrator:<i> The paperwork</i> <i> on the case was extensive, over</i> <i> 6,000 pages of information.</i> - There were two banker boxes filled with handwritten notes of leads and investigation tips and investigations the police had begun on their own.

[00:27:15]They truly left no stone unturned.

[00:27:17]Vincent Strange: They were re-interviewing everyone.

[00:27:19]I know a lot of that focus was on Rodney still.

[00:27:32]Kim D'Avignon: Every time a new investigator would pick up the case and they would ride write out their who I want to talk to list, Rodney was always number one on the list.

[00:27:38]I think the ultimate list maybe had 38 people on it.

[00:27:42]Let's re-interview these people.

[00:27:44]narrator:<i> The team were</i> <i> hopeful that DNA testing</i> <i> could help the investigation.</i> <i> The science did</i> <i> not exist in 1974,</i> <i> but perhaps now could help</i> <i> name the rapist and murderer.</i> Kim D'Avignon: And so we went to go pull the evidence to see what we had.

[00:28:01]And when I tell you it is like an angel spoke to the crime scene officers in 1974, they did everything right.

[00:28:08]They preserved it in ways they didn't even know were going to be so important.

[00:28:12]Geoffrey Wansell: DNA tests are expensive, there's no question of that.

[00:28:16]And to carry out the DNA tests that was necessary on Carla's clothing would have cost $20,000.

[00:28:24]narrator:<i> Vincent Strange's</i> <i> podcast about Carla's murder</i> <i> had gained a lot of exposure.</i> <i> One listener, a TV presenter,</i> <i> offered to put up the money</i> <i> to fund the DNA testing.</i> <i> In 2019, an unexpected</i> <i> call came</i> <i> in to the police department.</i> Kim D'Avignon: They got a call from NBC Universal saying, we want to do a case in your cold case division.

[00:28:53]The detectives were literally working on Carla Walker's case at the time.

[00:28:57]And so they paid for some testing.

[00:29:00]Whatever our DNA was going to come from, it was going to come from Carla's clothes.

[00:29:06]There was so much of Rodney's blood on her dress from his head injury.

[00:29:12]Finding DNA on the dress that was not Carla's and was not Rodney's was hard to do.

[00:29:19]There was definitely a male sample that didn't belong to Rodney, that was semen, was on Carla's bra strap.

[00:29:26]And so in 2020, they say, here we go.

[00:29:31]And we waited.

[00:29:33]We get the call that says there were no matches.

[00:29:40]And it was so disheartening.

[00:29:44]Geoffrey Wansell: Not one single hit is found.

[00:29:45]Not one.

[00:29:47]Well, we're back at square one except we aren't.

[00:29:50]Another DNA test is conducted by a different company.

[00:29:54][suspenseful music] Kim D'Avignon: We had so little DNA left to test.

[00:29:59]We had 4 nanograms, which is nothing.

[00:30:00]It's nothing.

[00:30:02]And we knew this was it.

[00:30:03]We had one shot to test it.

[00:30:05]Jim Walker: They were able to take these, like, maybe two cells.

[00:30:09]Starting in June of 2020, they started working Carla's case.

[00:30:15]Kim D'Avignon: When you get forensic genetic genealogy results, they don't tell you who a person is.

[00:30:20]You're going to have a list of someone who is in the database for having given their DNA to a commercial database.

[00:30:26]And what you get is, hey, we know this person here is a second-degree, a third-degrees away relative.

[00:30:35]narrator:<i> On Independence</i> <i> Day weekend of 2020,</i> <i> the DNA tests finally</i> <i> revealed a familial match.</i> Kim D'Avignon: We've got a family named McCurley we think you should look into.

[00:30:46]There were three boys.

[00:30:48]They lived in the Denton area.

[00:30:49]And before he can even finish talking, Detective Bennett, who knew the file backwards and forwards, which is an impossibility given the size of the file, but he did, he hops up and says, I know Glen McCurley.

[00:31:01]He's on our list.

[00:31:03]♪ ♪ Jim Walker: And I think he had 84 suspects on that list.

[00:31:09]I think McCurley was 18th on that list.

[00:31:12]narrator:<i> The DNA</i> <i> analysis linked</i> <i> semen found on Carla's bra</i> <i> strap to the McCurley family.</i> <i> Next, they set out</i> <i> to demonstrate that it belonged</i> <i> to the man they</i> <i> interviewed in 1974</i> <i> about the Ruger.22 pistol, the</i> <i> now 77-year-old Glen McCurley.</i> Kim D'Avignon: We did what's called a trash run, which means you wait until someone puts their trash out on the street because then it is no longer private property.

[00:31:47]And in the middle of the night, the police come and take a trash bag.

[00:31:50]And they take it back to the lab and you try to find things in the trash that you know are going to have DNA on it.

[00:31:55]In this particular case, it was a McDonald's straw.

[00:31:58]- Law enforcement did all their due diligence redoing a DNA profile to make sure the profile that came out of the trash grab was the same profile discovered on the inside of Carla's bra strap, which was a semen.

[00:32:10]narrator:<i> To make sure</i> <i> the DNA evidence would</i> <i> be admissible</i> <i> in court, detectives</i> <i> needed to obtain an official</i> <i> DNA sample from Glen McCurley.</i> <i> Police went to his home</i> <i> to speak to him again.</i> - Glen McCurley is an upright member of the community.

[00:32:33]He and his wife, Judy, were churchgoers.

[00:32:35]They're well known in that suburb of Fort Worth.

[00:32:38]He hesitates for a moment and then agrees to have his cheek swabbed for DNA.

[00:32:51]- We had a search warrant ready to go, but he ultimately consensually gave his DNA.

[00:32:56]We'd sent that back off to the lab and they said, this matches the straw, which matches the bra, which matches the crime.

[00:33:03]And so all of a sudden, we had-- after 47 years, we had finally solved it.

[00:33:14]Jim Walker: Glen Samuel McCurley, it was the guy who killed my sister.

[00:33:18]Vincent Strange: At a press conference in Fort Worth, it was announced. His name was announced.

[00:33:22]It was a shock to everyone because this was a guy who lived blocks from Carla.

[00:33:28]Cathy O'Neal: He had sons that went to Western Hills.

[00:33:30]His wife, Judy, worked in the nursery at one of the churches that a lot of people went to.

[00:33:36]His family was known in the area.

[00:33:39]Jim Walker: Since 1974 until the day he was arrested, he drove up and down Williams Road almost every day, drove by the house.

[00:33:45]He knew exactly where we lived.

[00:33:46]I'm pretty sure he came by here when we had garage sales.

[00:33:49]- He is a man who was able to commit this heinous crime and live amongst us like he's a normal person.

[00:33:55]There's nothing more terrifying than that.

[00:33:57]narrator:<i> After so many</i> <i> years of torment,</i> <i> Carla Walker's loved ones</i> <i> were within touching distance</i> <i> of the truth about her</i> <i> brutal rape and murder</i> <i> in February 1974.</i> <i> But Glen McCurley wasn't</i> <i> going down without a fight.</i> <i> And at his upcoming trial, he</i> <i> was going to plead not guilty.</i> [dramatic music] <i> On September the 21st 2020,</i> <i> the man who detectives had</i> <i> linked with the murder</i> <i> of 17-year-old</i> <i> Carla Walker was arrested.</i> <i> Glen McCurley was taken</i> <i> to the police station to be</i> <i> interviewed about that fateful</i> <i> night of February the 16th,</i> <i> 1974.</i> [sinister music] ♪ ♪ - They went to his home and they arrested him.

[00:34:58]And they took him to the police station and they interviewed him.

[00:35:09]Kim D'Avignon: For the first hour, he starts saying he doesn't even know who Carla Walker is.

[00:35:20]narrator:<i> During</i> <i> the three-hour interview,</i> <i> police work to get</i> <i> a confession from McCurley.</i> Kim D'Avignon: No matter how many times I watch that video-- Kim D'Avignon: --every time I hold my breath where he pauses and he gets real quiet and he puts his head down.

[00:36:06]- That's basically his confession there.

[00:36:08]They got him.

[00:36:10]Kim D'Avignon: He says I strangled that little girl.

[00:36:13]Justice was going to be served that day.

[00:36:16]It was a pretty magical moment.

[00:36:18]- McCurley said that he was saving Carla.

[00:36:21]That Rodney was assaulting her and he kind of comes in and saves the day.

[00:36:26]She went with him willingly, and they started having consensual relations.

[00:36:37]Kim D'Avignon: We know that's not what happened, but it does definitely put him there with her, which was the important part.

[00:36:43]narrator:<i> After</i> <i> 46 years, McCurley</i> <i> had admitted</i> <i> to being responsible</i> <i> for the death of Carla Walker.</i> <i> And he had another confession</i> <i> about the gun he'd claimed</i> <i> was stolen.</i> - He also tells them where he's hidden the gun, a Ruger.22 he's wrapped in a towel and put it in the attic of his house.

[00:37:03]You might ask yourself, why on Earth did he keep the gun?

[00:37:07]Was it a souvenir, a trophy?

[00:37:10]- No one thought he kept the gun.

[00:37:12]We didn't even think to ask it because why would you?

[00:37:15]Jane Monckton-Smith: He could relive what he did to Carla through that gun.

[00:37:19]But they do like to relive their crimes, visit back those feelings that they felt when they were committing those crimes.

[00:37:28]And that gun was a link for him.

[00:37:31]- So the police leave the interview and go back to his house and look.

[00:37:35]And sure enough, there's the gun.

[00:37:38]In 2020, court systems were taking a little bit of a break due to COVID.

[00:37:42]Due to McCurley's age, we knew we needed to try it sooner rather than later.

[00:37:47]Jim Walker: When we started going through pre-trial hearings in May of 2021, and I knew justice was going to be served, I knew I personally would be able to make sure he would never, ever breathe the air of a free man.

[00:38:01]- We knew, obviously, the biggest portion of this case that was going to be contested would be the new science, the forensic genetic genealogy.

[00:38:08]It actually had never been admitted in the United States at that point.

[00:38:13]narrator:<i> In Tarrant County</i> <i> Criminal District Court number</i> <i> 1, Carla's friends</i> <i> and family had</i> <i> their first glimpse of the man</i> <i> accused of her murder</i> <i> almost half a century ago.</i> Kim D'Avignon: He was actually kind of an imposing figure.

[00:38:28]He was very tall.

[00:38:29]He definitely had, kind of, a gruff exterior the whole time.

[00:38:34]He also was in a wheelchair even though I had seen him walk in and out of the courtroom on days when the cameras weren't there.

[00:38:42]- He just looked like a confused, angry old man.

[00:38:45]He had cancer.

[00:38:47]He wasn't expected to live long.

[00:38:48]I certainly had no sympathy for him.

[00:38:52]narrator:<i> Inside</i> <i> the courtroom, Carla's friends</i> <i> and family sat on one side.</i> <i> On the other, those who'd</i> <i> come to support the defendant</i> <i> Glen McCurley.</i> - Watching his son was pretty brutal.

[00:39:05]His son was just devastated.

[00:39:08]It was unbelievable, the pain in his eyes and his face.

[00:39:11]McCurley's wife, on the other hand, they were blowing each other kisses and stuff like that during the trial.

[00:39:16]It was a bit strange.

[00:39:19]narrator:<i> In the courthouse,</i> <i> under the glare</i> <i> of the national</i> <i> media, the prosecution</i> <i> worked hard to tell the story</i> <i> of what had happened to Carla.</i> Jane Monckton-Smith: On the night that Carla was abducted, McCurley's wife was away so he had complete freedom, really, to come and go from the house.

[00:39:40]- His wife happened to be out of town.

[00:39:42]He went out drinking, and he certainly knew what he was looking for, I think.

[00:39:48]He didn't just stumble across Carla on accident.

[00:39:52]He was lying in wait for somebody.

[00:39:54]Geoffrey Wansell: How did he manage to confront his wife at church every Sunday morning, knowing that he'd quite premeditatedly taken this young girl's life?

[00:40:06]Without a moment's hesitation.

[00:40:07]And what's more, tortured her, dumped her, raped her.

[00:40:09]How do you do that?

[00:40:12]- I saw the trial every day, even though I wasn't there in person.

[00:40:16]And when Leah Wagner, the detective, pulled Carla's dress out of that evidence bag, it took my breath away.

[00:40:25]To see that dress again just put me right back to 1974.

[00:40:29][ominous music] ♪ ♪ Kim D'Avignon: This wasn't a minimal crime by any stretch of the imagination.

[00:40:38]She was beat from head to toe and strangled and raped.

[00:40:42]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> At the start</i> <i> of the third day</i> <i> of Carla Walker's murder trial,</i> <i> Glen McCurley, who for so long</i> <i> had denied his role in Carla's</i> <i> murder, spoke to his attorney.</i> Kim D'Avignon: The medical examiner and Carla's brother, Jim, were going to testify.

[00:41:06]They were about to go through that in excruciating detail.

[00:41:09]And I think he just didn't want to sit through it and didn't want his family to hear it and so he asked to plead guilty.

[00:41:16]The judge has him sit down and says, are you pleading guilty?

[00:41:19]And all of a sudden the room got silent.

[00:41:22]♪ ♪ Cathy O'Neal: That was pretty amazing.

[00:41:26]I don't think any of us expected that.

[00:41:29]Kim D'Avignon: I remember turning around and looking at the Walker family and just thinking, I can't believe I get to be here for this moment.

[00:41:36]♪ ♪ narrator:<i> On the morning of</i> <i> Tuesday, August the 21st, 2021,</i> <i> almost half a century</i> <i> since Carla's murder,</i> <i> 78-year-old Glen McCurley</i> <i> pleaded guilty to capital</i> <i> murder and was sentenced</i> <i> to life in prison without</i> <i> the possibility of parole.</i> <i> For Jim Walker, it provided</i> <i> the opportunity that he'd</i> <i> waited nearly 50 years for.</i> <i> To look the man who killed</i> <i> his sister in the eye.</i> - Because I believe in God, I'm a Christian.

[00:42:15]So I told him, I said, I want you to know, I forgive you.

[00:42:17]And I hope and pray to see you in heaven.

[00:42:20]- Never in my career have I ever seen anything like that.

[00:42:23]Never probably will again.

[00:42:26]So then I see Jim begin to hug McCurley's son.

[00:42:32]- I tell his son, you don't own the sins of your dad.

[00:42:34]It's not on you.

[00:42:35]You've been victimized as well.

[00:42:38]- He was 12 when his sister died, and he had the grace to walk over and hug that man's family and show them love.

[00:42:48]Jim Walker: I was so happy for our community, for Carla's friends.

[00:42:52]I was so happy for Rodney because he'd been under a cloud of suspicion for decades.

[00:42:56]I can't describe the peace other than I know where it came from.

[00:42:59]I had peace and I still have peace.

[00:43:01]narrator:<i> Nine months</i> <i> after his conviction,</i> <i> in one final desperate</i> <i> act, Glen McCurley</i> <i> appealed his conviction.</i> <i> But the killer</i> <i> was unsuccessful.</i> Jim Walker: I pushed for the death penalty.

[00:43:15]But because of his age, we figured he was going to die in prison anyway.

[00:43:22]- The appeal process was finalized in May of 2023, and McCurley died in prison that summer.

[00:43:31]narrator:<i> On the 14th</i> <i> of July, 2023,</i> <i> 80-year-old Glen McCurley</i> <i> died in the Gib Lewis Unit,</i> <i> Texas, taking his</i> <i> secrets to the grave.</i> Cathy O'Neal: He never said why.

[00:43:44]He never really said how.

[00:43:46]The police who found her body said that she wasn't killed there.

[00:43:50]She was killed somewhere else and dumped there.

[00:43:52]There's still a lot of questions that we would have liked answered.

[00:43:56]narrator:<i> For the family,</i> <i> justice for Carla,</i> <i> but also a legacy offering</i> <i> hope for other families</i> <i> that forensic genetic</i> <i> genealogy be available to help</i> <i> solve their cases.</i> Jim Walker: The Carla Walker Act will provide forensic genetic genealogy funds to focus in on cold cases and get those cold cases worked, hopefully resolved.

[00:44:23]Never give up.

[00:44:25]You're the voice for your loved one.

[00:44:26]I don't know why we go through these things, but remember, goodness is always there for there's good people there who want to walk through this difficult time with you.

[00:44:35]But don't give up.

[00:44:36]Have hope.

[00:44:38]narrator:<i> He abducted, raped,</i> <i> and killed a young girl</i> <i> in the prime of her life.</i> <i> He spent a lifetime watching</i> <i> the carnage he'd caused</i> <i> and the ruined lives</i> <i> of those left behind.</i> <i> Because of this, Glen</i> <i> Samuel McCurley's name</i> <i> will be remembered as one of</i> <i> the</i> World's Most Evil Killers.

[00:44:58][surging music] ♪ ♪ [audio logo]