Geoffrey C. Fuller - The WVU Coed Murders: Who Killed Mared and Karen?

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2021 by Hawk Mulch, LLC

All rights reserved

First published 2021

E-Book year 2021

ISBN 978.1.4396.7396.6

Library of Congress Control Number 2021943434

Print Edition ISBN 978.1.4671.4616.6

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the authors or The History Press. The authors and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

GEOFF

To my father, Winston Fuller, my first and best writing teacher, and my stepmother Louise Lamar-Fuller, whose recent passing left the world a darker place. I love and thank you both.

SARAH

To my husband, Eric: Thank you for the encouragement, the emotional and mental support and never getting sick of the same topic.

To J. Kendall Perkinson: The work that youve put into this story helped us reach more people who wanted a voice in it. Your contribution to this project is invaluable, thank you.

And also to Greg Carte and Sydney Pringle, for their never-ending support and obsessive promotion: Thank you both for everything.

Lastly, to my coauthor, Geoff: Your kind guidance, patience and unwavering determination have been the backbone of this book. Thank you.

AUTHORS NOTE

The full story of the coed murders is reconstructed from newspaper coverage, police reports, court records, WVU records and extensive interviews with reporters, police, WVU personnel and students and other people who were there. The story that unfolds covers fifty years, from 1970 to the present. Much of the information was corroborated by multiple sources. When only a single source was availablea single police report, one newspaper article or an author interview with a single personthe story is told in present tense, as a scene. The settings, circumstances and topics discussed in these scenes mirror the source material, although some of the details and all of the specific quotations are author invention.

If you have information that clarifies, expands or contradicts our research, please let us know. We have tried to present the most authoritative case possible, but a fifty-year-old tragedy presents its difficulties. We may have inadvertently included erroneous information. Help us correct that.

You can reach us 24/7 at coedmurders.com. There, you can also sign up for our bonus newsletters, which keep you up to date on new developments in the case and offer you glimpses of investigative dead ends and scenes we had to cut from the book due to lack of space.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are thankful to many people who helped over the years. Without their invaluable assistance, the stories in this book would be far less complete.

Valena Beety

Alexis Berry

Nancy Burkhammer

Patrick Buzzini

George Castelle

Russell Clawges

Mark Crabtree

Jim Elkins

Ray Evans

Kathie Forman

Karin Fuller

Maureen Glass

Candace Jordan

Carl Kimble

John Kimble

Ressie Kimble

Eric McLaughlin

Lawrence C. Messina

Margie Miller

Mary Mullett

Holly Naylor

Dimas Ponch Reyes

Ron Rittenhouse

Brad Stalnaker

Stephanie Thompson

Celeste Vingle

Jacque Weiss

Jim Wilt

Barb Yingling

Thank you all for everything.

And we want to call attention to the people whose assistance was far beyond what we expected or deserved. Thank you for making yourselves available when there was no reason for you to be, for pitching in where there was no expectation that you would, for not hanging up or cutting us off when there was every fear that you might and for acting as sounding boards to keep us focused and on track. To you, we shout out our great appreciation.

Kelly Ayers

Chris Berry

Nick DeMedici

R. Korshi Dosoo

Bob Leatherow

Freda Moore

J. Kendall Perkinson

Evelyn Ryan

Tyrone Trujillo

READER GUIDE

This complex story involves many people over fifty years. To help the reader keep track of whos who, we list here people who are mentioned more than once and whose identity might not be immediately obvious. In some cases, we had to rely on the spelling of the name given in West Virginia State Police (WVSP) or FBI reports, and in the 1970 reports names were sometimes spelled in more than one way. Lastly, in some cases in The WVU Coed Murders, the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Amma*

Anonymous source convinced that Dale and Jimmy Daft killed Mared and Karen and burned the evidence in a barrel.

Aucremanne, Stephanie

WVU student who said she was interviewed by the FBI.

Bailes, Candace Candy

One of two WVU students kidnapped in March 1970.

Berry, Chris

WVSP corporal who helped with the authors investigations.

Best, Nancy Elizabeth

WVU student and resident of Westchester Hall. Witnessed Karens illness and her fears.

Blankenship, Maxine

Had unsettling encounter with a young blond man around Thanksgiving 1969.

Bonar, R.L.

Colonel Robert L. Bonar, superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety (WVSP). Accused of malfeasance on April 23, 1970, by Trooper Gooden.

Bowers, William A.

Monongalia County justice of the peace and county coroner. Speculated to the press about the killer being a madman on LSD.

Burns, Paulette Itsy

WVU student and resident of Westchester Hall who was walking with Clarence Skip Lewis when they saw Mared and Karen hitchhiking a ride.

Cain, Glen Franklin

WVU student photographed on April 16, 1970, pointing to Mareds and Karens remains.

Carter, Donald

Psychiatrist with WVU, one of the profilers of the author of the Triangle Letters, heavily involved with psychological assessments of Clawson.

Casazza, Lawrence Larry

Mareds high school boyfriend. Said by other Westchester residents to have violent tendencies.

Castelle, George

Law clerk who examined all the evidence from Eugene Clawsons 1976 trial for Justice Thomas B. Miller of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

Claro, Jeanne

Reported lewd conduct and, according to Stephanie Aucremanne, was interviewed by the FBI.

Clawson, Eugene Paul

Convicted twice for the abduction and decapitations of Mared Malarik and Karen Ferrell.

Cobun, Herbert

Victim of William Bernard Hacker whose headless body was found on the Kimble farm.

Cole, Kenneth Kenny Franklin

Resident of the Weirton Mine Section and thought by some to be a Peeping Tom.

Costianes, Elias

Mareds dentist in Morgantown. Briefly suspected by WVSP in 1970 investigation and looked at in more depth by Richard Hall.

Crutchley, John Brennan

Convicted in 1985 of kidnapping and sexual battery of a hitchhiker whom he held captive while he drained and drank her blood and raped her. Investigated for the deaths of as many as thirty other women. Geoff s leading suspect.