Mainstream media will often glamorize the “bad-boy” stereotype into something romantic. However, when the “bad-boy” is left fully unchecked, all of that rage can turn deadly. In the case of Charles Starkweather, immortalized in modern media, his unchecked rage definitely turned deadly.
Charles Starkweather was born on November 24th, 1938, in Lincoln, Nebraska. His family was a working-class family, who struggled financially. Starkweather’s father, a carpenter, was often left unemployed due to complications with rheumatoid arthritis. To try to compensate, Starkweather’s mother worked as a waitress.
This often didn’t leave a lot of time, or leftover income, to care for the children’s needs. As such, they were often left marginally neglected, and hungry.
Despite this, Starkweather claimed that he had a relatively happy childhood. He was one of seven children, and was very close with his brothers growing up. In contrast to this, Starkweather did not have a good time at school.
Starkweather had been born with misshapen legs, and a mild speech impediment. As such, he was routinely, and cruelly, harassed and bullied at school.
As Starkweather grew older, he grew stronger, and taller. He learned that he did really well at physical activities. He did especially well in his school’s gym class. During these classes, he would channel his rage, and use it against all of those who had bullied him.
The victim soon became the bully, as Starkweather got his revenge against all of his classmates whom he felt had unfairly mistreated him. Soon, his rage grew uncontrollable, and he took his anger out on anyone and everyone.
During his teenage years, as his rage was growing, Starkweather began to idolize the iconic actor James Dean. Starkweather felt that he could relate to the actor, as James Dean presented himself as an outcast, and Starkweather himself felt ousted by his peers.
As such, Starkweather firmly decided that he was done with school. He figured he didn’t need it anyway. By the time he’d dropped out and started working full time, even his family was terrified of his rage-filled outbursts.
In 1956, an 18-year-old Charles Starkweather met 13-year-old Caril Ann Fugate. He was immediately smitten, while Caril was intimidated.
Starkweather began working in the warehouse of a newspaper to keep tabs on Caril. The warehouse was near Caril’s school, which meant that Starkweather could keep a close eye on her. As his infatuation with her grew, so did her family’s distaste of him. And it seemed he wasn’t welcome in his own home, either.
While teaching Caril how to drive, she crashed the car. The car had belonged to Starkweather’s father. This was the last straw for the family, who were terrified of Starkweather, and knew that he was close to snapping. They informed him that he was no longer welcome in the home.
Following this, Starkweather left his job at the warehouse, and began working as a garbage collector.
Starkweather believed that he deserved better. He and Caril were destined to be together, and do great things. And he was determined to make these things happen.
Starkweather wanted to treat Caril well. He wanted to give her gifts, and cherish her. In his own controlling, and manipulative way.
On the evening of November 30th, 1957, Startkweather went to a service station, where he saw a stuffed animal that he wanted to buy for Caril. He didn’t have the money for it, and asked the attendant, Robert Colvert, if he could sell the stuffed animal to Starkweather on credit. When Robert refused, Starkweather grew incredibly irate.
Starkweather left the service station, but returned multiple times throughout the evening to buy smaller items that he could afford, formulating his plan. Finally, he pulled a shotgun on Robert, and demanded that Robert hand over $100 from the service station’s till.
Then, he forced Robert outside, and into his car. He then drove them to a remote area. Once there, Robert and Starkweather fought over the gun. In the scuffle, Robert was injured, and then shot and murdered by Starkweather. He left Robert in the middle of the road, where he was discovered the following day. (It’s unclear if Starkweather ever took the stuffed animal or not.)
It took 2 months for police to put together the events of Robert’s murder with what was to come, realizing that the murder of Robert Colvert was just the beginning of a nightmare.
On January 21st, 1958, Charles Starkweather approached the Fugate home looking for Caril. Her mother and step-father, Velda and Marion Bartlett, informed Starkweather that he was very unwelcome.
This angered Starkweather, and he fatally shot Velda and Marion in their home. From there, he found Caril’s 2-year-old half-sister, Betty Jean, and clubbed her to death. Before Caril managed to arrive home, he moved the bodies, hiding behind the Fugate home.
Caril told authorities later that when she arrived home, Starkweather met her at the door with a gun and ushered her inside, holding her hostage. He told her that if she cooperated with him, and did as he told, she would see her family again soon.
Starkweather would negate this, claiming that Caril was home the entire time, and had encouraged him to kill her family.
Starkweather and Caril remained in the home for days. They placed a sign on the window, warning visitors away, stating that everyone in the home were ‘sick with the flu’. However, this didn’t deter many people.
Many visitors came and went from the house, wondering how the family were faring. Caril always met them at the door, but refused to let anyone inside.
On January 27th, Caril’s grandmother had called the police out of concern. She hadn’t heard from the family in days, which was highly unusual, and Caril was acting strangely. As the police, and more visitors, kept attempting to check on the family, Starkweather figured it was time to cut and run.
As they drove out of Lincoln, they came up to the farmhouse of 70-year-old August Meyer, in Bennet, Nebraska.
August was known to Starkweather, and they were generally friendly towards each other. As they made their way up the drive, their car got stuck in the mud. Starkweather and Caril decided to walk up the rest of the way, and ask for help.
They knocked on August’s door, and he willingly agreed to assist them get their car out of the mud. August turned back into his house for his coat. When he turned back around, Starkweather shot him in the head. He then also shot August’s dog.
Starkweather and Caril ransacked the house, looking for more guns and money. Caril sat at the kitchen table, eating cookies and jello. She was nervous. The more Starkweather looked around, the more anxious Caril became. She begged him to hurry up. However, they still had the problem of their car being stuck in the mud.
As they returned to the car, a neighbour noticed that they were in trouble. The neighbour helped them get their car out, and then went on their way. Starkweather and Caril took the opportunity to drive around Bennet, checking out the town. Around dusk, they returned to the farmhouse to have a warm, safe place to sleep for the night.
While Starkweather and Caril were in Bennet, Caril’s brother-in-law had returned to Caril’s family home in Lincoln. He, along with one of Starkweather’s brothers, decided to investigate more thoroughly when their knocks went unanswered. It didn’t take them long to find the bodies of Velda, Marion, and Betty Jean Bartlett behind the house.
When it was time for Starkweather and Caril to leave August’s farmhouse, they once again got their car stuck in the mud.
Two local teenager, Robert Jensen and Carol King, found them stranded, and offered to give them a ride where they needed. Starkweather took them up on the opportunity, but didn’t take the ride.
Instead, when Robert’s back was turned, Starkweather shot him in the back of the head. He then attempted to sexually assault Carol, but was unable to. He grew enraged, and fired multiple fatal shots at her, as well. Later, Starkweather would claim that Caril had shot Carol. Caril negates this emphatically, stating that she was in the car during the entire incident.
Now having a car, Starkweather and Caril fled the scene. They decided to head back towards Lincoln, and noticed a very heavy police presence surrounding Caril’s family home.
The pair slipped right by, and continued driving unnoticed. Starkweather then found an alley that he was familiar with from his garbage route, parked the car, and decided this was a good place to sleep for the night.
The following day, the pair drove around to an affluent neighbourhood in Lincoln. There, they parked at the home of C. Lauer Ward, a wealthy industrialist.
They knocked on the door, and were greeted by Ludmila Fencl, the household’s maid. She informed them that the Wards were not home. Starkweather pushed his way into the home, and decided he would wait for them to return. He then stabbed Ludmila to death.
Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Clara Ward returned home. She was also stabbed to death, and placed next to Ludmila. He then proceeded to kill the family dog, to prevent the dog from alerting anyone that anything was amiss inside the house. Starkweather had a plan, but the main actor had yet to arrive.
As Starkweather and Caril were in the Ward home, Startkweather’s car had been found at August Meyer’s farmhouse. Investigators figured that the pair were inside, hiding from the cold and police. They were not prepared for the reality of what had happened. However, they had answers now – Starkweather and Caril were out on a spree, killing anyone they wished.
Later that evening, C. Lauer Ward arrived him, and was immediately shot by Starkweather.
Starkweather would claim the lives of Ludmila and C. Lauer Ward, but insisted that Caril had been the one to stab Clara. Again, Caril emphatically negates this, stating that she was terrified of Starkweather, and he committed all of the murders.
With the patriarch of the Ward house dead, Starkweather and Caril quickly packed up the family’s black 1956 Packard with items, especially jewelry that could be sold, and decided to flee Nebraska. Starkweather knew where he wanted to go – off the grid. He decided they would make their way to Washington state.
When word reached the authorities that the Wards had been murdered, every police officer in Lancaster County was in an uproar. They decided that they needed to find Starkweather and Caril as soon as possible. They patrolled the streets, making house-to-house checks, looking for the pair.
As a search was occurring in Lincoln, Nebraska, Starkweather and Caril were near Douglas, Wyoming.
They heard over the radio that police were aware that they’d taken the Packard, and decided to look for another vehicle to continue their getaway.
On the highway, the pair came across Merle Collison. Merle was a traveling salesman. He’d pulled off the road in order to catch a bit of sleep. Starkweather decided this was the perfect chance to change cars. He woke Merle, and fatally shot him.
As was his habit, Starkweather later claimed that Caril had done the shooting after his gun had jammed. Caril states that this is untrue.
As they moved their things to Merle’s vehicle, Starkweather realized that the car had a parking brake, which was something he wasn’t familiar with. The car stalled, as the brake had not been released, which infuriated him. As he struggled to restart the engine, Joe Sprinkle, a geologist, stopped on his way by to offer his assistance.
Starkweather wanted Joe’s car. He threatened him with his gun, and a struggle between Starkweather and Joe occurred. At that very moment, William Romer, a Natrona County Sheriff’s Deputy, arrived on the scene, having been out on patrol.
When he stopped, Caril jumped out of the stalled car. “It’s Starkweather! He’s going to kill me!” she yelled, as she fell into the arms of the deputy.
Realizing he was in trouble, Starkweather jumped in a car and drove off. He was chased by three law enforcement officers. After a while, one of the officers giving chase, Converse County Sheriff Earl Heflin, took a shot which shattered the windshield of the car Starkweather had been driving. A piece of flying glass cut him deep enough, he believed he’d been truly shot.
On January 29th, 1958, Starkweather stopped the car, and surrendered himself. He was arrested just outside of Douglas, Wyoming.
Starkweather chose to be extradited from Wyoming to Nebraska. At first, he stated that he had kidnapped Caril, and that she had nothing to do with any of the murders. However, he very quickly changed his tune, and gave varying accounts of his story, never telling the same story twice.
When Caril was tried, Starkweather testified against her, and claimed that she was the “most trigger happy” person he had ever met.
Caril maintained her innocence from the very beginning. She stated over and over that Starkweather had been holding her hostage by continually threatening to kill her family. She had no idea that they were already dead. She told the court that she had been terrified of him, and hadn’t felt safe enough to escape until she saw the deputy on the road in Wyoming.
The judge disagreed. He believed that Caril had had many opportunities to escape, and she hadn’t taken them.
On November 21st, 1958, Caril Ann Fugate was convicted as an accomplice to the murder of Robert Jensen. She was sentenced to life in prison.
On May 23rd, 1958, Charles Starkweather was convicted of the murder or Robert Jensen, the only murder for which he was tried. He was sentenced to death.
On June 25th, 1959, Charles Starkweather was executed in the electric chair at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In 1973, Caril Ann Fugate’s life sentence was commuted down to a sentence of 30 to 50 years. In 1976, she was paroled from the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York, Nebraska.
Caril then settled in Hillside, Michigan. She got a job, and got married, changing her name to Caril Ann Clair.
In February of 2020, Caril, 76 years old at the time, made a plea to the Nebraska Pardons Board to have her conviction pardoned. Her request was denied.
The tale of the Nebraska spree killers has been told time, and time again. However, it is important to remember that Charles Starkweather alone bears the responsibility for his actions.
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Sources:
Starkweather Case – City of Lincoln, Nebraska Libraries
Teenage killers murder three people – History.com
The Chilling True Story Of Charles Starkweather, The Teenage Serial Killer Who Terrorized America’s Heartland – Marco Margaritoff; checked by Leah Silverman – All That’s Interesting
We Didn’t Start the Fire: The History Podcast – Starkweather Homicide
Charles Starkweather Wikipedia page