IL IL - Valerie Percy, 21, Kenilworth, 18 September 1966

[Winward1]

Oops, I forgot. There are three, not two, other crimes tied to the Percy case, two home invasions and an attempted burglary.

 

[ophion1031]

I recall Thoresen's wife saying he paid Stoddard to kill Richard Thoresen, but not hearing elsewhere that Thoresen paid others to kill. Seems most of the time he did the killing himself.

There were several times that Thoresen had attempted to pay people to kill for him. He successfully paid two different people to kill his wife. One guy took the money to Mexico and spent it. The other guy gave the money back. There were others he tried to pay to kill his wife and was turned down. He also tried to pay people to kill his parents on more than one occasion. Nobody ever took the job, though. Thoresen did try to kill his parents himself once, but that didn't go so well. He also paid a hitman to kill a guy named Joe Hinojosa, but called the hitman off at the last second because he realized it could be linked back to him. Thoresen and Hinojosa were good friends, but Thoresen's wife left him and stayed with Hinojosa for a short time after William had beat Louise, and he accused the two of having an affair.

He dumped Stoddard's body in the ocean after beating him with a hammer. I have all kinds of info on Thoresen including FBI documents and some papers having to do with Richard Thoresen's insurance policy. William and Richard never got along until Richard got his inheritance and William wanted to get his hands on it. The guy was a lunatic. I know he was traveling around the country at the time of Valerie's murder, and I know he was in Chicago around the time but I can't place him in Chicago on the date of the murder. I have posted a good amount of my Thoresen findings HERE.

Thoresen was also questioned in the 1957 murder of Judith Mae Andersen after he had bragged to a friend about chopping a girl into pieces and dumping her in the lake. Police did not have enough to go after him, though. A couple of people have told me that a wealthy young man like Thoresen would probably not be hanging out in the area of town where Andersen's body was found. I have a newspaper article from around the same time as the murder that places Thoresen in that area. Thoresen once tried to push his mother from a 2nd story balcony and on another occasion he tried to throw his wife from a 20th story hotel window, but his lawyer heard Louise scream from the next room and he busted in and stopped him. He was charged with assault on a hotel employee after breaking the guys arm because his bill was 75 cents more than it should have been. If a rich man is going to break a guys arm over 75 cents then he would have no problem killing his own brother for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I don't have a full arrest record on Thoresen finished just yet, but here are some things worth mentioning:

-1957 Thoresen is stabbed during a scuffle with a parking lot attendant in Evanston, Ill. Thoresen claims that he later hit the same man with his car.
-1958 Charged and fined $50 for shoving a man in Kenilworth, Ill.
-1959 Charged with stealing 6 colored posters from a ferry terminal in Bar Harbor, Maine. Thoresen's father agreed to bail William out as long as he checked into a mental health facility upon their return to Chicago, but William refused. His father bailed him out anyways. William was charged with a felony and placed on 2 years probation. Here is a link that gives more information. Thoresen later tried to appeal this because he was about to start his weapons trial, and being a convicted felon it was illegal for him to own any firearms.
-1964 Accused of lighting dynamite outside of a radio station in Arizona where he and his wife were living. The charges were dropped because the witness was too scared to testify.
-1965 William and Richard Thoresen were named in burglary warrants for breaking into their parents home. Richard was murdered the day before he was to go to trial.
-1966, March 11th Thoresen and Lewis Dale Stoddard were arrested after a high speed chase in one of Thoresen's Ferraris. Police were investigating "suspicious circumstances" outside of Val's Gun Shop on Columbus Ave. in San Francisco. Not sure what the "suspicious circumstances" were. The two were originally charged with assault on a police officer, possession of a blackjack and resisting arrest. The resisting arrest charge stuck and the other charges were dropped.
-1966, December. William and Louise Thoresen, accompanied by J. Curtis Earl (for part of their trip) go around the country buying up all the weapons and ammo they can get their hands on. Louise left some packages at Kennedy airport in NYC. One of the packages accidentally opened and revealed a gun inside. The airport contacted the authorities and Louise was arrested when she came to claim to collect the packages. These packages contained an arsenal, and even more was found in the rental car in Louise's name. William approached the rental car and was confronted by either FBI agents or NYPD (I forget which), who attempted to question Thoresen about the murder of Valerie Percy, but William would not cooperate and went to get his lawyer.
-1967 ATF raids the Thoresen mansion in San Francisco and finds that the house is full of weapons and ammo. Everything from handguns to machine guns to bayonets to anti-aircraft weapons. Over the next few days, the ATF learns of warehouses where Thoresen has even more weapons and ammo, and they find a garage in his neighborhood where he has stored a cannon. In total, they confiscate over 77 tons worth of goodies.
-1967 Charged with assault and bribery in Las Vegas after breaking Joan Jelke's nose and then handing two police officers $5000 in cash each and telling them to "lay off."
-1970 after Thoresen is shot to death by his wife, police search the home they bought in Fresno (they were living there because that is where their trial was being held) and find a bunch more weapons and ammo, a bunch of heroin and LSD, and more than 50 lbs of high grade marijuana. Thoresen and an unidentified woman were to fly to Europe on the night of his death. Police believe he was running drugs. Police also re-searched his San Francisco mansion after his death and found that he was stockpiling weapons there again. They also found 7 slot machines in the home. Pretty weird. The pathologist found needle marks in Thoresen's arm. If you click HERE, you can see a lot of this stuff.

 

[pleasestandby]

Thoresen was also questioned in the 1957 murder of Judith Mae Andersen after he had bragged to a friend about chopping a girl into pieces and dumping her in the lake. Police did not have enough to go after him, though. A couple of people have told me that a wealthy young man like Thoresen would probably not be hanging out in the area of town where Andersen's body was found. I have a newspaper article from around the same time as the murder that places Thoresen in that area.

I don't have a full arrest record on Thoresen finished just yet, but here are some things worth mentioning:

Some interesting points on the Judy Mae Andersen (1520 North Lotus Ave., Chicago, IL and last seen at the Elena Abbatacola residence, 1019 North Central Ave, Chicago) murder.

https://goo.gl/maps/LpeCY

When parts of her body were found in the first drum, her father said it wasn't her because the toenails were lacquered pink, something his daughter never did. The arm also didn't have the vaccination scar he said his daughter had. When the second drum was found, her father again said it wasn't his daughter because the head had black hair (and features that appeared to be Oriental) and his daughter had long blonde hair. Dental records and a fingerprint eventually verified that they were his daughter's body parts.

Scrap metal dealers said whoever packed the body parts in the drums used the same packing technique used by junkyards; slitting the sides and folding them over to form a makeshift lid for overseas shipping. The larger drum had once contained lard oil used mainly in machine shops.

It appears whoever killed her painted her toenails pink and dyed her hair black before (or after her death) to fulfill some twisted fantasy. Four bullets from a .32 revolver were found in her head.

Does your list of known crimes by Thoresen mention anything about habitual sexual crimes? I would think that he would have been officially connected to at least one in his lifetime.

Barry Cook, 24, was a strong suspect in the Andersen murder. He was also questioned in the July 22, 1956 Foster Avenue Beach murder of 50 year old Margaret Gallagher. He flunked the lie detector test on her murder.

One of several articles referenced: Harlingen, Texas Valley Morning Star newspaper, September 7, 1958. page 1 & 12. Another article stated that this was a premeditated murder and not a crime of passion. An internationally known law enforcement expert said the killer was someone who knew Judy and was seeking "vengeance".

More on the Cook angle from the Chicago Tribune:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-08-17/news/8703020508_1_birthday-judy-daily-thoughts/2

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-04-21/features/9102050601_1_free-man-friend-andersen-case/3

 

[ophion1031]

Thanks for posting those details. I honestly did not know any of that. As far as any sex related crimes with Thoresen, I do not know of any. I have heard of a few women accusing him of sexual assault, but I have seen nothing about him going to court or being arrested or anything. The guy was sleeping with a lot of women though, so I don't think he would have to rape women or anything like that.

 

[Winward1]

Thoresen was charged with rape in Los Angeles. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. During the Percy investigation, Thoresen's former LA parole officer contacted IL State PD or the FBI (in LA?) and told them Thoresen should be considered a suspect in the Percy case. That lead did make it to the state PD in the form of a memo.

Good info on all the schemes of murder and mayhem by Thoresen. He was as busy as he was wealthy and twisted. Unfortunately, for his brother, Stoddard apparently actually carried out the job (truly chilling that Thoresen and his wife, the latter apparently unwittingly, purchased the gun that was used, and the murder was planned by his brother prior to that. Talk about psycho, William that is. No wonder Louise later blasted him.)

I know someone whose Grandmother was good friends with Thoresen's mother. He said the mayhem of the sons was well known but the parents were as boring and ordinary as anyone could be. But of course it's one thing to know someone, even well, and another thing to live with 'em, eh?

 

[Winward1]

Re: the Andersen murder, Thoresen had worked for his father's steel business so, ostensibly, he would have had access to, and knowledge of, the reconfiguration of the steel barrels. It is a wonder how deeply Chicago investigated him given that, at the time, he was a teenage son of a Kenilworth millionaire. I wonder if they knew of Mr. Thoresen's connection to the steel biz or investigated the places where the then kid had worked (or was working.)

 

[Cubby]

A September 16, 1972 newspaper article from the Madison Capital Times shows that detectives theorized a link between an August 21, 1972 Portage, Wisconsin stabbing, the 1972 stabbing/murder of Sally Kandel of Carol Stream, IL and the 1968 Christine Rothchild stabbing/murder in Madison, WI. A detective theorized that the killer may have hitched rides on freight trains. (I think it's also possible the killer may have worked as a railroad employee)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm176/pleasestandby2/rothschildsimilar2_zpskthxc6je.jpg

A May 29, 1968 article from the Madison Capital Times states that police conceded there might be a link between the Christine Rothchild stabbing/murder and the 1966 Valerie Percy murder. The article states that each girl was found with a piece of cloth tied around their necks.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm176/pleasestandby2/rothschildsimilar3_zpsepfi9yed.jpg

FWIW Sally Kandel's murder was solved and it was someone who lived and worked in the immediate area.

 

[Winward1]

They wrote some interesting things in the papers back then. Valerie was "snatched" from her bed, eh? She certainly wasn't found with a piece of cloth around her neck.

 

[Winward1]

49th anniversary of this crime will be Sept. 18. A short video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJEwwkrLPmI&feature=youtu.be

 

[pleasestandby]

49th anniversary of this crime will be Sept. 18. A short video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJEwwkrLPmI&feature=youtu.be

So, if it was Thoresen, as the video alluded that it was, and they have a bloody glove with the killer's DNA on it, it shouldn't be too hard to prove that it was Thoresen. Just get a court order to dig his body up. If he is a valid suspect in an open investigation, they should be able to get a court order, no problem. Illinois does use familial DNA testing, correct? Maybe a blood relative might submit their DNA for comparison? Maybe the DNA is already in the criminal databases from someone else.

Of course, LE may have already thrown away or misplaced all the evidence (including the bloody glove) from the biggest murder case in Illinois history.

The video also said that Thoresen lived two blocks from the crime scene. Was his home also on the lake shore like the Percy home was? If not, where exactly was it in relation to the lakeshore and whose yard(s) would he have had to cut through to get to the lake shore, not once, but twice?

Another point, two neighbors heard tires squeal about the time the murderer fled. Were their statements discounted because of the footprints to the water's edge? How did they determine that those footprints were the killer's?

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm176/pleasestandby2/percymurder_zpszcd1qmks.jpg

 

[Winward1]

Good points. The info about the tires squealing was not widely reported. The only person I've head mentioned by name that was up and out around that time was Mrs. Hohf and she didn't see or hear anything save the Percy's burglar alarm. The cops were there in six or seven minutes. Maybe someone heard a cop car's tires squeal. It was 5 a.m. on a windy morning with lots of waves on the lake and an alarm going on and off. Houses were on large, open lots (wouldn't be hard to move through them.)

Would there have been any recoverable DNA in 2000 or so, when it was tested? How much work and resources would be dedicated to prove a dead guy did it? Where are Thorsen's remains and in what state are they in? I believe his son may still be alive.

Thoresen's family's home was at 521 Roslyn Road. Look at it on Google maps and you'll see the proximity to Percy's (40 Devonshire Lane.) It is not on the beach. At 5 a.m. on a Sunday, it's not a stretch to suggest that anyone could just walk up and down the street without being seen by anyone in Kenilworth.

 

[pleasestandby]

Good points. The info about the tires squealing was not widely reported. The only person I've head mentioned by name that was up and out around that time was Mrs. Hohf and she didn't see or hear anything save the Percy's burglar alarm. The cops were there in six or seven minutes. Maybe someone heard a cop car's tires squeal. It was 5 a.m. on a windy morning with lots of waves on the lake and an alarm going on and off. Houses were on large, open lots (wouldn't be hard to move through them.)

Would there have been any recoverable DNA in 2000 or so, when it was tested? How much work and resources would be dedicated to prove a dead guy did it? Where are Thorsen's remains and in what state are they in? I believe his son may still be alive.

Thoresen's family's home was at 521 Roslyn Road. Look at it on Google maps and you'll see the proximity to Percy's (40 Devonshire Lane.) It is not on the beach. At 5 a.m. on a Sunday, it's not a stretch to suggest that anyone could just walk up and down the street without being seen by anyone in Kenilworth.

[URL="https://goo.gl/maps/wIeTD"][URL="https://goo.gl/maps/r0ClS"]https://goo.gl/maps/r0ClS[/URL][/URL]

Looking at the map, I'd have a hard time to believe that the person came from Thoresen's house, passed numerous houses on the way to the beach, walked down the beach along the water, then up to Percy's house and then doubled back that way to Thoresen's house.

That's a whole lot of walking in the dark, especially on the beach. Way too much trouble just to commit a burglary when you live only an 8 minute walk away. (.4 miles)

And if he had driven it would have only been a 2 minute drive. I'm thinking it would be pretty risky to commit a burglary/murder right in your own neighborhood. Attributing the squeal of the tires to a police car 6 or seven minutes after the crime might be a stretch.

 

[Winward1]

How much do you know about Thoresen? His wife wrote extensively about how his criminal activities were all about risk and thrill (he didn't need to be a criminal, his father was a multi-millionaire) and after murdering his brother (Sept '65) he became even more unstable, violent and unpredictable.

Thorsen committed other crimes in the dead of night that seemed unlikely, like his repeatedly setting off bombs at that time outside of an AZ radio station.

Otherwise, IMHO, the crime has Thoresen written all over it, from the weapon to Mrs. Percy's description to the method of entry to the type of glove, as do the three other crimes linked to this one.

 

[pleasestandby]

How much do you know about Thoresen? His wife wrote extensively about how his criminal activities were all about risk and thrill (he didn't need to be a criminal, his father was a multi-millionaire) and after murdering his brother (Sept '65) he became even more unstable, violent and unpredictable.

Thorsen committed other crimes in the dead of night that seemed unlikely, like his repeatedly setting off bombs at that time outside of an AZ radio station.

Otherwise, IMHO, the crime has Thoresen written all over it, from the weapon to Mrs. Percy's description to the method of entry to the type of glove, as do the three other crimes linked to this one.

I've read quite a lot about Thoresen and it is possible he did it. I've also read about the burglary gang that operated in the US and Canada, which consisted of Leo Rugendorf, Francis Hohimer, Frederick Malchow, Jimmy Evans, William Jackson and probably others.

Of those five, Leo Rugendorf said Francis Hohimer and four others did it,
Harold "Wayne" Hohimer, Francis' brother, said Francis Hohimer did it,
Francis "Frank" L. Hohimer said Frederick J. Malchow, who, along with Jimmy Evans and William Jackson, did it and
Harold "Jimmy" J. Evans said Frederick J. Malchow did it.

There is no honor among thieves.

Here we have a gang of criminals all blaming each other for the murder. Not once did they point the finger at anyone outside their gang. Why did they all point the finger at each other instead of outside the gang or even say that no one in the gang wasn't involved? There was no statement from anyone, "Hey, none of us were involved." They were consistent in their statements, even if they blamed each other.

Could it be that someone(s) within that gang actually was involved? I think so. Senator Percy also withdrew the reward offer around this time, too, I believe, though I'm not certain.

Aside from all that, if the police think that the tracks to and from the beach, in addition to the bayonet found in the water, pointed to the killer having gone in that direction, then how come the bloody glove was found in the neighborhood in the opposite direction from that location, in addition to the squealing tires? Two people involved going in different directions?

As far as the phone call made 4.5 months before the murder from the Percy mansion to Leo Rugendorf's meat market, it is possible that one of the volunteers for the Percy campaign that had been at the house may have "volunteered" to "case the joint."

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm176/pleasestandby2/percycall_zpslekxsnvg.jpg

There's lots of organized crime references online (Google search) about the Rugendorf Brothers Meat Market. I don't think that toll phone call was a fluke or misdial.

 

[Winward1]

You are causing me to rake my memory, but in a good way.

If I recall correctly, the gang was referred to by the cops as the Jackson, Wilson, Malchow gang. Hoheimer was a friend of theirs but he was not in the gang. He did work with others at times, wrote a good book that became a movie (though changed in large ways from the book.) But much of the time he was a lone wolf.

If I recall correctly, Percy withdrew the reward right around the time that Thoresen was killed. Seeing as Percy was a powerful guy in DC who worked for the government, and he knew guys at the FBI because they were investigating the murder that seems pretty interesting to me. But I may not have the dates correct, close though.

There were no tracks from the beach, only to it. Have you read the books related to this case?

 

[Winward1]

Of course, this crime occurred 49 years ago today. RIP Valerie.

 

[DMal]

When my older brother Fred turned 16 my father called me and ask if I could arrange for my brother to meet with him. I told my father that I didn't think he would because he never wanted anything to do with him. I was more than surprise when my brother Fred said he would. We went to our grandmothers home and we met our father there. When my father drove up in his big caddie we went outside to meet with him. He hugged my brother and wished him a Happy Birthday but my brother just stood there with his arms at his side and asked our father what he wanted. My father told him that he just wanted to take him someplace and get him a present. So we got in the car and the only one talking was my father. We ended up at a new car dealer and we went inside. Our father walk us over to a corvette and told my brother this was his present. My brother look at it and told my father he didn't want it. My father tried to convince him to take it then my brother told him that he didn't even have a license. My father told my brother that was no problem and what he would do was buy the car have it kept for him and pay the insurance on the car. My brother started to get upset with him and said, now that were getting older you think you can come around and spend money on us? My brother asked him where was he when we no clothes and nothing to eat? Then my brother asked him where he was going to get the money to pay for the car. My father told him that he knew he had money and my brother told him, you don't even have a job and the only money you have is money that you stole from other people and that he should give it back to the people he stole it from because he was nothing but a thief. Then my brother told him to take him back to our grandmothers house or he would just take a bus and if Dave (me) wanted to stay with him that was my decision. I told my brother I was with him. My father took us back to our grand mothers house and when we got out of the car my brother told my father that he hated him and never wanted to see him again. Our father was Fred Malchow and I never went as far as to tell my father I hated him but I sure had no respect for him. As much as my brother hated our father we both agree to this day that our father didn't kill Valerie Percy and we believe this just as much as we believe, her father didn't kill her, her mother, sister or brother. I'll probably never post again but I just thought someone would like to know what we think.

 

[pleasestandby]

As much as my brother hated our father we both agree to this day that our father didn't kill Valerie Percy and we believe this just as much as we believe, her father didn't kill her, her mother, sister or brother. I'll probably never post again but I just thought someone would like to know what we think.

In the following article, it stated that a flight ticket to Chicago from September 19, 1966 was found in Malchow's suitcase. That was the day after the murder. It is possible that some in the gang had cut him out of the loop and had gone ahead with the burglary the day before he got there. The article further stated that Malchow had admitted to casing the house.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm176/pleasestandby2/malchow%20inter_zps0do6uwg0.jpg

I concede it is possible that he didn't commit the murder if he hadn't arrived in Chicago until the day after the crime, but he did know details of what had happened. The plane ticket could circumstantially prove his innocence in this specific crime if other evidence showed he was the one who used it.

It would be nice to know where the plane ticket originated from and when Malchow had actually cased the house.

 

[pleasestandby]

In February of 1973, Leo Rugendorf, underling of mob boss and enforcer "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio, walked into the Chicago FBI office and told agent Vincent L. Inserra that Francis Leroy Hohimer, a notorious career home invader, was responsible for the break-in and murder of Valerie Percy and that Hohimer had admitted the crime to him.

Hohimer had awakened her and beat and stabbed her to death to silence her. As further proof, he stated that Hohimer had placed a phone call from the Percy residence sometime prior to the time of the murder to Rugendorf's Twin Foods Products Company in Chicago, when Hohimer was actually casing the Percy residence.

Twin Foods was a hoodlum-dominated enterprise and Chicago hoodlum mobsters Sam Battaglia, Milwaukee Phil Alderisio, Albert "Obie" Frabotta and Marshall Caifano held a financial interest in the company along with Rugendorf.

Rugendorf claimed that Hohimer spoke to him from the Percy residence and that a check of the phone records would reveal this fact and place him at the scene of the crime.

Hohimer had previously ratted Rugendorf out on a home invasion case.

Frm the book C-1 and the Chicago Mob by Vincent L. Inserra.

_________________________________________________________________

Wikipedia: Alderisio began his criminal career as a teenager during the Prohibition era. One of his early arrests was for vagrancy; he frequently waited outside Outfit boss Al Capone's Lexington Hotel headquarters in the hope of getting a job as a messenger. In the early 1930s, Alderisio's maternal cousin Louis Fratto brought Alderisio into the Outfit.[1] Alderisio began working with Sam Battaglia and John Marshall Caifano as an enforcer. Rising steadily through the ranks during the Great Depression, Alderisio soon gained a reputation for brutality. By the end of the decade, Alderisio was working under Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik, the Outfit's financial expert, as a bagman delivering payoffs to Chicago judges and police officials.

 

[Bargle]

The problem with the Mob is that they're notorious liars. They'll say anything to get back at somebody or try to get some benefit for their legal problems. The break-in gang Hohimer and Malchow were part of were known for not harming people. They were capable of it, but rarely, if ever, did it. We still don't know of the details of Malchow's rape conviction. The fact that nothing was stolen makes me tend to dismiss any Mob connection. The phone call claiming it looked like a Mob job was someone at the scene jumping to the wrong conclusion, IMO.