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

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Bargle,
As you know, I have always thought that Sharon was the intended victim. She was out that night, she could have become the murderer's stalk for whatever reason. Followed her home. Went to the back side of the house (faces Lake Michigan) stood on the beach and watched the light go on in Valerie's bedroom when Sharon returned the raincoat. So the murderer presumed that was Sharon's bedroom and came back in the early morning hours to kill her.
And as far as the Sharon Bubes attack, I feel it was the same man. The time of the morning was the same and breaking in the window.
 
Something I forgot to mention when I posted the suspect sketch from the Bubes assault. While Loraine said the sketch is similar, she did say in her description of the killer that he had bushy hair.
Maybe someone with more artistic skills than I have could alter it to show bushy hair.

I'm trying to get the newspaper articles organized in some sort of sensible order and I hope to be adding them over the next week.
 
That is a shame. The older homes up in that area are so beautiful. They are big and not they tear down to make bigger.
 
The former Percy estate is being demolished at present. They have been tearing it down for over a week.


Thanks for that information,Winward. It's interesting. I would love to see a floorplan of the house from the time of this murder ; IMO it would show how unlikely it is that this was not a targeted killing of Valerie Percy. Because of the size of the house, and the many different bedrooms. All JMO
 
Some actual photos and another drawing showing the exterior of the house. I'm sorry, but I don't know of any pictures of the interior from that time period. There are some from where the home was up for sale a few years ago, but it looks like the interior, at least on the ground floor, has had remodeling. The patio area where the killer broke in now is now enclosed by screens and a roof.




 
An early article on the murder.

Sept.19.1966

The Time Recorder
Zanesville, Ohio
Monday
Sept. 19.1966

Near Chicago

CANDIDATE PERCY'S DAUGHTER IS SLAIN

Chicago (UPI)
A honey blonde twin daughter of Republican Senator candidate Charles Percy was fatally stabbed and beaten to death in the families lavish suburban home as the family slept nearby in the 17 room mansion.
The body of Valerie Percy,21, was stabbed and slashed to 10 times an autopsy showed and stab wounds penetrated her heart and spine, but she died of a skull fracture suffered from being beaten with a blunt instrument
police questioned a least a dozen persons about the slaying, sent Coast Guard scuba divers to probe Lake Michigan for a murder weapon and checked on inmates of a mental hospital a half mile north of the Percy home.
Virgil Nelson, superintendent of North Shore Hospital, told UPI "We have no patients missing or unaccounted for."
Police theorized that the killer might have been familiar with the house. A house to house canvass was being made in the neighborhood.
The body was found by the victim's stepmother in a second floor bedroom of the gray stone English manor house along the Lake Michigan Shore in suburban Kenilworth.
"The head blows did it," Cook County Coroner Andrew Toman said.
He speculated the head would might have been inflicted with something like a fire poker because of the triangular shape of the skull fracture.
Toman said small pieces of the girls skull had been pushed into her brain.
Toman said that the autopsy report listed the cause of death as "massive cranial and cerebral injuries on the left side of the head." He said first results indicated the victim had not been sexually molested.
Bruises were found on the girl's left foot and knees and abrasions on the right index finger, apparently stemming from her battle for life, Toman said. The shape and size of the abrasions led to speculation she might have hit her killer in the mouth.The stepmother, Mrs. Loraine Percy, told police she heard a moan from Valerie's bedroom about 5:00 am and entered to investigate. She said the intruder shined a flashlight in her face preventing her from obtaining a description of the killer. Mrs. Percy said she ran from the bedroom to trip the house's burglar alarm and alert her husband, who telephoned the Kenilworth police at 5:05 am. CDT.
While she was arousing Percy, the killer apparently fled, police said.
Prints of large bare feet, probably those of a man, were found leading to the Percy home, and from it along the family's private beach.
Valerie had graduated last June from Cornell University and had been organizing neighborhood groups to assist in her father's campaign.
Percy, 46 is a Horatio Alger industrialist, who rose from poverty to wealth and influence. His parents were on relief during the depression in the 1930s and he worked to help support the family while in high school. He attended the University of Chicago and studied economics under the man he hopes to unseat, Sen. Paul Douglas, D-ILL.
 
bargle I took down the articles with my family name. The one article is the same one I already posted, based on the holes in it I think you must have gotten that from my sister? I will repost a copy of the other when as soon as I redact my family name and re scan.
thanks!
 
bargle I took down the articles with my family name. The one article is the same one I already posted, based on the holes in it I think you must have gotten that from my sister? I will repost a copy of the other when as soon as I redact my family name and re scan.
thanks!

Sure thing. Sorry. Yes, I probably picked the second one up from your sister at some point.
 
OK, on to my own opinions and thoughts. Also I'll address some questions from earlier posts.

Why I don't think the murder was politcally motivated: Because of the breakin at JBean's family home the night before. The blue residue left behind on the screen in both cases is such an odd thing, that I think it highly unlikely to be 2 separate burglars. If the killing was supposed to be a warning to Charles Percy, why break into another home a mile away the night before? A hired assassin would have no reason to do that.

Why I don't think it was a member of the Mob pro break-in gang, Malchow, Hohimer or Evans: The method of breaking in. The pro break-in gang knew how cut out glass without making any noise. They also never worked barefoot as Valerie's killer did. It wouldn't surprise me to learn the killer had done a number of breakins, but I don't think he was part of any organized gang. More a lone thrill seeker. Maybe someone who had been a peeping tom in the past.

Why I don't think Loraine was involved: Again, the previous break-in from the night before. No reason for that from Loraine. Many don't like the way she behaved that night, but I don't see anything that points to her as a murderer.

Why didn't anyone hear Valerie being attacked/why didn't she scream? As far as we know, Valerie never got off the bed during the attack. The mattress would have absorbed the sounds of a struggle. I think one of the first things the killer did when he attacked Valerie was to put his hand over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. Also, once he had struck her in the head, with whatever that object was, she would have been unconscious or semi-conscious at best.

Were there signs of a sexual assault? When Loraine returned to Valerie's room after tripping the alarm, Valerie's nightdress was above her waist. Loraine pulled it back down. Whether the nightdress was pushed up by the killer or rode up during the struggle, we don't know.

Why didn't the dog bark? It was in a covered walkway between the house and the garage, well away from the part of the house where the attack took place. It was also reported that the dog only barked at people in uniform.

The Killer had to be familiar with the inside of the home: I don't think so. All he had to know is that Valerie's bedroom was above the room at the rear corner of the house. I think the killer watched the house for some time, either the night of the murder or some time previously. If the killer was peeping at the time Sharon returned the raincoat, it would have been very easy to know which room was hers.
That said, there were also many people connected with the campaign at the house at various times. That would give someone the layout of the ground floor and Valerie might well have casually mentioned which bedroom was hers.

Why was the killer barefoot? I've speculated that perhaps this was intended to be a rape or a rape murder. No shoes would serve the dual purpose of being quiet moving around the house and make it easy to remove his trousers for the rape. However, it wouldn't surprise me if it were for some other reason altogether.

What caused the injuries to Valerie's head? Newspaper reports describe it as possibly a ballpeen hammer or fireplace poker reground to a conical point. An odd choice of weapon. Instead, I think it might have been one of these, a Trench Knife.



Notice that the nut that holds the grip on has a conical point, as do the spurs on the brass knuckle portion. I think it's also possible that there was a projection on the flashlight and the killer struck her with the light before switching to the knife for stabbing.

Whew, that's enough for now.
 
Bargle - What are your thoughts that Sharon may have been the intended victim and not Valerie?
 
It was not a pro. As a lawyer working a murder case down the road from Kenilworth (Biro murders, Winnetka, IL, 1990) said while working a case which had the same method of entry, no pro burglar cuts glass.

Pros know they can jimmy a window or door and get in in a tenth the time it takes to cut glass an not leave prints. They also know that cutting glass leads to what happened in this case. The glass fell and initially woke Mrs. Percy. The Biro murders were committed by a 19-year old local psychopath, not a pro burglar. Amateurs see "pro burglars" on TV and in movies cutting glass, which is the only place burglars who are supposed to be pros are seen cutting glass to get into something. The minute cops showed up with this method of entry, they knew it wasn't pros. Only some dopey, ignorant reporter could come up with something like that.

Mrs. Percy didn't commit the crime. This would have meant she would have killed a kid she'd spent years raising, who had been off in school for four years, and who was due to leave for grad school in two days. They were all very busy, and leading very purposeful lives. And Valerie was only home for a short summer stay.

The blue tin snips could have been the leading brand, and ubiquitous in the Chicago area if not nation. This is likely the case. Blue is not an unusual or rare color for such a tool. There is nothing definitive (like a ballistics test) that says the break in and attempted break in both involved the exact same tool. More likely than not they were completely separate events with different tools of the same color.
 
Bargle - What are your thoughts that Sharon may have been the intended victim and not Valerie?

I keep an open mind to the possibility. If the killer was watching the house from the rear, he may well have seen her returning the raincoat and thought it was her bedroom. If he followed her home from her date, he might well not be aware she even had a sister. Valerie was in bed watching TV when Sharon got home, so someone watching from the outside may not have been able to see Valerie and would have assumed that it was Sharon's room. Unless he's caught, I doubt we'll ever know for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me.
 
The blue tin snips could have been the leading brand, and ubiquitous in the Chicago area if not nation. This is likely the case. Blue is not an unusual or rare color for such a tool. There is nothing definitively (like a ballistics test) that says the break in and attempted break in both involved the exact same tool. More likely than not they were completely separate events with different tools of the same color.

This is the first I can recall hearing that the screen cutting tool might have been tin snips. Of course, I've been involved in the case for over 7 years now. A lot of things have gotten talked about over the years and 3 message boards and I'm sure I don't remember all of them. Where does this come from?
 
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