February 27, 1973, the body of Becky Martin, a young married housewife and student at Tarrant County Junior College in southeast Ft. Worth was found in a culvert. Her remains, too badly decomposed to determine manner of death. She'd been abducted from a parking lot at the school in mid afternoon. Her purse still in her car.
Feb. 17, 1974, Carla Walker was abducted from a vehicle in the parking lot of a bowling alley on the west side of Ft. Worth, shortly after midnight, and while out on a date. She may have been held for several days before being murdered. She was found Feb. 20th, her body also left in a culvert out near Benbrook Lake. Her date. Rodney McCoy was fully cleared of any involvement.
Of interesting note, Debardeleben had earlier rec'd. 5 years probation for a series of car thefts. He'd dumped someone's brand new Corvette in Benbrook Lake. His partner in crime squealed on him.
Retired Ft. Worth detective, John Terrell may believe both these murders were committed by the same suspect--not Debardeleben. Ft. Worth LE didn't agree with his theories according to statements Terrell made on his website
http://www.justiceforcarla.com/thecase.shtml Well worth reading.
Terrell makes a good case for "his suspect" in the Carla Walker murder; however, it's possible the two murders are unrelated. The fact that Walker was also found in a culvert could have been a copycat disposal or not, whichever the case may be.
June 1, 1979, Mike Debardeleben abducted a girl named Laurie Jensen in Maryland. She was later released. During her ordeal, Debardeleben insisted on calling her, "Becky."
The above tidbit is the major reason for my post. I'm wondering if Debardeleben's insistence on calling Jensen, "Becky" goes back to an earlier crime he may have committed in Ft. Worth, TX.
The 2 culvert murders may or may not be related to the 3 girls missing, but I feel they are worth mentioning here for possible connections.
Is it possible that Debardeleben is responsible for Becky Martin's murder? Could he have abducted, Carla Walker, and held her as he was later known to do? He seemed to latch onto a fantasy, rehearse it in his mind, and then carry it out. Was abducting 3 girls or at least two, yet another of his fantasies?
Later in passing counterfeit money, he made Dallas one of his many stops, but he avoided Ft. Worth or at least there's no mention of him passing funny money there that I'm aware of. Did he have his reasons?
It's hard to say whether or not he was in Ft. Worth on all the dates when each of these killings or abductions took place. He and his wife Caryn did move back to 3920 Spurgeon St., Ft. Worth sometime before his mother died in September of 1973, but when exactly?
By April of 1974, he and Caryn had returned to Virginia. On May5, 1975 he beat Phillipa Voliner with a gun in Memphis, TN.
His activities and whereabouts are then unaccounted for until 1976 when he is first arrested for counterfeiting. Did he return to Ft. Worth toward the end of 1974? It's unknown. He certainly was familiar with the territory.He certainly seemed not to hang around long after some of his crimes, moving frequently and rapidly.
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