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

[:+:MrTT:+:]

This month I decided to pay for a membership to Newspaper Archives for a month. There are many articles with Valerie's name in them, but many are duplicates. The great majority are AP Wire Service stories and are either exactly the same or close, but edited somewhat.

Most of the info is stuff we're already familiar with, but I have found some nuggets of new or corrected information.

Barred Percy Campaign workers. Article dated Sept. 21, 66: "Daley said Percy had rejected reports that he had barred several former campaign aides from the family home." I didn't think it was likely that any campaign workers were involved, but it's good to have them eliminated.

The green station wagon. Article dated Sept. 22, 66: "Police found the driver of a green station wagon which was observed near the Percy estate early Sunday. Daley said the investigators are satisfied with the driver's explanation that he was merely 'turning around' near the Percy home."

The sandy footprints. Article dated Sept. 23, 66: "The theory that the slayer came from the beach onto the patio before entering the home, has been virtually abandoned. No traces of sand have been reported found in the home." While re-reading old stuff on the murder, I'd been wondering if the sandy footprints were a false lead.

The boy on the el train. Article dated Sept. 28, 66: I'll synopsize this one. A girl acquaintance of Valerie saw her introducing a rough looking boy to Sharon on the el. The boy followed them for a short distance after they got off the train. The boy was found and cleared.

That's all for now.​

​

quote from above^
The sandy footprints. Article dated Sept. 23, 66: "The theory that the slayer came from the beach onto the patio before entering the home, has been virtually abandoned. No traces of sand have been reported found in the home." While re-reading old stuff on the murder, I'd been wondering if the sandy footprints were a false lead....End of quote.


Perhaps if it is true, about the sand......they could have carried with them shoes, or there may had been a pair on the porch towards the entrance that were there already, or ones that were brought along. I have not seen any photos from LE, that showed the sand on the porch or footprints of sand in the grass...if htere was, i wonder how far they followed the prints onto the sand on the beach, or was there none to follow, for the tracks were removed going back the same way?
I don't know.

That house had so much energy from its history.
I would have liked to had been able to
walk into the home and listen to the quietness.

 

[Winward1]

I don't know why anyone would have had to or wanted to enter or leave via the beach. At five a.m. on a Sunday morning before dawn, there would be hardly anyone out to witness an escape. I believe I read somewhere that the cop came from the police station, and wasn't out on patrol. I wonder if they had anyone out on patrol at that time on that day.

 

[Bargle]

Per the sandy footprints, there's no reason the attacker would have had to have come, or fled, via the beach. Devonshire is more a driveway than an actual "lane." I think it only served two properties back then, and now. It's just barely big enough to accommodate the tractor trailer dump trucks that have hauled away the old houses. One could have walked from the street through the lane and up the driveway to the back in a minute. I'm amazed anyone was out to have even out in the area to have seen the green station wagon turn around in the lane at 5 a.m. I can only imagine that vehicle itself was anything other than a newspaper deliver man, driving that vehicle at that hour on that day of the week.

The beach approach certainly had people scratching their heads on the old C&J boards. Devonshire makes for a much more sensible approach to the house and escape route.

It was a cab driver that saw the green station wagon.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

n 1966, Percy's second attempt, a run for senator from Illinois, succeeded when he upset incumbent Democratic senator Paul Douglas (a former professor of Percy's at the University of Chicago) with 56% of the vote. During that campaign, Percy's daughter Valerie was murdered at the family home in mysterious circumstances, apparently by an intruder, and campaigning was suspended for two weeks. Valerie Percy's murder has never been solved, despite a long investigation.[4] The incident caused CBS to postpone, and eventually cancel, an airing of the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho.

The above from this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Percy

His second attempt, that succeeded occurred in November 66 against the democrat correct? Thats when they voted for the US senate i am assuming. And the crime occcured on Sept 16 same year, couple of months or so before election. his first attempt failed.
It seems after the murder during the campaign, he got a boost in support from the public whom felt sympathy for him and his family.

I am assuming that over the years, a theory came about that perhaps his daughter was murdered so soon towards an election, to bring him more press, recognition and gain sympathy votes that would have made him more popular as in name identity at the polls that he would win his second time around, in fact he did go on and win the US senate seat that fall.

Does anyone have any knowledge this was discussed over the years?

And is it just me, or does it seem that even to this day, to even to think about the step mother having any involvement or knowledge in this case etc, is just taboo!
You can think it, but don't say it, or post about it.
Does anyone else get that feeling about discussing the stepmother?
Would there be anything in her past, that would/could cause her to experi9ence some kind of homicidal emotion, and kill her stepdaughter, so her husband could gain some support in votes from sympathy voters to possibly win the fall US senate seat, which he did end up winning.

Has this been discussed.

Hm, or perhaps, one was hoping, that the killing would STOP, his chances of wining?
But it had the opposite effect?

I Do agree it was personal, and not some random crime, or a bf gf thing. The more i read about the time 66 and this family, and its connections, and all that was going on at the time........It seems more political driven then anything else. ..Especially when i read Nixon was coming to town, to campaign for him.
Around 3 years or so after the presidents assassination.
Being in Chicago.

And this is interesting.

Percy is a christian scientist.
Percy is a Christian Scientist
Would like to know more, about his connection to this religion in the area at the time.
Christian Science addresses the theological problem of evil by teaching that evil is unreal and an illusion...

ALL MOO AND SPECULATION ON MY PART

​

 

[Winward1]

I know about the sympathy vote theory. And I know there are some who think Percy may actually have been ahead in the polls before the murder. A check of newspaper stories might reveal whether that's true, but all of it, including him winning by sympathy vote, is conjecture.

Close friends who know the family for years have stated they have no doubt that Mrs. Percy had nothing to do with it. Yes, she was Val's stepmother, but why would she attack a stepchild who was 21, who had been out of state at college for four years and was leaving again in two days to attend grad school out of state? It's possible but not plausible.

Rumor in the area suspected Mrs. Percy, but there's a huge bias there to suspect anyone other than other residents of the area ever doing anything bad, even things like bike theft. Anything bad that happens simply could never have been committed by an area resident who was a neighbor, etc. It has to be an outsider or, in this case, a family member. Theories like this make area residents beyond reproach.

Though history has shown that psychopaths have been raised on the North Shore and murdered others without reason. It's rare, but it's happened.

 

[Bargle]

The newspaper stories I've been reading have Percy and his opponent about equal before the murder.

Mrs. Percy has been suspected for years by some. I just don't see anything to support it. I've certainly seen no taboo against it. It was discussed on the old C&J boards.
As Winward points out above, Valerie is about to leave for graduate school and would likely not be a regular household member again, effectively taking her out of Loraine's daily life. And what of the previous night's break-in at the doctor's? Why would Loraine have anything to do with that?

 

[Bargle]

Since I'm the sort of the unofficial organizer here on this case, let me run down the various, most common theories I've seen. They're in no particular order.

Loraine did it.

Political rivals did it as warning/threat to Percy.

Done by a member of the pro break-in gang. Malchow, Evans or Hohimer. A burglary gone wrong.

Male who was spurned by Valerie or Sharon.

Campaign worker that had grudge against Charles or the girls.

Serial criminal of some sort. Possibly the same man that attacked Sharon Bubes.

 

[MaryLiz]

Since I'm the sort of the unofficial organizer here on this case, let me run down the various, most common theories I've seen. They're in no particular order.

Loraine did it.

Political rivals did it as warning/threat to Percy.

Done by a member of the pro break-in gang. Malchow, Evans or Hohimer. A burglary gone wrong.

Male who was spurned by Valerie or Sharon.

Campaign worker that had grudge against Charles or the girls.

Serial criminal of some sort. Possibly the same man that attacked Sharon Bubes.

I haven't posted on this thread for a while, but I've been keeping up with it.

I had slight suspicions about the guy on the EL, and although he was cleared, I still have a lingering feeling about him. But I guess when you synopsize everything as above, I would have to agree that the very last one, the serial criminal/Sharon Bubes attacker, makes the most sense. I never suspected Loraine, and only briefly considered a disgruntled campaign worker. And I really can't go with a burglary gone wrong scenario because it makes no sense to me that nothing was taken, and that someone would just enter the house and kill Valerie. Of course, if Loraine hadn't been awakened, who knows if another member of the household might have been attacked. But Valerie's murder seems so similar to the Evanston crime, that I can't help but think it's tied to that one somehow.

Thanks for continuing to organize the articles and statistics in this case, Bargle. It really helps to see everything laid out like that.

 

[Bargle]

You're welcome, Cambria.

Here's an article I forgot to add earlier in the thread. It mentions a youth on a motorcycle I don't recall hearing of before. I haven't found any later mention of him, so I don't know if he was cleared or what.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

If we want to look at a new angle all together, If i had to pick one to start again, i would look at his relationship with the church connection.


Church of Christ, Scientist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Christ,_Scientist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil
The Christian Science position on the nature of evil may be stated as follows: "Evil is a negation, because it is the absence of truth. It is nothing, because it is the absence of something. It is unreal, because it presupposes the absence of God, the omnipotent and omnipresent. Every mortal must learn that there is neither power nor reality in evil".[17] This statement should not be taken as meaning that Christian Scientists ignore the belief of evil and its effects, but they do not see evil as either an aspect of God, or as a real power separate from God. Evil is not fundamentally "real" because it is not part of God's being or his creation. But it may appear to be real as a mistaken concept of God and man, and consequently must be "seen through" rather than ignored. Christian Scientists believe God and his creation to be wholly and only good.

Political figures

• Nancy Witcher Astor In Sykes's Nancy the life of Lady Astor (Academy Chicago, 1984), and her own letters Nancy Astor’s Canadian Correspondence, 1912-1962 it mentions how much she promoted the religion. The effect it had on her election campaigns and her political views is mentioned in Karen J Musolf's From Plymouth to Parliament (St. Martin's Press, 1999)
• Fred B. Balzar-[1]
• Owen Brewster-[2][3]
• Ralph Lawrence Carr-[4]
• Thomas M. Davis-[5][6]
• David Dreier-[7]
• John Ehrlichman - Watergate Figure[8]
• Bob Goodlatte-[9]
• H.R. Haldeman-Watergate figure described as, in those days, A Christian Scientist who neither smokes nor drinks.Washington Post
• Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian-His death in 1940, which was when he was the British Ambassador to the United States of America, gained some attention due to his faith.Time Magazine obituary
• Egil Krogh - Watergate FigureThe Atlantic Online
• Scott McCallum-Milwaukee Sentinel mentioned how Wisconsin's Christian Scientists "finally got their prayers answered" by his election.[10]
• Henry Paulson-74th United States Secretary of the Treasury[11][12][13]
• Charles H. Percy-[14]
• Lamar S. Smith-Washington Post
• Stansfield Turner - Admiral and former CIA Director[15]
• William Hedgcock Webster-In the Salon article and NNDB.
• John D. Works-An early, possibly the earliest, example of a Christian Scientist in the US Senate.[16][17]

Heres a link to an old Times Magazine from 1978, November talking about his re election campaign.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948264,00.html?promoid=googlep

Heres a link to a 15 chapter discussion on the case from Tru TV. I believe it has been posted before, but wanted to repost with this responce
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/valerie_percy/index.html

 

[Winward1]

Loraine did it.

Political rivals did it as warning/threat to Percy.

Done by a member of the pro break-in gang. Malchow, Evans or Hohimer. A burglary gone wrong.

Male who was spurned by Valerie or Sharon.

Campaign worker that had grudge against Charles or the girls.

Serial criminal of some sort. Possibly the same man that attacked Sharon Bubes.

1. The first one supposes that, despite the implausibility of reasons already stated, Mrs. Percy was able to muster up the power to pull off such an attack (she isn't a very big person), fabricate the evidence, and do all of the above without the knowledge of the family or with their co-operation (again, not very plausible) and convince investigators of a rather unusual story (seeing the attacker, his flashlight, etc.)

2. highly unusual and (has there been one verified case of a political rival killing another? Disrupting their campaigns? Yes. Bugging their offices? Yes. But killing?) it backfired.

3. Cops didn't think so. Doesn't fit crime of passion motive.

4. I would expand this one to include a male who thought he was spurned by one of them.

5. It's possible, sure.

6. The big question here is who else did he kill?

7. I don't know about the religious angle. Percy is a Christian Scientist but he wasn't in church often. He was always working. I'm certain on that point.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Interesting site develops the theory that Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber) may have killed her, as well as Sharon Bubes:

http://unazod.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=90&start=0

I'm not sure if this has already been discussed here.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

quote...Recently, comeuppance for Valerie Percy's killer has been advocated by an active Internet discussion group led by a police lieutenant from Maryville, Tenn. Group members have collected a vast archive of material about the crime, including newspaper clips, biographies and witness lists...End of quote.

Anyone know if and where i can find this site?
Its from the following link.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/valerie_percy/2.html​

 

[Bargle]

quote...Recently, comeuppance for Valerie Percy's killer has been advocated by an active Internet discussion group led by a police lieutenant from Maryville, Tenn. Group members have collected a vast archive of material about the crime, including newspaper clips, biographies and witness lists...End of quote.

Anyone know if and where i can find this site?
Its from the following link.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/valerie_percy/2.html​

That was part of the original Crime & Justice board. When the EZboard system crashed, a separate Crime & Justice, independently hosted, was started by an admin at the first C&J. The Maryville police Lt., a little over 5 years ago, started a separate one called True Crimes and Beyond. Link below. The link for Valerie's specific case is about halfway down. I think you have to register first before you can view the threads.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/coldcases/

Both the C&J boards are now gone.

 

[Gunner]

Something that jumps out at me is the ferocity of the attack on Valerie, 1 to 4 blows BFT - 10 to 14 stab wounds. It would appear to be a crime of rage. There was a mention of a bayonet found in the lake. In my Army days we were taught to use the butt of the bayonet as well as the blade and this could explain the two wound types.

 

[Winward1]

I thought press accounts said the bayonet was ruled out not long after it was found.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

I have not seen the original autopsy report, and i dont know anything about jewerly tools, so i am just speculating on the size. They said she was hit with something that left a triangle shape.
If anyone here knows for sure, has seen the autopsy report etc, can you tell me if the above pictures are to big to had been the object used.
They are from 1966 or so. thanks in advance for your answer.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

That was part of the original Crime & Justice board. When the EZboard system crashed, a separate Crime & Justice, independently hosted, was started by an admin at the first C&J. The Maryville police Lt., a little over 5 years ago, started a separate one called True Crimes and Beyond. Link below. The link for Valerie's specific case is about halfway down. I think you have to register first before you can view the threads.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/coldcases/

Both the C&J boards are now gone.

thank you very much, i did find that, and you were correct in having to sign up. I rather not do that now, for certain reasons.......
But thank-you very much for sending me into the right direction.

 

[Bargle]

They couldn't find any evidence on the bayonet to link it to the murder.

Quoting a 1 year anniversary article by Jim Disch. "A bayonet found by skin divers in Lake Michigan near the Percy home is probably not the murder weapon. Although the weapon hasn't been ruled out of the case Eggert said "the blade does not match the size of the wounds. And we have no other possible murder weapon."

On the glove, chemical tests failed to establish whether woolen fibers found on her bed matched the glove. Whatever that means.

 

[Bargle]

thank you very much, i did find that, and you were correct in having to sign up. I rather not do that now, for certain reasons.......
But thank-you very much for sending me into the right direction.

You're quite welcome.