KS KS-Mary Robin Walter, 23, nursing student, shot multiple times inside her trailer, 24 Jan; '80,*Arrest - Steven L. Hanks, 70, 2024*

[dotr]

Shocking development in 44-year-old cold case of murdered Kansas woman

Mary Robin Walter, 23, was shot multiple times inside her trailer in Great Bend on January 24, 1980. On Thursday, Steven L. Hanks, 70, was sentenced for killing her.

www.dailymail.co.uk

'A 44-year-old cold case was finally resolved after a man was sentenced on Thursday for the murder of a nursing student who was gunned down in her Kansas home.

Mary Robin Walter, 23, was shot multiple times inside her trailer in Great Bend on January 24, 1980.

At the time, police found a .22-caliber handgun at the scene and confirmed it was the murder weapon that killed the young mother and wife. They also conducted multiple interviews, including one with her killer.''

'Steven L. Hanks, 70, a neighbor of Walter, was officially identified as the man who murdered Walter when he was 25, the Barton County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.'

 

[dotr]

Kansas Man Arrested for 1980 Murder of Mother and College Student After COVID-Stricken Detective Spent His Recovery Poring Over County’s Last Homicide Case

“Robin was truly beautiful inside and out,” a family member said. "This world was robbed of her presence, and we will never know how that has shaped our lives."

lawandcrime.com

''Steven L. Hanks, 68, was always a person of interest in the death of the wife, mother, and nursing student, authorities now say, but he was never charged. Bellendir surmised that prosecutors at the time probably thought they lacked the evidence to make a decent case.

That apparently changed – and fairly recently.

“After taking a fresh look at the case, it became evident that some information had been initially overlooked and some had been added at a later date,” Bellendir said in comments reported by The Wichita Eagle. “This was unknown to the original investigators.”