KY KY - William, 74, & Peggy Stephenson, 74, Florence, 29 May 2011

[OkieGranny]

http://www.nkytribune.com/2016/05/f...wers-in-killing-of-bill-and-peggy-stephenson/

On May 29, 2011, William “Bill” Stephenson failed to open the Trucker’s Chapel he oversaw at the T A Truck Stop in Florence...

A family member went to check on the couple knowing that something had to be wrong.

Nothing, however, could have prepared him for the grisly scene that confronted him when he went into their Oakbrook condo. The Stephensons, both 74 at the time, and one of the most beloved and admired couples in Boone County, had been murdered.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/co...spect-in-stephenson-double-murder-in-florence

Investigators said the couple’s bodies were arranged and the killer remained in the condo for a while after killing the couple.

“I can tell you that the crime scene was staged afterward,” said Tom Scheben from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office. “Somebody was in there for a couple of hours doing crazy stuff with the scene — we’ll just leave it at that.”

 

[Brigitte]

http://www.nkytribune.com/2016/05/f...wers-in-killing-of-bill-and-peggy-stephenson/

They sound like nice people, I really wonder what the motive here could have been.

 

[Brigitte]

http://www.wcpo.com/news/nky-police-to-release-new-information-in-stephenson-double-murder-case

They have the DNA, so now they only need a poi to compare it to.

 

[fred&edna]

I was completely unaware of this case until today. This couple was murdered in 2011, DNA was recovered but it's still unsolved. So glad J Lordan covered it in today's episode. (Kentucky has some serious problems with unsolved murders and unidentified bodies... I'm both sad and ashamed).

 

[Stella]

I just got thru listening to this one. It's a strange one indeed. They give the public just enough info to be maddening. I wonder what kind of strange tableau the killer did with the victims and the murder scene to warrant such strong comments. And all they need is the DNA!

 

[Ajs1004]

I just learned about these murders on a social media page. Hoping they get justice soon. Their daughter needs answers.

 

[dotr]

Aug 21 2020

Aug 21 2020
Bill and Peggy Stephenson: Family offers big reward after new tips
''The family of a Florence couple found dead in their home in 2011 is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of their killer.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release today that an interview Det. Coy Cox did in July for a true-crime podcast about the deaths of Bill and Peggy Stephenson, both 74, is generating new interest in the unsolved homicide case.''

“Shortly after the podcast aired, detectives began receiving tips that are now being followed up on. Detectives are encouraged by the new information because it is unique and contains details which were never released to the public,” the release said.

 

[criley]

http://www.wcpo.com/news/nky-police-to-release-new-information-in-stephenson-double-murder-case

They have the DNA, so now they only need a poi to compare it to.

Parabon.... ?

My thoughts on the case.. I heard from a source that the scene was set up to appear as if a satanic ritual had taken place, but was not a known ritual. My thought is that this couple was a christian couple. What better way to defile them than to make their dead bodies part of a ritual they would hate.

 

[sunshineray]

Anyone have any ideas what the connect might possible be? Listen to the detective in the Part Two video...any ideas?

Jury selection begins Monday in Delphi double murder case

Richard Allen is accused of killing Libby German and Abby Williams in 2017

www.fox19.com

 

[dotr]

Anyone have any ideas what the connect might possible be? Listen to the detective in the Part Two video...any ideas?

Jury selection begins Monday in Delphi double murder case

Richard Allen is accused of killing Libby German and Abby Williams in 2017

www.fox19.com

Very intriguing, a possible connection to the Delphi murders?

From (lengthy) link.. rbbm
“It was a very complex, brutal, disturbing crime scene. We think it was, you know, a very quick surprise attack,” Cox said. “There was some blunt force trauma.”

When Cox and Adams were sent to the scene that day, they discovered the house had been altered and the bodies had been staged. Whoever killed the couple had not taken off right away.

“There were things that were done to their bodies that, that was horrific... They changed several things in the scene, which is really, really unusual for any murder scene anywhere in the country or in the world,” Cox said. “There was quite a bit of time that the perpetrators, the killers, stayed in the residence or felt comfortable coming back to the scene.”

In general, detectives believe that kind of behavior points to a suspect who knows the victims, and Bill and Peggy Stephenson were loved by many people.''

“We had received some information from an individual regarding the Delphi murders in Indiana, and they had said, ‘For all of these reasons, we believe it may be the same person that was involved in the Stephenson case,’” Cox said.

''Right away, detectives say they started looking into a possible connection between Bill and Peggy’s 2011 murder and the murders of Abby Williams and Libby German in Delphi, Indiana in 2017.''

The information pointed Boone County investigators toward a specific person who had a specific item they were interested in.

“I’m not going to tell you about what that item was,” Cox said. “We’ve recently been in the northern part of Indiana, investigating this guy, following him around, looking for things, collecting all of the information and evidence that we would need to at least vet him as best we could with our case. He was cooperative... We were able to go down that path with him, and he articulated good reason to why that [item] may have existed.”

Cox said they sent what they found to Indiana State Police, since that is the agency handling Abby and Libby’s murder case.''

 

[dotr]

Part 1

Part 2

 

[FrostedGlass]

This is different from what we've heard:

However, it (the tip) led Cox to travel to the Fort Wayne area to interview a truck driver who had a connection to Bill Stephenson. Cox said that man was fully cooperative.

“We took items that can be evaluated for evidentiary purposes and I will not say what those are,” Cox said.

Based on what they have right now, Cox said they don’t see a connection with the Delphi murders. However, he admits both have very rare similarities in their crime scenes.

Kentucky detective investigating possible connection between 2011 double murder and Delphi case

BOONE COUNTY, Ky. — Cold case detectives at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky are investigating any possible connection between an unsolved double murder in 2011 and the 2017 kill…

fox59.com

 

[fred&edna]

Per the 2020 podcast Dotr linked above, this couple has a family member who is in prison for another murder (in Indiana). But, that family member "after some testing" was ruled out as the Stephensons' killer.

Weird coincidence regarding another murderer in Indiana. imo

 

[Wondergirl]

Tom Biedenharn was murdered in Lawrenceburg, Indiana on Memorial Day Weekend in 2018.

Tom volunteered at a location in Florence, Kentucky.

It is thought that there could be multiple killers for Tom, just like Bill and Peggy.

Tom spent his retirement helping others down on their luck, homeless, addicts and death row inmates. He was a religious man.

Could there be a link between the 2 x murders?

 

[Wondergirl]

The recent and quite frankly baffling piece by Fox with Detective Cox has me scratching my head.

Did the ISP circumvent the gag order for the murders of Libby & Abby in Delphi, by having Cox put forth the tip information?

I don't ever remember a time when such a piece was put out for a case, only to be basically retracted the next day.

Why?

 

[vls12345]

I've dipped in and out of the Delphi threads periodically and just happened to check tonight, which is where I saw this strange and intriguing information about some possible connection between the Delphi case and the murders of the Stephensons.

What stands out to me is a mention of a truck driver in this article:

However, it led Cox to travel to the Fort Wayne area to interview a truck driver who had a connection to Bill Stephenson. Cox said that man was fully cooperative.

“We took items that can be evaluated for evidentiary purposes and I will not say what those are,” Cox said.

At some point (years ago), there was speculation that the murderer in the Delphi murders could have been a truck driver passing through the area. I know that RA has since been arrested and is charged in the case and that he's not a truck driver and was local.

But, if there's something to both the Delphi case that is "bigger" (more tentacles) and this KY case, and there might somehow be an overlap, I wonder if the connection is something or some group that passes things or info or illicit items through a network of long-range truckers? It's just a piece that jumped out to me as something that had been mentioned in relation to both sets of murders. Perhaps the network of truckers isn't doing anything wrong or illegal (hence why this trucker was fully cooperative with KY LE), but maybe someone who uses this network is passing something (I have no idea what) from place to place via truckers. And maybe this something played a part in both murder scenes. If that makes sense....

That's just my very far-fetched idea I came up with and is, of course, all IMO and MOO.

 

[vls12345]

I keep thinking *what* could a common item be that would be specific enough to point to the trucker who was interviewed?

 

[vls12345]

Eerie link between Delphi murders & unsolved couple killing looked into by cops

THE brutal unsolved killing of an elderly couple in Kentucky is being investigated in connection with the Delphi murders after police received a series of “promising” tips, cops say. Bi…

www.the-sun.com

[snip]

"[It was staged] in almost every way that you could think possible. I don't want to elaborate too much, but things were moved and turned over, things had been touched on bookshelves and in cabinets, and things had been rearranged on the refrigerator.

"And then with the victims, things had been laid around them and on top of them.

"We didn't have a crime scene, we had a scene the killer or killers wanted us to find."

[snip]

"There are several parallels between the two cases that stick out to us," Cox explained.

"Certainly the staging in both cases, but also the fact that someone out there is targeting multiple individuals at the same time.

"It's unusual killing more than one person at a time and it takes a distinct kind of individual to do it.

"With the murders in Delphi - which breaks my heart - you have two young girls who are innocently just walking along in a remote area and are very vulnerable, in part because of their age.

"It's the same thing in our case: we have two victims that were just amazing, sweet people, but they were up in age and they were very vulnerable.

"There are all kinds of similarities that you can look at. That doesn't mean that the same person or persons did those crimes, but yes, there are definitely many similarities."

[snip]

 

[TL4S]

Eerie link between Delphi murders & unsolved couple killing looked into by cops

THE brutal unsolved killing of an elderly couple in Kentucky is being investigated in connection with the Delphi murders after police received a series of “promising” tips, cops say. Bi…

www.the-sun.com

It does seem like whatever piece of information that was pertinent enough to bring Boone Co. to Indiana, and tied somehow to this truck driver, ended up being pertinent enough for them to pass on to ISP. They haven't said whether they arrested that guy for anything related to the items he had. I do wonder about photographs, as well. Bizarre and staged crime scenes with multiple victims, where we know from the RL affidavit in Delphi that the FBI suspected killers like this to take photos? It's all so odd.

 

[Emma Peel]

The recent and quite frankly baffling piece by Fox with Detective Cox has me scratching my head.

Did the ISP circumvent the gag order for the murders of Libby & Abby in Delphi, by having Cox put forth the tip information?

I don't ever remember a time when such a piece was put out for a case, only to be basically retracted the next day.

Why?

Bolding in quote above by me. IMO, bingo.

However, I don't see where Cox statements were retracted next day?
I feel Cox continued to emphasize that the investigations had POSSIBLE links that both investigations continued to investigate. MOO only.

The first article out was super confusing, and I found clarifying that same info in later interviews/articles to be helpful.