CHARLES STARKWEATHER Ep. 2 | “Three Dead On Belmont”

Charles Starkweather had earned a reputation in Lincoln as one of those listless, spiteful, good-for-nothing teenagers whom the media in the 1950s had convinced. Many citizens were a burgeoning plague on American culture. Yes, Charles was fascinated with the heroes and rogues he saw on the silver screen. And yes, he loved the rebellious spirit of rock and roll as much as the next teenager. But his anger had more personal, painful roots. Family and friends all said he had been a nice kid who had respected his father and loved his mother.

But by Charles account, that all changed at the hands of schoolyard bullies. Mean-spirited boys and girls made fun of his stutter, his bow-legged gait and his bad eyesight. His teachers had done nothing to help, so he became hardened.

The lack of love he felt from anyone left a void that was filled by hatred for everyone or almost everyone. He had met Carol Ann Fugate after a single double date. Their bond was immediate. They were young.

By late November of 1957, he was nineteen and she was just fourteen. They were uneducated and naive to the world. Neither would attend high school past their freshman year, and neither had left the state of Nebraska. And they were prone to fantasy, imagining themselves in movies and comic book stories. Charles adoration for, or maybe obsession with Carol dulled his frustration and contempt for the world.

But it could only keep his tendencies at bay for so long. In late 1957, Charles was out of work and broke. He had a girlfriend he wanted to provide for, and if he had to hurt people to do it, he felt no remorse about it. He finally snapped on a cold night after Thanksgiving.

Charles covered his face and head and robbed the Crest Service Station in Lincoln with a shotgun he had borrowed from the brother of his friend, Bob Vaughn Bush. Charles walked away with about $150 in small bills and quarters and took the station attendant Robert Colvert hostage. Charles killed Robert and left his body on a dirt road on the outskirts of Lincoln. Charles said later that he slept easy that night, didn't get up until nearly noon the next day and went to his girlfriend's house as if it were any other day. He had killed a man whose wife was pregnant and due to give birth at almost any time, and the murder didn't seem to affect Charles at all.

Whether or not Charles consciously realized that he was comfortable with killing, it was the beginning of the scariest time in the history of Lincoln, Nebraska.

From Blackberry Media This is infamous America. I'm your host Chris Wimmer. In this season, we're telling the story of Charles Starkweather and Carol Ann Fugate and their bloody rampage through America's heartland. This is episode 2 Three Dead on Belmont.

On the Saturday night that Charles killed service station attendant Robert Colvert, Charles had forced Colvert to drive Charles 1949 Ford out onto Superior Street, which was actually a dirt road. Well away from anyone who might hear raised voices or the blast of a shotgun. They crossed the Salt Creek Bridge and Charles told Colvert to pull over and get out of the car. Charles claimed later that he had not yet decided if he was going to kill the man or just leave him out there. But Colvert made the decision for him. As they both slid out of the driver's side door, Colvert must have believed that he was in a fight for his life. He grabbed the barrel of the shotgun.

The two men, neither large in stature, struggled in the cold winter air. Colvert had served in the Navy, but he probably hadn't been in as many fights as Charles had. As Charles began to overpower Colvert, the shotgun went off, the blast tore through Colvert's side and he hit the ground hard. He wheezed and moaned, but he tried to stand.

Quickly but calmly, Charles loaded another round into the weapon and shot Colvert in the back of the head. Charles gathered the shells from the ground, put the shotgun on the passenger seat and drove back to his rented room.

The next morning, Sunday, Charles saw Carol Fugate and they made plans for later in the day. Charles later claimed that he was sure Carol knew what he had done. She would tell investigators she had no idea. Charles spent the afternoon putting some of what he had learned in his detective comics to work. First, he bought some new clothes.

He purchased them at a second-hand store so as not to raise suspicion. Then he bought new tires for his car. He had read a detective story where law enforcement had nabbed a bank robber by matching tire marks in the mud to the culprit's getaway car. While the FBI might have had that ability in their bag of tricks, Charles was probably overestimating the forensics team at the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office. Charles had also gotten his Ford partially painted so that it looked more black than blue.

Then he had stressed over what to do with the murder weapon. First, he threw it off the Salt Creek Bridge, but then he thought better of it. If he told his friend's brother that the shotgun went missing on the same night, that a man had been killed with a shotgun, it could raise suspicion. He retrieved the weapon and returned it to the brother's garage Sunday evening. The night after the murder, Charles and Carol went to the local movie theater to see a western called The Last of the Bad Men.

People all over town were talking about how the police had found a frozen body out on Superior Street with two bullet holes in it. On Monday morning, the headline in the local newspaper read Lincolnite slain, theft motive seen. The front page had pictures of the Crest Service station and Dirt Road where the body was found. The article talked about Charlotte, the heartbroken pregnant widow whom Culvert left behind. It noted that Culvert's murder would mark just the third murder in Lancaster County in the year 1957..

A man accused of strangling a three-year-old girl had committed suicide in the county jail before he went to trial. And a fed-up housewife had beaten her drunk, abusive husband to death with a nine-pound iron window sash weight. Those alleged killers were swiftly brought before a judge. But Robert Culvert's murderer was on the loose and people were nervous. Sadly, Culvert's death would end up being overlooked. In most tellings of Charles Starkweather's story, future renditions focused more on the carnage to come. But at the time of the murder, people in Lincoln were plenty alarmed. And as the next two months passed in relative quiet, they could be forgiven for believing that the murder of Robert Culvert was a single tragic incident.

Lancaster County Sheriff Merle Carnop had been enjoying a pleasant morning on Sunday, December 1. He and his boy, Dennis, listened to the radio while Carnop read the football scores in the Lincoln Journal-Star. The University of Nebraska season was mercifully over. But the previous day, the Midshipmen had beaten the Cadets in the annual Army-Navy game, and Auburn had whooped Alabama in the final game of the season 40-0.

Then the peace of the morning ended. Abruptly, the phone rang, and Carnop's wife, Gertrude, answered. In the kitchen, she called her husband. The 47-year-old sheriff lumbered to the kitchen to take the call.

It was his deputy. There was a body out on a dirt road beyond city limits, so it was their jurisdiction. Carnop dressed quickly and drove out to the site of Robert Culvert's murder. Carnop learned the details of the crime and he told reporters that he had no doubt the motive was robbery. A few days later, he told reporters that he believed they were on the hunt for a vagrant, or vagrants, who most likely had left town already.

Two separate suspects were brought in and questioned, but they were released. There was a possible lead regarding a similar service station robbery in Omaha. But it went cold and so Sheriff Carnop was left to wonder if his public suspicion was true. Was the murder of Robert Culvert a random act of violence by a vagrant who was just passing through, or was it something else?

Days passed, then weeks. Robert Culvert was buried shortly after his wife gave birth. The holidays came and went, and no arrest was made. Sheriff Merle Carnop, even with the help of local police and his friends at the FBI, didn't have a suspect. The sheriff was more accustomed to seeing his picture in the newspaper. Because he was glad-handing. Nebraska Governor Victor Anderson, or because he attended a function for the Nebraska Better Fishing Association, of which he was a board member.

By now, his investigation was under fire. The employee, who used to let Charles sleep in his car in the lot next to the Crest Service station, came forward. He told the police about the red-haired Greaser kid in the 1949 Ford. He said the kid was off and broke and bought single cigarettes and a nickel's worth of gas. He said the kid had always been nice to him, but at the same time there was something that was just off about the kid.

He seemed angry all the time. Charles Starkweather was a well-known brawler and troublemaker who had red hair, but at no point in the fifty days following the murder of Robert Colvert was Starkweather questioned. Charles later claimed that a week or so after the killing, he returned to his routine of going to the Crest service station to regularly buy gas. As well as trinkets for Carol. But Sheriff Carnop and his deputies continued to look for an out-of-towner with a history of robbery.

Local newspapers and radio stations offered rewards for information, leading to an arrest. But as 1958 began, there were no new leads, even though the young man who was responsible was right there, in plain sight.

Bob von Busch, Charles friend who had introduced him to Carol, married Carol's sister Barbara in a small family ceremony. And the couple welcomed their first child just after the New Year in 1958.

After Barbara had a few days to rest, family and friends were invited to visit. Bob and Barbara lived in the same tenement house as Charles, and Charles, and Carol joined the festivities, family members recalled. The young couple seemed happy, picture perfect, but looks may have been deceiving. Charles and Carol would tell wildly different stories about that crucial time in their lives, the time right before everything went crazy. And the truth will probably never be known.

Charles would claim that his relationship with Carol was never better. Carol would say she had strong feelings for Charles, but also worried about him and became frustrated with him. As the days progressed toward mid-January and the point of no return, there was rumor and gossip and truth and fiction everywhere.

Charles used the money he stole from the Crest Service station to pay the rent on his room and the small garage he rented in the upscale neighborhood known as Country Club. According to Charles, he lavished Carol with gifts and made plans for their future. Charles believed that Carol couldn't stand her family and she wanted him to take her away for what it's worth. They opened a joint bank account at the first National Bank in downtown Lincoln. And the gossip around town said Carol might be pregnant with Charles baby. Carol wondered where Charles got the money, but she remained adamant.

She had no idea he murdered Robert Colvert, and she grew tired of hearing about his big plans for the future. His ideas became more and more fantastical. And she told people she found it harder and harder to take him seriously, and his constant jealousy was an even bigger problem. According to Carol, in mid-January 1958, Charles came by her house. On a Sunday evening. Carol's mother and stepfather allowed Charles into their home. But they were not pleased about it.

Not long after arriving, Charles began to hassle Carol about where she'd been all day and who she'd been with. Carol grew frustrated and told him to leave, but Charles refused. Carol's mother, Velda, screamed at Charles to leave, and he finally did. That night, Carol says she broke up with Charles and told him to leave her alone. Charles denied the confrontation ever happened, but if he had grand plans for his future with Carol, those plans hit a roadblock.

In late January, he was broke again, had been kicked out of his rented room and was forced to sleep in the frigid garage he rented. He loved Carol, or at least he thought it was love, he wanted to take her away, and he wanted a better life. But the old anger and hate were bubbling up to the surface again, and, tragically, he made up his mind to return to Carol's house.

According to Charles, he went to Carol's home at 924 Belmont Avenue on Tuesday, January 21, 1958, two days after Carol said she broke up with him. Carol was at school, and Charles claimed later that he was supposed to go hunting with Carol's stepfather, Marion Bartlett. Charles had borrowed a .22-caliber rifle from his brother. Charles, parked in front of Carol's house and walked up the driveway to the back door that led into the kitchen. He carried the small-caliber rifle with him and let himself in, but immediately wished he hadn't.

Carol's mother and stepfather had a young girl, Betty Jean, who was just over two years old. Betty Jean was crying when Charles walked in, and Carol's mother was visibly annoyed that he had come by Carol's stepfather. Marion told Charles to get out and stay out. Marion was putting his foot down from that day. forward, Charles was to stay away from Carol.

Charles and Marion got into a heated argument. Velda screamed at Charles and said her daughter was too good for him. Before Charles could protest. Velda slapped him two or three times. At that point, Charles retreated outside to his car and sped away. But when he hit the stop sign at the end of the street, he remembered something.

He had left his brother's rifle leaning against the wall in the kitchen.

Charles drove back to Carol's house. He walked up to the back door. As soon as he entered, he encountered Marion. The yelling resumed, and the insults flew back and forth. Charles made his way through the kitchen to the living room and out to the front.

He shouted back over his shoulder, but never attempted to grab his rifle. Charles was now back at his car and he drove down the street to a local market. The market was closed and Charles somewhere on that drive, he must have decided what was going to happen next at the market. He used a payphone to call the office at Marion Bartlett's job. Marion was a night watchman at a transportation company.

Charles told Marion's employer that Marion was sick. In fact, the whole family was sick, and that Marion wouldn't be at work until everyone was better. Then Charles drove to a nearby friend's house and parked his car. He walked back to Carol's house to wait for her to get home from school. Marion and Velda wouldn't let him go into the house, so, according to Charles, he sat on the back porch and waited.

A little after 3 p.

M.

Carol arrived home having no idea that her mother and stepfather spent the afternoon fighting with Charles.

Carol entered through the front door, and Marion and Velda immediately confronted her. They told her in loud voices about the problems with Charles. Charles could hear them from his seat on the back porch. He stormed in through the kitchen door and stood between the parents and Carol. All four were screaming, and two-year-old Betty Jean cried for her mother.

Charles claimed that Velda grew violent first and hit him in the face. This time Charles didn't back down and he hit her back. She stumbled to the ground. Marion grabbed Charles by the throat and tried to shove him out the door. Carol screamed that she couldn't take it anymore and locked herself in the bathroom.

Charles somehow shook free of Marion and grabbed his rifle, which was leaning against the kitchen wall. Charles ducked out of the kitchen, ran down the hall and into Carol's bedroom. His hands shook as he fumbled in his pocket for a bullet. As he chambered the round, he heard the sound of Marion's work boots stomping down the hardwood floor of the hallway. Charles spun around to see Marion in the doorway, holding a hammer above his head.

Charles raised the rifle and fired the bullet, hit Marion in the head and his body crumbled to the floor for a second. Betty Jean stopped crying and the house was silent, Then Carol burst out of the bathroom. She saw her mother in the kitchen, standing motionless but clutching a long kitchen knife.

Carol ran into her bedroom and saw Charles reloading the.

22 caliber rifle. She stared at him confused, before she looked down and saw Marion on the floor. His head was bleeding and he wasn't moving, but she thought he might still be breathing. Charles watched his girlfriend as she stood over Marion Bartlett. She didn't scream.

She just stood there. Taking in the scene, Charles took her silence to mean she approved of what he had done. She didn't tell him to stop, even when he moved down the hall, toward the living room where Carol's mother and the two-year-old were waiting.

Charles and Carol walked into the living room from the hallway as Carol's mother, Velda, entered from the kitchen. Charles testified that Carol snatched the rifle out of his hands with the intention of shooting her mother. But before she could fire, Velda rushed her and they crashed to the ground. Charles grabbed the rifle aimed and fired. The bullet, struck Velda in the face but didn't kill her. She struggled up to her knees and tried to crawl to Betty Jean, who was crying a few feet away.

Charles hit Velda with the butt of the rifle, and now she lay still and quiet. But two-year-old Betty Jean still screamed nearby. Charles killed the child in ways that are too graphic to describe. But he would say later in one version of the events, that Carol was responsible for Betty Jean's murder. When Carol did finally speak up, all she had to say was that Marion was making gurgling noises in the bedroom. It was almost over, but not yet.

Charles drew his hunting knife from the sheath on his belt. He walked down the hall, knelt over the dying man and stabbed him in the throat. Then Charles sat on the edge of Carol's bed and watched the man die. Now, it was genuinely silent in the house, with three dead bodies in the rooms around them, the two teenagers made coffee and turned on the television.

Charles had no memory of what they watched, but they watched in silence. After a short time, Charles knew he had to deal with the bodies. People might have heard the gunshots, neighbors might come knock on the door with towels and carpets.

He gathered from around the house, he wrapped up the bodies of Marion and Velda and tied them with twine. He dragged Marion's body out to the backyard and shoved it in the chicken coop. He dragged Velda's body to an old outhouse in the backyard. He jammed her body inside and then placed a crate that contained Betty Jean's body on top of the toilet seat. With the bodies removed and the scene cleaned up, Charles asked Carol what she wanted for dinner.

Soda pop and potato chips, was her answer. Her stepdad never let them have potato chips. So Charles walked to the market where he had placed the call to Marion's employer. He bought bottles of pepsi and bags of chips and walked back to his new home for nearly a week. With three bodies in the backyard, the two teenagers played house.

But, of course, this was all Charles Starkweather's version of the events of Tuesday, January 21, 1958.

Carol Ann Fugate's version was completely different, at least until the pepsi and potato chips. She claimed she was a victim, not an accomplice or co-conspirator, but whichever version or combination of the two was true, the worst was far from over. It was just beginning. And the escalation would happen so fast and with such fury that the state of Nebraska would look like it was preparing for war.

Next time on Infamous America, suspicion grows about the strange behavior at Carol's house. Charles and Carol hit the road to avoid capture, but less than 15 miles away, they run into trouble. That leads to three more murders. That's next week on Infamous America.

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Original music by Rob Valier. I'm Your host and producer Chris Wimmer. Find us at our website blackbarrelmedia..com or on our social media channels. We're Black Barrel Media on Facebook and Instagram, and B Barrel Media on Twitter. And you can stream all our episodes on YouTube. Just search for Infamous America podcast.

Thanks for listening.