Percy's first wife, from this north shore neighborhood, is in CA with their young family while he's stationed in the Navy. She dies, age 26, of a penicillin reaction. 1947 and she is cremated!
He meets and marries in 1950 wealthy California girl, Loraine. She becomes the new mom. He and family return to north shore.
The night of the murder, Valerie has coffee, at 10 pm with Loraine, and, perhaps, 2 campaign aides.
About 11, Valerie goes to her room, dons a negligee (really? for whom at that age?) and watches tv from her bed.
Sharon comes in to Valerie's room to return coat she wore, says goodnight.
4am, Loraine allegedly hears breaking glass. She doesn't wake ole Chuck, sleeping beside her. He isn't awakened by any noise nor of her leaving the bed.
Loraine gets up and goes to the bedroom where she claims to have seen intruder/assailant standing over the bed, with a flashlight which she claims he flashed in her face.
Intruder, who does not wake up Chuck, dog, or others in the house, runs, in dark house, down stairs and out. Heavy running doesn't wake anyone.
Apparently, Loraine doesn't scream. She must have been standing in his way while he was making his escape, but he doesn't bother bludgeoning her in this deadly silence.
No one wakes.
Then, Loraine seems to activate the burglar alarm which too didn't go off during the entry.
Valerie's negligee is pulled up and she lies bludgeoned and stabbed repeatedly, by someone in a frenzy.
There are bloody prints on the banister. The intruder held on to the stairs during his escape? Pshaw.
When the family is later gathered in a room when the doctor arrives, they're dressed, but Loraine is...wearing her negligee. No word as to whether a quick shower took place.
Valerie is buried, not cremated like her mother.
Few, if any, future photos of Loraine appear. The family leaves the north shore within 2 weeks.
When Chuck Percy dies, and is buried, Valerie is relocated to lie beside him.
In a recent case demanding production of the Percy murder records held by Kenilworth police, Sharon Percy Rockefeller appears in court to personally entreat the judge not to allow the matter to be made public.
The judge agrees that Valerie's 1966 murder case is still pending and thus the investigation must be held under wraps.
