AZ AZ - Timothy McKillop & Joyce Sterrenberg, both 20, murdered, Scottsdale, 24 May 1962

[Richard]

Timothy James McKillop, 20, murdered 24 May 1962

Joyce Sterrenberg, 20, murdered 24 May 1962

In the moonlight, the gunman stood over the two of them and delivered one more shot for each, right in the temple.

It was 1962, and the area was still pure desert, creosote bushes and scrub grass that ran all the way out to the mountains.

By the time sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, just northeast of Scottsdale and Bell roads, it was morning. The bodies of Joyce Sterrenberg and Tim McKillop had been there all night.

The killings made no sense. The victims, a couple, were good kids. Everybody said so.

For the next 49 years, investigators, politicians, lawyers and family members would try to understand what happened...

LINK:

http://archive.azcentral.com/news/a...03arizona-murder-william-macumber-part-1.html

 

[Richard]

Tim and Joyce were buried next to each other...

Timothy James McKillop
BIRTH 11 Aug 1941
Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
DEATH 23 May 1962 (aged 20)
Paradise Valley, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
BURIAL
Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery
Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
PLOT 4 Memory Lawn, Block 2, Plot 39, Space 7

Parents
James Beattie McKillop 1917–1972
Ann McCluskey McKillop 1918–1996

Spouse
Joyce Ann Sterrenberg
BIRTH 10 Apr 1942
Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, USA
DEATH 23 May 1962 (aged 20)
Paradise Valley, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
BURIAL
Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery
Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
PLOT 4 Memory Lawn, Block 2, Plot 39, Space 8

Parents
Clifford M. Sterrenberg 1919–1990
Joan Evelyn Grosenbach Sterrenberg 1920–2013






LINKS:

Arizona murder mystery: Guilt of man in 1962 killings thrown into question

Joyce Ann Sterrenberg (1942-1962) - Find A Grave...

 

[Richard]

Joyce Sterrenberg and Tim McKillop were found shot to death in the desert near Scottsdale on May 24, 1962.

LINK:
Bill Macumber: Man, convicted of double murder in Arizona, released after 37 years | Daily Mail Online

 

[Richard]

In 1974 - 12 years after the murders of Tim and Joyce, a man with no prior criminal record, Bill Macumber was arrested and tried for their murders. Macumber's ex-wife, who worked for the investigating Sheriff Office provided testimony and questionable evidence that got him convicted. Sentenced to two life terms, he spent the next 37 years in prison before being released on a legal "plea deal" - although he always denied having killed the couple.

Here is some information known to investigators in 1964, but NOT made known to the prosecution or defense lawyers during Macumber's 1974 trial.

Who really killed Tim and Joyce?

"Ernsesto Valenzuela told police in 1964, when he was arrested over the fatal shooting of another young couple, that he was responsible for the Sterrenberg/McKillop murders in 1962.

A female eyewitness, Linda Primrose, also told police that she has seen the killer, describing him as a young man, 5'9 in height and around 160lb.

Police had earlier dismissed Valenzuela for the murders, believing him to be a 'kook' who dreamed up all manner of confessions.

Following the second murders, which attorney Mr Green described as having similar 'lover's lane' style traits to the Sterrenberg/McKillop killings, Valenzuela was convicted.

He also confessed to the 1962 murders to several prison psychiatrists who classed Valenzuela as a homicidal maniac.

Valenzuela died during a prison riot in 1974 after he was convicted for the two separate murders - but the Sterrenberg/McKillop case remained open.

Despite the fact Valenzuela's attorney came forward to support his dead client's confession, neither the prosecution nor the defense was privy to the information in 1974 during Mr Macumber's trial."

LINK:
Bill Macumber: Man, convicted of double murder in Arizona, released after 37 years | Daily Mail Online

 

[Richard]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 11, 2017

The Arizona Republic reports that William Macumber died Oct. 10 at age 81, and Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Laurie Kilpatrick confirmed Wednesday that Macumber is deceased.https://www.denverpost.com/newstips/

Kilpatrick said she could not provide details of Macumber’s death, but Macumber attorney Larry Hammond said Macumber died of a severe lung illness after many decades of smoking.

Macumber long contended he was innocent of a 1962 Scottsdale double-killing and was framed by his ex-wife, which she denied.

Macumber was released from prison in Arizona in 2012 in a deal with prosecutors under which he pleaded no contest and was re-sentenced to time already served.

That was after defense attorneys argued that jurors weren’t told that another man had earlier confessed to the killings. A court ordered that Macumber be retried or released.

Hammond said Macumber also maintained he was innocent in the Colorado case.

A judge in that state on Jan. 5 granted a defense motion to dismiss Macumber’s convictions because he had a pending appeal when he died.

Hammond, who was one of several attorneys who represented Macumber in his Arizona case through the Arizona Justice Project, said he attended the Colorado trial.

“I choose to believe that had there been enough time for the state to respond and for the (appeals) court to hear the case, that conviction would have been set aside,” said Hammond. “Had he gotten a fair trial, he never would have been convicted. That’s what I believe.”

The Republic reported that Macumber’s Colorado arrest cost him the relationship he was building with his son, Ronald. “It makes me angry to no end, for the 12 years I spent to get him out of jail to do what he did,” the son told the newspaper following his father’s arrest.

Ronald Macumber said he still thought his father was not responsible for the 1962 killings...

LINK:
Ex-lifer released in Arizona case died in Colorado prison – The Denver Post

 

[Richard]

Timothy James McKillop and Joyce Sterrenberg,
Murdered 24 May 1962