IL IL - Valerie Percy, 21, Kenilworth, 18 September 1966 #2

[VespaElf]

I remember reading a story about ,I belive an Ohio Senator's(?) daughter who was murdered in their house and the case has never been solved.
This happened in the 1960's.(big house,no forced entry,family heard nothing)

Sorry I don't have more info but this is an obscure case and I read about briefly!


Anyone have any info???


Thanks!

Thread #1

 

[joellegirl]

Hi, I believe you are talking about Valerie Percy, 21 year old daughter of former Illinois senator Charles Percy. It happened Sept 18,1966 in the affluent Chicago suburb of Kenilworth. The family found her dead in her bedroom that morning, having suffered repeated blows to her head and stabbed several times. I don't have any links handy at the moment but it is still an unsolved murder.

 

[Ivy]

Here's a link to an article about the case.

 

[joejs89]

I still question if an outfit like Parabon Nanolabs could take any biological samples, in this case maybe blood, and test, obtain DNA then solve this case.

 

[Luckymanuh]

Joejs I have always wondered why KPD has never done this. Even now with the cold cases solved with using geology sites and family DNA. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion it will never be solved.
I have always thought that Richard Otto Macek could have done it. He was known for break ins, his MO was overkill, he had a fetish for women underwear. I mention the underwear because I had read a dresser drawer was open but nothing taken. How would anyone but the person who's clothes drawer it was to tell if anything missing?!?!?

 

[Betty P]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>

I still question if an outfit like Parabon Nanolabs could take any biological samples, in this case maybe blood, and test, obtain DNA then solve this case.

You really have to wonder why this hasn't happened yet. Maybe some day it will. The family seems to want to put this behind them now.

 

[Richard]

At just 21-years-old Valerie Percy was taken from the world on September 18, 1966. Valerie was bludgeoned and stabbed to death in the home as her family slept. Over 50 years later her murder remains unsolved.

LINK:
Valerie Percy - The Unsolved Murder Of A Politician's Daughter

 

[Richard]

The Percy family on a bicycle outing in 1964. From left, Mark, Gail, Roger, Valerie, Sharon, Loraine and Charles. (Chicago Tribune archive photo)

Valerie Jean Percy, 21, was found beaten and stabbed to death in her bed Sept. 18, 1966, in her family's Kenilworth mansion. It was the first homicide in the history of the North Shore suburb.

Percy was the daughter of Chicago-area business executive and then-Republican U.S. Senate candidate Charles "Chuck" Percy. She had just graduated from Cornell University and came home to work on her father's election campaign...

... One focus of their investigation was a cross-country burglary gang traced to Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Texas...

... In the years after the Percy slaying, one jailed member of the group, Harold James Evans, told investigators that another member, Frederick J. "Freddie" Malchow, had bragged that he killed Percy. The convicted leader of the gang, Francis Leroy Hohimer, also implicated Malchow as the killer.

But Malchow already was dead by that time. FBI agents had interviewed him in a Pennsylvania jail where he was awaiting trial for rape and robbery in a home invasion in that state. Malchow denied any involvement with the Percy killing. In 1967 he broke out of jail and fell to his death from a railroad trestle as police moved in.

"To this day I am convinced that Freddie Malchow was the killer and that he acted alone," Robert Lamb, the last full-time investigator in the Percy homicide, told the Tribune in 1991. Lamb noted that investigators were able to place Malchow in Chicago at the time of the slaying through an airplane baggage ticket...

Harold James Evans, from left, Francis LeRoy Hohimer and Frederick J. Malchow were part of a burglary gang that was investigated in connection with the Valerie Percy slaying. Evans and Hohimer told investigators that Malchow was the killer, but their claims were never proved. (FBI)

LINK:
50 years ago: The unsolved slaying of Valerie Percy

 

[Richard]

Valerie Percy in August 1964, two years before her death. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

 

[mysuspect]

I don't know about the Bubes murder but the author of the book on this case has a recent book out that has some interesting connections between the Percy, Bates, Zodiac etc. cases.

 

[Richard]

I don't know about the Bubes murder but the author of the book on this case has a recent book out that has some interesting connections between the Percy, Bates, Zodiac etc. cases.

Sharon Bubes of Evanston, Illinois was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in her home on 30 June 1966.

Although her murder has been mentioned many times as a possible connection to other murder cases (particularly to the Valerie Percy murder), I could find very little on Sharon's unsolved case.

I have started a Websleuths Cold Case thread on her in the hope that others might be able to find and post more information.

LINK:
IL - Sharon Bubes, Evanston, murdered 30 June 1966, Evanston, IL

 

[Cubby]

With advances in DNA technology, it is hinky as he77 that this case has not been solved. I believe this could have already been solved via forensic genealogical dna, but for reasons unknown to me, someone does not want it solved.

 

[SAMS]

Sharon Bubes of Evanston, Illinois was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in her home on 30 June 1966.

Although her murder has been mentioned many times as a possible connection to other murder cases (particularly to the Valerie Percy murder), I could find very little on Sharon's unsolved case.

I have started a Websleuths Cold Case thread on her in the hope that others might be able to find and post more information.

LINK:
IL - Sharon Bubes, Evanston, murdered 30 June 1966, Evanston, IL

Wow, very similar indeed.

 

[mysuspect]

I recall Bubes' case. I thought she survived and the intruder was driven off by her mother.

 

[Richard]

I recall Bubes' case. I thought she survived and the intruder was driven off by her mother.

That is possibly the reason that I have been able to find nothing on any murder of Sharon beyond various websleuths posts which compare her murder to those of others around the same timeframe.

That does not mean that a non-fatal attack on her was NOT connected with other similar cases. It would be good to have more specifics.

I was able to determine that Sharon Bubes was a graduate of Evanston Township High School Class of 1965.

 

[Richard]

A World War II M1 Bayonet of the type shown below was recovered from the lake behind the Percy house after the murder of Valerie. It was not proven conclusively (or not reported so) that it was the actual murder weapon. However, reports state that Valerie was both bludgeoned and stabbed to death. Such a weapon might have been used both as a stabbing instrument AND as a sort of hammer. The blade edge would not have been sharp like a kitchen knife, and could have been held like the handle of a hammer.

Note the pommel (back of the handle) which would have inflicted wounds of an identifiable nature. The top rear of the handle has a slot to fit on the bayonet lug of a rifle. Striking a person with that part might produce a wound similar to hitting someone with the nail pulling end of a claw hammer.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

• 

 

[Richard]

The following information comes from a 2013 post I made to this thread:
-----------------------------------
Valerie Percy - The Evidence

An autopsy showed that Valerie had been bludgeoned up to four times on the head with a ball peen hammer, a fireplace poker or a similar instrument with a conical or triangular head. She was stabbed as many as 14 times in the neck, chest and abdomen.

Her hands, knees and left foot bore signs of defensive wounds. She had died fighting.

Evidence showed the killer got in by cutting a screen, then scoring a door pane with a glass cutter; the crash that awakened Loraine Percy.

Cops scoured the property and came up with a number of potential clues: a moccasin, a glove, a bayonet, a pocket watch, a scissors blade and a rusty knife, although none of the objects was ever determined without doubt to have been left by the killer.

Likewise, police found bare footprints of nebulous origin on the beach. Investigators told reporters that they found a good-quality fingerprint on the broken glass, palm and fingerprints on Valerie's door and a stairway railing, and hair and fibers of indeterminate origin in her room.
----------------------------

Additionally, a man was seen leaving the scene and from witness assistance, a sketch was made of a possible suspect.

• 

 

[mysuspect]

That does not mean that a non-fatal attack on her was NOT connected with other similar cases. It would be good to have more specifics.

True. If I recall correctly, she was uninjured. The intruder took a swing at her and missed and then fled.

 

[mysuspect]

The pathologist who did Percy's autopsy told Chicago Homicide detective Joe DiLeonardi that Percy's head wounds were a match to the battering portion of the hilt of the bayonet. The speculation about possible fireplace pokers and whatever else was a product of news reporting in the days between the murder and when the bayonet was recovered and commented on by police, which was at least four days.

Meanwhile, a recent book on the Zodiac case (Zodiac Maniac) states that evidence found at the Percy crime scene (and other area crime scenes linked to this crime) reveal connections between this case and the Zodiac murders (Bay Area 1968-69), as well as to a former neighbor of Percy's who was a suspect in this case and was described by area police as extremely dangerous. The suspect lived in San Francisco 1965-70. A bayonet was named as the murder weapon by the pathologist who did the autopsy of the victim in the 3rd Zodiac attacks despite bayonets being practically unheard of in attacks on civilians.

The following information comes from a 2013 post I made to this thread:
-----------------------------------
Valerie Percy - The Evidence

An autopsy showed that Valerie had been bludgeoned up to four times on the head with a ball peen hammer, a fireplace poker or a similar instrument with a conical or triangular head. She was stabbed as many as 14 times in the neck, chest and abdomen.

Her hands, knees and left foot bore signs of defensive wounds. She had died fighting.

Evidence showed the killer got in by cutting a screen, then scoring a door pane with a glass cutter; the crash that awakened Loraine Percy.

Cops scoured the property and came up with a number of potential clues: a moccasin, a glove, a bayonet, a pocket watch, a scissors blade and a rusty knife, although none of the objects was ever determined without doubt to have been left by the killer.

Likewise, police found bare footprints of nebulous origin on the beach. Investigators told reporters that they found a good-quality fingerprint on the broken glass, palm and fingerprints on Valerie's door and a stairway railing, and hair and fibers of indeterminate origin in her room.
----------------------------

Additionally, a man was seen leaving the scene and from witness assistance, a sketch was made of a possible suspect.

• 

 

[Richard]

The pathologist who did Percy's autopsy told Chicago Homicide detective Joe DiLeonardi that Percy's head wounds were a match to the battering portion of the hilt of the bayonet. The speculation about possible fireplace pokers and whatever else was a product of news reporting in the days between the murder and when the bayonet was recovered and commented on by police, which was at least four days.

Meanwhile, a recent book on the Zodiac case (Zodiac Maniac) states that evidence found at the Percy crime scene (and other area crime scenes linked to this crime) reveal connections between this case and the Zodiac murders (Bay Area 1968-69), as well as to a former neighbor of Percy's who was a suspect in this case and was described by area police as extremely dangerous. The suspect lived in San Francisco 1965-70. A bayonet was named as the murder weapon by the pathologist who did the autopsy of the victim in the 3rd Zodiac attacks despite bayonets being practically unheard of in attacks on civilians.

You are correct, I believe, in stating that the use of a bayonet in criminal attacks is a rare occurrence. I do not know what the statistics are, but it is certainly something to consider in comparing cases for possible connections.

I can say, from personal memory, that in the mid 1960's bayonets were very readily available and very cheap. They could be had from any Army Surplus store (or from mail order places) for prices ranging anywhere from $1.50 to about $5 tops. I recall M1 bayonets (like the one found near the Percy murder site) selling for about $4.50 including its sheath.

Most bayonets had rather thick blades of between 10 inches and 16 inches in length. For military use, they were normally only sharpened at the tip and their use was mainly for thrusting forward when attached to the end of a military rifle. They could also be used for stabbing an enemy, but were hardly ever sharpened along the edge like a knife.

I have never seen the autopsy report or photos referenced in your post, but if the doctor identified a bayonet as the murder weapon, it must have been based on the nature of the wounds matching various parts of the type of bayonet found in the lake. The hilt would be the cross piece part of the bayonet which includes a ring that goes around the barrel near the muzzle, and a lower protruding finger guard. The pommel of the bayonet would be the far back end of the bayonet where it attaches to a "lug" band at the end of the stock. Each of these points could leave distinctive marks on the body.

From what I have read, however, the bayonet found was never conclusively identified as the specific murder weapon. While wounds may have matched, it is possible that no blood or other material was found on the bayonet (which was found by divers in the lake).

In the case of the 1969 California murder, certainly the attacker's CHOICE of a bayonet (or bayonet-like item) as a murder weapon is a factor to consider in possibly linking the two cases. Unfortunately, there is no way that it could be said that the SAME bayonet was used in both attacks. Also the location of wounds was different. In the California case, all wounds were stab wounds, not bludgeoning wounds as from a hammer-like weapon.