Indiana police probing link between Delphi murders and 2011 killing of Bill and Peggy Stephenson
CARROLL COUNTY, MARYLAND: Police officers are now deep diving into the murder of Bill and Peggy Stephenson, an old couple, who was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death on May 29, 2011, inside their home in Florence. Investigators claim that there could be a possible connection between the Stephensons killings and the Delphi murders.
Investigators in the Delphi murders believe Richard Allen was "not the only actor involved" in the death of girls and are currently looking into other potential suspects. They also stated similar to Stephensons' case, the Delphi murders that killed Liberty German and Abigail Williams were understood to have been "posed," and both had lost a lot of blood.
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How were the Stephensons killed?
William and Peggy Stephenson were found murdered inside their home located in Florence, Kentucky on May 29, 2011. One of their family members found the body of the couple as William, aka “Bill,” did not show up for the Sunday service at the Truckers Chapel or the services held at Union Baptist Church. Detective Coy Cox, who’s headed the Boone County Sheriff, claimed that he’s been “guarded and careful” about the details he’s released from the start. He also added, “There wasn’t one room in that house that wasn’t staged. There was no sign of forced entry, and neighbors living in close proximity did not report seeing or hearing anything unusual that night." Meanwhile, both the victims were found in two separate rooms, and the one thing that was obvious to investigators was that the killer or killers had spent extensive time at the crime scene.
"Bill never met a stranger, and Peggy was so sweet and soft-spoken. They were kind, goodhearted people who wished no one anything but joy. They didn’t just talk about loving people; they lived it," said one of his friends. The killer had also written a message after killing the duo. “the scene they [the killer] wanted to be found, and not the crime scene," said Cox. He also added, “There were things that were maybe on end tables or up on shelves that were changed, altered, moved, turned over, marked on. There were items that seemed to have no significant meaning left in different rooms. Most of the items that were left at the scene appeared to be things that were probably in residence.”There was DNA found at multiple locations, all coming from the same individual. “The DNA is not suitable for genealogy or phenotyping at this time,” Cox said. “We hope in the future that changes.” Hundreds of persons of interest have been interviewed in this case in fourteen states. However, no significant findings have come out so far. Police also had doubts about some of the serial killers. “Samuel Little was in Columbus, (Ohio) and was arrested in April of 2011 and he was released like five days later. So, on May 29, 2011, Bill and Peggy were killed. He wasn’t picked up again until June 2011 in Louisville, and he traveled on foot. Hitchhiked. Well, if you draw a line, especially with Interstate 71, guess where he came through at some point in time. And it just so happens, it’s right in that magical window," said Cox. However, the case still remains unclosed.
What is the connection between the Delphi murders and Stephensons killings?
Cox said, “It was a very complex, brutal, disturbing crime scene. We think it was, you know, a very quick surprise attack. There was some blunt-force trauma. 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. There was quite a bit of time that the perpetrators, the killers, stayed in residence or felt comfortable coming back to the scene," said Cox. “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.
He then added, “There are things that will make you really interested in a case, simply more than just somebody saying, ‘Hey, we think this person might have been involved.’ But we had a little piece of information that really made that case specifically interesting to us,” Cox said. The investigator also said, “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 as to why that [item] may have existed.”
Further, he suggested, "We received information from Indiana as it related to some persons, and we forwarded that to them... We did not send them the information that led them to Richard Allen. We sent them information that may have had some parallel consistencies with where they are with that case right now,” Cox said. “I know that sounds a little cloak and dagger, but I’m just sorry about that. We’re not getting farther with that.." He also added I want to solve it. I don’t want to say it’s more special, but it’s definitely a very special case, and I’d really like to get it solved, as we would all of them, obviously... but yeah, this one has a little extra tug.” The officer also added, “We’re just still hopeful, just hopeful that they’ll come up with the right evidence that they need, and you know, a confession would be great, but we’re just, we’re still hopeful that they’ll solve it,” Beth said. “Somebody deserves to pay for what they did.”
Why are the tips coming in?
Cox also said that they have been receiving tips from all around. He said, "The tips that we have received in the last 24 hours from people in Indiana, as it relates to the Stephenson case, is just crazy," he said. As I'm talking now, my tip line has gone off twice, and two emails have come through. I was going through some of them last night and there are some tips that my partner and I will be spending a lot of time vetting and making calls on because some of them are pretty good [...] they provide at least some reason to connect things with things the Stephensons to possibly what happened in Indiana."