Charles Starkweather leaves the Scottsbluff County Jail in Gering, Nebraska, on Jan. 31, 1958. Directly behind Starkweather is Lancaster County Sheriff Merle Karnopp.
Charles Starkweather's killing spree began Jan. 21, when he murdered his girlfriend's mother, stepfather and baby sister. It ended with his arrest eight days later near Douglas, Wyoming.
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By that time, he had killed seven more people while he and 14-year-old Caril Ann Fugate roamed Nebraska. Starkweather later confessed to murdering a gas station attendant during a robbery Dec. 1, 1957, more than seven weeks before his January killing spree. Ten of the 11 victims were Nebraskans. The other was a Montanan who was killed in Wyoming shortly before Starkweather's capture.
On Jan. 29, Starkweather was speeding down a Wyoming highway when he was met by a roadblock. He turned around, but two officers caught up with him about five miles west of Douglas.
The chase passed through Douglas, with officers firing shots, despite other traffic. They rammed the Packard, ripping off its bumper. About four miles southeast of Douglas, shots shattered Starkweather’s rear window. Glass fragments cut his ear. He surrendered.
As the police drove him to county jail, Starkweather asked them to go easy on Caril. She had nothing to do with it, he said.
About 2:30 p.m., police booked Starkweather into jail, ending a 550-mile manhunt that left 11 dead. He would later say, “In a way I’m not sorry at all because Caril and me had more fun than we ever did in our life.”
PHOTOS: STARKWEATHER CRIME SPREE
Starkweather - with Lancaster Co. Sheriff Merle Karnopp
Lancaster County Sheriff Merle Karnopp removed the handcuffs from Charles Starkweather after he arrived at the Scotts Bluff County Jail in Gering, Nebraska, on Jan. 29, 1958.
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In January 1958, fear mounted that Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate were at large in the capital city of Lincoln. Armed men were stationed at Lincoln schools and children were escorted home.
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Sheriff Merle Karopp and Charles Starkweather leaving the courtroom after Starkweather gave evidence against girlfriend Caril Fugate. Starkweather was already sentenced to the electric chair for the slaying of Robert Jensen. Fugate was on trial for the same killing.
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Charles Starkweather's car was abandoned near August Meyer's farm in Bennet, Nebraska. Starkweather fatally shot Meyer.
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Converse County Sheriff Earl Heflin, left, holds Starkweather's murder weapons in his right hand. In his left hand is the sheriff's carbine, used to stop Starkweather during a police chase.
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Converse County Sheriff Earl Heflin fired this bullet while in pursuit of Starkweather near Douglas, Wyoming.
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Charles Starkweather leaves the Scottsbluff County Jail in Gering, Nebraska, on Jan. 31, 1958.
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Starkweather shown after the guilty verdict.
Caril Ann Fugate
Caril Ann Fugate, second from right, is booked into the Scotts Bluff County Jail in Gering, Nebraska, on Jan. 30, 1958. She was escorted by Hazel Heflin, wife of Converse County Sheriff Earl Heflin of Douglas, Wyoming.
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A body being removed from the Ward home in Lincoln. C. Lauer Ward, his wife, Clara, and their housekeeper Lillian Fencl were found dead there.
