There is a book called “Victim” by Gary Kinder, that is written about the Hi-Fi Murders in Ogden, Utah. It is one of my favorites because I happen to know the “victim”. It is also very good. I recommend it to anyone interested in true crime.
Back in the 70’s, two men went into a stereo shop soon before closing. They tied up the young girl and guy (Stan) who were working at the time and took them to the basement. Soon after, one of their friends, a kid named Courtney stopped in to see them. He had just taken his first solo airplane flight and wanted to tell his friends about it. The robbers tied him up and also took him to the basement.
Instead of robbing the place and leaving, the men stayed and tortured the teenagers. Courtney’s mother and Stan’s father started to worry when the kids didn’t come home or answer the phone at the shop. Courtney’s mother knew that he was stopping at the Hi-Fi Shop to see his friends after he picked up photos at the camera shop next door. Incidentally, the clerk who helped him at the camera shop is my cousin (she is even mentioned in the book). Both her and my aunt were working that night and both talked to Courtney before he went next door. He was their neighbor.
Both parents arrived at the shop and were also taken to the basement with the others. During the next few hours, the females were raped, all were forced to drink liquid Drano before their mouths were taped shut, then they were shot. Stan’s father had a ballpoint pen kicked into his ear.
When my aunt and cousin left work, they noticed a white van backed up to the back door of the stereo shop. They assumed that it was a delivery. Later that night while my aunt was listening to her police scanner, she heard a report of a multiple murder at the camera shop where she worked (which was in error as the murder was really next door at the Hi-Fi Shop). After the killers left the shop, Stan’s father had wandered to a pay phone, pen still buried in his head, and called for help.
There were only two survivors, Stanley’s father (Mr. Walker) and Courtney. The book “Victim” is written about their ordeal and how they have coped since the murders. It describes Courtney’s life as a straight A, athletic high school kid, excited to be learning to fly, to a disabled person trying to survive (he never got his pilots license) The attack left him mentally and physically disabled (the Drano had eaten away most of his insides). His family remains friends with my aunt and cousins and his father and uncle have both treated members of my family (they are doctors).
Stan’s father worked with my cousin as a civilian at the Air Force base here in Utah for a number of years. He has recovered well, but what the book doesn’t tell is the affect Stan’s death had on his family. Only those close to Mr. Walker are aware of the things that happened afterward. Stan’s mother was okay for a week or two after the murder of her son, but one day she just stopped functioning. She could no longer bath or feed herself and was even unable to use the bathroom. Mr. Walker had to take care of all her needs. While he was at work, she would sit in front of the window and cry for Stan to come home while the home nurse took care of her. Mr. Walker finally had to take an early retirement to take care of her full time.
Both killers were eventually executed.
