It was a warm April night in Fayetteville, Arkansas when 27-year-old Pauline Storment was brutally murdered. The medical examiner’s reports confirmed the gruesome details—Pauline had been stabbed seven or eight times with a sharp instrument, her body stained with her own Type A blood.The investigation quickly honed in on seventeen-year-old Wallace Peter Kunkel, who was arrested with blood on his clothing. Pauline herself provided a final description, gasping that the man who stabbed her was the same one who had been following her and that he “wore glasses.”A blood-stained butcher knife was found plunged into the earth nearby behind a vacant house, but investigators, including Police Chief Hollis Spencer, were not convinced that it was the knife used, and it was ultimately discounted as the murder weapon.As the evidence against Kunkel mounted, prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder. But Kunkel maintained his innocence, providing a detailed statement about his whereabouts. According to him, he had been at the Gray House taking Preludin pills and shooting up with companions like Michelle Phelan and Richard Finley.The case did not proceed to trial. Kunkel voluntarily submitted to a polygraph test, which he passed. Forensic analysis also confirmed that his blood was Type A, the same as the victim’s, meaning the small amount of blood on his clothing could not definitively link him to the crime. Citing a lack of evidence, Prosecutor Mahlon Gibson dropped the murder charge against Kunkel shortly after his arrest.Amidst the search for answers and justice, the police report painted a picture of chaos. Potential witnesses were interviewed, and a subsequent lead emerged when a man named Jack Butler walked into the station to give a signed confession on May 21, 1971. However, the confession was never officially resolved or dismissed in the case file, leaving its validity perpetually in question.One thing was clear: a young woman’s life had been suddenly and violently extinguished on the streets of Fayetteville that spring night in 1971. Pauline Storment’s fate became an open wound for the small Arkansas town.
It was a warm April night in Fayetteville, Arkansas when 27-year-old Pauline Stormant was brutally murdered. The medical examiner’s reports confirmed the gruesome details – Pauline had been stabbed with a sharp instrument, her lifeless body stained with her own type A blood.
The investigation quickly honed in on seventeen year old Wallace Peter Kunkel, Witnesses placed a man who looked similar to Kunkel, not even Mike Adair who got a decent look at him would swear on oath that it was Kunkle, near the crime scene that fateful night of April 12th. A knife was found plunged into the earth nearby behind a vacant house but investigators were not convinced that it was the knife used. As the evidence mounted, prosecutors charged Kunkel with first-degree murder.
But Kunkel maintained his innocence, weaving an alibi about a night of doing drugs with friends. According to him, he had been at the Gray House taking preludin pills and shooting up with people like Michelle Phelan, Richard Finley and others. His lawyers prepared to take the case to trial.
The police report painted a picture of chaos in the aftermath of the murder. A community in shock. Potential witnesses were interviewed and investigated themselves as potential suspects. One man even walked into the station to confess, though he quickly wavered on the validity of his admission.
Amidst the search for answers and justice, one thing was clear – a young woman’s life had been suddenly and violently extinguished on the streets of Fayetteville that spring night in 1971. Pauline Stormant’s fate lingered as an open wound for the small Arkansas town as Wallace Peter Kunkel’s trial loomed.
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