Timeline on Night of Murder (April 12, 1971) T
Time: Approximately 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM Event Description: Jack Butler states he was at the university swimming pool. He departed around 8:00 PM and went to the Fine Arts building. Person Involved: Jack Butler Exact Location:
Source/Witness: Jack Butler Voluntary Statement (May 21, 1971) Movement Notes: Departed the pool and moved towards the Fine Arts building on campus.
Time: Approximately 7:20 PM Event Description: Pauline Storment was seen typing papers at the campus R.O.T.C. office. She asked witness Terri Keating to attend a concert with her that evening, but Keating declined due to having a class. Person Involved: Pauline
Source/Witness: Terri Keating (Witness Statement) Movement Notes: N/A
Time: 8:00 PM Event Description: Pauline Storment attended a musical performance on campus. Sources are conflicting regarding the specific event. One source indicates the Black Gospel Singers were scheduled to perform in the Union Ballroom, while another states she attended a musical production at the Fine Arts Center.
Sources conflict: “[Union] Ballroom” or “Fine Arts Center”
Source/Witness: Arkansas Traveler (Newspaper clipping); Northwest Arkansas Times (Newspaper clipping) Movement Notes: Storment proceeded from the R.O.T.C. office to the performance venue on campus.
Time: After 8:10 PM Event Description: Jack Butler states he left the Fine Arts building area, retrieved a knife from his home, and began walking.
Person Involved: Jack Butler Exact Location:
[I] left there about 8:10pm and went outside. I couldn’t decide what to do. Then I went home and got a knife… then went to University street. … We walked west on center street.
Source/Witness: Jack Butler Voluntary Statement (May 21, 1971) Movement Notes: Moved from the campus area to his home, then back towards the downtown/campus area, walking west on Center Street.
Time: Prior to 9:30 PM Event Description: After attending the musical performance, Pauline Storment went to the university library.
Person Involved: Pauline Storment Exact Location: University Library
Source/Witness: Arkansas Traveler (Newspaper clipping); AY Magazine article Movement Notes: Moved from the performance venue to the library before starting her walk home.
(Approx. 9:30 PM – 9:45 PM, April 12, 1971)
This critical timeframe contains the core events of the homicide. The following entries juxtapose multiple witness accounts to construct a comprehensive, multi-perspective view of the crime as it unfolded. The analysis of these simultaneous, and at times conflicting, observations is central to understanding the dynamics of the attack and the assailant’s subsequent escape from the scene.
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Time: Approximately 9:30 PM Event Description: Pauline Storment is attacked and stabbed multiple times while walking home. Source reports vary, stating seven (UPI news clipping) or eight (Northwest Arkansas Times) wounds to the chest and arm. Person Involved: Pauline Storment (Victim), Unidentified Assailant Exact Location: near the corner of Duncan and Treadwell Streets
Source/Witness: Arkansas State Police Report; Amarillo Daily News (UPI); Northwest Arkansas Times Movement Notes: The victim was walking south on Duncan Avenue toward her apartment.
Time: Approximately 9:30 PM Event Description: Witness was driving on Duncan Street and observed Miss Storment walking, with a man following approximately five feet behind her. Person Involved: Unidentified Assailant Exact Location: Duncan street
Source/Witness: Mike Adair (per AY Magazine article); Arkansas Traveler (Newspaper clipping) Movement Notes: The assailant was actively following the victim southward on Duncan Street.
Time: Approximately 9:30 PM Event Description: Witness heard a loud scream and the victim yell for help. Upon reaching the street, he saw three or four people gathering around the victim. He helped her onto the grass. The victim stated, “a person with glasses hit me in the chest.” She also stated that the man who hit her had been following her. Person Involved: Pauline Storment, Unidentified Assailant Exact Location:
“Summit Terrace Apt #24” (witness location) / “the street” (victim location)
Source/Witness: Jack Huff (Witness Statement) Movement Notes: Victim was on the ground and trying to get up.
Time: Approximately 9:30 PM Event Description: Witness was driving down Duncan and was about to turn right on Treadwell. He heard a woman screaming and slowed down. He observed a man run from the left, in front of his car, from between two apartment houses. The man ran across the street and through a parking lot. Person Involved: Unidentified Assailant Exact Location:
on the corner of Duncan and Treadwell
Source/Witness: Peter Novack (Witness Statement) Movement Notes: The assailant ran in a “curved path,” running through a parking lot. Novack stated, “the last I saw of him was just alittle bit before the building begins.”
Time: Approximately 9:30 PM Event Description: Witness heard screams and ran toward the sound. He stated that when he first saw the victim, she was falling. He looked around but could not see anyone else. The victim stated “he hit” and was holding her chest.
Source/Witness: Gary Gammil (Witness Statement) Movement Notes: Victim was falling to the ground when witness arrived.
Time: Approximately 9:30 PM Event Description: Witness, a student who wished to remain unidentified, was the first person to reach the victim. He saw the assailant running off. Pauline told him, “that man stabbed me.” When asked if it was the man who was following her, she said yes. She then asked the witness to get her books. Person Involved:
Pauline Storment, and Unidentified Assailant Exact Location: on the side of the road
Source/Witness: Unidentified Student (UPI news clipping) Movement Notes: The assailant was seen running off and fled across a darkened yard. Other accounts state he “ran toward the campus.”
Time: Approximately 9:30 PM Event Description: Witness heard screams and saw a man who had been following the victim. He described the man as being 5’10” to 6′ tall with blonde or sandy colored hair, wearing a brown sport coat and glasses.
Source/Witness: Joe Clifton (Witness Statement) Movement Notes: N/A
Time: Shortly after 9:30 PM Event Description: While lying wounded and waiting for an ambulance, Pauline Storment’s last words were reported to be, “Don’t hurt me.” Person Involved:
Pauline Storment Exact Location:
Corner of Duncan and Treadwell Streets
Source/Witness: AY Magazine article; newspaper clipping Movement Notes: N/A
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The immediate chaos at the scene, marked by the courageous final words of the victim and the varied observations of witnesses, quickly gave way to the official law enforcement response and the beginning of the investigation.
Law Enforcement Response and Initial Investigation (Approx. 9:45 PM – Midnight, April 12, 1971)
This section documents the critical first phase of the official police investigation. The initial actions taken by responding officers, including securing the scene, gathering preliminary witness statements, and apprehending a person of interest, were foundational in setting the direction for the subsequent investigation.
Time: Approximately 9:45 PM Event Description: An ambulance and police arrive at the scene. Pauline Storment is transported to the hospital for emergency surgery. Person Involved:
Pauline Storment, Fayetteville Police Department, Medical Personnel Exact Location:
Corner of Duncan and Treadwell Streets
Source/Witness: Master Detective article; Multiple newspaper accounts Movement Notes: Victim transported to Washington County General Hospital.
Time: Approximately 10:15 PM – 10:30 PM Event Description: A 17-year-old high school student, Wallace Peter Kunkel, is apprehended by police. He was in a car with another male, who was not held. Officers observed what appeared to be blood on Kunkel’s clothing. Associates of Kunkel later stated that immediately prior to the police stop, they had an interaction with an individual named “Steve Cooper” on Dickson Street. Person Involved:
Wallace Peter Kunkel Exact Location:
Sources conflict on the exact location: “…in a car on University Street in front of Grey House…” vs. “…car parked on Dickson Street…”
Source/Witness: Charges Not Yet Filed article (University Street); Murder Mystery: The Co-Ed Murder article (Dickson Street); Witness Statements of Michele Phelan, Mike Boyd, and Richard Finley (Dickson Street interaction). Movement Notes: Apprehended in a vehicle approximately four to six blocks from the crime scene.
Time: Approximately 11:00 PM Event Description: Pauline Storment is pronounced dead. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds sustained during the attack. Person Involved:
Pauline Storment Exact Location:
Washington County General Hospital
Source/Witness: Charges Not Yet Filed article; AY Magazine article Movement Notes: N/A
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The events of April 12th concluded with a victim deceased, a suspect in custody, and a complex investigation underway, which would evolve significantly in the days and years that followed.
