Texas girl's 1974 cold case involving torture, murder leads to indictment

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A Texas man has been indicted in a cold case involving the torture and murder of a 17-year-old girl 46 years ago.

The indictment was handed up in Tarrant County in the killing of high school junior Carla Walker in 1974.

“Glen Samuel McCurley, 77, was indicted on a charge of capital murder,” District Attorney Sharen Wilson said Wednesday in a brief statement.

Carla Walker was 17 when she was tortured and killed in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1974. Glen Samuel McCurley, 77, has been indicted on a capital murder charge in her death.  (Fort Worth Police, Tarrant County Sheriff's Office)

Fort Worth police said Carla’s kidnapper snatched her from a parked car after going to a Valentine’s Day dance with her boyfriend, Fox 4 Dallas reported in September after McCurley's arrest in the case.

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The boyfriend was threatened with a gun, pistol-whipped and knocked unconscious.

Carla was held captive, tortured, raped and strangled. Her body was found days later.

Police interviewed McCurley about the crime after it happened. He lived in the area and owned the same type of gun used in the crime, according to the station. He told his interviewers his gun had been stolen.

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Last year, cold case detectives working on the case released an old handwritten letter sent to a detective after the murder.

“(Blank) kild (sic) Carla Walker in Benbrook,” the letter said. “P.S. It is hard to say but it is true.”

Detectives said they were looking for the person who wrote it.

The break that led to McCauley’s arrest came after crime scene DNA was uploaded to a public genealogy website, leading to his identification as a suspect. They confirmed the match after obtaining his DNA from trash.

Fox 4 reported that in July detectives quizzed McCauley, who agreed to provide his DNA for further analysis. He denied knowing Carla or killing anyone.

The arrest elated Carla’s brother, Fox 4 reported.

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"The feeling I had when I was notified, the word that came across my brain was finally, finally,” Jim Walker told the station “After 46 years, seven months and five days, we have a name a face and we’re moving toward complete resolution."