TEXARKANA -- Investigators have answered a question that has haunted area residents for more than 40 years: Who stabbed teenage siblings Karen and Gordon Alexander to death in 1981?
The children's father, Weldon Alexander, is the sole viable suspect in the murders, Texarkana, Ark., Police Chief Michael Kramm said in a prepared statement.
Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell, retired police Capt. Calvin Seward and forensic criminologist Todd Steffy were also present at the announcement during a news conference Thursday in the Bi-State Justice Building.
Weldon Alexander died in 2014 at age 80. The children's mother, Vera Alexander, died by suicide in 1984 at age 37.
Based on evidence Seward and Steffy presented to her in a probable cause affidavit Oct. 4 -- including DNA collected at the crime scene -- Mitchell would issue an arrest warrant for Weldon Alexander, were he alive, for two counts of capital murder, according to the statement.
The police statement alleges Weldon Alexander repeatedly stabbed Gordon, 13, and Karen, 14, with "a weapon of opportunity" -- a butter knife -- in their home in the Carmichael Hill neighborhood. Gordon died on the scene. Karen was hospitalized and died three days after the attack, having never regained consciousness.
Weldon Alexander reported the bloody crime scene upon his return home from work the morning of April 8, 1981, long thought to be the date of the murders. But according to Seward's and Steffy's theory of the crime, the actual date was April 7.
Because he was working at Cooper Tire and Rubber Company the night of the murders, Weldon Alexander had never before been considered a suspect.
But in a news release, the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department said recent advancements in DNA processing technology, applied to evidence in the case last tested in 2012, pointed to him as the killer.
"In 2022 DNA was extracted from both victim's fingernail tissue to be used as known samples to be compared to questioned DNA located at the crime scene. A familial relationship in the DNA determined that Weldon Alexander's semen was discovered on Karen Alexander's bedding.
"With this information and a statement written by Detective Gary Stringer, a lead investigator in the case in 1981, and one of the first detectives to arrive at the scene, [Seward and Steffy] learned that Gordon Alexander's body had been cold to the touch when police officers arrived at the scene," the release stated.
This evidence combined with other facts led Seward and Steffy to the conclusion that Weldon Alexander committed the crime before leaving for work at about 11 p.m. April 7, 1981.
There was no sign of forced entry into the home, and Weldon Alexander was the last known person to see the children alive. Both victims were found wearing the same clothes they had on the previous day.
There was no foreign, outside intruder DNA discovered during the investigation.
"Trace evidence discovered in the dried blood on Gordon's hands and Karen's body contained fibers, brass, copper, and zinc, all of which were materials used in the construction of tires at Cooper Tire and Rubber," where Weldon worked, the release stated.
Finally, an autopsy revealed that Karen Alexander had been vaginally penetrated 48 to 72 hours prior to her death.
"I believe probable cause exists for the issuance of a warrant for two counts of Capital Murder," Mitchell stated in a letter.
"Specifically," she stated, "Mr. Alexander committed or attempted to commit rape against his daughter Karen and in the course of and in furtherance of said rape, he caused the death of his daughter, Karen.
"Further, Mr. Alexander, in the course of and furtherance of the rape of Karen Alexander, or in the immediate flight therefrom, he caused the death of his son, Gordon Alexander."
Seward said he believes Weldon Alexander sexually assaulted Karen that night, Gordon tried to intervene, and the situation got "out of control."
Vera Alexander was hospitalized for depression the night of the murders.
In 1981, Seward was a young Texarkana patrol officer who lived in the same neighborhood as the Alexanders. He never forgot the crime, and after his retirement as a captain, with the department's support, he began to reexamine the case.
Seward brought in Steffy to help take a fresh look at a large amount of evidence, reports and notes compiled by police at the time of the murders. Both hoped advances in DNA technology would break the case.
Infamous murderer Henry Lee Lucas claimed in 1984 to have killed the Alexander children, but like most of Lucas' hundreds of confessions, that one proved to be false. Further investigation showed he could not have been in Texarkana at the time of the murders.
A Facebook group dedicated to finding justice for the Alexander children has been active in bringing renewed attention to the crime.
The first, current season of the Texarkana Gazette's podcast "True Crime Texarkana" tells the story of the Alexander children's murders and their aftermath.
Gallery: Looking back at the murders of Karen and Gordon Alexander
