Hi-Fi murders
| Hi-Fi murders | |
|---|---|
| Location | Ogden, Utah, United States |
| Date | April 22, 1974 |
|
Attack type
|
Robbery, rape, murder |
| Weapons | Handgun, ballpoint pen, Drano |
| Deaths | 3 |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
2 (both permanent) |
| Perpetrators | Dale Selby William Andrews Keith Roberts 3 more unknown men |
| Dale Pierre Selby | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 21, 1953 Trinidad and Tobago |
| Died | August 28, 1987 (aged 34) Utah State Prison, Draper, Utah, United States |
| Occupation | United States Air Force |
| Criminal penalty | Death Sentence |
| Criminal status | Executed by Lethal Injection August 28, 1987 |
| Conviction(s) |
First-degree murder Aggravated robbery |
| William Andrews | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955 Jonesboro, Louisiana, United States |
| Died | July 30, 1992 (aged 37) Utah State Prison, Draper, Utah, United States |
| Occupation | United States Air Force |
| Criminal penalty | Death Sentence |
| Criminal status | Executed by Lethal Injection July 30, 1992 |
| Conviction(s) |
First-degree murder Aggravated robbery |
| Keith Roberts | |
|---|---|
| Born | United States |
| Occupation | United States Air Force |
| Criminal penalty | 5 Years to Life Imprisonment |
| Criminal status | Paroled 1987 |
| Conviction(s) | Robbery |
The Hi-Fi murders were the brutal torture and killings of three people during a robbery at a home audio store in Ogden, Utah, on the evening of April 22, 1974. Several men entered the "Hi-fi Shop" shortly before closing time and began taking hostages; two would survive but with severe life-changing injuries. Violence included a pen being kicked into an ear and the brutal rape of a teenage girl who was later shot in the head. Corrosive drain cleaner was also forcefully given to the hostages causing horrific burns to their mouths and throats. The crime became notorious for its violence and accusations of racial bias in the Utah judiciary.
Police believed that six men were involved in the robbery but only had enough evidence to convict three enlisted United States Air Force airmen named Dale Selby Pierre, William Andrews and Keith Roberts. Pierre and Andrews were both sentenced to death for murder and aggravated robbery while Roberts, who had remained in a getaway vehicle, was convicted of robbery.
On April 22, 1974, Pierre, Andrews, Roberts, and three other men drove in two vans to a Hi-Fi store on Washington Boulevard, Ogden, just before closing time. Three of the group then entered the shop brandishing handguns, while Roberts and another man remained with the vehicles. Two employees, Stanley Walker, age 20, and Michelle Ansley, age 18, were in the store at the time and were taken hostage. Pierre and Andrews took the two into the store's basement and bound them. The gang then began robbing the store.
Later, a 16-year-old boy named Byron Cortney Naisbitt arrived to thank Walker for allowing him to park his car in the store's parking lot as he ran an errand next door; he was also taken hostage and tied up in the basement with Walker and Ansley. Later that evening, Orren Walker, Stanley's 43-year-old father, became worried that his son had not returned home.
Cortney Naisbitt's mother, Carol Peterson Naisbitt, also arrived at the shop later that evening looking for her son, who was late getting home. Both Orren Walker and Carol Naisbitt were taken hostage and tied up in the basement.
With five people now held hostage in the basement, Pierre told Andrews to get something from their van. Andrews returned with a bottle in a brown paper bag, from which Pierre poured a cup of blue liquid. Pierre ordered Orren to administer the liquid to the other hostages, but he refused, and was bound, gagged, and left face-down on the basement floor.
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Wikipedia