Murder: True Crime Stories - UNSOLVED: The Senator's Daughter 1

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Just weeks before Election Day, U.S. Senate candidate Charles Percy’s daughter was murdered in her sleep. In this episode, we investigate the brutal 1966 killing of 21-year-old Valerie Percy, a shocking case that rocked the affluent suburb of Kenilworth, Illinois. As detectives search for answers, the mystery only deepens: Why Valerie? And how did the killer vanish without a trace? Murder: True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Murder: True Crime Stories! Instagram: @murdertruecrimepod | @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, it's Carter. If you're loving murder, true crime stories, you won't want to miss our fellow Crime House original show. Conspiracy theories cults and crimes. Every Wednesday, you'll get to explore the true stories behind the world's most shocking crimes, deadly ideologies, and secret plots, from mass suicides and political assassinations to secret government experiments and UFO cults. Follow conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen.

And for ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts. This is Crimehouse. We'd like to think there are places where bad things don't happen, where you don't have to lock your doors at night, knowing you and your family are safe. For decades, the city of Kenilworth, Illinois was just like that. The crime rate was basically non-existent. There had never even been a murder there, that is, until the fall of 1966. On the night of September 17th, someone broke into the home of senatorial candidate Charles Percy, but they weren't there for him.

They walked straight into the bedroom of his 21-year-old daughter, Valerie. And nothing was ever the same again. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end, but you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder, True Crime Stories, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios that comes out every Tuesday and Thursday. At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community for making this possible.

Please support us by rating, reviewing, and following, murder, true crime stories, wherever you get your podcasts. And to enhance your murder, true crime stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get ad free listening, early access to every two-part series, and exciting bonus content. This is the first of two episodes on the murder of 21-year-old Valerie Percy. Today, I'll introduce you to Valerie and her family. In 1966, Valerie's father, Charles, was running to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate when she was brutally attacked in their Kenilworth home. Her murder left the city reeling and detectives scrambling for answers. Next time, I'll continue the investigation into Valerie's death.

I'll take you through the many false starts, suspects, and finger points. and I'll explain how a case that once seemed open and shuts eventually grew cold. All that and more coming up. Get to Toronto's main venues like Budweiser Stage and the new Roger Stadium with Go Transit. Thanks to Go Transit's special online e-ticket fairs, a $10 one-day weekend pass offers unlimited travel on any weekend day or holiday anywhere, long the go network and the weekday group passes offer the same weekday travel flexibility across the network starting at $30 for two people and up to $60 for a group of five buy your online go pass ahead of the show at go transit.com slash tickets it's rona week now until wednesday

rain or shine you can always be building yourself a better summer so head over to rona and save 30% on sico endurance interior paint give that room you you're keep saying needs a fresh coat of paint, a fresh coat of paint. Build it right, build it Rona. Conditions apply, details in store, and more offers at rona.ca. I said interior paint, right? Kenilworth, Illinois was the kind of place people dreamed of living. It was one of the wealthiest suburbs in Chicago. Most residents worked high-paying jobs. in the city and spent weekends sipping champagne on sprawling lawns. If you looked out on Lake Michigan, you'd see sailboats gliding past historic homes. The Percy family was no exception. By 1966,

46-year-old Charles Percy was a self-made businessman with serious political ambitions. He and his blended family lived at their lakeside property in Kenilworth, which was also the de facto headquarters for his upcoming Senate campaign. Charles approached this new venture with the same grit and determination he displayed from his earliest days. Born in Florida in 1919, but raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Charles was an entrepreneur from the jump. At just five years old, he was selling magazines on street corners.

Two years later, he won the local YMCA salesmanship contest. By high school, he was juggling four jobs, but he wasn't just making money, he was also saving it. By the time he enrolled at the University of Chicago in the late 1930s, Charles had a net worth of $100,000 and was grossing more than $150,000 a year from his various business ventures. It was no small feat for someone who couldn't legally rent a car yet, and Charles was just getting started. While he was still in college, he started working at Bell and Howell, a camera company that made projectors and audiovisual equipment. He quickly rose through the ranks. By the time he graduated in 1941, the 22-year-old had been offered a full-time executive role at the company

and a clear path toward eventually running the whole operation. His work wasn't the only bright spot though. Charles was also dating a student at Northwestern University named Jean Dickerson. They'd known each other since high school and continued seeing each other through college. Soon after graduating, Charles was ready to take the next step. In 1943, 24-year-old Charles proposed to 22-year-old Jean. They got married shortly after, but there wasn't much time to enjoy life as newlyweds, That same year, Charles enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II, and Gene followed him to his new station in California. A year later, Gene gave birth to their twin daughters, Valerie and Sharon. After the war ended in 1945, Charles and his family returned to Chicago.

He took up his role at Bell and Howell once more, climbing the ladder with uncanny speed. When he was only 29 years old, Charles was named the company's president and CEO. Meanwhile, Gene had given birth to their son, Roger. Their family was growing, the war was over, and life seemed perfect for the Persis. Then, tragedy struck. Gene had long suffered from ulcerative colitis, a chronic bowel disease that causes ulcers and inflammation. She'd been managing it well, but at 26 years old and two pregnancies later, she started having flare-ups. Her doctors recommended surgery.

Problem was, Charles had been raised in the Christian Science Church and was a devout practicing member, which meant he didn't believe in medicine, at least not in the traditional sense. His faith taught that illness was a spiritual problem that could be healed through prayer and moral clarity, not drugs or scalples. But he told Gene that if she wanted the surgery, she should have it. Gene agreed to go through with the operation. It was a decision that would cost her everything. In 1947, Jean went under the knife. The procedure was a success, but during a follow-up surgery a few months later, she had an allergic reaction to penicillin. tragically, it was fatal.

Charles was left a widower at 28, with three toddlers to take care of, and while he was heartbroken, he didn't let the loss destroy him. Instead, he put his head down and kept moving forward. It was the only thing he knew how to do. For the next two years, Charles focused on his work and his children, But even he needed a break sometimes. So one weekend in March, 1949, he went off on a ski trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, with one of his fellow executives from Bell and Howell. It was meant to be a working vacation.

It also happened to be where he met 20-year-old Lorraine Geyer. He saw her take a tumble on the mountain and the two joked about it afterwards. Then they kept skiing together by the time Lorraine had to leave. 29-year-old Charles was smitten. Instead of returning home to Illinois, he followed Lorraine to her home state of California. They spent some more time together, and Charles even met her family. From there, things quickly fell into place. A year later, in 1950, they got married.

Soon after, the family moved into a palatial 17-room home in Kenilworth. Through it all, Charles kept building. Under his leadership, Bell and Howell grew from a mid-size operation with 1,600 employees to a national corporation of over 10,000. Eventually, they would go on to become one of the largest suppliers of motion picture equipment in the world. That was largely thanks to Charles. He was polished, articulate, and handsome. people just love doing business with him.

Those same people suggested he think about his next venture and figured he would be perfect for politics. It didn't hurt that Charles had already done tons of political fundraising. Even more importantly, he was friends with people like Milton Eisenhower, President Dwight D. Eisenhower's brother. In the late 1950s, Charles had a conversation with the president himself. He suggested creating a committee on program and progress.

The idea was to discuss where the country ought to be in 25 years and how to get there. The president approved it and put Charles in charge. It was his first real foray into politics, and he knocked it out of the park. After finishing the report, Charles was promoted to chairman of the president of the Republican Platform Committee in 1960. He was becoming one of the party's most promising new faces, and in 1964, he was ready to take the next step. He launched his first political campaign, running for the governor of Illinois. It was a big move on Charles's part. He had to leave his position as president of Bell and Howell in order to campaign. Still, his family fully supported

him and he charged full steam ahead. He lost, but the race was incredibly close. Afterwards, Charles still wanted to help the people of Illinois, so instead of going back to the corporate world, he spent his time volunteering. He found housing for families in need, spent time in high poverty areas in Chicago, and taught English to immigrant children. His work didn't go unnoticed. Soon, the Republican Party came calling again. This time, they had a new offer for him. They wanted to know if he was interested in running for the U.S. Senate. Charles didn't hesitate.

He said yes. But he had no idea just how much the race would change his life for the worse. The conjuring left rights. On September 5th I come down here we need you Array! Array! Array!

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She and her identical twin sister Sharon were Charles' oldest daughters from his first marriage. They were around three years old when their mom died, and only five when their dad remarried. Their stepmother Lorraine had raised them as her own, and it seemed like they were all close. But even though the girls had a lot in common, they were still their own people. From an early age, they stopped dressing alike, they asked for separate bedrooms, and at every opportunity, they carved out space for their own ideas. identities. In high school, both girls studied abroad. Sharon went to Switzerland, while Valerie went to Paris. Then when it came time for college, Sharon chose Stanford. Valerie headed the other direction

and opted for Cornell in upstate New York. There, Valerie studied French literature. Classmates and professors described her as graceful, observant, and kind. She made friends easily and had a sharp eye for detail and a quiet sense of conviction. By the summer of 1966, she just finished up her degree at Cornell. Eventually, she planned to go on to Johns Hopkins for her master's in teaching. Until then, she was in Kenilworth to spend time with family and help with her dad's campaign, which was quickly picking up speed. On the night of September 17th, 21-year-old Valerie was at the house, having dinner with their step-mom Lorraine and two young campaign aides. They probably talked about things like the polling, schedules and media strategy,

the sort of low-key political evening that Valerie had grown used to since returning home. By 10 p.m., the guests were gone. Valerie retreated to her bedroom on the second floor, changed into her nightgown, and turned on the TV. around 11.30. Her twin sister Sharon came home from a date. She peaked into Valerie's room to return a raincoat she'd borrowed, and Valerie was still awake, lounging in bed, the soft glow of the TV flickering across her face. Sharon said goodnight, and disappeared down the hall to her own room. Half an hour later, around midnight, 46-year-old Charles Percy got back from a campaign event.

He and Lorraine watched TV together for a while, then turned in. They were the last ones to turn off the lights. Roger, Valerie's 19-year-old brother, was away at college already. Her half-brother, 11-year-old Mark, was spending the night at a friend's that left Charles, Lorraine, Sharon, Valerie, and their younger half-sister, 13-year-old Gail at home. But someone else was about to join them. Just before 5 a.m., Lorraine woke up to the sound of shattering glass. She was still half asleep, so she didn't think much of it.

Maybe a drinking glass had fallen off of a nightstand, or one of the girls had knocked something over, so she closed her eyes again. Ten minutes passed. Then came a new sound. It was low and strange, like someone was. moaning. This time, Lorraine got up. She patted into the hallway and paused outside Sharon's room. It was quiet. Then she moved on to Valerie's. That's when she heard the noise again. Lorraine opened the door and a scream caught in her throat. There was a man standing over Valerie's

bed. He was carrying a flashlight and shined it in Lorraine's eyes. blinding her, but for a second she'd seen it. Valerie's body lying motionless in the bed, covered in blood. Lorraine let out a piercing scream. She turned and ran back through the hallway and toward her bedroom. As she did, she hit a switch on the wall, setting off their burglar alarm. A loud, mechanical wail cut through the night. She hoped it would scare the intruder away. Sure enough, the man in Valerie's room bolted. He moved quickly and deliberately, down the spiral staircase, through the music room, and out a set of French doors that led to the stone patio.

He raced out onto the lawn and toward the shores of Lake Michigan. Meanwhile, Lorraine burst into the master bedroom. Charles was awake, on high alert from the alarm. Together, they rushed back to Valerie's room. there Charles was confronted by every parent's worst nightmare he could see Valerie's face had been beaten her body punctured with stab wounds Charles was horrified but he knew time was running out while he called the police Lorraine knelt down and felt for a pulse it was there barely afraid the intruder might still be in the house Charles checked the rest of the rooms

Sharon's, Gales, the guest suite. But everything was undisturbed. Everyone else was safe. After that, he called the family's next-door neighbor, Dr. Robert Hoff. There wasn't time to wait for the ambulance. He needed someone now. It was just after 5 a.m., but Hoff threw on some clothes and rushed over. By the time he got there, it was too late. Valerie no longer had a pulse. She was dead. When police arrived minutes later, Lorraine told them everything she could recall about the murderer. He was a white man, about five foot eight and 160 pounds, with dark hair and a checkered shirt. Beyond that, she couldn't remember much.

The flashlight had obscured him from view. Meanwhile, crime scene texts got to work. Valerie had been bludgeoned in the head. probably with something like a fireplace poker or maybe a hammer. Then she'd been stabbed more than a dozen times in the neck, chest, and abdomen. Her nightgown had been pushed up and she was exposed. There were defensive wounds on her hands, knees, and left foot, but there were no signs of sexual assault.

Around the house, detectives found signs of forced entry. A screen had been cut. It looked like the hole was too small to reach through, so the intruder had moved on to the window. It seemed like they'd scored an X on it using a glass cutter, then smashed it. That must have been the shattering sound. Lorraine had heard right before 5 a.m. There were other pieces of evidence scattered in and around the house, too. In Valerie's room, they found unidentified hares and stray fibers.

there were bloody palm prints on her door and the stairway railing. On the broken glass, authorities lifted a clear fingerprint, and on the beach by the lake, they found bare footprints in the sand. The killer had left behind pieces of himself, but taken nothing with him. Lorraine's expensive jewelry was untouched, and the cash they kept around the house was still there, No drawers had been rifled through, and none of the other 16 rooms were affected. From what detectives could tell, Valerie's killer had entered the house, attacked her, and left.

Police had no idea who'd done it or why. There were four other family members in the house, including Charles. If this was politically motivated, he would have been a much more obvious target. It just didn't make sense. especially since Valerie herself didn't seem to have any enemies. Detectives looked into her past. They read her letters and questioned her friends, but nothing stood out or seemed suspicious.

By all accounts, Valerie had been a kind and caring young woman who was devoted to her family and curious about the world. Still, someone had wanted her dead. And unfortunately for the Percy's, It seemed like that person had gotten away scot-free, at least for now. It's me, your brain. And I, your mouth. I act on logic.

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But did you know Lake Lanier in Georgia was built over an entire community, including cemeteries that were never moved? This week on Moms and Mysteries, we're diving into the murky history of Lake Lanier, from racial violence that erased a thriving town to decades of freak accidents, drownings, and the legend of the Lady of the Lake. It's haunting, it's heartbreaking, and it's one of the most chilling stories we've ever told. So listen now to the Mystery of Lake Lanier on the Moms and Mysteries podcast, available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Within hours of 21-year-old Valerie Percy's murder on September 18, 1966, news cameras lined the street outside the family's home in Kenilworth, Illinois. As the story developed, the killings and shockwaves across the state, then the country. The crime was too surreal to ignore.

It wasn't just how young Valerie had been murdered. It was also about the location. In its 75 years of existence, Kenilworth had never recorded a murder. If the daughter of a prominent politician could be killed there, then was anyone safe anywhere? In the wake of Valerie's death, 46-year-old Charles Percy paused his Senate campaign. His opponent did the same out of respect while the Percy family grieved and tried to get answers.

but it would be an uphill battle. The town's police force was used to noise complaints and traffic violations, not young women beaten and stabbed in their sleep. Now, all of a sudden, they were thrust into a high-profile homicide case. It was clear they were out of their depth, but luckily, backup was on the way. FBI director, Jay Edgar Hoover, took a personal interest in the case. and sent agents to Kenilworth just a day after the attack. They were joined by Illinois State Police Detectives and investigators.

It wasn't just a local crime anymore. It was a national mystery that needed to be solved. They'd recovered lots of forensic evidence from the house itself, but this was 1966 and DNA testing didn't exist yet. So they also searched for clues elsewhere. scuba divers combed the bottom of Lake Michigan near the Percy's home, looking for the murder weapon or the glass cutter the killer used to break into the house. They did end up finding an old army bayonet,

which could have been used to stab Valerie. When it came to suspects, detectives analyzed every inch of Valerie's life. They started with the obvious, spurned lovers or jealous exes, They interviewed every man Valerie had been seen with, every casual date, every friend. They came up empty. Family members were the next suspects. Her parents, Charles and Lorraine, as well as her siblings, Sharon, Roger, Gail, and Mark were questioned and scrutinized, and they were all quickly ruled out. The household staff was interrogated as well.

With such a big home, there were people constantly coming and going. but none of the employees seemed to know anything about the attack. So detectives broadened their search to the rest of Kenilworth and other Chicago suburbs. Investigators even reached out to their contacts in organized crime. They hoped someone might flip and give them information. No one ever did. The FBI examined Charles Percy's business and political dealings. They searched for anyone who might.

want revenge or any signs that a deal had gone bad. But as far as anyone could tell, there had been no threats on his life or his daughters. While the investigation charged ahead, the Persies looked inwards. For two weeks after the murder, they retreated to California where Lorraine's family lived. They just wanted to grieve in peace. They only spoke to each other, reading their religious texts and going on long walks together. During that time, Charles continued to pause his campaign. But after those two weeks, Charles and the family decided that Valerie would have wanted him to keep going. So he called a press conference and announced he was resuming. As a steadfast Christian scientist, he believed in trusting God and embracing whatever

lay ahead. He said he wouldn't ask why this happened. The most important thing was to keep making Valerie proud. Six weeks later, Charles won the Senate seat, defeating the incumbent. A lot of people chalked the victory up to pity votes. Either way, he immediately moved his family to Washington, D.C. and sold the Kenilworth House. It was time for a fresh chapter. One without the memories of his daughter's gruesome death. As 1966 drew to a close, it became clear that Valerie's murder wouldn't be solved as quickly as everyone had expected. The case had received so much attention, and yet investigators weren't any closer to finding a suspect. Over time, the flurry of lead slowed, detectives were reassigned, and other

crimes pushed Valerie's case to the back burner. Eighteen months later, there was a public reckoning. In December, 1968, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Safety announced that the state police were taking over the investigation. They were dedicating immense resources to the case, with a dedicated unit solely focused on solving the murder. Meanwhile, the Kenilworth Police Chief defended his men's investigation. He shared data pointing to how hard they'd worked.

According to him, they'd talked to more than 8,000 people in 48 states in five foreign countries. They'd checked 1,153 leads, taken 439 finger and palm prints, and administered 41 polygraph tests. in other words they had done their best but it wasn't enough for charles percy at the same press conference charles offered fifty thousand dollars for any tip leading to an arrest that's nearly half a million dollars in today's money he hoped the reward might jog someone's memory or give someone enough courage to come forward but as the months turned in years fresh information became rare the percy homicide investigation unit didn't have much more luck than local officers and eventually the unit got smaller and smaller new cases came up and priorities shifted

the team shrank from six to four to two then just one lone detective robert lamb eventually though Lamb was asked to devote more hours to other cases, Valerie's file got pushed deeper and deeper into the drawer. Back in Kenilworth, the suburbs once pristine streets returned to their quiet dignity, but anyone who passed the Percy House knew there was a ghost lingering there, haunting them all, waiting for answers. In a town where nothing bad was supposed to be. to happen, something terrible had. For the Persies and those who knew them, nothing would ever be the same. But even though Valerie was gone, her memory would never fade, and the Percy family was determined to bring her killer to justice, no matter how long it might take.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder, True Crime Stories. Come back next time for part two on the murder of Valerie Percy and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios here at Crime House. We want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.

And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad-free, and instead of having to wait for, for each episode of a two-part series, you'll get access to both at once, plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back on Thursday. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy, and is a crime house original powered by Pave Studios.

This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team, Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Natalie Pertsowski, Laurie Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Alex Burns, Honeya Saeed, and Russell Nash. Thank you for joining us. If you love murder, true crime stories, tune into the Crime House original conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes for the world's darkest truths.

Follow conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes now. wherever you get your podcasts. And for ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts.