Murder: True Crime Stories - UNSOLVED: The Senator's Daughter 2

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

In the aftermath of Valerie Percy’s brutal murder, investigators were flooded with leads, some credible, some bizarre, and others disturbingly convincing. In this episode, we unpack the jailhouse confessions, high-profile suspects, and overlooked evidence that shaped this baffling cold case. Nearly 60 years later, her killer still hasn’t been named, but the case is far from closed. 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. When a murder investigation runs cold, it's usually because there isn't enough information available. But sometimes detectives are faced with the opposite problem. Too many leads, too many suspects, even too many confessions. That's exactly what happened in the case of Valerie Percy. In 1966, 21-year-old Valerie was brutally attacked in her family's Illinois home. Her murder made waves across the country as the public asked why her. Was this a random killing?

Or was Valerie targeted because her father was a well-known politician? In the years that followed, a stream of people came forward claiming to know the answer. Some even said they were responsible for detectives working the case. This was a blessing and a curse. Because now came the hard part. They had to decide who was telling the truth and who was playing a twisted game. 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 on Carter Roy. And this is Murder, True Crime Stories, the 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 second of two episodes on the 1966 murder of 21-year-old Valerie Percy. Last time, I told you about Valerie and how her father Charles was running to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate when she was fatal. attacked in their Kenilworth home. I also filled you in on the initial investigation into a murder. Today, I'll tell you how detectives continued to search for Valerie's killer. In the years after her death, there was a flurry of finger-pointing, false leads, and dramatic jailhouse confessions. Some suspects were stronger than others, but decades later, investigators are still asking themselves

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When the world learned what happened to Valerie, her murder quickly overshadowed his campaign. It was understandable, but Charles and the rest of the Persies needed time to grieve in private. So for the next two weeks, the family disappeared from public view. Still, Charles knew he couldn't hide forever. After a short morning period, he returned to the campaign trail, and less than two months after Valerie's murder, he won his election. Some said it was sympathy or pity that carried him over the finish line. If it was, Charles never acknowledged it.

He took the seat, packed up his family, and left Kenilworth behind for Washington, D.C. but the investigation didn't leave with him. By November 1966, Kenneworth detectives were still trying to understand the clues they'd collected from the Percy home. They'd found a fingerprint on a piece of broken glass and bloody palm prints on Valerie's door and the stairway railing. There were hair and fibers in her bedroom and mysterious footsteps leading from the property to nearby Lake Michigan. It seemed like investigators had plenty of evidence, but there was an issue. DNA testing wasn't available at the time, and without a suspect to compare the information against, a lot of that evidence meant nothing.

In those early days, detectives searched tirelessly for Valerie's killer. They looked into more than 1,300 credible tips and questioned a total of 14,000 people. A lot of those leads were nothing more than hot air. But one name kept popping up time and time again. In 1967, a year after Valerie's murder, detectives interviewed a man named Freddie Malchow. He was a 40-year-old drifter and professional burglar who'd been arrested in Pennsylvania. When police spoke to him, Freddie was in jail for sexual assault and robbery. In other words, he was a career criminal with a long paper trail. At the time, Freddie denied any connection to the Percy case. Without evidence linking him to the murder,

detectives were forced to look elsewhere, but it wouldn't be long until they took a second look at Freddy. Police didn't know it yet. but Freddie had already confessed, not to detectives, but to another criminal, his cellmate and former partner in crime, 24-year-old Jimmy Evans. Once upon a time, Jimmy and Freddie were in the same burglary crew. They'd broken into homes across five states, Colorado, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Illinois. in 1967 jimmy was arrested alongside freddie for the same sexual assault and robbery charge not long after freddie dropped a bomb he told jimmy he was responsible for the death of valerie percy for whatever reason jimmy

waited to tell the authorities until finally in 1970 four years after valerie's murder he came forward. From his jail cell, Jimmy told detectives that back in 1966, Freddie had flown from Texas to Illinois to rob the Perseys. Apparently, the murderer wasn't part of the plan, but things went sideways when Valerie woke up. Apparently, Freddie pushed her down, but Valerie fought back. When he couldn't get her under control, he panicked and stabbed her. And that wasn't all Jimmy said. According to him, Freddie had stashed a pair of pants at his house. He said they were covered in Valerie's blood.

Jimmy's story was compelling, but investigators had been down this road before. They'd heard so many confessions that seemed plausible at first, only to realize the whole thing was a hoax. Senator Charles Percy was offering a $50,000 reward for any information that led to an arrest. At nearly half a million dollars in today's money, it was more than enough to tempt someone into spinning a lie. So, before chasing another dead end, investigators had Jimmy take a polygraph test. He passed. For the first time, in a long time, there was a flicker of hope. Maybe this was it.

Maybe they were finally closing in on Valerie's killer. There was just one very big problem. Freddie Malchow wouldn't be speaking to anyone because he was already dead. The conjuring left rights. on September 5th. I come down here when you're in your house. Hooray!

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A new four-piece French toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap, biscuit or English muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more. Limited time only at participating Wendy's Taxes Extra. A year after 21-year-old Valerie Percy was murdered in Kenilworth, Illinois, two men were arrested on unrelated charges in Pennsylvania. The criminals, 40-year-old Freddie Malchow, and 24-year-old Jimmy Evans were in the same burglary crew and cellmates in general. jail. According to Jimmy, Freddie confessed to killing Valerie in a robbery gone wrong. Detectives working the case were intrigued, but it wasn't so simple. Jimmy had waited three years to share this information, and it couldn't be corroborated, because by then, Freddie was already dead. Shortly after Freddy's alleged confession to Jimmy in 1967, the two men

had broken out of prison. They found a hacksaw, slipped their cuffs, and went on the lamb. Afterwards, they hid out in an abandoned basement and laid low, waiting for the heat to die down. But it didn't. Police eventually tracked them down, and they were forced to take off again. While running away on foot, Freddy slipped and fell off the edge of a bridge. He hit the rocky riverbed below, and died instantly. Once Jimmy was back in custody, he eventually told the police about Freddie's role in Valerie's death. And while the authorities believed Jimmy was being honest,

they couldn't be sure if Freddy had told Jimmy the whole truth. Robert Lamb, the head detective on Valerie's murder case, was determined to find out what was fact and what was fiction. Detective Lamb took a closer look at Freddie and realized there were several details that made him seem like a real possibility. First, he was a seasoned burglar with a long rap sheet, someone who specialized in nighttime home invasions.

Second, investigators confirmed he'd been in the Chicago area at the time of the murder. They'd located an airline ticket backing up the store, that he'd flown from Texas to Illinois. And finally, there was a striking similarity between the Percy home invasion and another burglary that had taken place in Kenilworth the previous summer. Specifically, the method that was used to shatter the glass French doors. The intruder had scored an X into the glass, then smashed it. According to Detective Lamb, that technique wasn't something a novice would try.

It was a professional move, one that fit Freddy's M.O. It wasn't a smoking gun, but it was something. And luckily, there was a piece of evidence that could confirm Freddie's story once and for all. Eventually, authorities searched Freddy's former home, the one Jimmy had mentioned. There, they found,

the bloodied pants, just how Jimmy had described. But the forensics at the time couldn't determine much. The sample was too degraded or the testing was too limited. Investigators couldn't even tell whether the blood was human or animal. Just like that, the momentum faded. They had no suspect, no hard evidence, and no idea where to go next. The Percy case went cold and stayed that way for the next few years. But then, in 1973, two Chicago Sun-Times reporters started chasing a strange new lead.

Arthur Patak and Hugh Huff had gotten a tip from an unlikely source. A used car salesman named Harold Holmeyer told them his brother, 46-year-old Frank Holmeier, was the killer. According to Harold, the day after Valerie's murder, Frank came to him visibly shaken. Frank was a career burglar, the head of a whole crew of thieves.

Apparently, there had been trouble on his latest job, and Frank said he had to off somebody. When Harold pressed him for more details, Frank shrugged him off and said the details were all over. the papers. The only major murder at the time had been Valerie Percy's. Still, Harold's account was all hearsay, and the reporters knew it. They also knew Harold had some skeletons in his closet.

He was reportedly a compulsive gambler who was likely in debt, and Senator Charles Percy's $50,000 award was still available. When that kind of money is on the table, there is no honor, apparently not even among brothers. Even so, the reporters wanted to take a closer look. Because Frank Holmeyer wasn't just any burglar. He was a well-known professional thief with a reputation for having connections to the mafia. At the time that Harold came forward, Frank was serving a 30-year sentence for a string of burglaries in Denver and Indianapolis. He'd been arrested in 1969, three years after Valerie's murder, that meant he was a free man when she was killed in 1966. If it turned out he was in Illinois when Valerie died, who is to say he wasn't her murderer?

And Harold wasn't the only one who thought Frank was responsible. Frank's ex-girlfriend also told the Sun-Times reporters that he'd killed Valerie. She wasn't the most. most reliable witness, though. He'd recently broken up with her, and it seemed like she was angry about the split. Still, the reporters were determined to follow up on the tip, but instead of just asking Frank for an interview, they did something a bit more theatrical. They arranged for a jailhouse confrontation. Frank versus his brother Harold. They wanted the truth, and maybe some fireworks, too. Surprisingly, Frank agreed.

The dramatic face-off happened one afternoon in 1973. The reporters, Arthur and Hugh, made their way to the Iowa prison where Frank Holmeyer was housed. They were joined by a local detective as well as Harold. Maybe it wasn't so surprising that Frank welcomed the motley crew. He was a theatrical criminal himself, a cellarrow. a self-styled outlaw with a flair for storytelling and a hunger for recognition. At the time, he was even working on a manuscript titled The Home Invaders, Confessions of a Cat Burgler. If anyone was going to brag about a high-profile crime just to beef up his own legend, it was Frank.

But once the confrontation began, Frank didn't take the bait. He flat out denied any involvement in Valerie's murder. According to him, Harold had it all wrong. Then, he did something unexpected. He pointed the finger at someone else. Frank said the real killer was a former associate of his, a fellow thief named Billy Jackson. To back it up, Frank even offered details about the crime scene

that were never made public. It gave investigators pause. But before anyone could question Jackson, he died from a sudden and suspicious fall off a Chicago building. Whether it was a suicide, an accident, or something more sinister, no one could say for sure. At that point, detectives went back to Frank to question him some more. He changed his story once again.

This time, he told investigators that someone else from his gang had actually killed Valerie Percy, and it was a name they'd heard before. Freddie Malchow. According to Frank, on the day of the murder, Freddie had shown up at his apartment, along with Billy Jackson and Jimmy Evans, Malchow's eventual cellmate. Frank said Freddie begged for a change of clothes because his were soaked in blood. Frank claimed he burned the bloody clothes himself.

He said Freddie later confessed to the murderer but didn't give any specifics. For Detective Robert Lamb, this was confirmation that he'd been right all along. Not only was there circumstantial evidence connecting Freddie to the crime, but two separate criminal associates had named him as the killer. That had to count for something. But with Freddie dead, there wasn't much more Lamb could do. He couldn't definitively tie him to the crime, and without physical evidence or a living suspect to interrogate, the case hit that same dead end. Despite the lack of a definitive breakthrough, the Sun-Times did win a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting. Frank Holmeyer published his book, The Home Invaders, in 1975, the same one he was drafting during his time in prison,

and although he remained one of the key suspects in Valerie Percy's murder, he was never officially charged or arrested before his death in 2005. As for Freddie Malchow, his family spent years trying to understand whether he was truly a suspect or just a convenience. scapegoat. They've long wondered why investigators never compared his fingerprint or palm print against the ones found in the Percy's home. Authorities said they had usable prints from the crime scene, and both Freddie and Frank's prints were on file. Freddy's brother Daniel was more open to the possibility that Freddie had been involved. The two had grown up in a rough environment. They were raised in an orphanage, then cut loose by the system as teenagers. They turned a burglary early.

Daniel remembered his brother as a gifted thief, someone who could strut into the fanciest homes and walk out with diamonds completely undetected. But he also had a darker side. Daniel admitted that Freddie was capable of getting aggressive when provoked. If something went wrong mid-job, He could see Freddie panicking and resorting to violence to get things back under control. But even though many people seemed to think Freddie was responsible, he wasn't the only possible suspect. And decades after Valerie's death, an unexpected new lead would call the entire case into question. Td Bank knows that running a small business is a journey, from startup to growing and managing your business. That's why they have a dedicated small business advice hub on their website to provide tips and insights on business banking to entrepreneurs.

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By the end of the 1970s, investigators had chased down career burglars, jailhouse confessions, and criminal connections. Even then, no one had been charged or arrested in the 1966 murder of Valerie Percy, and it remained that way for decades. Then, in 2013, nearly 50 years after the murder, a new theory surfaced, one that didn't involve burglary gangs or career criminals. A local author named Glenn Wall had grown up just a mile from the Percy House in Kenilworth, Illinois. Although he was only three years old when Valerie was killed, the case still haunted him. and eventually he decided to do his own research.

He wrote a book called Sympathy Vote based on what he found. In it, he suggested that a disturbed, unstable man who had lived within walking distance of the Percy's might have been responsible. His name was William Thorson III. William had grown up a block and a half from the Percy fan. family. He would have been 29 at the time of the murder, and while he didn't live in Kenilworth anymore, he frequently returned in the neighborhood to visit family. Not only that, he also

had a record that showed he was capable of violence. At 14, he was caught repeatedly outside a woman's home loitering in the shadows. He spent the rest of his young adulthood bouncing in and out of boarding schools. In between, he smashed cars, harassed women, and clashed with authority figures. Eventually, his family had him committed to the psychiatric ward at a Chicago hospital, but it didn't last long.

William escaped, ran home, locked himself in his room with a gun, and threatened to shoot anyone who came near. As he got older, this erratic behavior escalated, and his family threatened to have him institutionalized again. Instead of taking the warning seriously, William got married and moved out, but he didn't get any better.

In the 1950s, he was charged with assault. In the 1960s, his own mother filed assault and battery charges against him. Then came and attempted murder suicide at his parents' home, one he reportedly planned to blame on his father. Luckily, it failed, but later, federal agents raided his house and found more than 70 tons of weapons and explosives inside. Then came William's confession. In 1970, William told his wife, Louise, that he'd committed three murders.

He didn't mention Valerie Percy. but he did say he'd hired a hitman to kill his younger brother, who had been found shot to death in California five years earlier. After that confession, he told Louise she was next. But Louise got to his gun first and shot him dead. At her trial, Louise painted a harrowing picture of years' worth of manipulation, abuse, and violent threats. She testified that she'd been coerced into stealing for him,

helping him dodge the police, and offering fake alibis. She told jurors he'd confessed to murder and threatened her life more than once. She said she had no choice but to shoot him. It was all in self-defense. The jury believed her. She was acquitted and got to walk free. When author Glenn Wall learned about Louise's trial, he suspected William might be connected to more murders than she knew of,

and Valerie Percy was at the top of his list. But it wasn't just a gut feeling. There was also evidence that might potentially implicate him in the crime. Just days after Valerie was murdered, scuba divers had found a World War II bayonet in Lake Michigan, not far from the Percy's home. They hadn't known what to make of it at the time, but three months later, Louise was arrested for trying to ship weapons to William across state lines. Among the items she tried to send were multiple bayonets that all matched the one found near the Percy crime scene. For Glenwall,

This was the smoking gun he'd been looking for. He pointed out that Valerie's wounds could have been consistent with a serrated bayonet just as easily as with a knife. A year after Wall released his book, his theory seemed to be confirmed. In January 2014, hundreds of previously unreleased FBI documents surfaced. It turned out they had named William as a led. legitimate suspect as far back as 1970. They described him as armed and dangerous and mentally unstable. For reasons that are still unclear, that information was never shared with Illinois law enforcement.

William, like so many others in this case, is long dead. But Glenwall's work has moved the needle forward. Thanks to his book, the Kenilworth Police have publicly acknowledged that William was never cleared. His possible involvement in Valerie's murder is still considered undetermined. Kenilworth Police Chief Dave Miller has continued to assure the public that the Valerie Percy case remains open and that the department still reviews new leads, but to this day no new bribe. break has come. No suspect has been charged and no one has ever been held accountable. Charles Percy went on to serve nearly two decades in the U.S. Senate, eventually chairing the Foreign Relations Committee. He died in 2011 at the age of 91, never knowing who

killed his daughter. Valerie Percy was only 21 years old when her life was tragically cut short. She had just returned home from Cornell to help her father on the campaign trail before heading off to graduate school to become a teacher. She was smart, thoughtful, and by all accounts, deeply kind. Her death shocked not just a town, but a country. And more than 50 years later, her murder remains one of the most haunting, unsolved crimes in modern American history. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories.

Come back next time for another murder 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 each episode of a two-part series, you'll get access to both at once, plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back on Tuesday. 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 Pertsovsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp,

Alex Burns, Sarah Tardiff, 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.