True Crime All The Time - William Huff

Episode Date: October 11, 2021

For the first fifteen years of his life, William Huff seemed like a normal teenager. But, when Huff turned sixteen, his behavior changed. The summer before his junior year of high school, William brutally murdered two little girls and abandoned their bodies in the Sierra Vista desert. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss killer William Huff. After he murdered, Huff wrote a strange letter to the police calling himself “The Phantom,” the nickname by which he is known today. Huff spent over 50 years in prison before he was let out on house arrest. But, contact with an 8-year-old girl led to Huff being put back in prison where he sits today.You can support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 254 of the True Crime All The Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in True Crime. Mike Gibson, Gibby. How are you? Hey man, I'm doing good about you. I'm doing really good. You and I just ate a couple of foot long subs from Subway. Yeah.

To make sure we're significantly fueled up. Got my carbs. Got my carbs. Ready to go. We had an interesting conversation on our weekly Patreon video. We sure did. We talked about this Gary Francis Post, who is being reported as possibly being the Zodiac killer. Obviously, a lot of things will come out later, and I'll be looking forward to what does come out.

But we also talked about this execution of Ernest Johnson, whose attorneys claim that he had intellectual disabilities. And, you know, killing him violated the Constitution. So some interesting conversations for sure. Gibbs right now we have an episode out on true crime all the time unsolved. We're talking about Dr. No, who has also been referred to as the Ohio sex worker killer. Yeah, what an intriguing case that is. And I'm a little bit excited because it's right here in our home state. And a couple of the victims were found near where I live.

Oh, well, we get into all of it. Yeah. So let's give our shoutouts. For Patreon, we had Renee Langford, who got a birthday, description from her daughter. Well, happy birthday, Renee. Yeah, that's very cool. Robert Randall. Hey, Robert. Veronica Petrogo. What's going on? Petrogo. Ravilar. Hey, Ravela. Mr. Paints. Hey, what's up? Mr. Amanda Kikendahl jumped out of our highest level. Well, good day to you. Kikendahl.

Cody Steph. Hey, Cody. Melissa Zayshed, Zalsh, jumped out of our highest level. Go ahead. Chouchay. Okay. You change it up every time. I do. Courtney hit. Hey, Courtney. Monica Jacobs. What's going on, Monica? Maureen Lansione. Hey, Lanceon. Danny Dale. What's up, D.D. Heidi Carmer. Hey, Heidi. Jessica Titus. What's going on, Titus? Rachel Shatz jumped out at our highest level. Well, thank you, Rachel. Erica Dean. Appreciate that, Erica. Cassie. Well, hey, Cassie. Jess. Oh, I appreciate that, Jess. Tyler Lamb. Hey, Tyler. And last but not least, Nancy. There's a good old Nancy.

And then if we go back into the vault Gibbs, this week, we selected. Nicole Flynn. Well, appreciate that, Nicole. Yeah, appreciate the new support, the continued support. On PayPal, we had donations from Kathy Holden. Hey, Kathy. Lauren Porter. Well, thank you, Lauren. And Lisa Putman. Oh, hi, Lisa. So thanks to all of you as well. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime All the Time? Man, I am set. We're talking about convicted killer William Huff. You know, for the first 15 years of his life, William Huff seemed like a normal teenager. major. He enjoyed spending time with his friends, playing basketball. Gibbs, he was considered a kind and respectful kid. Kind of boy you went next door. Yeah. But when he turned 16, things changed. He began a

pattern of strange behaviors. He stopped expressing interest in his friends. He kind of became a loner. The summer before his junior year of high school, William brutally murdered two little girls and abandoned their bodies in the Sierra Vista desert. Not the kind of way you want next door. No, absolutely not. And then afterwards, he wrote a strange letter to the police calling himself the phantom, the nickname by which he became known. We're in Verduzzi here, so strap in.

William Lois Huff was born in Commerce, Texas on March 25th, 1951. He is the son of Army Sergeant Algea Huff and Bernice Huff, one of their eight children. Now, there's not a lot known Gibbs about Williams' early childhood, but we do know that his mother was very strict. She ran an extremely disciplined household. However, neither of Williams' parents were abusive to him or any of his siblings. I couldn't find any mention of that, any proof of that. So I think that's interesting. It's something to, you know, kind of really take a look at because it's not the norm. You look at, okay, this is episode 253 of true crime all the time.

How many episodes when we're talking about the childhoods of killers are we talking about at least one abusive parent, some type of abuse in the home, whether it's physical, sexual, emotional. I couldn't find evidence of any of that. There's a lot of kids that grow up in a very strict household. Discipline household. Well, and let's not forget, his dad was an army sergeant. So, you know, I think a lot of times military families are very strict.

Now, it was said that his mother was very strict. I can imagine his father was pretty strict as well. In the 1960s, Al Jia Huff transferred to Fort Huacchukah in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The Arizona Daily Star wrote Sierra Vista was a quiet town of about 5,000 people. Adjacent to Fort Huachuca, the army base, the town was small enough that residents knew each other and violent crimes just didn't happen very often. According to the Arizona Republic, the huffs lived on the fort until 1966. When they moved to a new home within the town of Sierra Vista,

soon after the move, William's father was transferred to Roberts, California. The family remained at their home in Sierra Vista. William was 15 at the time. He was described by many as tall and gangly. Tall and gangly. Well, you know, let's face it gives 15, kind of a tough time. It is. In the lives of a lot of kids.

It's kind of where, you know, you're going through puberty, changes or have. The voice is going up and down for, you know, for boys. That's all you and I can speak to. Right. Definitely awkward times. Yeah. Things are growing in weird spots where things were never there before. Okay. But, uh, you know, you remember how it goes. Danny Kirkpatrick, William's friend told the Arizona Daily Star that William was, quote, a happy dude. He never got into trouble. We ran around together. We went down to the base and played pool and basketball. We spent a lot of time together. The Huff's next door neighbor Carol White told the paper, Willie was always nice and helpful when he was growing up.

He played with my kids. His mom and the kids would come over for dinner. So I think, you know, by these people coming out and talking to the paper and obviously these conversations are going to happen much later, or, but they're painting a picture of William Huff up into a certain age as, hey, this was a good kid. Yeah. And he was nice.

He was respectful. He played with my kids. He was my friend. We hung out together. But like I said, that is all going to change. The superintendent of Buena Vista High School described William to the Arizona Republic as a poor student, but one who had never been in any trouble. at school. Maybe just not that bright or didn't know how to apply it. Or didn't try. I mean,

yeah, I think, you know, when kids do poorly in school, there are a number of different factors that could contribute to that, right? You named one. You know, some kids just aren't that bright. They're not able to pick up the teaching. Right. And then apply what has been taught and, you know, they do poorly on tests and things like that. Then you have kids who they have the aptitude. They just don't apply themselves. Exactly. And you do see that quite a bit. I have no idea what was the case, you know, with William Huff. But also, you know, it's important that this guy saying he wasn't a kid who started trouble. He didn't get into trouble at school. In 1967, William turned 16. He was a junior. at Buena Vista.

It really was at this age, this kind of turning 16 years old when William Huff changed. This is when classmates began seeing him as a loner. Yeah, he lost interest in spending time with his friends. It was said that he was indifferent in school. He wasn't involved in any extracurricular activities. Richard Riley, a prosecutor who worked the case. told the Arizona Daily Star that William had what he called strange tendencies. Well, being a peeping Tom would fall in that classification.

This is what this guy said about William. He also said that he killed animals by putting them in milk cartons and stomping on them. All right. I just think I lost my supper. Well, that's nasty. Yeah. You know, it's tough. Anytime we're talking about harming.

animals. That's tough for a lot of people. But we know it can also be a very, very bad sign. The Huff family was also struggling in their new neighborhood. They were a black family, living in a mostly white community in the 1960s. They experienced racism from their neighbors and from the local police. William's friend Danny Kirkpatrick told The Daily Star that one pawn shop owner refused to serve William because he was black. The police department was especially aware of the family because they were one of the few black families in the area. Markov, William's younger brother told the Arizona Daily Star, being black at the time

was as bad as anything. One officer sent out a petition to kick the family out of town. Now, this officer denies any prejudice towards the family in 1985. he told the Arizona Daily Star, this town was integrated. Blacks were not segregated in certain areas. Okay. I get what you're saying. I'm not sure how that's denying what you were accused of doing.

And obviously, this is not isolated to the area we're talking about Gibbs. In the 60s, this was happening all over the country and well after. You know, I can remember growing up where I did. Right. It was a mostly white community. Sure. I remember two black kids moved in with their family about a town, maybe two towns over. They were basketball stars.

Yeah. This is when I was in high school. They were very good. I played against them in high school, but it was pretty much an all white community. And I do remember that somebody burned a cross on their lawn. Gibbs, this was like in the 1990s. And I was shocked. I couldn't believe that something could happen like that in the 1990.

Neighbor Carol White told various news outlets that she noticed the changes in William. And I guess Gibbs, he scared her so much that she ended up putting three locks on her front door and slapped with her four dogs and a loaded pistol by her bedside. Well, that's a lot of protection. Well, let's break this down. I mean, we're talking about what? Maybe a matter of about a year that this kid is going from in the eyes of this neighbor, you know, a respectful,

kind, good-natured kid to, you know, I've got to get to Terminator to stand outside of my door. I'm scared of this kid. So, I mean, you're talking about big time changes being seen to,

you know, make some of those things happen. That's no way to live, man, but she did what she had to do. Now, she said that she maintained a cordial relationship with the Hoffs, but when William turned 16, instead of playing ball with the kids, her kids, you know, he would just sit and watch them. I think to her, it was as if he was leering at the kids, right? Looking at them in a way that another person shouldn't be looking at a child.

It would definitely make you uneasy. Oh, there's no doubt about it. But again, going from what she called this quiet and gentle boy to still a boy, but now one who is scaring her and is looking at her kids in, I'll call it almost a lustful way. And Gibbs, she was right. She was proven right in her suspicion of William. Early one morning he broke into Carol's home. She found him crawling on the floor.

She ran to go get her gun, but he escaped out the front window before she got back with it. Yeah, this is going to turn into a habit of his. A habit, yeah, because he did it eight times after. So nine times total. It's a lot. So it kind of makes more sense now, right? Why she became so afraid of this kid, she told the Arizona Daily Star, I got to the point of sleeping on the couch with a loaded pistol.

But she said, you know, he wasn't coming in and stealing anything. He just came in. One time he took the hinge pins from the back door. He stole her car keys. One time he used a butcher knife to pry open a sliding glass door. According to her, he was trying to terrorize her, get her attention. Carol called the police each time. time he broke in, but they could never catch him in the act. Mark Huff recalled for the Arizona

Daily Star. He said, the police department sent cruisers to our house in the middle of the night for no apparent reason and shown their spotlights on us for a while and then they left. Now, all of this happened before the killings took place. What police later said was that they were responding to Carol White's complaints. But William's strange behaviors eventually escalated into two brutal murders. He killed two little girls, seven-year-old Cindy Clellon and six-year-old Janelle Haynes. Cindy Clellon was the daughter of Sergeant W.A. Clellan and Elsie Clellan. She and her family lived in Sierra Vista. Janelle was the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Albert Haynes. This guy Gibbs was the general of Strategic Communications Command at Fort White.

Chuka. He was a biggie. Yeah, he was. I hope I'm saying that correctly. They lived on the fort. And Janelle was murdered just three days after the family moved back from an overseas assignment. Cindy Clelland disappeared on April 30th, 1967. She left her yard at 1 p.m. After coming home from church to play with another little girl, she was last seen getting into a car with an unknown man. Elsie Clelland, Cindy's mother, reported her missing at 8.30 p.m. Her father was in Japan recovering from an injury, but got on the first flight home when he received the news. A statewide hunt for Cindy ensued, but no one could find her. I mentioned it Gibbs. Cindy was playing with another little girl around the time she disappeared. This girl told the police that a man driving an old model black car

pulled up in front of her house and told Cindy to get inside. Well, unfortunately, Cindy, listened and did get inside. Yeah, she listened to this strange man, got inside, and he drove away. The girl described the man as an elderly gray-haired man wearing a hat. So very specific, right, coming from a young girl, I think, you know, specifically saying that it was an elderly white man in a black car. That's very important. On May 1st, 100 men search for Cindy with no results. The police did find a torn pair of underwear in a deserted area on the outskirts of town, about a mile from Cindy's home. They saw what they believed to be teeth marks in the underwear. They also found Cindy's blue denim shorts hanging in a tree near the underwear.

When the police showed Cindy's clothing to her mother, she screamed. If she knew right away. Sure she did. That reaction confirmed to police that the clothing did. belong to Cindy. And you and I often try to put ourselves in the position of victims, victims family members. It's tough. It is. It's not a position you'd ever want to be in, but you try to empathize, right? And try to, I guess, get a sense of what it would be like. Your child's missing. Yeah. The police come to your house. They've got some clothing to show you,

you know what your child was wearing that day. It's an immediate reaction and you know it can't be anything but bad. It'd be hard not to lose it right then. Yeah, exactly. Cindy's body was found in the desert on May 3rd, 1967. This area was leased to Fort Huachuca as a gunnery range. Cindy had been strangled, beaten, stabbed, and disembowed with a shard of glass. rough. It's extremely brutal. She was found naked, but there was no evidence of sexual assault.

After Cindy's murder, Carol White claims William indirectly threatened her. She told the Arizona Daily Star, Willie was out talking to a neighbor after the first murder. He told this person that unless I stopped calling the police, he would break in again and cut my throat. This is a 16-year-old kid. Yeah. And obviously, Gibbs. this woman was right to be deathly afraid of him. On May 7th, the Sierra Vista police received a strange letter related to the murders, a killer calling himself the Phantom admitted to Cindy's murder and also threatened to take another victim.

The letter read, I am the Phantom. You have found my first victim. My next one lives on Stefan, a nine-year-old girl. I don't live in Sierra Vista. Nobody knows where my hangout is. But one clue is where the sunset, the fastest, you shall see three trees. Sure, I'm an old man with gray hair, but you'll never find me. There's thousands of old men in Arizona that fit my description.

Ha ha. But watch out. And then in all caps is written, my next victim lives on Stephan Street, nine years old. Fools. Signed the phantom. All right. I mean, he's trying to tease the authorities. And yeah, you see this in a number of cases, right, where killers, for whatever reason, they write to police, they want to taunt the police, they get something out of the murders, right? Some type of sick enjoyment. We can't understand what that is. But then there's another piece of it where they enjoy messing with the police. They somehow, you know, derive enjoyment from

that as well. Now, I do want to break this down just a little bit, Gibbs. So I get it. This person is admitting to this murder. But then talking about, okay, I'm going to kill again and I'm going to give you the name of the street and the age of the girl that I'm targeted. Yeah. Very strange. Now, obviously there's a lot in here that is designed to throw police off, right? I don't live in Sierra Vista. I'm an old man with gray hair.

You'll never find me. Why would a killer throw out all of those details if they were true? Yeah, you're exactly right. Why would they do that? They most wouldn't, right? Now, would they do that to try to throw police off? Sure. Absolutely. Now, some of this is after the fact, right?

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saying, this is something different. The postmaster said, I came over, read it, put it in an envelope, and immediately walked to the police station two blocks away. The letter was in the hands of the police 15 minutes after it was picked up. When police examined the note, they saw that it was written on school tablet paper with the words sheriff and shall misspelled. The sheriff's office immediately sent 30 officers to step up. Fuffin Street, but they were never able to determine which child was the target.

Police search for an elderly man with a black car, but they couldn't find their suspect. And we mentioned it. This is a pretty small community. Yeah, it really is. So, you know, you talk about fear. You can imagine what type of fear was going through this community of what, about 5,000 people. And they're all probably talking about that fear too, right? Yeah, my assumption is it's the topic.

of conversation at the local diner, at the gas station, wherever you go. A little girl's been murdered. And now there is talk that the killer is going to target another little girl in your town. Hmm. Okay. I can't imagine people were talking about much of anything else. Parents picked their children up from school. They canceled trips to parks.

No one was going out walking the streets at night. just wasn't happening. Why would you at this point? No, because why take a chance? And again, I don't know at what point the contents of the letter became public. I didn't actually see that. But my thought is most people were thinking, okay, we have a monster who is living amongst us, even if they knew that the person said, well, I don't live in Sierra Vista. Would you believe that? You're not going to believe anything that a person says who is willing to kill a very young girl. I think if you were living anywhere near this town, you were keeping a close eye on your kids. Well, and that's true, right? Not just in Sierra Vista. If you lived outside in a neighboring town,

you'd be scared. But Gibbs just one month later, another child was murdered. On June 22nd, 1967, Janelle Haynes and her brother were playing together by the Fort Huachuca's officers club. Janelle was last seen at 11 a.m. at the officer swimming pool on the southern perimeter of the fort. Janelle's brother, Jared Haynes, told her parents that they were playing beside the lake next to the officers club when a young black man approached them. He lured Janelle to the canyon, and she never came back. So Janelle's parents reported her missing right away. Very quickly, there was a widespread land and air search. for her. Soldiers search the desert while helicopters search the mountains. So they're going all

out. Yeah, they are. But you're also talking about a military child who goes missing from essentially a military installation, at least part of it. So they're going to add their resources to it, which it sounds like they did, Gibbs, it was just eight hours later that Janelle was found dead on Fort Huachuca and a clump of bushes. She was naked and she had been beaten in the head with a rock. So again, a very vicious murder made all the more brutal, I think because of the ages of the victims. Definitely going to shake that community up. Oh my gosh. Now you have a second young child. But the important thing related to Janelle's murder was that her brother had seen the person who lured her away. And Jared Haines was able to identify William Huff when the police

showed him pictures from the Buena Vista High School yearbook. Former police chief, Reed Vance, later testified that he saw William walking east towards the fort's main gate and towards his home that afternoon. William's family would later call this into question because this guy, Vance was apparently the only person who reported seeing him. They also have questioned, if William had just killed Janelle, wouldn't he have had a tremendous amount of blood on him? And Vance never reported any blood. Yeah. So I get that. I get where somebody would say this was an extremely vicious murder. There would have been a tremendous amount of blood. If you saw my son walking reportedly after he had murdered this little girl,

how come you didn't see him covered in blood? Exactly. That's what they were asking. So Gibbs, as police were looking at both of these murders, they noticed an odd similarity between the victims. Well, they sure did. Both girls had blonde hair and blue eyes.

That and they were both found naked, but neither was sexually assaulted. So I think from the perspective, of a police, they were trying to figure out, okay, what type of killer are we looking for? Obviously, this is a killer who targets very young girls. The victims are found naked, but not sexually assaulted. The one thing I don't think they were thinking about was, hey, we're looking for a 16-year-old boy, right?

I don't think that was probably their first thought. Ever on the radar? Well, not at first, right? But obviously once Janelle's brother identified William Huff, then it was. But you know, they had to have been shocked. The FBI took over Janelle's case because she was killed on federal property on June 28th. FBI agents went to Buena Vista High School to get handwriting samples from the superintendent. Handwriting experts determined that student William Huff's handwriting.

matched the letter on several points. And they learned that the letter was dropped in a mailbox at Brookbank and Carmichael Streets, just two blocks over from Williams home. They can tell a lot off that little letter, can't they? Yeah, it's one of the reasons why I don't understand why so many killers feel the need to write to police. Hey, I'm glad you do. because if it helps catch you, I'm all for it. I just don't understand why. Now, they get something out of it, like I said. Feed their ego, right?

But here again, you have a young kid, 16 years old, who probably doesn't know what the police can do. Or the kid would have typed it out, would have cut out maybe words from different magazines or something like that, which a lot of people do to try to hide their identity. But he didn't. He just wrote it in his handwriting and dropped it in a mailbox. On the 29th, William was arrested in charge with murdering Janelle Haynes. So they had Janelle's brother, right, identifying William out of a yearbook. Eventually, when they started to interrogate him, they had him write him, right?

some words down. And one of the words he misspelled was sheriff, just as he had done in the letter. The FBI also found pieces of Janelle's hair on a pair of Williams underwear. So that's extremely incriminating. Yeah, not good for William. William was arraigned on the 29th before U.S. Commissioner Raymond Terleazy on first-degree murder and extortion charges. And I found this interesting Gibbs, according to the FBI extortion statutes, you don't have to demand money to get an extortion charge. That is interesting. So apparently they can add that for a number of different reasons.

I didn't see the exact reason they gave for adding it as a charge against William. Ter Lizzie said his bail at $2,000 for extortion, but withdrew bail for the murder charge. His preliminary hearing was set for July 10th, and William was taken to the Pima County Jail. A federal grand jury returned his indictment for murdering Janelle Haynes on July 19, 1967. And it was on October 2nd of that year that William pled guilty to killing Janelle in federal court. Gibbs, he was set to go to trial the next day. But he surprised prosecutors by pleading guilty. He told Judge James Walsh that he threw a rock in a side canyon behind the officers club and that killed Janelle.

That's what did it. That's, well, that's what he said did it. According to William's sister Wanda, his attorney gave him two options. Go to trial and get the death penalty or confess and eventually leave prison. She told the Arizona Daily Star, we were poor and black and didn't have. much of a chance at winning anything. Markov, who was just eight years old at the time, later told the paper, the family was so intimidated by the police, the FBI, and the sheriff's department that all they wanted was to get through this thing in one piece. He said, my parents

were from the old school. They were too scared to fight back. He said, I'm ashamed my parents didn't do more to help him. That's a lot to put on your mom and dad, you know. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. But, you know, I think about his mom and dad who probably went through a lot as far as racism and just realizing that they were up against it when trying to fight the system at all. I'm sure they had many examples in their life, Gibbs, where it just didn't work. And there were some very negative consequences for trying to do. So, I'm sure they had many examples in their life, Gibbs, Gibbs, where it just didn't work. And there were some very negative consequences for trying to do so. But I also get why his younger brother would feel like that, especially if he's talking to the paper many, many years later because you want your family to do everything they can do to help out your brother. Well, yeah.

Who's in a really tough spot. And I'll say it that way because I don't know. exactly how they felt about his guilt or innocent. Exactly. Maybe they leaned the other way. Right. They could have thought he's innocent. He didn't do this.

He's being railroaded by, you know, a corrupt system. His younger brothers thinking, you know, we should have fought for him more. So as all of this was going on, Cochise County Sheriff Jimmy Wilson studied the case to see whether he could get a second degree murder charge for Cindy. The sheriff's office was delayed in charging William in that murder because the FBI had all the evidence. The sheriff told the Arizona Daily Star, we will not be in a position to do anything until we have received it and have an opportunity to review it.

Well, that's a good solid statement to make. You're going to do your own due diligence. As soon as you're able to. Exactly. Because at that point, apparently, they. hadn't been able to. On October 16th of 1967, William was sentenced to 10 years to life in a federal prison for Janelle's murder. The judge wrote in his federal sentencing order, the likelihood of reoccurrence of the propensities of the defendant for brutality and violence is really

alarming and the possibility of finding a cure extremely remote. Until such a time is the fields of psychiatry and medicine are able to advance to the point that individuals with the sadistic and psychopathic tendencies and impulses demonstrated by this defendant can be treated and cured, it is earnestly and sincerely recommended that he remain confined in a maximum security penal institution for the protection of the public. So what I'm taking from that is the judge is seeing this kid as unredeemable and that he's just never going to change and stop being in danger to society. Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it. You know, he's saying unless psychiatry and medicine and all of this gets to the point where

they can figure out how to cure him, I got to keep him locked away for the sake of the public safety. Yeah. The judge also said that William Hubb, had no psychological problems. He knew right from wrong. That's a big statement right there. That's a huge statement. Janelle's father told the Arizona Daily Star, our interests are not in retribution or revenge. Hate is not part of this family's thinking. That's a pretty amazing thing to come out and say. Yeah, it really is. I applaud people who are able to do that because I always think, Gibbs, if I was in their place, I don't know if I could echo those same sentiments.

You know, retribution, revenge, hate. I feel like I would be thinking about all of those things. It would be a part of me at that point. You've killed my little girl. Yeah. But there are some people, whether it's due to, you know, their religion or just their way of thinking that are able to, I don't want to say forgive because forgive is a very big word, but they're able to kind of set aside the need for vengeance and they don't let the hate kind of eat them up and they're able to go on. I just don't know how well I would handle it. I really don't. And I don't think anybody does until they're put in that same specific situation.

Two weeks after his guilty plea, William was charged with murdering Cindy Clella. He was ordered to be tried as an adult, but he accepted a plea deal for second-degree murder. And on October 24th, 1967, William was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison for murdering Cindy. This sentence would run concurrently with his federal sentence. So what this meant was that William would be eligible for parole after seven years of his state sentence and 15 years of his federal sentence. So he could be paroled as early as 15 years after killing two girls. Yeah, that's what I got.

Could. And I think the operative word there is could. I guess what I don't understand and obviously not having the legal background is, is why make the sentences concurrent? I don't understand why they do that. And maybe it's because he had 10 years to life on the federal conviction. But my thought is, why not make it consecutive so that, okay, let's say he was let out after 15 years, boom, you tack on those 40.

Yeah. And then at a minimum, he's probably got at least another seven before he was. would come up for parole. Now, I'm sure there's a lot of legalese involved that I don't understand, but. But knowing that there was a federal and then a state conviction, you'd think that they would be able to do something like that. Separate the two, make them, yeah, make them a little more separate. Two years after pleading guilty, William wrote to a judge, I'm not guilty of murder

in second or first degree. I pled guilty because I was scared that I was going to get a death. sentence and I mainly just wanted to get this over with. You didn't know the pressure I was going through. You know, to me, this is interesting because now he's saying, I didn't kill anyone. I just entered a guilty plea on both charges because I wanted to get it over with. On the federal one, I wanted to escape to death penalty. Right. And I was going through a lot of pressure. On June 16th, 1974, William wrote to you. U.S. District Judge James Walsh, those past events are forgotten. I want to go back to Sierra Vista

someday to show them what good I can do for I have no hate for no one because hate can be man's greatest enemy. Okay, that's a great sentiment. Yeah. But when you say those past events are forgotten, Gibbs, they are not forgotten. You might have forgotten about them, but you know who hasn't forgotten about them? Yeah, the victim's families. Yeah. Janelle's family, Cindy's family, their friends, they're going to live with your actions for the rest of their lives. William was denied parole in 1980. He spent the first part of his sentence in state custody. In February 1982, the Arizona Board of Pardons and Paroles agreed to release him from state into federal custody.

But they stipulated that if he was released, the board would meet. to consider his parole. So I'm taking from that that they did not think he should be let out. They were just going to hand him over and now let him do his time in a federal institution. But they're saying, hey, if you let him out, we might bring him back. Exactly. Yep. William was set to appear before the U.S. Parole Commission on February 25th, 1985 for a hearing about his parole status. So he's done what, Gibbs, 18,000. years? Yeah. Up to this point. The other thing I didn't mention and I wanted to was, you know,

look back at that year of 1967 and how fast everything happened from the time of the murders to the arrest to his conviction. It all happened in a matter of what, six months or so. It was very quick. Quicker than it is today. Oh, no doubt about it. Before the hearing, William was staying at the Tucson pre-release center, so a type of halfway house. The staff described him as sensitive, compassionate, and a positive role model. He lived there from January to April of 1984 until he had a verbal disagreement with his roommate and returned to prison. He lived there again from November of 84 to January 3rd, 1985. But the one thing that kept showing up in the research, Gibbs was that this possibility of parole, right? He's close. They might let him out. It angered law

enforcement who said they'd basically do anything to keep him locked up. I think residents were fearful that he would be released to possibly hurt more young girls. William's brother, Mark, and his sister Wanda defended him. They claimed he was somewhere else at the time that, both of these murders were committed. They described their brother back then as a decent teenager, incapable of strangling and disembowling a child. It's the same brother that put critters in a box and stomped on them. And a milk carton?

Yeah. Mark told reporters, William is not a cold-blooded murderer. He also noted that their family didn't own a black car. and William didn't even know how to drive. He also didn't match the description of Cindy's attack her. He told The Daily Star, as for Janelle Haynes, I know for a fact he didn't kill her unless he killed her in his bedroom in front of some of his brothers and his sister. He said the fact is that man they arrested was in his room asleep when news came over the radio.

Wanda said that William was home at her 18th birthday party. when the police announced the discovery of Janelle's body. I think all along Gibbs, Williams family admitted that he was somewhat of a prankster. His confession to writing the letter, according to them, is what doomed him. But he just wrote the letter. He wasn't a killer. Why write the letter? Well, you know, you can ask a lot of whys in this case.

Williams' request for parole was denied, and he remained in prison for many more years. Fast forward to 2008, William was eligible to apply for parole again, but his parole was denied until December 2015. By that time, he was 67 years old and was released on house arrest with restrictions. The state board of Clemency decided that he had a clean record after serving almost 50 years in prison. He did a healthy amount of time. He did. He left prison in January 2016 and was skeptical. to have his parole status reviewed every six months. He had to wear an ankle monitor,

meet with a parole officer daily, and was not allowed to work with children. Okay. I imagine that the families of the victims were upset. But if I'm looking at this just objectively, you know, tend to life. He served 50 years, had a clean record in prison. They're going to let him out with an ankle monitor he's got to meet with a parole officer every day you know he has restrictions i could see why this decision was made i mean gibbs look at other countries oh these same kind of crimes you know five years after the fact you're in town shopping for cheese and bread unsupervised right yeah so i get it we're not as used to it here in the united states but 50 years of is a very long time.

Yeah, especially when you go in at that young age. Yeah, let's not forget. He was 16 years old. But let's also not forget that these murders were extremely vicious and involved two very young girls. So, you know, I'm torn. I go back and forth. But I'm not jumping up and down hopping mad, I guess, that he would be let out after 50 years. He's still being monitored.

They're still going to review his parole status. And if he does anything, he's going back. And that's exactly what happened in 2018. William was sent back to prison for violating his parole. Yeah, there was a review that took place on July 25, 2018. So members of the parole board asked him about his relationships, counseling, health, his personal activities. He told them he had his own apartment and he hoped to get married after he finished

religious training. He wasn't dead. He owed about $450 that he couldn't pay because he was having a hard time, you know, keeping a job. But his parole officer informed him the board that he was proactively seeking a job. A spokesman for the victim's families called in to argue that William was not sufficiently restricted to prevent contact with children. And at the end of the hearing, the board denied an absolute discharge from supervision. They voted to maintain his current parole status. Now, one of the conditions of his house arrest was that he had to get pre-approval from a parole officer before having any contact with children. Which he did not do. No, he didn't.

Because during a surprise visit, his parole officer discovered an eight-year-old girl sleeping inside his apartment with two other adult relatives. This girl was his girlfriend's daughter. Now, William didn't harm this girl, but he did violate his parole. And it's something I didn't talk about, but I was kind of shocked when we were reading his parole conditions and it said he wasn't allowed to work with children.

Obviously, there had to have been more to that, right? He shouldn't have been around children in any capacity. William turned himself in on November 26, 2018 at the direction of his parole officer, he received temporary placement at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson. His attorney took issue with one of the lines in his parole terms that read any form of contact with anyone under the age of 18 without a parent or legal guardian present and or prior authorization or permission from my assigned parole officer. His attorney argued that because the girl's parents were present, William didn't need

pre-approval from a parole officer, but board member David Neal responded that the and before the or meant he needed parole officer approval whether parents were present or not. Sounds like the whole Clinton thing, the definition of what is it? You're going to throw in the Clinton Lewinsky thing here? It, it. But I get it. When you say and or, to me, that means either or. Yeah, that's how I interpret it.

If I'm just reading that, that's the way I read it. But obviously, the parole board didn't see it that way. William was upset. that. And I think, you know, he lashed out at the parole board. He wanted an explanation for why he had been essentially incarcerated for 52 years on a 40 to life sentence. Now, I think there's a lot of people, Gibbs, that are probably arguing he should have never got out. He should have served life. Well, the 40 year was just a minimum, right? It was 40 to life. Yeah. According to A. Z family, William's sister, Luanda Bishop, called in to tell the board, he's a wonderful man.

He's not going to kill anybody. He's not going to hurt anybody. He won't even hurt anybody's feeling. William's brother phoned in to tell the board. We asked him to do two things. One, tell us what happened and understand and apologize for what you put us through. He never did that. All right.

So now I'm feeling like there's some conflict here within the, family. His sister is saying he's great. Yeah. His brother had defended him in the papers. Right. We talked about some of the quotes that his brother had given over the years, but it sounds like, you know, when it came time for this parole board hearing, he was a little upset because William wouldn't do these two things that the family asked him to do. On January 9th, 2019. The clemency board revoked his house arrest and permanently returned him to prison. The chairman of the clemency board told AZ family, he was given his freedom. And yet from my perspective, he violated it. Going back to the whole and or. Yeah. I mean, I think that's what it boils down to.

Surprise parole visit. They find an eight year old girl inside his apartment. And that was it. That was enough to their way of thinking to violate his parole. William can now apply once a year for release. His latest application was denied on September 18th, 2019. He did file a petition claiming his original sentence was illegal and that his case should be reviewed due to significant changes in the law. That petition was dismissed in 2020. William petitioned the Arizona Court of Appeals to review the clemency board's decision that the girl's presence in his department violated his parole. On October 2nd of that year, the appellate court issued a three zero decision denying his request for review. So it sounds like they decided they weren't

even going to look at this case. Yeah. That's what it sounds like to me. William Huff is currently incarcerated at Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. As of now, he will remain in prison indefinitely. I do think Gibbs, there are a lot of people who have protested what happened to William. I don't see how anyone can not be outraged by what he did. But I think what people have said, you know, he had the opportunity to prove he was reformed, possibly be released from supervised parole. Some people say, it's wrong.

he was denied based on kind of this and or language. And then I think some people say he had the chance and he threw it all away by disregarding his parole terms. And now he's back in prison where I think a lot of people think he belongs. So Gibbs, as we wrap this case up, you know, I thought this was an interesting case for for a number of reasons. Number one, his age, right? 16 years old to commit these two brutal murders that he did at 16 years old. It's hard to imagine a 16 year old having that in them. We know some do. We've done plenty of stories about teenagers who have killed. But then I think you have to ask the question, what turned this guy into a killer? From all accounts, he had a good childhood, loving parents. Yeah, they were strict, but a lot of

us grew up in very strict households. You did. What kind of drove him towards animal cruelty and then, you know, to make the leap to killing children? I don't know the answer, but that's a big question in this case. Some people have speculated that maybe it was his father's transfer to California. Maybe it was the fact that he had such a high number of siblings. Maybe he didn't get enough parental attention.

But again, how many people come? come from really large families. A bunch. A bunch. Yeah. So I guess what I'm saying is that should not turn you into a killer, but could it have been a factor? I don't know.

Maybe he was lashing out violently in response to the racism that he and his family experienced. I think a lot of people have said maybe he was just born with something dark inside him. Well, you had to be pretty dark to do what he did. He did. And, you know, that's an age old question. It's a question that you and I ask quite a bit, right? Nature, nurture, you know, can people just be born with this darkness inside of them

that is eventually going to come out no matter what? I think some people were born with it. Yeah, after so many episodes, so much research, I kind of go back and forth and think there's just a number of ways that, for the lack of a better term, people become killers. Does childhood play a factor? I definitely think it does in some people. Yeah. But what about these individuals, and we profiled many that seemingly had very good

childhoods, what else is there to believe, but that there was some type of darkness in them kind of all along or, and it just developed, it grew, it grew and grew until they killed. Yeah. It needed a reason to come out and it came out. I don't know. Frog demon, right? Is there a frog demon? Yeah. And there's a part of me that believes, yes. And some there is. But for now, William is locked away in prison and he can't hurt anyone else. I don't know if he would. If he got out tomorrow, I can't say that either way. I do know from doing the research that there are many people that believe we shouldn't have to find that out. And, Okay. I can't argue with them on that. Right.

On that stance. And there's a good chance we might not ever find it out. You're right. He could spend the rest of his life in prison. Yeah. But like I said earlier, would I be hopping mad if they let this guy out after serving 60 or 70 years? I don't think I would be. Again, he was 16 years old.

Yeah. When he committed the murders. Now, would I be sick to my stomach if he got out? at age 77 and killed again, I would. I just don't know how a guy like that's going to function out there at this point. He's been in prison for such a long time. What's he going to do? I think you're absolutely right.

During the time that he was out, he definitely had some struggles. Yeah. Right? Getting a job, keeping a job. And it's tough. Yeah. a long time ago. Man, it was a real long time ago.

And the world has changed quite a bit. Yeah. But that's it for our case on William Huff, child killer. We got some voicemails, Gibbs. You want to check those out? Yeah, let's hear them. Hi, guys. Pretty new.

At listening to this, I just started a couple weeks ago, and I've gone through a lot of them. By the way, my name is Stephanie. But I just wanted to say something. Mike, you get on Gibby a lot for his pronunciation of words, but it's rather than, me nuts that you don't say technically right you say technically technically no it's technically and i just want to give you a hard time for it but uh i love you show guys you got the spot on and i listen a lot of truth on stuff so um keep your own time thicken bye well Gibbs i know there's a lot of words that i don't say correctly but i didn't think that technically was one of them well technically

you do technically say i don't know maybe technically i do but that's one word that i thought actually said correctly. Interestingly, and there's some other ones that I know I say strangely, not the same way that other people say them, but... That would be technically correct. That would be. Yeah. Technically, you're right. Get the technically out of here.

Hey, guys. This is Sherry from Dallas, Texas. I was wondering if you might look into a case with Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore, it's an acts murderer case, kind of a local creepy... four-story that everybody rotates around still on Halloween every year. They made a movie out of it

in the 80s called Murder in a Small Town. I have New Wiley, Texas. You can still go by and see the house. It's really kind of a creepy thing. But anyway, I thought that would be a pretty cool case for you guys to do. I'm Team Furby.

Love you Gibbs, but I'm Team Furby all the way. All right, guys. You guys, take care and keep your own time ticking. Next voicemail. Just joking. She had me at Axe Murderer and then reeled me in with Team Furgy all the way. I don't hear that very much. Now, we appreciate it. Definitely a case that sounds like something we should be looking into. Absolutely, yeah. Thank you.

Hey, Mike, hey, Giddy. This is Melanie Russell of Connecticut. I have a local case back in the 80s for you. Corey Robert Barton, 18, killed his girlfriend, Sherry Ann Merton, 6th. back in 83 in Vernon, Connecticut, where I grew up. A friend of my told me of the case when I moved there in 85. It stirred up to town quite a bit. My mom became friends with the victim's mom years later, and she was trying to make sure Corey stayed in jail.

Unfortunately, Corey only served less than 10 years and moved down in North Carolina. Six years later, he killed another girlfriend and got 23 years. He sooned be released next month in November of 2021. So I was hoping that you guys could do this case since he is being released very soon to bring some awareness to that local area in North Carolina. It sounds like this guy could definitely be a repeat offender since he's already done it twice. I love listening to you guys.

You guys brighten up my day. Fergie, I just love your voice. It brings a little levity to this dark subject matter, and I really appreciate it. I'm both team Fergie and team givey. Stay safe and keep your own time picking. Well, that Fergie voice. Well, Fergie's getting a lot of love today. Yeah, you are.

That's for sure. So another case. Yes. That definitely, if it's not already on the list, I'll make sure it is on the list, but it sounds like it. It sounds like not only would it be fascinating, but it's also timely. Yes. If this guy is about ready to get out. Yeah.

After committing two separate murders. Can't wait to dive into it. Gives, we had some mailbag. We haven't had much in a while. Sherry Ziegler sent in a bunch of Harley chips. Yeah. Hillary Staines sent us in some Hartley's chips. Crunch, crunch, crunch.

I think in her letter she thought at one point we were saying Hartley's chips. Oh. Instead of Harley's chips. She's also the first person to send you a real $100 bill. Yes. Replying to your request for $100. bills i can't believe it thank you so very much david martin sent us in some very cool pigly wiggly t-shirts yeah they were pretty pretty pretty rad yep i i think it's um hilton head area apparently

the whole staff listens so thanks to all of you love you all right gibbs that is it for another episode of true crime all the time so for mike and gibby stay safe and keep your own time ticking