TEXARKANA, Ark. — Police in Texarkana have resolved a double homicide that was shrouded in mystery for over 40 years.
Authorities announced on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, that Weldon Alexander had been named as the "sole suspect" in the deaths of his daughter and son.
According to police, the double homicide happened on April 7, 1981, as Gordon and Karen Alexander were both murdered inside their home.
Texarkana detectives said that the Alexander family lived in a house along College Hill in Texarkana, Arkansas when the deadly crime happened.
While the house no longer exists currently, police said on the day of the crime, Gordon and Karen's father, Weldon, called authorities after he walked in to find both his son and his daughter dead inside of the home.
During Weldon's call to police, he said that he had made it home just before 7:00 a.m. on April 7, 1981, after working a night shift at a tire shop. Weldon claimed that he noticed that the screen door and front door were both ajar as he made his way towards his home.
Police arrived at the home that day to find Gordon dead inside of the family's kitchen and Karen lying face up on a bed in the living room. Karen was still breathing despite having extensive injuries.
Authorities took Karen to the hospital, but she later died from her injuries.
Texarkana detectives spent years looking through evidence and identifying witnesses until they arrested Henry Lee Lucas. Detectives said that Lucas had admitted to "hundreds of unsolved homicides across the country" and confessed to the double murder of Gordon and Karen Alexander.
Despite Lucas' confession, no warrant was issued nor was he charged due to insufficient "forensic, physical, or circumstantial evidence to prove his guilt."
Police have since used DNA evidence to determine decades later that Lucas had lied in several of the confessions that he gave, including the one he gave about the case involving Gordon and Karen Alexander.
Calvin Seward, who was a member of the Texarkana Police and also worked as a patrolman, was assigned to the criminal investigation division where he worked to follow up on leads and locate persons of interest connected to the double homicide.
"The case was a whole lot different than what it looked like from the start," Seward said.
He remained dedicated to the case despite it going cold and his assignment to the case ending when he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
Over the following years, he accomplished several feats and retired twice. Following his second retirement, Seward made it a point to take another look at Gordon and Karen's case.
From there, Gordon and Karen's case was reopened in February of 2022, with Seward having full autonomy to reopen it and pursue it to its end.
"We didn't just work on this for a few hours a day. This was 24/7 You wake up two o'clock in the morning, "What did I miss? So you go over and over and over and over this stuff," Seward said.
He used the subsequent year and a half to identify persons of interest, interview, and re-interview dozens of people who were originally named in the case.
He also submitted and resubmitted several pieces of evidence to be tested.
Seward then worked with an experienced forensic scientist and an experienced DNA scientist. The trio determined it'd be beneficial to retest pieces of evidence that were previously tested in 2012.
This led to the three deciding to "reprocess essentially anything that could provide new leads" which is what led them to extract DNA from both Gordon and Karen's fingernail tissue.
This fingernail tissue was used to be "compared to questioned DNA located at the crime scene."
Police said that the testing revealed a "familial relationship" and that it was determined that Weldon's semen was discovered on Karen's bedding.
Seward and his team attained further information from Gary Stringer, who was a lead investigator in the case back in 1981 and one of the first investigators to arrive on the scene that day over 40 years ago.
Stringer shared that Gordon's body had been cold to the touch when police arrived on April 7, 1981. Seward and his team used this along with other information to theorize that Gordon and Karen were assaulted before their father Weldon left for work around 11:00 p.m. the previous day.
Investigators said that there was no "outside intruder" which was consistent with DNA evidence discovered throughout the investigation.
Evidence also discovered that dried blood found on Gordon's hands and Karen's body contained like fibers, brass, copper, and zinc, which Weldon would've used to construct tires at his job.
Seward and his team then prepared a statement based on substantial evidence to name Weldon as the "probable suspect" in the double homicide. They presented this affidavit to Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell who reviewed it and determined that Weldon was the "sole" suspect in the deaths of Gordon and Karen.
Mitchell said that an arrest warrant would have been requested on two counts of capital murder, but that Weldon died in 2014.
Following the announcement of the case's closure, Texarkana police shared their hope that the remaining family and friends of Gordon and Karen could have peace of mind.
"It is our hope that the friends and remaining family of Gordon and Karen Alexander may find some peace in knowing that scientific and circumstantial evidence has been revealed sufficient to resolve this 42-year-old case," authorities said.
"It has a lasting effect on you, and it never goes away. And I know for me, I'll never forget this case, it'll always be a part of me," Seward said.