Fort Worth Police Department and Othram Team to Identify 1974 Murderer of Carla Walker

Advanced DNA testing has revealed Glen Samuel McCurley, Jr. as the perpetrator in the brutal murder of a 17-year-old Texas cheerleader
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Published September 22, 2020 by Michael Vogen
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Highlights

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Summary

Full of life and with a bright future ahead, Carla Walker was just 17 when she was abducted from a Fort Worth parking lot and murdered in February of 1974. Carla and her boyfriend stopped by a local bowling alley to use the restrooms after attending a Valentine's Day dance. The perpetrator jerked open the passenger side door and dragged Carla out of the car, threatening her boyfriend with a gun and beating him unconscious. Carla's body was found in a culvert three days later; she had been raped, beaten, and strangled.

This brutal crime remained unsolved for nearly a half-century, with all available leads exhausted, including conventional forensic DNA testing. In April 2020, Carla’s story was featured on Oxygen’s “The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes.” A seasoned cold case investigator, Paul Holes was a key player in the identification of the Golden State Killer. Shortly after the Carla Walker episode aired, Holes connected Fort Worth PD Detectives Leah Wagner and Jeff Bennett with Othram to discuss the case. Within weeks, Othram’s advanced DNA analysis paired with exceptional investigative work from the detectives led to the identification of a suspect.

Glen Samuel McCurley, 77, was apprehended by the Fort Worth Police Department and charged with capital murder on Monday, September 21, 2020.

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Updates

NBC Dateline will feature a 2-hour Special on the Carla Walker case

January 27

The January 28th episode of NBC Dateline will feature Othram technology that was used to help solve the Carla Walker case. It's an amazing story and we highly recommend folks to watch if they want to see how an unsolved case from half-century ago can go from cold case to conviction. The episodes airs January 28th at 8pm central on NBC.

Michael Vogen

Michael Vogen

Director of Case Management

832-906-4247
2829 Technology Forest Blvd Suite 100, The Woodlands, Texas 77381
media@othram.com

Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.

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About Othram Inc.

Othram is the world’s first private DNA laboratory built specifically to apply the power of modern parallel sequencing to forensic evidence. Othram’s scientists are experts at ... Read morerecovery, enrichment, and analysis of human DNA from trace quantities of degraded or contaminated materials. Founded in 2018, and located in The Woodlands, Texas, our team works with academic researchers, forensic scientists, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies to achieve results when other approaches have failed. Follow Othram on Twitter @OthramTech or visit Othram.com to learn how we can help you with your case. With dnasolves.com anyone can make a difference and help solve the next cold case.