Adam Walsh's Murderer FINALLY Confirmed - Police Close Books

[TripperFan]

Fla. police close books on '81 Walsh killing

ABC News HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A serial killer who died more than a decade ago is the person who decapitated the 6-year-old son of "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh in 1981, police in Florida said Tuesday.

The announcement brought to a close a case that has vexed the Walsh family for more than two decades, launched the television show about the nation's most notorious criminals and inspired changes in how authorities search for missing children.

"Who could take a 6-year-old and murder and decapitate him? Who?" an emotional John Walsh said at Tuesday's news conference. "We needed to know. We needed to know. And today we know. The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over."

Walsh's wife, Reve, at one point placed a small photo of their son on the podium.

The suspect, Ottis Toole, had twice confessed to killing the child, but later recanted. He claimed responsibility for hundreds of murders, but police determined most of the confessions were lies. Toole's niece told the boy's father, John Walsh, her uncle confessed on his deathbed in prison that he killed Adam.

Police said Toole was long the prime suspect in the case and that they had conclusively linked him the killing. They declined to be specific about their evidence and noted they had no DNA proof of the crime, but said an extensive review of the case file pointed only to Toole, as John Wash long contended.

"Our agency has devoted an inordinate amount of time seeking leads to other potential perpetrators rather than emphasizing Ottis Toole as our primary suspect," said Hollywood Police Chief Chadwick Wagner. "Ottis Toole has continued to be our only real suspect."

Wagner acknowledged numerous missteps in the investigation and apologized to the Walshes.

"I have no doubt," John Walsh said. "I've never had any doubt."

Many names have been mentioned in connection to the case in the years since the killing, including serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, but Toole's has persistently nagged detectives. John Walsh has long said he believed the drifter was responsible, saying investigators found at Toole's home in Jacksonville a pair of green shorts and a sandal similar to what Adam was wearing.

The Walshes long ago derided the investigation as botched. Still, he praised the Hollywood police department for closing the case.

"This is not to look back and point fingers, but it is to let it rest," he said.

Adam Walsh went missing from a Hollywood mall on July 27, 1981. Fishermen discovered his severed head in a canal 120 miles away two weeks later. The rest of his body was never found.

Authorities made a series of crucial errors, losing the bloodstained carpeting in Toole's car — preventing DNA testing — and the car itself. It was a week after the boy's disappearance before the FBI got involved.

"So many mistakes were made," John Walsh said in 1997, upon the release of his book "Tears of Rage," which harshly criticized the Hollywood Police Department's work on the case. "It was shocking, inexcusable and heartbreaking."

For all that went wrong in the probe, the case contributed to massive advances in police searches for missing youngsters and a notable shift in the view parents and children hold of the world.

Adam's death, and his father's subsequent activism on his behalf, helped put faces on milk cartons, shopping bags and mailbox flyers, started fingerprinting programs and increased security at schools and stores. It spurred the creation of missing persons units at every large police department.

It also prompted national legislation to create a national center, database and toll-free line devoted to missing children, and led to the start of "America's Most Wanted," which brought those cases into millions of homes.

What it also did, said Mount Holyoke College sociologist and criminologist Richard Moran, is make children and adults alike exponentially more afraid

"He ended up really producing a generation of cautious and afraid kids who view all adults and strangers as a threat to them and it made parents extremely paranoid about the safety of their children," Moran said.

[crystaldawn]

Yes I saw that on the news today. A very sad press conference with John Walsh in tears. Toole was suspected from the beginning. I suppose they're just now closing it because he confessed to Adam's murder on his deathbed.

[tygre]

He confessed to this murder, true, but he's confessed to literally dozens of murders, and there is no physical evidence that ties him to this case.

I find it curious that they say this now, 12 years after Toole died. Why?

[dawnfla6aa2]

I've always loved that picture of Adam in his baseball cap. He was such a cute boy.

I hope that John Walsh has the proof he needs that it was without a doubt Toole.

[Cori aka ChrisSCrush]

They now say that physical evidence has recently turned up.

How the HECK did they managed to lose bloodstained car carpeting, let alone a whole CAR for crying out loud?

[TripperFan]

Originally Posted by Cori aka ChrisSCrush

They now say that physical evidence has recently turned up.

How the HECK did they managed to lose bloodstained car carpeting, let alone a whole CAR for crying out loud?

I know, but it seems to happen all the time.

I don't know how this guy ended up dying, but let's hope it was rather slow and painful.

Rest in peace Adam. At least over 1000 people now have been arrested because of Adam's death and his legacy will continue.

[catlover79]

Yes, the Walshes took a horrible tragedy and used it for good - to help others. God bless them!!

[Cori aka ChrisSCrush]

It's good to see the Walshes are still together. I had heard they were planning to divorce or actually had divorced twice and said the second time would be final.

[soilentgreen]

Other than the shorts and sandal they found in Toole's possession that resembled something Adam had -- did Toole's confessions revealed significant details about Adam that weren't already provided by police? Toole and Lucas were murderers but were well known serial liars as well.

[Thinman]

Originally Posted by Cori aka ChrisSCrush

They now say that physical evidence has recently turned up.

Where does it say this? Link, please.

Yesterday was nothing more than a symbolic ending to the case. They could have done the exact same thing 25 years ago when Toole made his first confession and gave other details only the killer could know. I do firmly believe in Toole's guilt. I just don't think this is huge news. This could have been done decades ago or not at all.

[DP1]

Originally Posted by TripperFan

I know, but it seems to happen all the time.

I don't know how this guy ended up dying, but let's hope it was rather slow and painful.

Rest in peace Adam. At least over 1000 people now have been arrested because of Adam's death and his legacy will continue.

Toole died of AIDS in prison. So it wasn't a pleasant death at the very least.

[James T]

I must say I was surprised to see this on CNN yesterday. I was waiting to hear about some new evidence- although since the rest of his body has never turned up, I was wondering what that would be.

I am amazed the family are happy to go along with this & praise this Wagner guy, who seems to be out to make headlines & photo ops, what is easier than to close the case & pin it on a dead guy, who there was never enough evidence to charge in a case that will likely never be solved?

Surely in their minds the Walsh family must know there is a reasonable chance that he is not the killer & that the real killer could still be alive & living in freedom, or even somebody else deceased or incarcerated for other crimes. I find it incredible that somebody can just order a review & with nothing concrete, then just declare it solved & it seems the family & the media buy into it without asking any questions.

[JRA2000TL]

I'm glad they've nailed down who did it and that this guy is gone. I've always thought of John Walsh as a hero and looked up to him. Like another poster said, over 1000 people have been taken off the streets because of him. He's done a great deal to society by taking his tragedy and getting justice to all these other victims. I hope they keep AMW going as it's proved to be a success.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by JRA2000TL

I've always thought of John Walsh as a hero and looked up to him. Like another poster said, over 1000 people have been taken off the streets because of him. He's done a great deal to society by taking his tragedy and getting justice to all these other victims. I hope they keep AMW going as it's proved to be a success.

Anyone who turns a personal tragedy into something productive is a hero in my book. John Walsh's efforts have shown that his son didn't die in vain.

The Fox network deserves credit, not only for airing America's Most Wanted but also for their persistence in convincing Walsh to host the show. If it hadn't been for that persistence, Walsh would never have hosted the show.

Other people were approached about hosting AMW, including actress Theresa Saldana (who became a victims' rights advocate after a crazed fan nearly did her in). Also, according to series producer Lance Heflin, actors Treat Williams and Hal Holbrook were tested. But it probably goes without saying that John Walsh's credibility was too evident to ignore.

However, it was learning about a particular fugitive's brutal crimes that finalized John Walsh's decision to host AMW. The fugitive was an escaped convict named David James Roberts, who had killed four people, including two small children. Roberts was profiled on the first episode of AMW, and he became the show's first capture a few days later.

By the way, has anyone ever read Walsh's book, Tears of Rage? I have. It may be distressing to read at times, but I recommend the book.

In this book, he talked about a few people who were looked into as potential suspects in Adam's murder. Two in particular were family friends. One of those friends was Jimmy Campbell, and the other was Michael Monahan.

Early in the investigation, Jimmy Campbell (who was Adam's godfather) was vigorously questioned by police. At the time, there was too much focus on Campbell because he revealed that he'd had an affair with John's wife, Reve Walsh!

The other friend, Michael Monahan, piqued the interest of the cops because, around the time Adam went missing, Michael got into an argument with someone over a skateboard. He became so enraged that he wielded a machete! No one was hurt, though.

[Thinman]

Originally Posted by James T

I must say I was surprised to see this on CNN yesterday. I was waiting to hear about some new evidence- although since the rest of his body has never turned up, I was wondering what that would be.

I am amazed the family are happy to go along with this & praise this Wagner guy, who seems to be out to make headlines & photo ops, what is easier than to close the case & pin it on a dead guy, who there was never enough evidence to charge in a case that will likely never be solved?

Surely in their minds the Walsh family must know there is a reasonable chance that he is not the killer & that the real killer could still be alive & living in freedom, or even somebody else deceased or incarcerated for other crimes. I find it incredible that somebody can just order a review & with nothing concrete, then just declare it solved & it seems the family & the media buy into it without asking any questions.

Great post. This sums up my feelings about the "closure" of this case. I think Ottis Toole probably did it. However, there are a lot of sick people out there and it could have been someone else (I don't believe the Dahmer theory). I also don't believe Jimmy Campbell or Michael Monahan had anything to do with it.

I only question why a bumbling police department didn't push hard for an indictment on Toole back in 1983, even with the inconsistencies and doubts. The pressure to solve the case had to be enormous and here they had an ugly, deranged, ********, drooling, confessing serial killer on a silver platter.