TEXARKANA, Ark. -- Gordon and Karen Alexander were brutally murdered on April 7, 1981.
For decades, Texarkana, Ark., police detectives combed through the case files time and again searching for anything that could lead to the identity of a suspect and bring some resolution to the many lives impacted by this crime. Although 42 years have passed since the slaying, detectives have identified a lone suspect in this case.
Karen Alexander was taken to St. Michael hospital, where she later died from her injuries. Coincidentally, Vera Alexander, the children’s mother, had been previously admitted as a patient at Wadley Hospital when the double homicide occurred. She had been there since the previous weekend as a mental patient.
Decades later, DNA evidence proved that Lucas had lied in many of his confessions, including the Alexander case.Calvin Seward, in his early 30’s at the time, had been a TAPD patrolman for eight years when the Alexander homicides occurred. Following the murders, Seward was assigned to the criminal investigation division to follow up on leads and locate persons of interest in the case. Eventually, the leads ran out and the case went cold, but Seward’s resolve to identify the killer remained.
Seward enlisted the help of Dr. Todd Steffy, a forensic criminologist with more than 30 years of experience in the field of forensic science. Together, they reviewed every aspect of the case and through consultation with Kelli Dixon, a DNA scientist at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, they determined that, given the recent advancements in DNA processing technology, resubmitting evidence last tested in 2012 might prove beneficial.
Both children were still in the same clothes they had been wearing the previous day. Weldon Alexander had been the person to discover their bodies and the weapon used was considered a weapon of opportunity, a butter knife likely from the kitchen of the Alexander home.
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