Charles Walker (murderer)

Walker was born on April 28, 1940, in Fayetteville, Illinois, to Jess and Lucille Walker, who divorced while Charles was still young. Both his father and stepfather were alcoholics. At age 8, Walker got drunk on moonshine after his father gave him some to try. By age 12, his stepfather was taking him out to drink in local taverns. At age 14, Walker started committing crimes and began carrying out minor offenses and burglaries. A year later, he was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after he was caught buying beer for his younger cousin.[7][8]

Walker dropped out of high school during his sophomore year, left home, and headed to Florida. He returned to Illinois six months later and continued his life of crime, committing multiple burglaries. At age 17, Walker was convicted of burglary and was sent to the Menard Correctional Center for six and a half years. Less than a year after his release, Walker broke into a tavern and stole money and alcohol. He was sent back to Menard for an additional four years.[7][8]

In 1969, after being out of prison for only two months, Walker went out on a drinking spree. In a drunken rage, Walker got into a shootout with Whiteside County police, and lost his right eye after being shot in the face during the exchange of gunfire. Walker was charged with attempted murder and was sent to prison for six years. After his release, he committed an armed robbery at a gas station and was once again sentenced to prison for a further four years. During his time out of prison, Walker got married to a woman called Stella, with whom he had frequent fights with. She would eventually divorce him due to his excessive drinking.[7][8]

On June 18, 1983, Walker woke up and drank beer and vodka before deciding to spend the day at Silver Creek to do some fishing. At the creek, located just outside Mascoutah in St. Clair County, he met 21-year-old Kevin Paule, and his fiancée, 25-year-old Sharon Winker. After chatting with them for a while, Walker decided he was going to rob them and took out a .25-caliber pistol. After taking Paule's wallet, he tied both of them to a tree and bound their hands with tape. Paule then told Walker he would not get away with the crime because he knew who he was. Fearing they would go to the police, Walker decided to kill both of them. He fatally shot Paule in his right temple and then killed Winker with a fatal shot to the back of the head. Walker took Paule's wallet, which contained only $40 and fled the area.[7][9]

After the murders, Walker drove to the Runway Lounge bar near Scott Air Force Base and began drinking beer. He chatted with the owner for several hours until it was gone midnight. When everyone had left the bar, Walker stood up, took out his gun, and robbed the place. As Walker fled with the stolen money, the owner chased after him, jumped into a car, and rammed Walker's vehicle. Walker opened fire and hit the windshield of the other vehicle, but missed hitting the owner. Following the crash, smoke covered the area, and Walker escaped.[7][9]

When police arrived and searched the vehicle, they found multiple items which were confirmed to belong to both Paule and Winker. In addition, the murder weapon was also recovered. Walker fled to his half-sister's house and asked her for a lift to a St. Louis bus station. He then bought a bus ticket to Tacoma, Washington, where his ex-wife lived. He later hitchhiked to Walden, Colorado, and contacted a former girlfriend of his. The former girlfriend turned him in by contacting the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. Officers arrested Walker, who waived extradition proceedings, and was picked up by St. Clair County police on July 16, nearly a month after the murders had occurred.[7][9]

On July 27, 1983, Walker pleaded guilty to two counts of capital murder. He chose to have his case decided by a jury trial instead of by a judge. The jury, consisting of six men and six women, reached a guilty verdict in just over an hour. On October 13, 1983, Walker was sentenced to death.[9] In 1987, he decided to forgo further appeals of his sentence. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Illinois deemed Walker mentally competent to waive his further legal appeals.[10]

Walker was executed on September 12, 1990, by lethal injection, at the Stateville Correctional Center. He was the first person to be executed in Illinois in over twenty-eight years.[11] His last meal consisted of fried wild rabbit, biscuits, and blackberry pie.[12] Walker's execution was prolonged due to a kink in the plastic tubing, which stopped the flow of chemicals into his body.[13]

• Capital punishment in Illinois
• Capital punishment in the United States
• List of people executed in Illinois