The Murder of Pauline Storment

It was a warm April night in Fayetteville, Arkansas when 27-year-old Pauline Stormant was brutally murdered. The medical examiner’s reports confirmed the gruesome details – Pauline had been stabbed with a sharp instrument, her lifeless body stained with her own type A blood.

The investigation quickly honed in on seventeen year old Wallace Peter Kunkel, Witnesses placed a man who looked similar to Kunkel, not even Mike Adair who got a decent look at him would swear on oath that it was Kunkle, near the crime scene that fateful night of April 12th. A knife was found plunged into the earth nearby behind a vacant house but investigators were not convinced that it was the knife used. As the evidence mounted, prosecutors charged Kunkel with first-degree murder.

But Kunkel maintained his innocence, weaving an alibi about a night of doing drugs with friends. According to him, he had been at the Gray House taking preludin pills and shooting up with people like Michelle Phelan, Richard Finley and others. His lawyers prepared to take the case to trial.

The police report painted a picture of chaos in the aftermath of the murder. A community in shock. Potential witnesses were interviewed and investigated themselves as potential suspects. One man even walked into the station to confess, though he quickly wavered on the validity of his admission.

Amidst the search for answers and justice, one thing was clear – a young woman’s life had been suddenly and violently extinguished on the streets of Fayetteville that spring night in 1971. Pauline Stormant’s fate lingered as an open wound for the small Arkansas town as Wallace Peter Kunkel’s trial loomed.

Welcome to the Gray House – A Night of Amphetamine Induced Euphoria

The following is A.I Generated Narrative based on the testimonies of Michele K. Phelan age 15, Tim Copeland age 18, Mike Boyd age 19, Richard Finley age 17, Terry Smith age 18, provided to the Prosecuting Attorney Mahlon Gibson and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney James O. Burnett of Arkansas in the month of April 1971 following the April 12th murder of Pauline Storment.

It was a warm April evening in 1971, and the air carried the distinct aroma of spring blossoms intermixed with the familiar scent of marijuana that often lingered around the Gray House located at 301 University not far from the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. 

Michelle Phelan, a young woman with a mischievous glint in her eyes, sat in the kitchen, meticulously breaking down a prescription of 30 diet pills she had obtained from Dr. Lee Parker. The sharp, bitter smell of crushed amphetamines filled the air as she and Mike Michaels worked diligently, their fingers deftly separating the powdery substance from the capsules.

In the living room, the sound of laughter and chatter echoed, punctuated by the occasional clinking of glasses and the crackle of a record player spinning in the background. Terry Smith, Tim Copeland, and Mike Boyd lounged on well-worn couches, their eyes glazed over as the effects of the speed they had ingested earlier began to take hold.

Peter Kunkel, a tall, lanky figure with a mop of unruly hair, moved between the kitchen and living room, his presence seeming to command attention. He had already taken a hit of Preludin, his pupils dilated, and his movements jittery yet purposeful.

As the night progressed, the atmosphere grew more electric, fueled by a potent cocktail of amphetamines and youthful rebellion. Michelle Phelan, her veins pulsing with the rush of the drugs, recalled seeing Richard Finley, Peter Kunkel, Mike Michaels, Terry Smith, and Mike Boyd drifting in and out of the kitchen, their faces flushed and their eyes wide with anticipation.

Around 9:20 PM, Michelle, Peter, and Richard ventured out to the Jet Set, their footsteps echoing on the pavement as they sought refreshments and cigarettes. Crossing paths with Steve Cooper, they exchanged brief pleasantries, their voices tinged with the slurred cadence of intoxication.

Upon returning to the Gray House, Peter went inside to retrieve the keys to Mike Michaels’ motorcycle, intending to take Richard home. Michelle, her mind racing with the residual effects of the speed, wandered downstairs to make a phone call, her words tumbling out in a breathless rush as she gossiped with her friend Jill Graves.

Rejoining Peter on the porch, the cool night air caressed their flushed faces, and for a fleeting moment, the world seemed to stand still. But the spell was broken when Mike Miller appeared, prompting Michelle to beckon him upstairs, her impatience palpable.

As the night wore on, the energy within the Gray House remained electric, fueled by the intoxicating combination of drugs, music, and youthful exuberance. Peter Kunkel, his movements becoming increasingly erratic, took a second shot of speed around 10 PM, his thirst for excitement unquenchable.

When Mike Boyd returned to the apartment at 10:15 PM, he found Peter already there, his request to be taken home punctuated by the sight of his brown sport jacket carelessly discarded on the seat beside him. As they ventured out into the night, their path was abruptly halted by the flashing lights of a police car, casting an eerie glow over the otherwise darkened street.

Peter’s nervousness was palpable, his concern focused not on the suspicious nature of their late-night excursion but rather on the possibility of any lingering traces of drugs in the vehicle. The air grew thick with tension as the officers approached, their footsteps echoing like distant thunderclaps in the stillness of the night.

UPDATE: What to do when the DNA evidence collected in 1971 vanishes?

 For some some time now I have been curious about the possibility of taking whatever DNA was provided by the accused attacker and re-testing it with modern technology but that hope appears to have been lost for now, short of finding enough proof to convince a judge to exhume a few bodies.

Armed with knowing that on April 15, 1971 at 11:25 AM that Arkansas State Medical Examiners officer signed and received the evidence collected by the Fayetteville Police Department, I sent an email the the directors of the 2022 Arkansas State Crime Lab with a list of questions.

The response was cases this old any evidence would be returned to the original investigating agency. 

I thought great, the one agency which when I filed an FOIA in the very beginning of my search for answers I was told by the person over the F.O.I.A. requests that my FOIA request would remain opened but it appears after an exhaustive search including one of an off site storage facility that the case files have either been misplaced or lost,

It was at this time, I must have caused a stir at the department because an author who wrote a story in 2020 about Pauline Storment’s murder was contacted by a Lieutenant Franklin with questions about where did the author receive their information. 

The response was historical newspaper articles.

I eventually reached out to Lt. Franklin who stated he had read the case files about Pauline and was interested in helping to close the case. Then when I asked about DNA evidence he stated they didn’t have any. 

 So, I am left with the question of NOW WHAT?

The Pauline Storment Story!

Meet Pauline Storment, a quintessential All-American girl whose life was tragically cut short. Born to parents Paul Storment and Lillian Elam on April 3, 1944, in Ozark, Arkansas, she embodied the ideals of her time. Interestingly, Pauline’s lineage also included a connection to former Monterey County, California Sheriff’s Deputy Benjamin W. Storment, her grandfather.

 

During her time at Ozark High School, Pauline’s leadership skills shone through as she took on the role of President of the Freshman Class, a detail captured in the accompanying photograph.

Those closest to her remember Pauline as a kind and gentle soul, known for her dedication to studies and her aversion to frivolity. Following two years at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, her path led her to marry Charles Joseph Pate in June of 1965 in Booneville, Arkansas. However, their marriage was short-lived, with a cloud of mystery surrounding her death in a cross-state incident involving Arkansas State Police, Memphis, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. Despite potential divorce proceedings, no official record has surfaced as of 2022.

Curiously, an Arkansas State Police report unearthed a statement from Iris Fletcher, Pauline’s former out-of-state roommate, revealing Pauline’s intense fear of her ex-husband. Post-marriage to Chuck, Pauline found herself in Memphis, Tennessee, where she contributed to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Team and also taught First Aid for the American Red Cross from 1968 to 1969.

After several years of shifting paths, Pauline decided to return to her educational pursuits, enrolling at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Her time there found her sharing lodgings with Alice Pat Murphy at 102 South Duncan. Miss Murphy recalled never witnessing Pauline romantically involved with anyone, although a peculiar encounter with two unidentified men piqued curiosity. These men invited Pauline and her roommate for drinks, an invitation the two declined. The duo later left for Gordon Cummings’ place, a transition that remains puzzling due to missing case documents and DNA evidence.

 

Pat Murphy would also state that she could not think of anyone who would want to hurt Pauline. 

 

A significant turning point occurred on April 12, 1971, when Pauline’s story converged at the University of Arkansas’s ROTC center at 7:30 pm, where she worked part-time as a secretary. Terry, a coworker, recounted an invitation extended to Pauline for a Black Gospel Music Concert at the Union Ballroom at 8 pm. Pauline declined due to a class commitment. Terry acknowledged not being aware of Pauline’s romantic involvements but did mention Gordon Cummings.

 

Was Gordon Cummings one of the two men who came to the apartment with an unknown man? Now, bare in mind, Gordon Cummings was the son of Circuit Judge Maupin Cummings who would ironically preside of the pretrial hearings for the man accused of murdering Pauline. 

 

Also Gordon Cummings would later in life become an attorney and become friends with young William Jefferson Clinton.

 

The Fayetteville Police investigation would reveal that Pauline possibly did attend the concert and at its conclusion would walk to the university library to study for about thirty minutes to an hour before leaving for home.

 

The chain of events surrounding Pauline Storment’s life and untimely demise paints a complex narrative woven with intrigue and unanswered questions.

 

Pauline Storment 

April 3, 1944 – April 12, 1971

Where's the evidence, if it wasn't damaged or tragically lost?

Where’s the Evidence?

Was it destroyed somehow someway?

Was it tragically lost, due to human failure?

If it is still stored somewhere, let’s pull it out of storage and test it with modern DNA technology. 

It may not help solve Pauline’s murder but maybe someone else’s. 

So, let’s find it and…

It's All in the Blood: Why I care & Who the Killer is.

Why do I care so much about closing the book, if you will, on the unsolved murder of Pauline Storment?

The short answer is she is family, my twice removed first cousin to be exact. Yet, I can also say this my late maternal grandfather AJ “Buddy” Stacks is a first cousin to Pauline or maybe I should say that my AJ mother, my later great grandmother Lela (Storment) Stacks was Pauline’s aunt because Pauline’s dad Paul was my great grandmother’s brother.

They say blood is thinker than water, and this is true and while being that I was born in 1978 a whole seven years after her murder I still feel as if I know her.

Blood is DNA it’s the building blocks of everything and without it we have nothing. This brings us to our slow understanding of how things work in the scientific world. In 1971, the only tool law enforcement had was to send the suspects blood stained jacket to a lab and hope it reveled the victim’s blood type. Yet, in Pauline’s case both victim and suspect would have the same blood type.  

This tiny, but huge obstacle meant Fayetteville, Arkansas Police had to rely on another, now outdated technology to determine guilt or innocence aka the Polygraph which had been admissible in court since 1993.

The main and only suspect ever publicized to be questioned after several attempts to do so the suspect’s attorney finally allowed it days before the suspects arraignment and like a ray of sunshine breaking through a dark cloud the suspect was cut free and aloud to walk free.

It is very possible the suspect Wallace Peter Kunkel a 17yr old, high school drop out in 1971 was innocent or he could have been guilty and unless a fire is lit under the Fayetteville Police Department his DNA or the DNA of a child could determine his guilt or innocence as the technology did in 2013 when Boston PD announced they found DNA evidence which linked Andrew DeSalva aka the Boston Strangler to the murder of Mary Sullivan when they tested the DNA of DeSalvo’s nephew’s Y-DNA.

So yes, the answer to this 51yr old mystery may very well be All in the Blood.

Unraveling the Mystery: Who murdered Pauline Storment?

In my digital copy it is very difficult to make out the text but the article basically states as follows:

At the age of 27, Pauline Storment found herself immersed in an evening of musical enchantment, followed by a visit to the library. Little did she know that the night would take a terrifying turn. Her roommate recounted to the police that, in order for Pauline to have been stabbed around 9:30pm, she must have left the campus an hour earlier than her usual time. The question lingered: Why did she alter her routine? Was there a sinister compulsion imposed by a cat-calling, creepy individual?

Echoes of her screams reverberated for at least a block, prompting several individuals to rush to her aid. Amidst their concern, Pauline managed to convey key details: “He struck me in the chest,” “He wore glasses,” and “He fled towards the campus.”

Barely 40 minutes after the harrowing attack, law enforcement had 17-year-old Wallace Peter Kunkel, a high school dropout and the son of a physicist, in custody. Incriminatingly, blood stains adorned his jacket, shirt, and pants.

Kunkel’s residence was known as the Grey House, recognized by officers as a transient abode situated on the southwest corner of University and Dickson, nestled aside Evergreen Cemetery’s north side. Interestingly, a Kappa Sigma Fraternity now occupies the vicinity.

Contemporary lab tests indicated a shared blood type between Kunkel and Storment, although the limitations of DNA analysis at the time hindered further conclusions.

Initial reports hinted at the discovery of a butcher knife, but this was eventually discarded in favor of a 6-inch tapered blade reminiscent of a peeling knife. Ironically, this elusive weapon was only stumbled upon by a fisherman three years later, concealed within a box resting at the depths of the Illinois River outside Fayetteville. Unfortunately, due to the prolonged submersion, testing feasibility was compromised.

Wallace Peter Kunkel experienced four days of confinement in city jail before his arrest, followed by an additional five days prior to formal charges being filed. Curiously, his attorney systematically rejected any proposals for a polygraph examination. However, a mere 11 days before Kunkel’s release and on the cusp of his arraignment, a change of heart from the attorney led to a polygraph being administered—a test that Kunkel ultimately passed.

Former patrol officer Bob Jones recalled a peculiar occurrence: a man in his 30s and his wife visited the station, ostensibly to confess to Pauline Storment’s murder. Yet, their account proved incongruent with the facts as the knife they provided did not match the one sought by investigators. Their information seemed regurgitated from press reports, casting doubt on their credibility. Eventually, this unidentified man was institutionalized.

Pauline’s employment history revealed roles in St. Louis and Memphis, notably as a security professional focused on combating retail theft—a role in which she excelled. However, scouring the company’s prosecuted cases yielded no leads to aid the investigation.

Among the myriad rumors that circulated, one speculated that Pauline might have been an undercover government agent investigating drug and illicit trafficking. Another theory, which intriguingly aligns to some extent, suggested that the assailant could have been the offspring of a professor, potentially leading to a concerted effort to safeguard and subsequently relocate the individual out of Arkansas.

The enigma surrounding Pauline Storment’s tragic fate continues to evoke questions, inviting contemplation on the complex web of circumstances that defined her final moments.

Will They or Won't They: A community waits with baited breath.

Based on witness reports who went on the record and stated they saw Pauline Storment being followed then shortly after her blood curdling screams the assailant ran.

Police would catch up to a 17yr old Fayetteville Highschool student.

But wait there is more, for they find what what they believe to be the murder weapon stuck in the ground behind a house about 100ft from where Pauline Storment bleeds out.

Prosecution considers bringing fourth charges.