Killers_ The Most Barbaric Murderers of Our Time - Cawthorne, Nigel [6]
Back in the house the two teenagers tidied up as best they could. They mopped up some of the blood and mess with rags and splashed perfume around to hide the smell. Then they went into the living-room to watch television together.
Caril later claimed that she had not been present during the slaughter of her family. She had come home to find Starkweather there with a gun and her family gone. She said that he had told her that he was planning a big bank robbery. Her parents had found out and the family had been taken hostage by the rest of the gang. He had only to make one phone call and they would be killed, unless she cooperated. Starkweather said that Caril had participated in the slaughter of her family, egging him on.
The young couple settled down together for what Starkweather would later describe as the best week of his life. They were alone together with no one to push them around. Certainly he had no conscience troubling him. Later he confessed: ‘Shooting people was, I guess, a kind of thrill.’
In Starkweather’s eyes they were now living like kings. With money taken from Marion Bartlett’s pockets he made the occasional run to the local grocery store to stock up on chewing gum, ice cream, potato chips and Pepsi. Caril claimed that he tied her up when he went out. Starkweather denied it.
They lived, for the first time, as man and wife. The two of them played cards, watched television a lot and tended the family pets – two parakeets, a dog called Nig and a puppy called Kim which Starkweather had bought for Caril. Everything would have been idyllic except for the bodies in the backyard.
Visitors were warned off by a sign on the kitchen door saying: ‘Stay away Every Body is sick with the Flue [sic].’ Caril told those who knocked that the family was sick and they were in quarantine, while Starkweather hid in a room off the hall with his rifle cocked.
Then on Saturday, 25 January Caril’s sister Barbara came to visit with Bob von Busch and their newborn baby. Caril spotted her sister before she was halfway up the pathway. She called out that the whole family had the flu and that the doctor had said no one should come near the house. But Barbara, who was concerned that her mother had not been in touch, kept on coming. Fearing the game was up, Caril screamed: ‘Go away! If you know what’s best you’ll go away so Mother won’t get hurt.’
Barbara stopped, turned around and went back to Bob’s car. Something in her sister’s voice scared her. Once the baby was safely home, Bob von Busch and Rodney Starkweather returned to the house to find out what was going on. Again, Caril sent them away. Her mother’s life would be in danger if they did not go, she said.
They reported the matter to the police and a patrol car was sent out to Belmont Avenue that evening. Caril gave the officers the regular story about the family having the flu. She also mentioned that her family did not get on with Bob von Busch – that was why he had called the police. Noting that Caril was calm and controlled, the policemen left their inquiries at that.
After the police had left, Starkweather took his brother’s rifle to the house of a mutual friend. He called Barbara von Busch to reassure her. He had bought some groceries for Caril’s family, he said, and he left a message for Rodney, saying that he should go and pick up his gun at the friend’s house. When Rodney went to collect his rifle, he noticed it was damaged. The butt plate had been knocked off.
The next day, Starkweather’s sister Laveta arrived at Belmont Avenue. She was not put off by the story of the flu. She was one of Caril’s few friends and, when she would not go away, Caril pulled her close. Her brother was inside planning a bank robbery, Caril confided, and that was why she could