Attention: homicide and sex crimes units - ViCAP Alert

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, August, 2003

On October 29, 2002, Clyde Carl Wilkerson was arrested at his home in Benton, Arkansas, based on a warrant for two murders in El Cajon, California, that occurred in 1965. Additionally, a murder charge is pending for a 1975 murder of a 27 year-old white female in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Clyde Carl Wilkerson has been linked to these three murders through DNA processing. On April 15, 2003, after pleading guilty to the homicide of an elderly man and the sexual assault of the man's wife, both of which occurred 37 years earlier, Clyde Carl Wilkerson was sentenced to an indeterminate life sentence with the possibility of parole in 7 years.

The Crimes

On June 6, 1965, the naked body of a 19-year-old white female was found in the bedroom of her apartment, laying on her back across the foot of the bed, with her feet on the floor and her legs spread apart. The victim's face was covered with an undergarment not belonging to her. A cord cut from a living room window was wrapped several times around her neck. A candle was inserted in the victim's vagina and left at the apartment. Last-rite candles were left to burn next to the victim's body. During the sexual assault/ homicide, the victim's 2-year-old son was in the apartment and was unharmed. The apartment was ransacked, but there were no signs of a struggle. The content of the victim's purse was dumped onto the living room floor, but cash and jewelry were not taken. The only items taken were a camera and a crucifix. The official cause of death was manual strangulation. Evidence recovered from the crime scene revealed that the victim had been sexually assaulted and that evidence provided a DNA profile of the offender.

On June 24, 1965, neighbors heard a woman yelling for help from her apartment. The first victim found was a 62-year-old white male, deceased, laying on his back on the floor between the bed and the wall. An autopsy disclosed that the victim was struck more than 20 times on his head, which caused his death. The weapon was a socket wrench recovered from the apartment. The second victim, the first victim's wife, was a 57-year-old white female found laying on her back on the floor several feet from the bed. Her legs were doubled underneath her with the heels of her feet resting on her buttocks and her legs spread apart. An opened jar of hand cream was next to her, and cream was smeared in and around her vagina. The female victim had been sexually assaulted. The only items taken were the victims' wallets and the female victim's purse. Evidence recovered from the crime scene provided a DNA profile of the offender.

On February 5, 1975, a 27-year-old white female was last seen leaving her college class in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. On February 24, 1975, the victim's body was recovered from a small closet inside an apartment building undergoing renovation near the college. An autopsy disclosed that the victim had sustained numerous injuries to her face from blunt force in addition to post mortem amputation of both her areolas and nipples. One areola and nipple had been inserted into the victim's vagina and was recovered. The other areola and nipple never were found. Furthermore, the autopsy showed penetration to the victim's vagina and anus. The victim's clothes, jewelry, purse, checkbook, and other identification were stolen. On February 6, 1975, the day after the victim was missing, a white male cashed a check taken from the victim's checkbook and attempted to use her credit cards in businesses in the Tulsa area. The official cause of death was ligature strangulation. Evidence seized from the crime scene provided a DNA profile of the offender.

On January 25, 1976, a 32-year-old white female used a telephone booth at a gas station in Judsonia, Arkansas. As she talked on the telephone, a darkcolored car pulled up, stopped at the phone booth and waited. The victim completed her call and began to walk back to her car. A man got out of the other car, approached her with a knife, and said, "If you scream, I will kill you." The offender took her by the arm and put her in his car. He told the victim to take off her clothes. When the victim attempted to talk to the offender, he stated, "If you don't take your clothes off, I will tear them off." He told the victim that if she did as he said, he would not hurt her. The offender raped the victim in the front seat of his car. Afterward, the victim and the offender put their clothes back on and the victim was released.

In addition to these sexual assaults and homicides, Clyde Carl Wilkerson was convicted of a sexual assault in California in 1965. When committing such acts, Wilkerson approached his victims in their homes or on the street. He targeted strangers of any age. If he encountered a male with a female he would beat the male unconscious with a weapon that he acquired from the location. He then would beat the female, sometimes with his fists, manually choke her to unconsciousness, and then rape her. If he encountered the female on the street, he gained control of his victim by brandishing a knife and threatening her life. He occasionally used hand cream as a lubricant, spreading it around and in the victim's vaginal area. In some cases, he strangled the women with either their own curtain or telephone cord. Clyde Carl Wilkerson ransacked homes, rummaged through victims' wallets or purses, and took property belonging to the victims. He used victims' credit cards and forged their checks. Clyde Carl Wilkerson was a truck driver and had been in every state in the continental United States.