Susan Walls
Lets just say that I am a middle aged woman and leave it at that. I have been reading true crime books since I was in high school. In the 1980's and 90's television was all about movies based on true crimes. It was also an era of television where there were “mini-series'” on quite often. Many of the true story ones were two night movies. For the last decade or more I have watched almost exclusively shows that revolve around true crime. To add to that this blog alone has over 700 cases that I have researched as much as possible and published. I say all of this to explain why I find it funny that I can still be surprised that perpetrators can be so careless and stupid.
On August 8, 2012 Susan Walls made a 9-1-1 call from her Unionville Tennessee home. She would report that she had returned home and it looked like there had been a burglary. It was unclear whether the dispatcher could not understand what Susan was trying to say because she appeared upset or for another reason. So, Susan's twenty-seven year old daughter Dawn took the phone from her mother and began talking to the dispatcher. It was later said that not only did neither woman mention anything about Larry Walls possibility being in the house, there was no mention of a homicide within the house. It would also seem suspicious to investigators that while on the phone with 9-1-1 Dawn had given the dispatcher a full account of her day as if she was planting her alibi.
When the first officer arrived at the home he found Susan and Dawn outside the home near the mailbox. It is unclear if the officer was told then about Larry Walls being dead inside the house or whether he had to find that out for himself by walking through the house. Larry Walls' body was found in the master bedroom of the home and the officer described it as basically a complete bloodbath. There was blood on the walls, the floor, the furniture and all around the body. It would later be determined that Larry Walls had been stabbed multiple times. One report stated it was more than eighty times while another stated the cause of death was a head injury and nearly fifty stab wounds. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations was brought in and they would later say the house looked “staged.”
Within in just a few days the investigators seemed to be on the right trail but it is not completely clear how they got there. It appears that they talked to a woman named Chrissy Twilley. Chrissy and Dawn Walls were roommates. It seems that Chrissy filled investigators in on what she knew and it led to arrests being made.
Based on information from the Tennessee Department of Corrections website it appears that the first person arrested was a man by the name of Sean Gearhardt, just two days after the murder on August 10th. Two days later both Susan and Dawn Walls would be arrested. A few months would go by and on November 19th another man, Jason Starrick would be arrested and charged. So how did this crime happen and how were there so many involved?
Susan and Larry Walls had apparently been married for decades and had four children, Dawn, Aelisa, Melissa and Larry Jr. There are conflicting reports as to who lived in the home with Larry and Susan at the time of the murder. It was alleged by all members of the family that Larry Sr. had been abusive to the entire family for years. The abusive allegedly consisted of “extreme physical” abuse as well as the sexual abusive of his daughter, Dawn. It was also said that many family members had commented over the years they wished he was dead but no one had ever gotten to the point of plotting his death.... until now.
On Memorial Day weekend of 2012 Susan and Larry had gone to Dawn's home where she lived with Chrissy Twilley and her boyfriend, Jason Starrick. Investigators and prosecutors say this is when the plot to kill Larry Sr. was planned. Over the next few months the plan was discussed between several parties five or six times. It was also said that in mid-July Susan had gone to Aelisa's home that she shared with her boyfriend, Joseph William and had a few bruises. Williams claims that Susan told him that she had some guys planning to come and slit Larry's throat.
On August 8, 2012 Susan and Dawn took Aelisa's children to the local Chuck E. Cheese. On the way back it was said they dropped the kids off with Susan's other daughter, Melissa because they knew what they were going to be going home to. This is when they went home and made the 9-1-1 call.
It was alleged that Jason Starrick had been the first to be approached and offered $400 to commit the murder of Larry Walls Sr. Starrick recruited his friend, Jason Gearhardt and it was said that Gearhardt was the one to actually attack Larry and administer the stab wounds that caused his death. After getting the information and putting it together investigators would say that both Dawn and Susan “subsequently provided statements in which they accepted responsibility and explained the events leading up to and surrounding the victims murder.”
Jason Starrick, Sean Gearhardt and Dawn Walls would all accept plea deals by the prosecution. Dawn would receive a sentence of twenty-five years and Gearhardt would get twenty-one years. When it comes to Jason Starrick I found a few conflicting things. Most articles stated that he received a fifty-one year sentence but according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections he was given a life sentence. One thing that I found extremely interesting was that both Gearhardt and Starrick are being held in “minimum restricted” facilities and Dawn, along with her mother (we will get there in a minute) are both located at a “minimum rehabilitation center.” In fact, Dawn and Susan are at the same facility. Gearhardt first became eligible for parole in September of 2019. His next parole meeting is set for October of 2022, his sentence ends in May of 2034. Dawn was eligible for parole in 2014 and her next hearing is set for January of 2021. The fact that her end date is in October 2031 despite having four more years than Sean Gearhardt indicates one of two things. Either Gearhardt has gotten into trouble inside or Dawn was eligible for programs that allowed her time of her sentence. Starrick is not eligible for parole until the year 2069.
Despite the fact that she allegedly all but confessed that she had been involved in the plot to kill her husband Susan took her case to trial. Her trial would take place in May of 2014. Just as closing arguments were ending on May 8th she had a medical incident in which an emergency recess was called and an ambulance was called for her. Her blood pressure was high and she was taken to the hospital just to be checked out. There had been a question whether the judge, could or should, give the jury their instructions and allow them to begin deliberations but the defense did not like that. It was said that while she was gone the lawyers and the judge were having casual conversations. Jury members were just taking a break also, it was said that one even took a nap. During the conversation the defense attorney expressed that he thought maybe the court should be recessed for the day because it could be late when the jury got the case.
Susan returned to court in a few hours and the jury began deliberating a little after seven that evening. They had been asked if they wanted to proceed and they had agreed. At one in the morning the jury returned with their verdict... guilty. She was sentenced to sixty years for “criminal responsibility to commit first degree murder” and twenty-one years to be served concurrently for conspiracy to commit first degree murder.
Defense attorney's filed an appeal and in 2016 the case was heard. The Tennessee Court of Appeals overturned the verdict in the case citing that the extended time of deliberations had been unreasonable. The state decided to appeal that decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court. The state pointed out that not only was their contention that the deliberation time had not been unreasonable but the defense had not made a motion to recess the day. In 2017 the Tennessee Supreme Court agreed with the state and reinstated the conviction and sentence. According to Tennessee Department of Corrections she is eligible for a parole hearing in November of 2068.
This was a crazy case!
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