A senseless killing spree by two teenagers in 1958 shocked the conservative citizens of the prairie state of Nebraska.
On Saturday 25 January 1958 a teenager, Bob von Busch, walked into a police station in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a strange tale to tell. He, his wife and their new baby had been turned away when they went for a visit to his mother-in-law’s house. His 14-year old sister-in-law, Caril Fugate, had shouted from the doorway that the whole family had the flu. And when they had continued up the path Caril had screamed at them: “Go away! If you know what’s best, you’ll go away so mother won’t get hurt!”
A patrol car was sent to the shabby house at 924 Belmont Avenue, deep in the poorer quarter of Lincoln. Caril Fugate met the officers at the door and told them that the doctor had quarantined the rest of the family, her stepfather Marion Bartlett, her mother Velda, and her toddler sister Betty Jean, but there was nothing to worry about. The family hadn’t really approved of her sister’s choice of husband, Caril explained, and it would be just like Bob von Busch to make up malicious stories about them. Satisfied with her answers, the police left.
