EARLY LIFE:
Pauline Storment was born on April 3, 1944, to Lillian and Paul Storment. Growing up in Ozark, Arkansas, with her two siblings and two half-siblings, she was said to be a quiet and studious girl who didn’t partake in drugs or drink alcohol.
In 1971, Pauline was a sophomore at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She’d returned to education after a six-year hiatus, having completed her freshman year at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. To support herself, she worked two part-time jobs, one at the local Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) office and the other at the Malco Theatre.
At the time of her murder, she was 27 years old.
MURDER:
On April 12, 1971, Pauline spent time at the ROTC office, before attending a musical production at the Fine Arts Center and, later, going to the library on the University of Arkansas campus.
Late into the evening, she began the trek home to her apartment at 102 South Duncan Street. At around 9:40 PM, she was stabbed between seven and eight times by an unknown assailant who ran away after she began screaming for help. Those who came to her aid said her attacker was a male who stood around six feet tall and wore glasses. Pauline was unable to provide further details to the law enforcement officials and paramedics who arrived on-scene.
Pauline was rushed to Washington General Hospital in Washington County to undergo surgery for the numerous stab wounds she’d sustained to her upper body. Sadly, her injuries were too severe, and she was pronounced dead an hour and a half after the attack. She was laid to rest in Highland Cemetery, in her hometown of Ozark.
INVESTIGATION:
One eyewitness came forward to say he was driving up Duncan Street around the time Pauline was attacked. He’d seen her walking on the sidewalk, with a male following five feet behind her, whom he described as being around six feet tall and wearing a brown sports jacket. He hadn’t thought anything of the pair and continued driving to the Summit Terrace apartments, where he lived. As he exited his vehicle, he heard Pauline’s screams and ran to her aid.
According to the witness, the dying woman had asked for the books and tape recorder she’d been carrying.
A few days after the attack, police found a small, blood-stained butcher’s knife stuck in the ground by a vacant house, approximately 100 feet from where Pauline was stabbed. The weapon was sent to Little Rock, Arkansas, for chemical and fingerprint analysis, and it was later indicated that it may not be the murder weapon. Despite this, a suspect was charged with Pauline’s murder the following day.
On April 16, 1971, 17-year-old Peter Kunkel was charged with first-degree murder, in relation to Pauline’s death. The youth had initially been picked up by police on the night of the crime, approximately 45 minutes after Pauline was attacked. He’d been in a car with another youth, and matched the description provided by eyewitnesses at the scene. As well, officers observed what they believed to be blood on his shirt, jacket and pants.
Kunkel was brought in for questioning, but invoked his right to remain silent and requested an attorney. His clothes were sent to the state medical examiner for analysis, and he was released by investigators. The 17-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charge against him, with his lawyer arguing that the case should be set aside, due to a lack of probable cause. This was overruled by the presiding judge.
However, just a few days later, on April 23, the charges against Kunkel were dropped, after he and his friend agreed to take polygraph tests and passed “with flying colors.” There also hadn’t been enough blood on his clothes to determine the sub-type. DNA testing would not be discovered until over a decade after the murder and, as such, all forensic professionals could do at the time to determine if blood belonged to someone was through defining its sub-type.
Former patrol officer Bob Jones stated that a man in his 30s confessed to Pauline’s murder not long after the charges against Kunkel were dropped. However, it quickly became clear that he wasn’t responsible. Not only was he only able to provide information that was covered by the news media, but the knife he led investigators to wasn’t the one they were looking for. The unnamed man was later committed to a state hospital.
In an attempt to move the investigation forward, Pauline’s work history was examined. She’d previously worked for a security company while living in Memphis, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia, so the possibility someone from this time held a grudge toward her was looked into. The company cooperated in tracing down those involved in a number of cases, but no one emerged as a suspect.
The case has been looked over a number of times over the years. According to one of Pauline’s relatives, there’s no surviving evidence available for DNA testing.
AFTERMATH:
All of the members of Pauline’s immediate family have since passed away. Her parents both died in 1973 – Lillian that August and Paul in September – without knowing what happened to their daughter. Her death had occurred four years after the family had suffered the heartbreaking loss of Pauline’s half-brother in 1967.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact Lance J. Gosnell, who is Pauline’s first cousin, twice removed, via email. He’s been spearheading the effort to have the case re-opened and solved.
Image Credit: Lance J. Gosnell
Stories of the Unsolved 