Bernard asked about the Grahams and if they were still alive. Walker lived off his Social Security check and paid $400 a month in rent. Both were charged with murdering Eleanor Muff Graham of San Diego, who disappeared along with her husband, Malcolm, from Palmyra atoll in August, 1974. It had a top-notch navigational system and plenty of supplies on board. It recounts the murder of MAC and MUFF GRAHAM on the island of PALMYRA in August 1974, and the subsequent arrest and trials of STEPHANIE K. STEARNS and WESLEY 'BUCK' WALKER who were charged with murdering the Grahams. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Stearns was pretty easy to get along with so most of the conflict came from Walker. According to Stearns, the Grahams disappeared sometime between August 28 and August 30, 1974, and the young couple found the Grahams' Zodiac rigid inflatable dinghy upside down. Copyright 2023 Ellen G. White Estate, Inc. She was acquitted Friday by a federal court jury. Stephanie Walker Salary. WebStephanie Stearns was tried separately in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. It includes substantial portions of the original trial testimony that were excluded in ATSWT. When King asked jurors to consider whether further deliberation would be unproductive, the verdict to acquit was returned less than an hour later. But soon the Iola had gotten caught up on a reef and soon sank. Stephanie took off into a hotel stairwell and was found soon hiding behind a potted plant. Privacy Policy/Your California Privacy Rights. Raised in Oceanside and was once a Catholic priest and a touring pianist for dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, Reveles was 74, Ceci Moss is the new director and chief curator of the Mandeville Art Gallery at UC San Diego. She successfully convinced a jury that Walker committed the murders alone, having to hide the bodies in the aluminum boxes to conceal them from her as well as the authorities. Partington doubts that authorities will release Walker, because he recently published a book claiming to be innocent. Each faith-building lesson integrates heart-warming Adventist pioneer stories along with Scripture and Ellen Whites writings. Graham and her husband, Malcolm Mac Graham, had disappeared on Aug. 29, 1974, after sailing about 970 miles south from Hawaii to the Palmyra atoll. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. Walker receives an annual salary that ranges between $46,796, as per NBC News A few hours later, the vote was changed to 10-2. Forty-fiveyears ago today, on August 30, 1974, at least one and probably two grisly murders occurred in one of the most faraway locales on planet Earth--a small Pacific atoll called Palmyra, a thousand miles south of Hawaii, which has no permanent human population. She was acquitted Friday by a federal court jury. She was taken to the Coast Guard offices for questioning. It adds much needed objective, incisive analysis of Stephanie Stearns' role in the murders, which was absent from Bugliosi's books "And The Sea Will Tell," which I also read. Officials granted Walker release into Northern California, although the specific city was not named. She was acquitted Friday by a federal court jury. Duane Buck Walker was convicted in 1985 for the grisly murder in 1974 of a San Diego woman on an island paradise on Palmyra atoll about 1,200 miles from Honolulu. I cannot address everything but hope my examples will show why this book is a waste of your time. Stearns was pretty easy to get along with so most of the conflict came from Walker. WebStephanie Walker Photo Stephanie Walker Salary. Mac Graham then took out his .357 Magnum handgun and assured the two men he could take care of himself and wasnt afraid of Roy. Their plans for the bountiful marijuana crop finally faded as the seedlings they had planted had been eaten up by the island insects. A woman acquitted on charges that she helped her boyfriend murder a yachtswoman on a remote Pacific atoll in 1974 says her faith in the American judicial system has been reinstated.. Their plan had been to live off the resources of the island and grow a crop of marijuana. He asked for a cigarette. Muff gave her letter to one of the other boat owners, Bernard and Evelyn Lennard, as they were leaving the islands to go back to Hawaii and would mail it for her. WebBoat Bumpers from the sea wind still on Palmyra this image was taken in 2014. In 1985, Walker was convicted of murdering the Grahams and was sent to prison. After Stephanie completed her high school education, she received a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University. Murder charges were added only after Mrs. Grahams skeletal remains were found in a metal box on Palmyra in 1981. The prosecution said Stearns helped Walker in the murder in order to get the Grahams yacht and food supply and leave Palmyra. They showed up at 6:30 PM but the Grahams weren't there. Reviewed in Canada on March 27, 2016. Other impressions of the young couple were that Roy didnt really fit the image of someone who sailed or even had a lot of experience sailing. : He was in his 70s at that time and in poor health. She made the dock and took off running with the Coast Guard officer giving chase. I hope Stearns will some day pay for what she did. I worked my way through the last half of the book by skimming repetitious portions of the court transcripts. Unfortunately, her remains are still in FBI custody. She most likely changed her name multiple times again over the years. Stephanie did testify on her own behalf and was able to give her version of events. Forensics suggested Muff Graham had been bludgeoned to death, her body dismembered, and then burned with an acetylene torch. By August 17th, The Sea Wind and The Iola were the only two boats left in Palmyra. Not long after The Iola arrived another yacht arrived in the harbor,the impressive Sea Wind. But Walker's former attorney, Earle Partington of Honolulu, warned against putting too much faith in that date. Around one of the bones was a gold wristwatch. Bernard Lennard and Stephanie were towed in the rowboat to the offices. The other sailors noticed that Roy had the name Buck tattooed on his arm. True Crime Stories: 48 Terrifying True Crime Murder Cases (List of Twelve Collection), Killer Moms: 16 Bizarre True Crime Stories of Murderous Moms. Officials at Victorville and at the Bureau of Prisons regional office in Dublin, Calif., could not release Walker's health information. The nonfiction book recounts a double murder on Palmyra Atoll; the subsequent arrest, trial and conviction of Duane ("Buck") Walker; and the acquittal of his girlfriend, Stephanie Stearns, whom Bugliosi and Leonard Weinglass defended. However, if you're using Microsoft's Internet Explorer and have your security settings set to High, the javascript menu buttons will not display, preventing you from navigating the menu buttons. He also used a chainsaw to cut down a coconut tree to get to the coconuts. IIn October 1974, 37-year-old Buck Duane Walker and 27-year-old Stephanie Stearns sailed into Hawaii on a boat others instantly recognized as the Sea Wind. All of which were ignored by the prosecutor, judge, jury and reading public. Reviewed in Australia on January 26, 2017. Palmyra is today owned by the Nature Conservancy and is the site of some climate change research. Reviewed in Australia on March 24, 2022. Vincent Bugliosi, Stephanie Stearns's attorney, wrote a book about the murders calledAnd The Sea Will Tell. In October, the Sea Wind was recognized in a Honolulu yacht harbor with Stearns and Walker now its crew. In it, he rebuts some of the trial analyses put forth in Bugliosis 1991 book, And the Sea Will Tell, later the subject of a TV miniseries. While researching the case of a San Diego sailing couple brutally murdered on Palmyra Island in 1974, retired L.A. deputy public defender Tom Bucy, made a surprising discovery. 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Stephanie ended up being acquitted of all charges. They also found The Iola hatch cover onshore which told agents that Roy and Stephanie had planned on scuttling The Iola as no one would go to sea without a hatch cover for their vessel. Walker, 69, earned release from the U.S. Parole Commission in part because of advancing age and poor health. The Felon - Essays on Crime and the Criminal, Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. But there was a problem as there was no record for a Roy Allen. I believe that Walker, and possibly Sterns are guilty, but other possibilities are a murder suicide (husband shoots wife and then himself), or that they really did drown, someone finding a body on the beach at some time later and burying it in a trunk. And the Sea Will Tell is a true crime book by Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson. After Bugliosi argued that Buck Walker had committed the Palmyra murders himself without Stearns's participation or knowledge, and following her testimony at the trial, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. No signs of Mac Grahams remains have been located. On July 13th Muff Graham wrote a letter to her mother. Stephanie Walker Husband. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. She was acquitted Friday by a federal court jury. The couple had no children, and he has been searching for close relatives. Bernard Lenard spotted a 38-foot ketch with distinct lines in a Honolulu marina that looked like The Sea Wind, but it had been repainted. They showed up at 6:30 PM but the Grahams weren't there. He was incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Victorville, in California. [3] Prior to his death, Walker had been living in a trailer home in Willits, California. By this time the Grahams had been alone for 10 days with Roy and Stephanie. She was acquitted Friday by a federal court jury. He had been living in a trailer home in Willits, Calif., where he moved not long after his early parole in 2007 from a federal prison in Victorville, Calif. After his release, Walker self-published an 895-page book in which he maintained his innocence and spelled out his own version of events on Palmyra, a remote Pacific island some 1,000 miles south of Honolulu that has a thriving ecosystem largely untouched by humans. It is really foolish to go to sea without being prepared with adequate supplies. The book was well-written, despite being an obvious self-aggrandizing account by its author. Make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader v.5 or above installed on your computer for viewing and printing the PDF resources on this site. Her boyfriend, Buck Walker, was convicted of The conviction in part resulted from photographs taken by Walker from the Sea Wind showing the badly damaged Iola on the open seas sailing away from the Sea Wind. When told that he hadnt seen the Grahams the Coast Guard reached out to the FBI as they felt this might lead to something outside of their jurisdiction. The atoll, home to a rich diversity of animals and plants, before that was a little-known getaway for the yachting community. There may be some prejudice of the author against Bugliosi. Having Roys picture and knowing about Roy trying to grow marijuana gave the FBI a starting point in their search. The Palmyra atoll murderer who retired to the Willits area after being paroled from federal prison in 2007 died in April. This was the Grahams home port and several of Muffs family are interred in this area.. Then known as Buck Duane Walker, the former Big Island marijuana farmer was convicted in the 1974 murder of a San Diego couple on Palmyra, a remote Pacific island just north of the equator and about 1,100 miles south of Honolulu. Complete class lesson plans for each grade from Kindergarten to Grade 12. After Stephanie completed her high school education, she received a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University. The FBI holds jurisdiction over crimes on the high seas and based upon the story that Stephanie had told she was placed under arrest for interstate transportation of stolen property. The Week in Photos: California exits pandemic emergency amid a winter landscape, Column: Did the DOJ just say Donald Trump can be held accountable for Jan. 6? Walker and his girlfriend, Stephanie Stearns, were arrested in Honolulu in 1974 after they returned from Palmyra in a yacht stolen from Malcolm "Mac" Graham and his wife, Eleanor "Muff" Graham. She was acquitted Friday by a federal court jury. Wesley G. "Buck" Walker, the former Big Island marijuana grower convicted in the 1974 murder of a wealthy San Diego couple on Palmyra, has died in California at age 72. The thing was, when they were back on the island in 1974, Stearns and Walker sawtwo aluminum crates, left over from when Palmyra was a surplus depot during World War II. Walker and Stearns tried unsuccessfully to grow vegetables and were forced to subsist on coconuts and fish.