2024-04-25 19:45:31
A man on his deathbed confessed to killing a mother and her daughter 24 years ago, leading to the recovery of their remains this week, authorities announced Tuesday. The same day the bodies were found, the confessed murderer died.
Susan Carter and her 10-year-old daughter, Natasha “Alex” Carter, disappeared in August 2000, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Tony Rausa said at a news conference Tuesday.
Their bodies were found in suspect Larry Webb’s backyard in West Virginia on Monday, the day he died in custody.
Rick Lafferty, Alex Carter’s father, said Tuesday it was a “sad day, but also a happy day” because he was finally able to “bring my baby home.” He said because “the case was frozen so many times,” he “almost lost hope several times.”
“I can tell anyone in my position to never give up. Never give up on finding your child,” Lafferty said.
18 months ago, officials obtained a search warrant for Webb’s home in Beckley, West Virginia.
The mother and daughter lived there when they disappeared. Susan Carter was in a contentious custody battle with Lafferty at the time, according to an FBI pilot at the time.
While executing the warrant, authorities found a bullet lodged in the wall of a bedroom “known to be occupied by 10-year-old Alex Carter,” Rausa said at the news conference.
The bullet, covered in blood, was sent to an FBI lab for DNA testing and the blood on the bullet was confirmed to be that of Alex Carter, Rausa said.
According to police, the crime took place in a home during an alleged physical altercation.
A grand jury indicted Webb in October 2023 for first-degree murder.
Raleigh County Prosecutor Ben Hatfield said “the evidence they had was overwhelmingly in favor of Larry Webb being the individual” believed to have committed the crimes.
But the case has been delayed by delays in court proceedings related to Webb’s health, including the medical clearance needed to allow him to prison.
In the first week of April, Hatfield said, he and other investigators went to Hilltop Nursing Home Center to talk to Webb, who admitted to the murders.
Rausa said Webb explained how he wrapped both bodies in bedding and left them on the basement floor while he spent two days digging a shallow grave in his backyard. He buried the bodies together in an unmarked grave, where they remained until this week.
“It was a detailed, undeniable and conflict-free confession,” Hatfield said, adding that it “exactly matched the investigative efforts and evidence collected.”
His body was exhumed this week 54 years after the murder.
Hatfield said Webb confessed to shooting Susan Carter after an argument about finances when he discovered money missing from the home.
Hatfield recalled Webb saying “at that moment he knew he had ruined his life forever.” Webb later said he believed he also had to kill Alex Carter to avoid being discovered in his mother’s death, Hatfield said.
After the murders, Webb “cried himself to sleep the night before” digging the grave, Hatfield said.
Webb also told investigators where they could find the remains of Susan and Alex Carter.
With the help of a gardener who lived in the neighborhood and his team, officials discovered the bodies on Monday, the third day of digging, Rausa said.
Based on the manner in which the murders took place outlined by Webb and the conditions in which the bodies were found, Rausa said, they confirmed “with a high degree of certainty” that the two bodies were those of Susan and Alex Carter wash.
Rausa said Webb confessed because “he was on his deathbed waiting at that moment to come to Jesus.”
He was transferred from the Southern Regional Jail to the Mount Olive Correctional Complex on Friday, Hatfield said.
Webb was transported back to Montgomery General Hospital on Monday, where he was pronounced dead around 10:30 a.m., hours before the remains of Susan and Alex Carter were discovered.
Hatfield called it “a bit of a poetic ending that even I couldn’t write.”
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