Larry Webb, a man indicted for the killing of Susan Carter and her 10-year-old daughter, Natasha "Alex" Carter, confessed to the double homicide on his deathbed, leading police to find the presumed remains of the victims more than 20 years after the crime was committed.
Susan and Alex were last seen at Webb's home in Beckley, West Virginia, on August 8, 2000.
Highlights
- Larry Webb confessed to killing Susan Carter and her daughter Alex over 20 years after the crime.
- Webb's confession led to finding the victims' remains buried in his backyard since August 2000.
- Evidence from a bullet found where Alex's room had been resulted in Webb's indictment for first-degree murder.
At the time, the 41-year-old mother was in a contentious custody battle with Alex's father, Rick Lafferty, the FBI reported.
Susan and Alex were living in Webb's house when they disappeared, pointing to Webb as the primary suspect.
Image credits: WVVA
Authorities obtained a search warrant for his home approximately 18 months ago. In the residence, members of the FBI's Evidence Recovery Team and West Virginia State Police Crime Scene Investigative Unit reportedly found a bullet embedded in the wall where Alex's bedroom had been.
During one of the searches of his house, Webb told news outlets he didn't know where the girl was or when he had last seen her, saying he couldn't "say exactly" because he had "dementia," as per CBS News.
Upon analyzing the evidence, authorities confirmed that the blood on the bullet was Alex’s, and they were subsequently able to indict him for first-degree murder in the girl's death in 2023.
The man told investigators that he had buried the victims in his backyard in August 2000
Image credits: WVVA
Webb was incarcerated at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex. On Monday (April 22), the killer suffered "a medical episode," as described by Captain R. A. Maddy with the West Virginia State Police. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at age 84.
Before he died, Webb made a "detailed, undeniable, and unconflicted" confession about murdering Alex and her mother, authorities revealed during a press conference on Tuesday (April 23).
The murderer told investigators that he killed Susan because he noticed that some of his money was missing from his home and thought she was responsible for it. Authorities said that Webb shot 10-year-old Alex "to avoid detection for having killed Susan Carter."
After obtaining a search warrant for his home, authorities discovered a bullet embedded in the wall where Alex's room used to be
Image credits: FBI
Image credits: web.archive
"He detailed for us exactly how he murdered both women, how he wrapped their bodies in bed linens, and how they spent two days on the basement floor while he dug a grave in his backyard," a member of the West Virginia State Police said during the press conference.
Six hours after Webb's death, members of the police and the FBI found what they believed to be the remains of Susan and her daughter.
"The way the crime was detailed to us by Larry Webb and the condition in which we found the bodies confirms with a high degree of certainty that the two bodies are those of Susan and Alex Carter."
Police conducted a search of the murderer's backyard, where they uncovered what's believed to be the remains of Susan and her daughter
Image credits: WVVA
Image credits: WVVA
Webb died at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex after suffering a "medical episode"
During the press conference, the police extended their "most heartfelt condolences" to Rick Lafferty, who spent more than two decades looking for answers in the murder of his daughter, and offered their "heartfelt apologies" that "as law enforcement, [they] couldn't have come to this sooner."
People reacted to the news of the breakthrough in the homicide case
