In the early morning hours of December 15, 1978, 13-year-old White male Wayne Lowell Huling was murdered in his family's home near Clearwater, Minnesota. Wayne was one of four children living with their mother, Alice Huling, in a rural residence in Stearns County. At approximately 4:00 a.m., Wayne and his 11-year-old brother, William “Billy” Huling, were asleep in their shared upstairs bedroom when they were awakened by loud noises coming from the kitchen.
Billy later testified that he heard muffled sounds, a struggle, and a gunshot. Moments later, a man of medium build, under six feet tall, wearing a stocking cap, entered their room. When Wayne asked, “Who are you?” the intruder fired a shotgun, killing the 13-year-old White male instantly.
The gunman then proceeded to the bedrooms of Wayne's sisters. He shot 16-year-old Susan and 12-year-old Patti in the head, killing both girls instantly. After murdering the girls, the assailant returned to the boys' room and fired two more shots at Billy, missing both times. Billy survived by playing dead under his covers and fled to a neighbor's house after the attacker left. Their mother, 36-year-old Alice Huling, had already been shot and killed downstairs. The brutal slayings left four members of the Huling family dead, with only Billy surviving.
Four days after the murders, law enforcement arrested a man named Joseph Donald Ture Jr. at the Clearwater Travel Plaza for unauthorized use of a stolen vehicle. During the arrest, officers discovered a metal bar, a toy car, and a ski mask in Ture's possession. The metal bar was later linked to a bruise found on Alice Huling's body, and the toy car resembled one that Billy said had gone missing. Ture was interviewed by Stearns County deputies but was released without being charged for the murders at that time.
Over the years, Ture remained a suspect. In 1981, while incarcerated in Sherburne County Jail, he allegedly confessed to fellow inmate Toby Krominga, who drafted a written confession under Ture's direction. Despite this, no charges were filed immediately. In 1998, another inmate, Randall Ferguson, reported that Ture had again confessed to the Huling murders. This led to a grand jury indictment in May 1999, charging Ture with four counts of first-degree murder.
In February 2000, Joseph Ture Jr. was convicted of the murders of 13-year-old White male Wayne Huling, his sisters Susan and Patti, and their mother Alice. He received a life sentence for each victim. Ture, a drifter with a history of violent crimes including rape and murder, was already serving time for other offenses. Despite his convictions, Ture has maintained his innocence in the Huling case, claiming he was framed. Nonetheless, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2001.
