Audrey Gygi, a 47-year-old white female, was found murdered in her trailer home located on Duval Street in Ocean City, Florida, sometime between late Tuesday, May 19, and early Wednesday, May 20, 1987. Her death was part of a chilling series of homicides that terrorized Okaloosa County between 1985 and 1987. Gygi’s nude body was discovered after coworkers reported her absence from work, prompting concern.
Evidence at the scene indicated she had been stabbed to death, and later forensic analysis revealed a semen stain on a bedsheet, which was instrumental in linking the crime to the perpetrator.
The investigation into Gygi’s murder initially stalled, but advancements in DNA technology eventually provided a breakthrough. In 1993, a grand jury indicted Frank Athen Walls, a then 19-year-old male from Ocean City, Florida, for the murder of Audrey Gygi. Walls, who had already been convicted of two other murders and was serving a death sentence, agreed to plead no contest to Gygi’s murder in 1994. This plea deal ensured he would not receive a second death sentence. During the same proceedings, Walls also admitted to the murders of two other women: 19-year-old white female Tommie Lou Whiddon and 24-year-old white female Cynthia Sue Condra.
Walls’ confession revealed disturbing details about his crimes. All five of his known victims, including Audrey Gygi, were killed on a Tuesday or in the early hours of Wednesday. Most of the murders involved stabbing, and investigators concluded that the crimes were sexually motivated. Gygi’s trailer was located just one block from the site of another double homicide committed by Walls later that summer, underscoring the proximity and brazenness of his attacks.
At the time of Gygi’s murder, Walls was living nearby and working as a dishwasher. His behavior had already raised concerns among acquaintances, including his roommate, who reported Walls’ frequent discussions about rape and killing. This tip ultimately led authorities to search Walls’ residence, where they found items stolen from other crime scenes. Walls’ criminal history included voyeurism, cruelty to animals, and burglary, and he had been performing community service for these offenses when he committed his first murder.
Despite multiple appeals over the years, including claims of intellectual disability based on an IQ score of 72, Walls’ death sentence for the murder of Ann Louise Peterson remains upheld. His conviction for Audrey Gygi’s murder stands as part of a broader pattern of violence that left a lasting scar on the Ocean City community. Audrey Gygi, a 47-year-old white female, became one of five victims in a two-year reign of terror that continues to haunt the region decades later.
