On a September evening in 1975, a simple car breakdown on a road near Kerrville, Texas, turned into a terrifying ordeal for two young women, ending in a tragedy that would remain a painful secret for nearly a year. Carol Ann London, an 18-year-old female, and her 16-year-old friend, Elizabeth "Beth" Pearson, were stranded when their vehicle failed. It was then that two men stopped, ostensibly to help.
Those men were Lyle Richard Brummett and his friend, Allen Ladd Woody.
Very little public information has ever been shared about Carol’s life, dreams, or the family that mourned her. Her story is tragically defined by its brutal end. Instead of receiving aid, Carol and Elizabeth were driven to an isolated pasture about 12 miles from town. There, under a solitary oak tree, both were assaulted and strangled to death. Their attackers, Brummett and Woody, left their bodies in the remote field and abandoned their car in a parking lot, creating a puzzling disappearance that left their families waiting and wondering. For months, it was as if the two friends had simply vanished.
The break in the case came from the unravelling of Lyle Richard Brummett’s violent life. A year after Carol and Elizabeth were killed, in August 1976, Brummett was living in Austin. He raped and strangled another young woman, 22-year-old Dianne Kathleen Roberts, in her own home. He was swiftly arrested for her murder based on eyewitness testimony. While in custody for the Roberts murder, Brummett made a shocking confession: he and Allen Woody had killed two other young women the previous year.
Brummett led investigators to the harrowing discovery. He guided them to the desolate pasture outside Kerrville where he and Woody had left Carol and Elizabeth. The decomposing remains of the two friends were found, finally revealing the truth of their fate after nearly a year of uncertainty. The discovery brought a devastating end to their families' hopes and began a new chapter in the pursuit of justice for the two slain teenagers.
The legal proceedings that followed were complex. To avoid a potential death penalty and as part of a plea deal, Brummett agreed to testify against his accomplice, Allen Ladd Woody. In his testimony, Brummett claimed that Woody was the one who had raped and strangled Beth Pearson. He then admitted that he alone was responsible for the murder of Carol Ann London, stating he killed her because he was afraid she would be able to identify them. Based on this cooperation, the charge against Brummett for Pearson's death was dropped.
Ultimately, Allen Ladd Woody was convicted of murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. For his confessed crimes, Lyle Richard Brummett received two life sentences—one for the murder of Carol Ann London and another for the murder of Dianne Kathleen Roberts. Brummett, who also used the alias Lyle Richard Stone and had a criminal history including burglary and rape, has been serving his sentences at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon, Texas. He has been denied parole on multiple occasions, in part due to the persistent advocacy of his victims' families, who attend his hearings to ensure he remains incarcerated for his brutal acts.
