In the spring of 1984, a wave of terror swept across eastern Oklahoma, leaving a trail of grief and fear. At the center of this tragic timeline was Valerie Shaw-Hartzell, a promising 25-year-old female radio newswoman from Tulsa. Her life, full of potential, was cut short by a man whose brief, violent spree would haunt the state for years to come. Valerie was known professionally by her maiden name, Valerie Shaw, and worked as a DJ for K95 FM.
On the evening of May 24, 1984, Valerie was
abducted from the parking lot of the Town West Shopping Center in Tulsa. For a day, her whereabouts were unknown as she was held captive by her kidnapper. The search for Valerie ended in heartbreak when her body was discovered in a ditch in a rural area near Claremore, in Rogers County, about 28 miles from where she was taken. She had been raped and strangled.
The investigation into Valerie’s disappearance and murder quickly became part of a larger, more frantic manhunt. Authorities soon linked her case to a series of other violent crimes that had occurred in a terrifyingly short span of time. The man responsible was identified as Gary Alan Walker, a 30-year-old also known as "The Roaming Rapist." His 19-day crime spree in May 1984 resulted in the proven deaths of five people. Walker was arrested in Tulsa on June 2, 1984, just days after he killed Valerie. After his capture, he confessed to her abduction and murder and led authorities to the location of her body.
Walker's confessions untangled a horrific series of events that began on May 7, 1984. His victims, in addition to Valerie, were Eddie O. Cash, 63; Margaret Ann Bell Lydick, 37; Jayne Hilburn, 35; and Janet Dee Jewell, 32. His methods were brutal, often involving strangulation and blunt force trauma. The spree killer’s capture brought a sense of relief, but it was only the beginning of a long legal process for the victims' families.
Gary Alan Walker faced multiple trials in several Oklahoma counties. For the kidnapping and first-degree murder of Valerie Shaw-Hartzell, he was initially convicted and sentenced to death in May 1985. However, this conviction and sentence were overturned on appeal in 1990. In a subsequent retrial, Walker pleaded guilty and received a sentence of life without parole for her murder, plus an additional 500 years for the kidnapping.
While he avoided a death sentence specifically for Valerie's murder, Walker had also been sentenced to death for the May 7, 1984, murder of Eddie Cash of Broken Arrow. He received numerous other sentences for his other crimes, including six life terms plus hundreds of years in prison. After exhausting his appeals for the Cash murder, his execution date was set. On January 13, 2000, Gary Alan Walker, aged 46, was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Approximately 30 relatives of his many victims, including family members of Eddie Cash, witnessed the execution, bringing a final, somber end to a case that had devastated so many.
