Kenneth Allen McDuff: The Broomstick Killer
Early Life and Criminal History
Kenneth Allen McDuff was born on March 21, 1946, in Rosebud, Texas. He grew up in a large family and developed a reputation for bullying, intimidation, and criminal behavior while still young. By the age of eighteen, McDuff had been convicted of numerous burglary and attempted-burglary charges in Bell, Falls, and Milam counties. Although he received several concurrent four-year sentences, he was paroled in December 1965 after serving only a portion of his sentence.
McDuff's early release placed him back in the community less than a year before he committed the crime that made him one of the most notorious murderers in Texas history. On August 6, 1966, McDuff and an acquaintance, Roy Dale Green, encountered three teenagers near a baseball field in Everman, south of Fort Worth. The victims were Robert Brand, Brand's cousin Johnny Marcus Dunnam, and Brand's girlfriend, Edna Louise Sullivan.
The 1966 Broomstick Murders
McDuff approached the teenagers with a handgun and forced them into the trunk of their automobile. With Green following in another vehicle, McDuff drove the victims to an isolated area. He removed Sullivan from the trunk and transferred her to the other car. Brand and Dunnam remained confined inside the first vehicle.
Despite the boys' pleas for their lives, McDuff opened the trunk and fired repeatedly into it, killing both teenagers. He then left their bodies inside the automobile. Sullivan was taken to a second isolated location, where she was sexually assaulted. McDuff eventually strangled the sixteen-year-old with a wooden broomstick, producing the nickname by which he would later become widely known: the “Broomstick Killer.” Her body was abandoned in vegetation near the murder scene.
Green confessed to people he knew shortly after the killings and eventually surrendered to authorities. His statements led investigators to McDuff. Green claimed that McDuff had directed the crimes and had personally killed all three victims. McDuff was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted of murder. In 1968, he was sentenced to death in the Texas electric chair. Green received a prison sentence for his participation and cooperation.
Death Sentence Commuted and McDuff Paroled
McDuff remained on death row until the United States Supreme Court's 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia invalidated the death-penalty procedures then being used across the country. His death sentences were consequently reduced to life imprisonment. Although he had been convicted of participating in the kidnapping and murder of three teenagers, McDuff eventually became eligible for parole.
His behavior in prison remained troubling. At one point, he attempted to bribe a parole-board member and received an additional sentence. Nevertheless, severe crowding in the Texas prison system and the parole practices of the period resulted in McDuff's release in October 1989. He had served approximately twenty-one years for the three murders.
Authorities later came to believe that McDuff returned to killing almost immediately. After briefly being returned to custody for a parole violation, he was released again on December 18, 1990. During the following fifteen months, young women began disappearing or being found murdered along the Interstate 35 corridor and in communities surrounding Waco, Temple, and Austin.
Suspected Murder of Sarafia Parker
Sarafia Parker, a twenty-nine-year-old woman from the Temple area, disappeared shortly after McDuff's October 1989 release. Her body was discovered in a field near Temple on October 14, 1989. Investigators determined that she had been beaten and strangled. The precise time of her death was not established, but authorities believed she had been killed on October 13 or October 14.
McDuff was considered a strong suspect because of his recent release, his presence in Central Texas, and similarities between Parker's murder and his later crimes. However, he was never formally tried or convicted for her death. Parker remains among the victims commonly attributed to McDuff, although the case did not result in a separate criminal judgment against him.
The Abduction and Murder of Brenda Thompson
On the night of October 10, 1991, thirty-six-year-old Brenda Thompson was seen inside McDuff's pickup truck in Waco. As McDuff approached a police checkpoint, Thompson desperately kicked the windshield from inside the vehicle, cracking the glass and attempting to attract the officers' attention. McDuff accelerated toward the officers and fled, forcing several of them to move out of his path.
Police pursued the truck, but McDuff escaped by turning off his headlights, driving through dark streets, and traveling the wrong way on one-way roads. Thompson was not seen alive again. Investigators later concluded that McDuff took her to a wooded area north of Waco, where he sexually assaulted and murdered her.
Thompson's remains were not recovered until October 3, 1998, approximately seven years after her disappearance. McDuff supplied information that helped authorities locate the burial area shortly before his execution. Her remains were discovered in dense woodland near U.S. Highway 84, about nine miles north of Waco.
The Murder of Regenia DeAnne Moore
Five days after Thompson disappeared, twenty-one-year-old Regenia DeAnne Moore was seen with McDuff at a Waco motel. Witnesses reported seeing the two arguing before they left in McDuff's pickup truck on October 15, 1991. Moore subsequently disappeared, and her family remained without an answer for nearly seven years.
Investigators determined that McDuff drove Moore to an isolated area near Texas State Highway 6 outside Waco. Evidence indicated that she had been restrained before being sexually assaulted and killed. McDuff later provided authorities with information about where he had left her body.
Moore's remains were recovered on September 29, 1998. The location and condition of the remains supported investigators' conclusion that she had been murdered on or shortly after October 15, 1991. Her recovery occurred only weeks before McDuff was executed.
The Kidnapping of Colleen Reed
On December 29, 1991, twenty-eight-year-old Colleen Ann Reed went to wash her automobile at a self-service car wash in Austin. McDuff was driving through the area with an associate, Alva Hank Worley, when he noticed Reed standing alone. According to Worley's later statements, McDuff announced his intention to abduct her and pulled into the car wash behind her vehicle.
McDuff grabbed Reed and forced her into his car in view of witnesses. Her screams attracted attention, and witnesses provided investigators with descriptions of the vehicle and the abduction. McDuff and Worley drove away with Reed confined inside the car. Worley later told investigators that Reed was sexually assaulted while pleading for assistance.
Worley claimed that McDuff took Reed to a rural area in Bell County, close to property associated with McDuff's family. McDuff removed Reed from the vehicle and attacked her before placing her inside the trunk. Worley said he was later dropped off and never saw Reed again. He eventually cooperated with investigators and helped connect McDuff to the kidnapping.
McDuff was convicted of Reed's capital murder even though her body was never conclusively recovered. Shortly before his execution, he provided authorities with information about a possible burial location, but searches did not result in the confirmed recovery of her remains.
The Murder of Valencia Joshua
Valencia Joshua, a twenty-two-year-old student in Waco, was last seen alive near McDuff's residence. Investigators learned that she had gone to his door shortly before she disappeared. She was killed on or about February 24, 1992.
Joshua's body was discovered on March 15, 1992, near a golf course associated with Texas State Technical College in Waco. She had been strangled. McDuff was also attending classes at the college, placing him in the same immediate area as Joshua before her disappearance and near the location where her body was abandoned.
Although the evidence made McDuff the principal suspect, he was not separately convicted of Joshua's murder. Investigators nevertheless included her death in the group of Central Texas killings believed to have been committed by him following his release from prison.
The Abduction and Murder of Melissa Northrup
Melissa Northrup was a twenty-two-year-old mother who was pregnant with her third child. She worked overnight at a Quik-Pak convenience store in Waco. During the early morning hours of March 1, 1992, she disappeared from the store while working alone. Approximately $250 was also missing from the cash register.
Investigators soon focused on McDuff. He had previously worked at the store, knew its layout, and had been seen in the area around the time Northrup vanished. A person acquainted with McDuff also told authorities that McDuff had discussed robbing the business. Northrup's disappearance intensified suspicions that the recent series of missing women and murders were connected.
On April 26, 1992, a fisherman discovered Northrup's body in a gravel pit in Dallas County. Her hands remained bound behind her back, and investigators determined that she had been strangled with a rope. Evidence indicated that she had been killed on March 1, the same day she disappeared.
McDuff was indicted for Northrup's capital murder on June 26, 1992. Prosecutors presented evidence connecting him to the store, the robbery, the abduction, and the disposal of her body. A jury convicted him, and on February 18, 1993, he was sentenced to death.
Capture and Investigation
As authorities investigated Northrup's disappearance and Reed's kidnapping, McDuff fled Texas. He was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and his photograph and criminal history received national attention. A viewer recognized him after seeing his case publicized and reported his location.
McDuff was captured in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 4, 1992. He had attempted to disguise his identity and was working under another name. After his return to Texas, investigators from several counties began coordinating their cases and comparing disappearances, bodies, witness statements, and McDuff's movements.
Worley's cooperation was particularly important in the Colleen Reed investigation. Information supplied by witnesses, former associates, and McDuff himself also helped authorities connect him to Thompson, Moore, Joshua, and Northrup. Investigators suspected that he may have killed additional women whose cases were never conclusively solved.
Known and Suspected Victims
- Robert Brand, 17 — August 6, 1966 — Everman and rural Tarrant County, Texas: Abducted near an Everman baseball field and forced into the trunk of an automobile. McDuff shot and killed Brand inside the trunk.
- Johnny Marcus Dunnam, 15 — August 6, 1966 — Everman and rural Tarrant County, Texas: Abducted with Brand and Sullivan. Dunnam was confined in the automobile trunk with Brand and killed when McDuff fired repeatedly into it.
- Edna Louise Sullivan, 16 — August 6, 1966 — Everman and rural Tarrant County, Texas: Kidnapped with Brand and Dunnam, taken to another location, sexually assaulted, and strangled with a broomstick. McDuff was convicted in connection with the triple murder.
- Sarafia Parker, 29 — Approximately October 13–14, 1989 — Temple, Bell County, Texas: Found dead in a field near Temple on October 14. She had been beaten and strangled. McDuff was suspected but was not charged or convicted in her case.
- Brenda Thompson, 36 — October 10, 1991 — Waco and rural McLennan County, Texas: Seen attempting to escape from McDuff's truck near a police checkpoint. She was murdered after McDuff escaped pursuing officers. Her remains were recovered on October 3, 1998.
- Regenia DeAnne Moore, 21 — October 15, 1991 — Waco and rural McLennan County, Texas: Last seen leaving a Waco motel with McDuff. She was restrained and murdered near Highway 6. Her remains were recovered on September 29, 1998.
- Colleen Ann Reed, 28 — December 29, 1991 — Austin and Bell County, Texas: Abducted from an Austin car wash in front of witnesses. McDuff was convicted of her capital murder, although her remains were never conclusively recovered.
- Valencia Joshua, 22 — February 24, 1992 — Waco, Texas: Last seen near McDuff's residence and later found strangled near a golf course at Texas State Technical College. McDuff was the principal suspect but was not separately convicted.
- Melissa Northrup, 22 — March 1, 1992 — Waco and Dallas County, Texas: Kidnapped from the Waco convenience store where she worked and murdered. Her body was found in a Dallas County gravel pit on April 26, 1992. McDuff was convicted and sentenced to death for her capital murder.
Possible Additional Victims
Investigators suspected McDuff of additional murders and disappearances beyond the nine victims most frequently associated with him. Estimates of his total number of victims have ranged from nine to fourteen or more. Some suspicions were based on his travels, statements attributed to him, similarities between cases, and the disappearance of women in areas where he lived or worked.
However, not every case attributed to McDuff was supported by sufficient evidence for prosecution. Some missing women were later connected to other offenders, while other cases remained unresolved. For that reason, the names of uncertain victims are not presented as confirmed murders committed by McDuff.
Convictions, Execution, and Legacy
McDuff received a second death sentence following his conviction for Melissa Northrup's murder. He was also convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Reed. His appeals continued through the state and federal court systems, but the convictions and death sentence remained in place.
Kenneth Allen McDuff was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas, on November 17, 1998. He was fifty-two years old. His family did not claim his remains, and he was buried in the prison cemetery near Huntsville.
The McDuff case became a lasting example of the consequences of prison overcrowding, inadequate parole review, and poor communication among law-enforcement agencies. A man once sentenced to death for murdering three teenagers had been returned to the community and was able to kill again. Public outrage following his capture contributed to major changes in Texas sentencing, parole practices, prison expansion, and the supervision of violent offenders. Those changes became informally associated with the “McDuff laws,” ensuring that his name remained connected not only to his crimes but also to one of the most serious failures in the history of the Texas criminal-justice system.
