Gary Gene Grant: The Renton Serial Killer
Gary Gene Grant was an American serial killer responsible for the murders of four people in Renton, Washington, between December 1969 and April 1971. His victims ranged in age from six to nineteen, and the crimes involved stabbing, strangulation, sexual assault, and the concealment of bodies in wooded areas. Grant was still a teenager when the murders began. Although his case received considerable attention in the Renton and Seattle area at the time, it later became far less widely remembered than other serial murder cases from the Pacific Northwest.
The Murder of Carol Adele Erickson
Grant's first known victim was 19-year-old Carol Adele Erickson. On the evening of December 15, 1969, Erickson was walking home from the Renton Municipal Library. Her route took her along a dirt road running parallel to the Cedar River in Renton. At approximately 7:15 p.m., she was attacked.
Grant stabbed Erickson with a knife and dragged her body into nearby vegetation. Evidence presented in the case established that he sexually violated her after she had been fatally attacked and inflicted additional injuries to her neck. Her death was one of the first in a sequence of murders that would eventually be connected to Grant. At the time, however, investigators had no clear reason to believe that the killing would become part of a series.
The Murder of Joanne Mary Zulauf
The second known murder occurred approximately nine months later. Seventeen-year-old Joanne Mary Zulauf disappeared in Renton on September 20, 1970. Grant encountered her during the daytime and attacked her with a rock, striking her in the head. He then dragged her into a wooded area, sexually assaulted her, and strangled her.
Zulauf's body was not discovered until September 22, two days after her death. Investigators found her without clothing in the wooded area. One particularly important detail emerged later: Grant had taken Zulauf's wristwatch. Within days of the murder, he gave the watch to his girlfriend as a birthday present. The stolen property later became part of the evidence linking him to the crime.
The Murders of Scott Andrews and Bradley Lyons
Grant's final known murders occurred on April 20, 1971, and involved two six-year-old boys, Scott Andrews and Bradley Lyons. The children had been playing outside near Bradley's home in Renton and were last seen at approximately 11:15 a.m. Grant approached the boys, threatened them with a knife, and forced them to accompany him into a wooded area roughly two miles from where they had been playing.
Once isolated in the woods, the children were physically attacked. Scott Andrews was stabbed to death, while Bradley Lyons was strangled. Grant attempted to hide the bodies by covering them with leaves and branches. When the boys failed to return home, their disappearance produced an intensive search involving police officers and members of the community.
The bodies of Scott and Bradley were found on April 22, 1971, two days after they had been killed. Investigators carefully examined the wooded crime scene and discovered shoe impressions that could be compared with a suspect's footwear. The murders of two small children created enormous fear in Renton and placed intense pressure on investigators to identify the killer.
Victims
- Carol Adele Erickson — Age 19. Died December 15, 1969. She was attacked while walking home from the Renton Municipal Library along a dirt road parallel to the Cedar River in Renton, Washington. She was stabbed and her body was dragged into nearby vegetation.
- Joanne Mary Zulauf — Age 17. Died September 20, 1970. She was attacked in Renton, Washington, struck in the head, taken into a wooded area, sexually assaulted, and strangled. Her body was discovered on September 22, 1970.
- Scott Andrews — Age 6. Died April 20, 1971. He was abducted while playing with Bradley Lyons near Bradley's home in Renton, Washington. Grant took the boys approximately two miles into a wooded area, where Scott was stabbed to death. His body was discovered April 22, 1971.
- Bradley Lyons — Age 6. Died April 20, 1971. He was abducted with Scott Andrews near his home in Renton, Washington. Grant took the children into the woods, where Bradley was strangled. His body was discovered alongside Scott's on April 22, 1971.
The Investigation
The investigation following the murders of Andrews and Lyons produced the evidence that finally led police to Grant. At the crime scene, investigators made casts of distinctive tennis-shoe impressions. Then, on April 28, 1971, searchers discovered a bloodstained hunting knife approximately fifty meters from the area where the boys' bodies had been found. Testing indicated that blood on the knife was consistent with Scott Andrews's blood type.
The knife provided investigators with a trail of ownership. A name engraved on it led detectives to its previous owner, and officers followed a succession of people who had possessed or transferred the weapon. Eventually, investigators learned that the knife had been loaned to Gary Gene Grant. This connection made him a major suspect.
Police detained Grant at his trailer on April 30, 1971. During questioning, he was unable to provide a convincing alibi for the day Scott and Bradley disappeared. He initially claimed that he could not remember important periods of time, but he eventually confessed. The following day, with his father and an attorney present, Grant gave an account connecting himself to all four murders.
A False Confession and Problems for Police
The investigation had been complicated by another man, John Chance, who had confessed to killing the two boys. Chance was suffering from severe psychiatric problems and possessed information that initially appeared significant enough for authorities to take his confession seriously. Detectives nevertheless continued examining physical evidence rather than relying entirely on his statements. The trail created by the hunting knife and other evidence eventually pointed toward Grant instead.
The prosecution also faced a serious legal problem after it was discovered that Renton Police Captain William G. Frazee had arranged for conversations in an interrogation room to be secretly monitored and recorded, including communications involving Grant and his attorneys. The defense argued that Grant's constitutional rights had been violated and sought dismissal of the charges. The controversy threatened the prosecution, although evidence obtained independently of the improper monitoring remained available for use against Grant.
Trial and Conviction
Grant's trial began in August 1971. Prosecutors presented his confession together with physical and circumstantial evidence. The bloodstained hunting knife had been traced to him, and the pattern and size of tennis shoes associated with Grant were compared with impressions discovered during the investigation. Witnesses also described seeing him in relevant areas around the times of the murders.
Grant's defense focused heavily on his mental condition. His attorneys argued that he suffered from serious psychological problems and questioned whether he should be held fully responsible for his actions. A psychiatric evaluation, however, concluded that he was legally sane. The evaluation described him as impulsive and emotionally unstable but did not find that he lacked the legal capacity to understand his actions.
On August 25, 1971, the jury found Gary Gene Grant guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. He received four consecutive life sentences. His convictions were later reviewed on appeal, but they remained in force.
Legacy of the Case
Grant's crimes left four families devastated and deeply affected the Renton community. The murders were particularly disturbing because three of the four victims were minors and because the final attack involved two six-year-old friends taken together from a residential area. The case also demonstrated the importance of physical evidence when investigators are confronted with unreliable or false confessions.
For many years, Gary Gene Grant remained relatively obscure outside Washington despite having been convicted of four murders. Renewed examination of the investigation has brought attention back to Carol Adele Erickson, Joanne Mary Zulauf, Scott Andrews, and Bradley Lyons. Their deaths occurred on December 15, 1969, September 20, 1970, and April 20, 1971, respectively, marking a violent eighteen-month period in Renton's history that ended only after the physical evidence surrounding the murder of the two boys finally led investigators to Grant.
