Kenneth Granviel: The Fort Worth Serial Killer
Overview
Kenneth Granviel was an American serial killer and rapist responsible for seven confirmed murders in Fort Worth, Texas, during 1974 and 1975. His crimes included the killing of five members of one family during a prolonged attack at an apartment complex and the murders of two women several months later. Granviel eventually confessed to all seven killings as well as multiple sexual assaults. He was convicted of capital murder, sentenced to death, and executed by lethal injection in Texas on February 27, 1996.
The Riverside Village Murders
Granviel's first confirmed series of murders occurred late on October 7, 1974, at the Riverside Village apartment complex in Fort Worth. Court records establish that Granviel left work at approximately 8:00 p.m. and later drove through the apartment complex where the McClendon family lived. He had known members of the family for several years. At approximately 10:00 p.m., he approached their apartment and was invited inside by Laura McClendon.
Laura was in the apartment with her young son, Steven. After initially asking for a glass of water, Granviel approached Laura from behind with a knife. He forced Laura and Steven into a bedroom, locked the apartment door, and closed the curtains. Granviel then ordered Laura to restrain her son with telephone cord. He tore a bedsheet into strips and used the material to bind and gag Laura and Steven.
The situation became more dangerous when Martha McClendon arrived with her young daughter, Natasha, accompanied by Linda McClendon. Granviel concealed Laura and Steven beneath a bedspread before confronting the newly arrived family members. He threatened Linda with the knife and forced her to lie on the bed. Martha was also overpowered, restrained, and brought into the room. Granviel eventually had all five victims under his control.
Granviel separated Laura from the others and sexually assaulted her. During the attack, Steven began crying. Granviel placed the child in a closet and at one point gave him asthma medication after Laura told him that Steven needed it. Later, when Steven cried again, Granviel stabbed him repeatedly. The knife broke during the attack, forcing Granviel to obtain another knife from the kitchen.
Granviel also sexually assaulted Martha. According to the evidence presented in court, Linda was no longer breathing when Granviel returned to the bedroom where she had been restrained, but he nevertheless stabbed her. Natasha began crying and shouting. Granviel attacked the two-year-old child with the knife, stabbing her repeatedly. The killing of Natasha would later become the specific capital murder for which Granviel received his death sentence.
Granviel eventually stabbed Martha and Laura as well. Before leaving the apartment, he searched through the women's purses and took money. Laura, Linda, Martha, Natasha, and Steven all died from the violence inflicted upon them. Contemporary reports and court records place the murders on October 7, 1974, although some later summaries have used October 8 because the crime unfolded late at night and the victims were discovered afterward.
Confirmed Victims of the Riverside Village Murders
- Laura McClendon — Died October 7, 1974 — Riverside Village apartment complex, Fort Worth, Texas. Laura was attacked, restrained, sexually assaulted, and fatally stabbed.
- Linda McClendon — Died October 7, 1974 — Riverside Village apartment complex, Fort Worth, Texas. Linda was restrained during the attack and died during Granviel's assault on the family.
- Martha McClendon — Died October 7, 1974 — Riverside Village apartment complex, Fort Worth, Texas. Martha arrived at the apartment with her daughter Natasha, was restrained and sexually assaulted, and was later fatally stabbed.
- Steven McClendon — Died October 7, 1974 — Riverside Village apartment complex, Fort Worth, Texas. Steven was Laura's young son. He was restrained and later stabbed to death.
- Natasha McClendon — Died October 7, 1974 — Riverside Village apartment complex, Fort Worth, Texas. Natasha was Martha's two-year-old daughter. Granviel repeatedly stabbed her after she began crying. His conviction for her capital murder ultimately resulted in his death sentence.
The February 1975 Murders
Approximately four months later, Granviel killed again. On February 8, 1975, Betty Williams came to Granviel's Fort Worth apartment and asked to use his telephone. Afterward, a discussion about cigarettes gave Granviel an opportunity to persuade Williams to enter his bedroom. Once she was there, he attacked her and began sexually assaulting her.
The attack was interrupted when Vera Hill, a woman who lived with Granviel, arrived at the apartment. Granviel obtained a knife from the kitchen and attacked Hill, stabbing her repeatedly until she collapsed. He then returned to Williams. During the continuing assault, people knocked on the apartment door, but Granviel attempted to prevent them from discovering what was happening inside.
Granviel raped Williams and subsequently attacked her with both a knife and a hammer. Vera Hill and Betty Williams died from their injuries. These murders were particularly important to the later prosecution because they demonstrated that the McClendon killings had not been an isolated episode of violence.
Confirmed Victims of the February 1975 Murders
- Vera Hill — Died February 8, 1975 — Granviel's apartment, Fort Worth, Texas. Hill interrupted Granviel's attack on Betty Williams and was repeatedly stabbed.
- Betty Williams — Died February 8, 1975 — Granviel's apartment, Fort Worth, Texas. Williams was sexually assaulted and attacked with a knife and hammer.
Violence After the Final Murders
Granviel's violence did not immediately end with the deaths of Hill and Williams. After leaving his apartment, he went to the home of Lizzie Phillips, the mother of an acquaintance. Once inside, he restrained Phillips and members of her family and sexually assaulted her. Other relatives arrived while Granviel was still inside the residence, resulting in additional threats and restraints. Unlike the seven confirmed murder victims, the people in this apartment survived.
Granviel ultimately announced that he intended to surrender. He left with Wanda Hanson and later went to the home of the Reverend R. L. Spearman. Granviel, Hanson, and Spearman then traveled to the Fort Worth police station. Court records place Granviel's arrival at the station at approximately 10:11 p.m. on February 8, 1975.
Confession and Arrest
At the police station, Granviel asked to speak with investigators connected to the McClendon case. He admitted responsibility for the seven murders and also confessed to multiple rapes. His confession provided investigators with the connection they had been missing between the five October 1974 killings and the violence of February 1975. Police were subsequently taken to the location of his latest victims, Betty Williams and Vera Hill.
Granviel's statements also provided investigators with a detailed account of the McClendon murders. He described entering the apartment, restraining the victims, committing the sexual assaults, killing the children and adults, and taking money before leaving. Much of this account later became part of the evidence considered by Texas courts.
Trial and Death Sentence
Granviel was prosecuted for capital murder, with the case focusing specifically on the killing of two-year-old Natasha McClendon during the commission of an aggravated rape. He was originally convicted and sentenced to death in the 1970s. His case then entered a lengthy series of state and federal appeals. A federal appeals court eventually overturned the original judgment because of an error involving the exclusion of a prospective juror during jury selection.
Texas prosecuted Granviel again. His second capital murder trial began in 1983, and on May 5, 1983, the jury found him guilty of the capital murder of Natasha McClendon. The required punishment questions were answered in a manner that resulted in another death sentence. His conviction and sentence survived subsequent state and federal challenges.
Execution
Granviel remained under a death sentence for more than twenty years as his case moved repeatedly through the courts. On February 27, 1996, his final attempts to obtain another stay of execution were rejected. Kenneth Granviel was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. He was 45 years old.
Granviel's confirmed murder record consists of seven victims: Laura McClendon, Linda McClendon, Martha McClendon, Steven McClendon, Natasha McClendon, Vera Hill, and Betty Williams. The concentration of five murders within a single Fort Worth family, followed by two additional killings four months later, made his crimes one of the most disturbing multiple-murder cases prosecuted in Texas during the 1970s.
