Herman Edward Lamb Jr.: Convicted Murderer and Suspected Serial Killer
Background and Criminal History
Herman Edward “Eddie” Lamb Jr. was born on January 18, 1946, and grew up in the Sallisaw, Oklahoma, area. He developed a criminal record while still a teenager. In 1961, at approximately 15 years old, Lamb was convicted on a federal automobile-theft charge. He was sentenced to three years in custody and reportedly served about 19 months before being paroled.
During the following decades, Lamb moved between several states and worked at different times as a pipeline laborer, roofer, woodcutter and horse trainer. He also spent substantial periods incarcerated. His record eventually included violent offenses in Florida and Illinois, while investigators and victims’ relatives suspected that he was responsible for additional killings in Oklahoma.
Lamb is frequently described as a suspected serial killer because he was convicted or entered a plea in two separate killings and was prosecuted for the deaths of five members of one family. However, the distinction between proven and suspected crimes is important. Lamb was convicted of murdering Denise Stahlhut in Illinois and reportedly entered a no-contest plea to second-degree murder in a separate Florida case. He was acquitted of the five Oklahoma murders, which remain officially unsolved.
The Murder of Denise Stahlhut
On December 3, 1977, 21-year-old Denise Stahlhut disappeared after leaving her job at Ronnie B’s Place, a tavern in southern Illinois. Stahlhut was a waitress and had been married for only about one week. Witnesses later recalled seeing a man resembling Lamb leave the tavern after her.
Stahlhut did not return home, and her disappearance quickly became a desperate search. Eight days later, investigators found her frozen body inside the trunk of her own automobile at a truck stop. She had been sexually assaulted and killed. The placement of her body in the trunk suggested that the killer had attempted to transport or conceal her after the attack.
The case remained unresolved for years. Biological evidence recovered during the original investigation was eventually examined through modern DNA testing. The resulting profile linked Lamb to the crime, giving prosecutors the physical evidence needed to charge him decades after Stahlhut’s death.
Lamb was convicted of Stahlhut’s rape and murder and received a prison sentence totaling more than 100 years. The conviction finally brought a legal resolution to a case that had haunted Stahlhut’s relatives since 1977. Her family remained active in the legal process, attending parole-related hearings to make certain that Lamb remained imprisoned.
The Florida Murder Case
In addition to the Stahlhut conviction, Lamb was connected to the killing of a woman in Florida who was described in later accounts as a nude dancer. He reportedly entered a plea of no contest to second-degree murder. A no-contest plea does not formally admit guilt, but it permits the court to treat the defendant as guilty for sentencing purposes.
Publicly accessible accounts of Lamb’s life provide few consistent details about the Florida victim’s identity, the exact date of her death or the location of the killing. Because those details could not be reliably verified, they are not presented as established facts. The Florida prosecution nevertheless became an important part of the argument that Lamb’s violence extended beyond a single homicide.
The Sallisaw Family Murders
During the summer of 1985, Lamb’s former wife, 35-year-old Linda Ann Wheeler, disappeared with four of her children: Angela Yvonne Moseley, Edward Martin Moseley, Michael Lloyd Moseley and Terry Lee Lamb. The family was associated with Oklahoma City, but their remains were eventually discovered at a remote campsite near Sallisaw in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.
The bodies were found during November 1985. Wheeler had reportedly been beaten and stabbed. The children were also determined to have been homicide victims. Terry Lamb, who was Herman Lamb’s biological son, was found separately after the initial recovery of the other family members, although his remains were located in the same general campsite area.
Investigators focused on Herman Lamb, who had previously been married to Wheeler. A witness reportedly placed him near the area where the bodies were discovered, and prosecutors charged him with the five murders. The prosecution contended that Lamb had killed Wheeler and the children and concealed their bodies at the isolated location.
The case went to trial, but the evidence did not persuade the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Lamb was acquitted of all five murders. An acquittal prevented him from being retried for the same offenses, and no other person was later charged. The killings of Wheeler and her children therefore remain officially unresolved.
The acquittal did not end suspicion surrounding Lamb. Wheeler’s relatives and members of Stahlhut’s family continued to believe that he had committed the Oklahoma murders. His later conviction for Stahlhut’s murder, together with the Florida case, strengthened their belief that the deaths near Sallisaw were part of a wider pattern of violence.
Known and Suspected Victims
- Denise Stahlhut — December 3, 1977 — Southern Illinois: Stahlhut was a 21-year-old waitress and newlywed who disappeared after leaving Ronnie B’s Place. Her body was found eight days later in the trunk of her automobile at a truck stop. DNA evidence eventually linked Lamb to her sexual assault and murder, resulting in his conviction and a sentence of more than 100 years.
- Unidentified Florida victim — Date and precise location not reliably established: Later accounts state that Lamb entered a no-contest plea to second-degree murder in the killing of a nude dancer in Florida. Her name and exact death date could not be consistently verified in accessible records.
- Linda Ann Wheeler — Summer 1985; body found November 1985 — Near Sallisaw, Oklahoma: Wheeler, 35, was Lamb’s former wife. She disappeared with four of her children and was later found at a remote campsite. Her death involved beating and stabbing. Lamb was charged but acquitted, and the homicide remains officially unsolved.
- Angela Yvonne Moseley — Summer 1985; body found November 1985 — Near Sallisaw, Oklahoma: Angela was one of Wheeler’s children. She disappeared with her mother and siblings before being found dead at the campsite. Lamb was prosecuted for her murder but was acquitted.
- Edward Martin Moseley — Summer 1985; body found November 1985 — Near Sallisaw, Oklahoma: Edward disappeared with Wheeler and the other children. His remains were recovered in the remote campsite area. No one has been convicted of his murder.
- Michael Lloyd Moseley — Summer 1985; body found November 1985 — Near Sallisaw, Oklahoma: Michael was found dead with members of his family after their disappearance. Lamb was charged in the case but found not guilty at trial.
- Terry Lee Lamb — Summer 1985; body found November 1985 — Near Sallisaw, Oklahoma: Terry, approximately 14 years old, was Herman Lamb’s son. His body was located after the remains of his mother and siblings were discovered. Lamb was acquitted of Terry’s murder, leaving the case unresolved.
Investigation, Conviction and Continuing Suspicion
The strongest case against Lamb was the murder of Denise Stahlhut. Unlike the Oklahoma prosecution, which depended heavily on circumstantial evidence, the Illinois case was revived through DNA technology. The biological evidence directly connected Lamb to the sexual assault, allowing prosecutors to overcome the passage of time and secure a conviction.
The Oklahoma murders remained more complicated. Although investigators believed there was sufficient evidence to bring Lamb to trial, the jury’s acquittal meant that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Lamb’s later convictions and violent history could not retroactively establish his legal guilt in the Sallisaw killings.
For this reason, Lamb’s classification as a serial killer requires qualification. He was legally responsible for at least two separate homicide cases when his Illinois conviction and Florida plea are considered. He was also suspected of killing five additional people in Oklahoma. The five campsite murders, however, remain allegations rather than convictions.
Death in Custody
Lamb remained incarcerated in Illinois for the murder of Denise Stahlhut. In the weeks before his death, he was reportedly transferred from prison to a hospital. He died on November 30, 2020, at the age of 74. The precise medical cause of his death was not publicly established in contemporary reports.
News of Lamb’s death brought mixed emotions to the families affected by his crimes. Stahlhut’s relatives expressed relief that he could never be released or harm another person, while still grieving the future that had been taken from Denise. For the relatives of Linda Wheeler and her children, Lamb’s death also meant that any information he possessed about the Sallisaw murders might never be disclosed.
Legacy of the Cases
Herman Edward Lamb Jr.’s criminal history stretches across several states and illustrates the difficulty of investigating violent offenders whose crimes occurred years apart. The Stahlhut case demonstrated how preserved biological evidence and improved DNA testing could identify a killer long after the original investigation had stalled.
The Sallisaw murders present a different legacy. Five members of one family were found dead in an isolated area, a suspect was arrested and tried, but no conviction followed. Although Lamb remained the best-known suspect, the acquittal left the murders legally unsolved and prevented the families from receiving a definitive courtroom answer.
Lamb died with one major murder conviction, a reported second-degree-murder plea in Florida and enduring suspicion in five additional deaths. His history is therefore best understood as that of a convicted murderer and suspected serial killer whose full involvement in several violent crimes was never conclusively determined.
