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A year after 21 year old Valerie Percy was murdered in Kenilworth, Illinois. Two men were arrested on unrelated charges in Pennsylvania. The criminals, 40 year old Freddie Malchow and 24 year old Jimmy Evans were in the same burglary crew and cellmates in jail. According To Jimmy, Freddie confessed to killing Valerie in a robbery gone wrong. Detectives working the case were intrigued, but it wasn't so simple. Jimmy had waited three years to share this information, and it couldn't be corroborated, because by then, Freddie was already dead. Shortly after Freddie's alleged confession to Jimmy in 1967, the two men had broken out of prison. They found a hacksaw, slipped their cuffs, and went on the lam. Afterwards, they hid out in an abandoned basement and laid low and waiting for the heat to die down. But it didn't. Police eventually tracked them down, and they were forced to take off again. While running away on foot, Freddy slipped and fell off the edge of a bridge. He hit the rocky riverbed below and died instantly. Once Jimmy was back in custody, he eventually told the police about Freddy's role in Valerie's death. And while the authorities believed Jimmy was being honest, they couldn't be sure if Freddie had told Jimmy the whole truth. Robert Lamb, the head detective on Valerie's murder case, was determined to find out what was fact and what was fiction. Detective Lamb took a closer look at Freddy and realized there were several details that made him seem like a real possibility. First, he was a seasoned burglar with a long rap sheet, someone who specialized in nighttime home invasions. Second, investigators confirmed he'd been in the Chicago area at the time of the murder. They'd located an airline ticket backing up the story that he'd flown from Texas to Illinois. And finally, there was a striking similarity between the Percy home invasion and. And another burglary that had taken place in Kenilworth the previous summer. Specifically, the method that was used to shatter the glass French doors. The intruder had scored an X into the glass, then smashed it. According to Detective Lamb, that technique wasn't something a novice would try. It was a professional move, one that fit Freddy's M.O. it wasn't a smoking gun, but it was something. And luckily, there was a piece of evidence that could confirm Freddy's story once and for all. Eventually, authorities searched Freddy's former home, the one Jimmy had mentioned. There, they found the bloodied pants just how Jimmy had described. But the forensics at the time couldn't determine much. The sample was too degraded, or the testing was too limited. Investigators couldn't even tell whether the blood was human or animal. Just like that, the momentum faded. They had no suspect, no hard evidence, and no idea where to go next. The Percy case went cold and stayed that way for the next few years. But then, in 1973, two Chicago Sun Times reporters started Chasing a strange new lead, Arthur Patak and Hugh Huff had gotten a tip from an unlikely source. A used car salesman named Harold Hohmeier told them his brother, 46 year old Frank Hohmeyer, was the killer. According to Harold, the day after Valerie's murder, Frank came to him visibly shaken. Frank was a career burglar, the head of a whole crew of thieves. Apparently there had been trouble on his latest job and Frank said he had to off somebody. When Harold pressed him for more details, Frank shrugged him off and said the details were all over the papers. The only major murder at the time had been Valerie Percy's. Still, Harold's account was all hearsay and the reporters knew it. They also knew Harold had some skeletons in his closet. He was reportedly a compulsive gambler who was likely in debt. And Senator Charles Percy's $50,000 reward was still available. When that kind of money is on the table, there is no honor. Apparently not even among brothers. Even so, the reporters wanted to take a closer look. Because Frank Homeyer wasn't just any burglar. He was a well known professional thief with a reputation for having connections to the Mafia. At the time that Harold came forward, Frank was serving a 30 year sentence for a string of burglaries in Denver and Indianapolis. He'd been arrested in 1969, three years after Valerie's murder. That meant he was a free man when she was killed in 1966. If it turned out he was in Illinois when Valerie died, who is to say he wasn't her murderer? And Harold wasn't the only one who thought Frank was responsible. Frank's ex girlfriend also told the Sun Times reporters that he'd killed Valerie. She wasn't the most reliable witness, though. He'd recently broken up with her and it seemed like she was angry about the split. Still, the reporters were determined to follow up on the tip. But instead of just asking Frank for an interview, they did something a bit more theatrical. They arranged for a jailhouse confrontation. Frank versus his brother Harold. They wanted the truth, and maybe some fireworks too. Surprisingly, Frank agreed. The dramatic face off happened one afternoon in 1973. The reporters, Arthur and Hugh made their way to the Iowa prison where Frank Homeeyer was housed. They were joined by a local detective as well as Harold. Maybe it wasn't so surprising that Frank welcomed the motley crew. He was a theatrical criminal himself. A self styled outlaw with a flair for storytelling and a hunger for recognition. At the the time, he was even working on a manuscript titled the Home Confessions of a Cat burglar. If anyone was going to brag about a high profile crime just to beef up his own legend, it was Frank. But once the confrontation began, Frank didn't take the bait. He flat out denied any involvement in Valerie's murder. According to him, Harold had it all wrong. Then he did something unexpected. He pointed the finger at someone else. Frank said the real killer was a former associate of his, a fellow thief named Billy Jackson. To back it up, Frank even offered details about the crime scene that were never made public. It gave investigators pause. But before anyone could question Jackson, he died from a sudden and suspicious fall off a Chicago building. Whether it was a suicide, an accident or something more sinister, no one could say for sure. At that point, detectives went back to Frank to question him some more. He changed his story once again and this time he told investigators that someone else from his gang had actually killed Valerie Percy. And it was a name they'd heard before. Freddy Malchow. According to Frank, on the day of the murder, Freddy had shown up at his apartment along with Billy Jackson and Jimmy Evans, Malchow's eventual cellmate. Frank said Freddy begged for a change of clothes because his were soaked in blood. Frank claimed he burned the bloody clothes himself. He said Freddie later confessed to the murder but didn't give any specifics. For Detective Robert Lamb, this was confirmation that he'd been right all along. Not only was there circumstantial evidence connecting Freddy to the crime, the but two separate criminal associates had named him as the killer. That had to count for something. But with Freddy dead, there wasn't much more Lamb could do. He couldn't definitively tie him to the crime. And without physical evidence or a living suspect to interrogate, the case hit that same dead end. Despite the lack of a definitive breakthrough, the Sun Times did win a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting. Frank Hohmeier published his book the home invaders in 1975, the same one he was drafting during his time in prison. And although he remained one of the key suspects in Valerie Percy's murder, he was never officially charged or arrested before his death in 2005. As for Freddie Malchow, his family spent years trying to understand whether he was truly a suspect or just a convenient scapegoat. They've long wondered why investigators never compared his fingerprint or palm print against the ones found in the Percy's home. Authorities said they had usable prints from the crime scene and both Freddy and Frank's prints were on file. Freddy's brother Daniel was more open to the possibility that Freddie had been involved. The two had grown up in a rough environment. They were raised in an orphanage, then cut loose by the system as teenagers. They turned to burglary early. Daniel remembered his brother as a gifted thief, someone who could strut into the fanciest homes and walk out with diamonds completely undetected. But he also had a darker side. Daniel admitted that Freddy was capable of getting aggressive when provoked. If something went wrong mid job, he could see Freddy panicking and resorting to violence to get things back under control. But even though many people seemed to think Freddy was responsible, he wasn't the only possible suspect. And decades after Valerie's death, an unexpected new lead would call the entire case into question. Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless. And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why you should 1. It's $15 a month.
