The Teen Couple Who Inspired the Film “Natural Born Killers”

Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate went on a killing spree

By Kassondra O'HaraPublished 4 years ago • 5 min read

Caril Ann Fugate, 14 and Charles Starkweather, 19

Charles Starkweather was born on November 24, 1938, in Lincoln, Nebraska as the third child of seven to Guy and Heather Starkweather. Charles’ father worked as a carpenter and his mother was a waitress. The Starkweathers were an average middle-class family.

Charles suffered from a stutter and was slightly bow-legged. This made school very difficult for him as he was constantly bullied. Charles began to channel his rage in the form of working out in gym class. However, the social outcast dropped out of school at 16 and got a job at a newspaper warehouse.

1955 is when the film Rebel Without a Cause, starring the radical James Dean, came to theaters. Charles identified with Dean’s character as an outsider and began to imitate the iconic actor’s style.

When Charles was 18, he met 13-year-old Caril Ann Fugate, and their relationship developed rather quickly. While the age of consent in Nebraska, both then and now, is 16 years old, Charles and Caril’s rebellious personalities drew them to one another.

As a sweet gesture, Charles taught Caril how to drive. However, the vehicle was her father’s car, which she subsequently crashed. This caused animosity between the Fugate and Starkweather families, and Charles was shunned by his family.

A Life of Crime

Out on his own, Charles got a job as a garbage collector. The “lowly” job as he viewed it was only securing his place in lifelong poverty and he decided that the only way that he was ever going to get the money to bolster his position was to take it.

On December 1, 1957, Starkweather tried to “purchase” a stuffed animal from a gas station on “credit”. When the gas station attendant, Robert Colvert, refused, Starkweather robbed him at gunpoint for $100. He then led Colvert into the woods behind the store and shot him in the head.

On January 21, 1958. Charles went to visit Caril at her home, but her mother and stepfather refused to let him in the home. They told Charles to leave and to stay away from Caril Ann. In turn, Charles shot and killed them both. Then he strangled and stabbed Caril’s two-year-old half-sister, Betty Jean, to death. After both teens were arrested, Caril insisted that she was not a willing participant in the gruesome murders, but Charles’ hostage. Charles told a different story.

The couple lived in the house with the bodies of Caril’s dead family for six days. Caril told anyone visiting the home that her family was bedridden with the flu. The couple left after other family members began growing suspicious.

The Killing Spree Begins

After murdering Caril’s family, she and Charles drove out to a farm belonging to one of Caril’s family friends, 70-year-old August Meyer. There, Charles shot and killed both Meyer and his dog with a shotgun. When the couple attempted to flee the farm, Charles’ car got stuck in the mud.

Their troubles were noticed by two other teenagers, Robert Jensen and Carol King, who stopped to help. Their good deed did not go unpunished as Charles shot and killed Jensen and then attempted but failed to, rape King before shooting her to death as well. Charles claimed that Caril actually shot King, but she strongly denied doing so.

After leaving the farm, the couple stopped at the home of wealthy industrialist, C. Lauer Ward just outside of Lincoln. Charles stabbed the maid, Lillian Fencl to death, killed the family dog, and then stabbed Ward’s wife, Clara when she arrived home. When Mr. Ward returned home, he was shot and left for dead as the couple stole items from the home and obtained a new vehicle to make their getaway.

Merle Collison was the couple’s next victim and was simply sleeping in his car in Douglas, Wyoming. Wanting his vehicle, the couple shot and killed Mr. Collison. While Charles insists that Caril was the murderer this time, she once again denied involvement.

Due to a breaking mechanism that Charles was unfamiliar with, the Buick that they tried to escape in, stalled. Another good samaritan, Joe Sprinkle, concerned for the young couple, stopped to help. He was met with Charles pulling a gun on him, which led to a Natrona County Sheriff’s Deputy showing up.

When the deputy, William Romer pulled up, Caril ran to him, stating that Charles was a murderer. However, she still participated in the high-speed chase that ensued. The chase ended once Sheriff Earl Heflin shot out the back window of the vehicle that the couple was running in. The broken glass cut Charles’s ear and he pulled over.

Charles Starkweather when he was arrested

He thought he was bleeding to death,” one of the arresting officers recalled. “That’s why he stopped. That’s the kind of yellow son of a bitch he is.”

Prosecution and Sentencing

The couple was arrested and Charles was initially only charged for the first-degree murder of Robert Jensen. Charles allowed himself to be extradited from Wyoming back to Nebraska. He believed that since the governor of Nebraska at the time was against executions that the prosecution would not seek the death penalty.

Charles did not anticipate, however, that the governor would change his mind specifically for his case.

Charles changed his story repeatedly in regards to Caril’s involvement in the crimes and then plead “not guilty by reason of insanity”. The jury saw through his tactics and sentenced Charles to death. He was executed by the electric chair on June 25, 1959, and buried in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, NB, where five of his victims are also buried.

Caril Ann Fugate’s Fate

Caril insisted throughout her trial that she was Charles’ hostage and she had no involvement in the murders. The judge believed that she had multiple opportunities to escape during the killing spree and that she participated willingly. He sentenced her to life in prison. At that time, she was the youngest person to be tried for first-degree murder in the United States.

Caril was paroled for good behavior after serving 18 years. She married and changed her name to Caril Ann Clair. Caril contacted the Nebraska parole board in February 2020, seeking a pardon for her crimes, which was denied.

Media Born of Murderers

It is worth noting that two movies were made as a result of the teenager’s crime spree. Badlands (1973), starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, as well as Natural Born Killers (1994), starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis were the most famous of the movies based on the murders. Bruce Springsteen also recorded the song “Nebraska” (1982), which describes the events from the point of view of Charles Starkweather.