Originally published in The Rock River Times.
In 1958, Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate made headlines when they conducted a killing spree that would claim eleven lives. When the news broke about the couple, Rockford remembered another young couple and the case that was called the “Honeymoon Crime Tour”.
On March 31, 1937, J. Albin Theander left his house in Stillman Valley at 7:00a.m. to drive to Rockford where he worked at a clothing store. Albin was a tailor at Mason Inc. Clothing Store on North Main Street in Rockford. But Albin never made it inside the store that morning. Albin’s family spent ten agonizing days searching and praying for his safe return. His wife tried to stay brave for their five children. But on April 10, they received the worst news possible.
Two boys riding their bikes from Rockford to Cherry Valley had stumbled on a dead body. It was in a ditch found close to where Charles Street interests with Mulford Road in a wooded area. The police arrived and found identification in the man’s pockets. Coroner Warren Ives declared that Albin had been dead since the morning he went missing. He had a contact wound to the back of his head from a .38 caliber revolver.
Winnebago County Sheriff Johnson was put in charge of the case. The lack of evidence at the scene was a clear indication to the sheriff that this case would be a challenge. He had no idea that this was just the beginning of a crime spree that would involve several states and multiple victims.
After Albin’s body was discovered, a middle-aged couple came to the Sheriff’s office. Their eighteen year old daughter, Bernice, was missing. Mr. and Mrs. Felton told the police a complex story about their daughter and her boyfriend, Lester William Brockhurst. They were both Sunday school teachers who met at a conference near Elgin, Illinois.
The Feltons liked the twenty-three year old man and were pleased when the couple became engaged. But Lester got into trouble when he was caught stealing from candy shops and sent to Pontiac Reformatory School. Bernice’s father, Abraham believed in second chances and agreed to sponsor the young man. Lester moved to Rockford to stay with the family after his parole.
The future seemed bright for the young couple. Lester got a job working at a printing office and Bernice worked at the National Lock Plant. The couple was eager to marry but Bernice’s parents asked them to wait until Lester was finished serving the terms of his parole. The Felton’s were relieved when the couple agreed.
What happened next made Bernice’s parents wonder if they had ever really known Lester. They would spend many sleepless nights reliving every interaction they ever had with him. On April 1, they received a postcard from Bernice announcing that the couple had eloped.
Over two weeks passed and then the news broke that Albin’s car had been found. It was located in Dallas. Texas on April 30. It was identified as a car used in a robbery in Fort Worth where a man had been shot. There were pictures, personal items, and a .38 caliber revolver in the car that led authorities in Texas to believe that Lester had been involved in the shooting. Jack Griffith had been shot in an attempted robbery when he ran to help a woman being attacked by a young man. Jack Lived long enough to identify the man in the photographs as the one who shot him. Lester was now wanted for the deaths of two men in two different states. Sheriff Johnson and the authorities in Texas agreed to call in the F.B.I.
They began tracking crimes all over the country. On May 5, 1937 a man’s body was found in a ditch outside of Lonoke, Arkansas. The case was eerily similar to Albin’s. Fifty year old Victor Gates’ car had been stolen and he was shot in the back of the head. On May 6, the F.B.I. declared Lester William Brockelhurst as “Public Enemy No. 1 of the Southern States.” Fear spread as the country wondered where the next crime would occur.
It was not until May 13 that the Felton family got the news it was waiting for. Lester and Bernice had been arrested in Armenia, New York for a license plate violation. The reunion between the Felton’s and their daughter was bitter sweet. Bernice swore she had no idea that Lester had killed anyone. She also told them she was pregnant. Lester confessed to killing all three men and bragged that he also committed over twenty seven robberies while on the run. The couple was gone for five weeks and had covered over five thousand miles.
Though Winnebago County Sheriff Paul Johnson traveled to New York hoping to be able to bring Brockelhurst back to Rockford to stand trial for the murder of Albin, he was unsuccessful. Lester would be tried in Arkansas first. Arkansas authorities announced that Lester and Bernice would be tried separately for murder in the first degree. In a move that surprised everyone, Arkansas also stated that they would seek the death penalty in both cases.
The couple waited for their separate trials in Little Rock, Arkansas. Lester’s trial was first and only lasted one day. The jury deliberated for twenty two minutes. Lester was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to die in the electric chair. He fainted when he heard the verdict.
Bernice was tried the next day. Though Lester declared he still loved her, he testified against Bernice. He stated that contrary to her statements, Bernice helped him commit the crimes and was even entertained by them. The jury didn’t believe him and returned with a not guilty verdict. Many people in the courtroom agreed with the jury. They applauded and rushed forward to congratulate Bernice and her family. The Felton’s brought their daughter back to Rockford and hoped to put it all behind them. Bernice gave birth to a daughter in December 1937.
Lester was executed on March 17, 1938 in Tucker, Arkansas. He never showed any remorse for the killing of the three men or the other crimes he committed. Lester was buried in Galesburg, Illinois.
Unfortunately, Arkansas was not finished with Bernice. They couldn’t try her again for the murder of Victor Gates, but they could bring charges against her for being in a stolen car that had been driven across state lines. It was called the Dyer Act and was a federal offense. Bernice pled guilty and was sentenced to three to five years. The Felton’s were granted custody of their grand-daughter while Bernice served her sentence. Bernice returned to her family in Rockford after her release. She lived a long productive life and was buried in Sunset Memorial Gardens in 2007.
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