WATERS LINKED TO 1984 HOMICIDE IN ILLINOIS

April 24, 2002

Revelation Linked To Plea Agreement In O'Hair Case?

The man who masterminded the kidnapping, extortion and murder of Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her family has reportedly confessed to killing a 36-year-old man in 1984.

David R. Waters, 54, is serving a 21 year sentence in a Kansas federal facility for extortion and weapons charges. He also faces 60 years in the Texas state penal system for conspiracy to commit robbery.

When he was 17, he pled guilty to charges that he and three other teens beat 16-year-old David Gibbs of Peoria, Illinois to death in a 1964 incident. According to the Journal Star newspaper, Waters and his companions had been drinking and sniffing ether before a fight erupted over the use of a car. Waters received a sentence of 30 to 60 years confinement, but served only 11 years before being granted parole. A mere 16 months later, he was again in trouble with authorities for beating his mother, and served 364 days for that offense.

The latest revelations focus on the murder of Billy King Sr. who was killed more than 18 years ago. In January, 1984 King's body was found in his van in West Peoria, shot multiple times with a small-caliber handgun. County Attorney Kevin Lyons said that Waters was interviewed at the time as a possible suspect and was "the last person who had seen (Billy King) alive." Police, however, did not have sufficient evidence to make an arrest.

Waters is terminally ill and dying of hepatitis. He has received immunity in confessing to the King murder, however, since he is not likely to live out his current sentence.

Peoria County detectives reactivated the unsolved murder after Waters was linked to the 1995 abduction of American Atheists founder Madalyn O'Hair, her son Jon Garth Murray and her granddaughter Robin Murray. The trio disappeared from their Austin, Texas offices in the fall of 1995, along with over $600,000 in money. It was later learned that David Waters, who had moved to Texas and gotten a job at the American Atheist Center, coordinated a plot with several other individuals to kidnap, extort and kill the three family members.

Waters reached an agreement with the government and led authorities to a remote ranch in south Texas where the Murray-O'Hairs were buried. Peoria County authorities reactivated the Billy King case, and traveled to Texas where they interviewed Waters about "something only the killer would know." According to Journal Star writer David Haney, that information was likely about the location of where King's van was parked and in what position the body was in. Waters "confessed to fatally shooting King and throwing the gun off a bridge into the Illinois River."

Peoria County detective Lt. Dave Briggs interviewed Waters in Texas, and described him as "a very soft spoken man, deliberate," who described the murder "matter-of-factly."

"At no time did he give any excuses or show any remorse whatsoever," Briggs said. "He (Waters) looked like he did in the old black and white photos, except older and grayer, and that he did not appear to be in good health."

According to one witness, King was last seen alive while in the company of David Waters and another friend who had been convicted in the 1964 murder of David Gibbs. Carl Welchman, Waters and King were placed at a bar on Main Street in Peoria, and all three left the bar in King's van. The body of Billy King was found a week later.

Authorities told the Journal Star that without Waters' confession, the King murder would never have been solved. Retired Deputy Tom Yentes investigated the case, and said that he was not surprised by the latest news. "I knew it all along," he said. Still, the paper reported: "Yentes hinted at the likelihood others were involved with King's death ... Other Sheriff's department officials also said they believed Waters may be taking the rap for others involved."

Other questions remain, such as why Waters shot King, and why he chose to confess to the killing after so many years. There is a hint that the confession may have played a part in the deal Waters reached with prosecutors in connection with his sentencing in the O'Hair affair. Under the agreement, Waters identified the burial site of the O'Hairs, and pled guilty to a single extortion conspiracy charge.

This latest development may spur further speculation and inquiry into the O'Hair case as well. Investigators linked Waters and a close ring of associates to a scheme to kidnap, extort and eventually murder the Murray O'Hair family. It is not known at this time, however, if Waters was linked to other individuals prior to the abduction of the family in the fall of 1995, or efforts to obtain assets owned by the trio and their network of Atheist corporations.

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