Today Is 50th Anniversary Of Most Brutal Crime In Utah History

The date was April 22, 1974.

It was about time to close the Hi-fi record and stereo shop in Ogden, Utah, with employees Stanley Walker, aged 20, and Michelle Ansley, aged 18, preparing to lock up and go home for the evening.

Suddenly and without warning, two vans screeched up to the store and four armed men jumped out and entered the store.

Shouting and waving the guns in the air, the criminals took the two employees hostage and two of the gunmen, Dale Pierre and William Andrews (helicopter mechanics at the local Hill Air Force Base), took the employees to the basement of the store and tied them up.

While they were doing that, the other two gunmen began taking stereo equipment out to the vans, where a getaway driver in each van was waiting to drive away.

Moments later, during the robbery, a 16-year-old boy, Cortney Naisbitt, stopped by the store and was immediately taken hostage by the criminals. He was also taken to the basement and tied up.

With the robbery taking longer than expected, Pierre and Andrews started to become agitated while "watching" the hostages.

As the evening grew longer, Walker's dad, Orren stopped in to check on his son, who was later than expected. Orren was taken hostage and tied up near his son, with Naisbitt's mother suffering the same fate a few minutes later after stopping in to check on her son.

With five bound hostages, Pierre and Williams grew even more agitated

Whether it was premeditated, or a spur of the moment idea, the pair decided to "get rid of" the hostages.

Pierre and Andrews had Drano pipe cleaner and forced the hostages to drink the caustic substance. But instead of killing the victims, the Drano only created blisters and pain for the victims.

When the hostages didn't die, their attackers shot four of them, killing two. A fifth victim, Ansley, was raped before she was then fatally shot.

Only 16-year-old Naisbitt and Orren Walker survived the attack, despite both being shot in the head and Walker being stabbed in the ear with a ballpoint open..

Walker's description of two of the assailants matched two airmen from Hill Air Force Base, whom police had been investigating.

Pierre and Andrews were convicted that year and were executed in 1987 and 1992, respectively.

Naisbitt, though he survived, suffered severe brain damage. His severe bouts of amnesia kept him from testifying in the trial of the men.

Orren Walker also suffered some debilitating effects from the attack, but was lucid enough to provide testimony that eventually led to the execution death of the Pierre and Andrews.

One of the getaway drivers was also charged with a lesser robbery charge. The other three involved (the two who remained upstairs and the second getaway driver) were never caught.

It was a crime that stunned Utah and made national headlines.

It was the most brutal crime in modern state history.

And it happened 50 years ago today.

ABC4's Marcos Ortiz looks back at the crime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fOOWBdWEjI\

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