Shraman Mitra
Stanley Walker and Michelle Ansley were manning the Hi-Fi audio store as usual on April 22, 1974, when Dale Selby Pierre and William Andrews forced their way into the establishment. The masked gunmen then restrained five people, including Stanley and Michelle, and took them down to the basement as hostages. The victims were then subjected to brutal torture before the robbers decided to shoot three of them to death. ‘Violent Minds: Killers on Tape’ chronicles the shocking incident and dives into the reason behind the heinous murders. Well, let’s study the details and find out why Dale and William committed the Hi-Fi murders, shall we?
Horrific Crime: Hostage Torture and Murder Details
Around the time of the Hi-Fi murders, Dale Selby Pierre and William Andrews were employed in the American Air Force and posted at the Hill Air Force Base in Davis County, Utah. In fact, shortly after the murder, one of William’s colleagues rang up the law enforcement officials and claimed that the suspect had talked about robbing the same store and killing anyone who would stand in his way. Although the co-worker initially believed that William was joking, the brutality of the crime made it impossible for him to withhold that information from the police. However, the colleague had no idea why William and Dale would choose to rob that specific store on that date.
On April 22, 1974, Dale and William drove up to the Hi-Fi store in Ogden. Although they were accompanied by another air force personnel named Keith Leon Roberts, the latter stayed outside while Dale and William broke in with guns. Subsequently, they restrained Stanley Walker and Michelle Ansley, two store employees, and Cortney Naisbitt, a teenager who was present on the scene at that time. Shortly after, Stanley’s father, Orren Walker, and Cortney’s mother, Carol Naisbitt, arrived to check on their kids, and they, too, were taken hostage.
Once the hostages were secured in the basement, Dale and William forced them to drink from a bottle of Drano, which burned their throats and caused blisters around their mouths. Besides, while William kept antagonizing the hostages, Dale dragged Michelle to a corner and raped her mercilessly. Moreover, once Dale realized that the Drano was not enough to kill the hostages, he took out a gun and shot Carol in the back of her head at close range. He also took shots at the other captives, but while Michelle and Stanley died on the spot, the others managed to hang on to their lives. Reports also mention that the robbers attempted to strangle Orren to death, and once that did not work, they jabbed a pen into his ear, rupturing his eardrum, before escaping the scene.
By the time first responders arrived at the scene, they found Michelle and Stanley dead from close-range gunshot wounds. Moreover, even though Carol was still alive, she died shortly after being transported to a nearby hospital. On the other hand, Cortney Naisbitt and Orren Walker recovered from their injuries, but while Cortney was left with permanent brain damage, Orren’s hearing was ruined for life.
Shortly after the incident, the police were informed of William’s plan to rob the store, and they even learned how some of the victims’ belongings were spotted inside a dumpster near Hill Air Force Base. This investigation soon led to Dale and William, and the police arrested them after locating the stolen goods as well as the bottle of Drano in their possession. When questioned, Dale and William claimed they wanted to rob the store for money. However, they insisted that murder was not on their agenda, and the killings were spontaneous and committed in the heat of the moment.
The Execution of Dale Selby and William Andrews
When presented in court, Dale and William pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. However, they were both convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. As a result, the judge handed them three death sentences each in 1974. In the years following the sentencing, Dale and William accused the law of racial discrimination and claimed that the entire jury was white. Popular non-governmental organizations like Amnesty International and the Inter-American Commission supported the convicts’ claims, but the death sentences were never overturned.
Incidentally, Dale was executed by lethal injection at the Utah State Prison in Draper on August 28, 1987, and even though the Inter-American Commission tried to get a stay order on William’s execution, they ultimately failed. Hence, William was also executed by lethal injection at the Utah State Prison in Draper on July 30, 1992. Moreover, in 1996, the Inter-American Commission found the United States in violation of its international obligations, as it allegedly did not fulfill William’s right to a trial free of racial discrimination. However, with no further reports on the accusation, the country believes all laws were followed regarding Dale and William’s executions.
Read More: Stanley Walker and Michelle Ansley Murders: How Did They Die? Who Killed Them?
