Pauline Francis Storment

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Fayetteville Police Department (AR)

Offense Location:

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Summary:

On April 12th around 9:20 PM, Pauline left the University of Arkansas campus library and proceeded to walk south along Duncan Avenue. She was stabbed 7 to 8 times at the intersection of South Duncan Ave. & Treadwell Street. Witnesses saw a man about 6ft with glasses, wearing a brown sport coat following her.

Vital Statistics

Additional Details:

A 17yr Peter Kunkle was arrested but latter cut loose after passing a polygraph. An anonymous letter was received in the 80s at Master Detective Magazine stating Pauline's murder was a case of mistaken identity. The letter was mailed from the former South Hampton Correction Center in Capron, Virginia. Three men from Fayetteville spent time at the South Hampton Correctional Center one witness Joe Clifton, and two of Peter Kunkles friends Richard Finley and Terry Smith. A letter from a Barbara Hamilton was sent to a Detective Coffman claiming her sister Betty Baker's husband told his mom that a Stephen Cooper killed Pauline with a big knife and Cooper would go on to kill a man in Prescot, Arizona in 1973 in a similar violent manor as to how Pauline was killed. A month or two after the murder Jack Butler walked into the police department and confessed to the murder but the details were off and it was deemed a false confession, but he did state when he got home he was shocked to find his wife at home because he thought he killed her at first. Which speaks to the mistaken identity comment in the anonymous letter. A butcher knife was found stuck in the ground behind a nearby vacant house to the crime scene, but it was not believed to be the murder weapon. Unsolved but considered a closed case.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 29, 2025