Texarkana Police Announce Suspect in 1981 Alexander Cold Case

• Texarkana Police Announce 1981 Cold Case Probable Suspect
• Karen and Gordon Alexander Murder
• Texarkana 42 Year Cold Case Solved

The murders of Karen and Gordon Alexander back in 1981 have had Texarkana asking questions about who was responsible for a very very long time and now we have an answer. The Texarkana Arkansas Police Department conducted a press conference announcing information about this case.   

Karen and Gordon were sister and brother and just kids at the time of their murder. She was 14 years old and he was 13. They were both brutally stabbed in their home on Baden Street in Texarkana, Arkansas, and were found on the morning of April 8, 1981.

Karen and Gordon's bodies were found by their dad Weldon Alexander when he came home from a night shift at Cooper Tire. When he entered the house and saw Gordon on the kitchen floor dead but thought that Karen was still alive.

Weldon told officers that he removed a kitchen knife from Karen’s body and put it on a bookshelf before the police arrived that morning.

Karen was sent to St. Michael Hospital but she died a few days later from her injuries.

2022 The Cold Case Was Looked at Again

In February of 2022, Captain Calvin Seward who worked on the case back in 1981
was allowed to reopen the case. He submitted evidence from the original investigation, interviewed people and also submitted DNA profiles from many of those people for testing. The bodies Karen and Gordon were extracted to retrieve DNA from under their fingernails. Seward also resubmitted articles of evidence to the State Crime Lab for processing.

According to the TAPD press release,

A familial relationship in the DNA determined that Weldon Alexander’s semen was discovered on Karen Alexander’s bedding. With this information and a statement written by Detective Gary Stringer, a lead investigator in the case in 1981, and one of the first detectives to arrive at the scene, they learned that Gordon Alexander’s body had been cold to the touch when police officers arrived at the scene.

Police now theorize that both Karen and Gordon were assaulted by the father, Weldon Alexander before he went to work his shift at Cooper Tire around 11 PM the previous night. Police found no sign of forced entry into the house and Weldon was the last person to see Gordon and Karen alive. Police also feel that the weapon used was a weapon of opportunity because it was a butter knife they think Weldon got from the kitchen.

The autopsy revealed that Karen Alexander had been vaginally penetrated 48 to 72 hours prior to her death. Trace evidence discovered in the dried blood on
Gordon’s hands and Karen’s body contained fibers, brass, copper, and zinc, all of which were materials used in the construction of tires at Copper Tire and Rubber.

Weldon Alexander passed away back in 2014, but the evidence is so strong that if he was still alive today, Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell would have issued an arrest warrant for two counts of Capital Murder.
In a Q&A session after the press conference, investigators were asked what they thought the motive was and the consensus is that Weldon made advances to his daughter Karen and she more than likely refused.

They ended the press conference by thanking the team that brought this investigation to a close,

It is our hope that the friends and remaining family of Gordon and Karen Alexander may find some peace in knowing that scientific and circumstantial evidence has been revealed sufficient to resolve this 42-year-old case. We wish to express our greatest appreciation to the team of Retired Texarkana Arkansas Police Department Captain Calvin Seward, Dr. Todd Steffy of the Arkansas State Police Cold Case Unit, Kelly Dixon of the Arkansas State Crime Lab, and so many other detectives, police officers,
concerned citizens and advocacy groups who provided information and assistance in this case.

 

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