Heath Stocks is an American criminal who confessed to killing his father Joe, mother Barbara, and sister Heather in the family home located in Lonoke, Arkansas on January 17, 1997.
History of abuse
Heath Stocks is a long-time victim of sexual and psychological abuse by his former Scoutmaster Charles "Jack" Walls III. For years prior to the murders of his family, Heath had a strained relationship with his father, mainly due to the interference of Walls, who exploited the difficulties in Heath and his father's relationship. Jack used the trust his parents had in him to create deep misunderstanding between the father and son. However, Heath would later say that his mother, sister, and grandparents were always supportive of him, even if they could not understand what was causing his anger and sadness. The abuse was confirmed nine days before the murders when Heath's mother witnessed her son being assaulted in his bedroom. This was not reported to police, mainly due to the threat of Walls's influence and his power to silence the community; Heath's mother Barbara was fearful of the situation. She did, however, confide what she had seen to her own mother, Annie May Harris and to her pastor, Reverend Robert Marble, who, by profession, was a mandatory reporter but told no one. Mrs. Harris did not communicate the information given to her by her daughter. She was informed there was a gag order evoked regarding the investigation into the murders and did not realize, and no one clarified, that the gag order did not render her information moot. Reverend Marble simply withheld the information not only during the investigation but would become a "hostile witness" during the investigation into Jack Walls a few months later. When Heath's mother and sister confronted Heath regarding what had been witnessed, he confessed to them that he had been sexually abused by Walls for years.
The murders
After revealing Jack's abuse to his mother and sister, Heath made what he calls "one of the greatest mistakes of my life" when he told Walls that the secret was out. Heath states that Walls became furious with him and instructed him to "kill the problem." This would not come into play during Heath's sentencing, but it would come to light a mere four months after Heath's sentence, when Walls's own nephew, Wade Knox, forced Walls to confess to Wade's parents, at gunpoint, to the repeated rapes of himself, his brother, and many other Boy Scouts, including Heath.
The night of the murders, the Stocks residence was ransacked and several articles of value were taken. He claimed that at the time his family arrived home, he was thinking of committing suicide with a .45 caliber handgun he had found in the house, and that he had the barrel of the gun in his mouth when they arrived. His sister returned home first, followed in less than five minutes by his mother and father.
After the murders of his parents and sister, Stocks fled the residence, driving to Arkadelphia and throwing items taken from the house out of the vehicle on his way, including the .45 caliber handgun. He was captured the next morning around 6:00 a.m. at the apartment of a friend, where he was asleep, following a statewide alert calling for his capture. Lonoke County investigators arrived, took custody of Stocks, and transported him back to Lonoke, where he was charged with three counts of capital murder.
Investigation and trial
Investigator Steve Finch took the lead on the investigation. Heath was interviewed numerous times in an attempt to understand how and why the murders occurred. According to one of these interviews, Heath admitted to murdering his mother, father, and sister, only after being pressured and manipulated to protect the secret of the man abusing him, who has been speculated to have been present during the murders. Pressured by his family, Stocks ultimately took the blame and pleaded guilty to all three murders. He received three consecutive life sentences.