Larry DeWayne Hall, who is serving a life sentence on a federal kidnapping charge, is in many ways a cinematic serial killer --- bullied as a child, a juvenile bed-wetter, he even grew up on a cemetery, where his father was the sexton. He drove a van incessantly and stalked his victims. Some investigators believe Hall, who traveled the country as a Civil War reenactment buff, may be responsible for the disappearances and deaths of as many as 40 women and girls.
In other ways Hall is an atypical serial offender. He’s a twin, for instance. He’s described as having a dependent personality, and rarely displayed anger.
But the most surprising, and frightening, detail about Hall? Despite having confessed to multiple violent crimes, including the mysterious abduction of Laurie Depies in Wisconsin in 1992, Hall has never been convicted of murder.
Christopher Hawley Martin, who grew up in the same small town as Hall, Wabash, Ind., is an ordained pastor, a musician and writer. Martin’s interest in the neighborhood serial killer led him to write the book Urges: A Chronicle of Serial Killer Larry Hall. After reading the book I emailed with Martin about Hall. I was interested to know more about Martin’s thoughts on Hall’s background, his ability to evade capture, his contradictions, and what other long-unsolved mysteries might be connected to Hall.
Martin’s fascinating answers, below:
How did your interest in Larry Hall begin? Did you know Hall or his family growing up in Wabash?
My father, Richard, was a policeman in Wabash, Indiana for many years. My sister, Shirley, followed our father into law enforcement. Shirley and I had read about serial killers for decades and we had many times compared ideas on their behavior and motivations. Shirley told me sometime in the late 1980s that she was sure we had a serial killer operating somewhere in the region because there were murdered and missing women in Marion, Kokomo, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and other cities and towns in Indiana and Michigan.
I remember when Larry Hall was arrested in 1994 for the kidnapping of Jessica Roach of Georgetown, Illinois and what my sister had said about a serial killer. Jessica was found murdered in a cornfield near Perrysville, Indiana in the autumn of 1993. I knew several of the police who had had contact with Larry over the years and I talked to them about his behavior. I suspected Larry was responsible for many more murders and disappearances than most people suspected. The prosecutors and investigators I worked with concurred.
Larry and Gary Hall were Civil War reenactors and journeyed to many states pursuing the hobby. I began to research where they traveled and if there were murdered or missing women at or near the reenactment events. A chilling picture emerged ... there were many.
I believed the full story of Larry Hall had not been revealed. I had written for several magazines including Business People and North American Whitetail, so I decided to write a book telling the story of Larry Hall.
There is a very large cemetery in Wabash, Indiana named after the nearby falls in Charley Creek ... Falls Cemetery. I lived in the neighborhood as a youngster and of course, there were many myths and legends about the cemetery and the house on the grounds. The sexton and his family lived there. In December of 1962, identical twins, Larry DeWayne, and Gary Wayne Hall were born and came home to the house in Falls Cemetery. There was a problem during the birth, which resulted in Larry being deprived of oxygen.
I attended the same elementary school as the Halls and, although there is ten years’ difference in our ages, we were taught by several of the same teachers. We played in the same places, including the cemetery, Charley Creek and the nearby Wabash City Park.
As the twins grew, they were seen around town and were ridiculed and scorned because of their small stature, odd behavior and because they lived in a cemetery. I would see them in public places but I did not personally know the twins. They kept to themselves.
I first talked to Gary Hall via telephone in 2009 when I was researching the book. I wrote to Larry Hall at about the same time. He wrote back and later called me from prison. We have corresponded and spoken many times since. I last talked to Larry on March 4 and received a letter from him the next week.
I see Hall recently confessed to the abduction of Laurie Depies, a connection you touch upon as a possibility in your book. I know you think Hall is a good suspect for the Springfield Three disappearances as well. I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between Depies and Susie Streeter. If Hall is involved in the Springfield case, how do you think it came about?
Larry has admitted responsibility for Laurie Depies. He has also confessed in three other cases since the book was published.
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