Huling Family murder 1978 Stearns county

Alice Huling and 3 of her 4 children were murdered on 15 December 1978.

During the early morning hours of 15 December 1978, Alice Huling and three of her four children were murdered in their house located in rural Stearns County.   The surviving child, William Huling, was 11 years old at the time and was the only witness to the murders.   At trial, William testified that he was asleep in the upstairs bedroom he shared with his 13-year-old brother, Wayne, when at approximately 4:00 a.m. he was awakened by loud noises coming from the kitchen below.   He heard muffled noises and wrestling, and then a gunshot.   A short while later, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and saw a person standing in the doorway to the bedroom.   The person appeared to be of medium build, less than six feet tall, and wearing a stocking cap.   William could see a silhouette of the person’s face, but not well enough to make a positive identification. From his bed, Wayne asked, “Who are you?”   The person fired a shotgun at Wayne, killing him instantly.   The person then left the boys’ room and went to 16-year-old Susie’s bedroom where he shot her in the head, and proceeded to 12-year-old Patti’s bedroom where he shot her in the head.   Both girls died instantly.   After shooting both girls, the gunman returned to the boys’ room and fired twice at William, missing both times, and then left.   After 10 or 15 minutes, William got out of bed and fled to a neighbor’s house.

On the morning of December 19, four days after the murders, Wright County Deputy Sheriff Gary Miller was dispatched to the restaurant at the Clearwater Travel Plaza in response to a complaint about a customer later identified as Joseph Ture. After learning that the car Ture was driving had been reported stolen, Miller arrested Ture for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and placed Ture, handcuffed, in the back of his squad car.   Upon entering Ture’s car to look for its keys and a newspaper Ture indicated he wanted, Miller discovered a metal bar, approximately 32 inches in length, on the front passenger seat.   Miller seized the metal bar, transported Ture to the Wright County Sheriff’s Department, and arranged for Ture’s car to be towed.   Miller and another officer conducted an inventory search of Ture’s car, during which the toy car 1 and ski mask were discovered.   No weapons or ammunition were found.

Several of the items found during the search, including the toy car, the ski mask, and the metal bar discovered earlier, were turned over to Deputy James Kostreba and Detective Ross Baker of the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department, who were investigating the Huling murders.   Kostreba and Baker interviewed Ture on December 20, 1978.   An audiotape of the interview was played to the jury at Ture’s trial.   During the interview, Ture said that he had been fired from his job a few days before and that he had been living out of his car.   Ture stated that the toy car belonged to him and that he had grandchildren.   Ture then indicated that the toy car was for his sister’s children.   Ture was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and released on January 4, 1979.   Although Ture was not charged with the Huling murders at that time, he remained a suspect.

In 1981, Ture was incarcerated with Toby Krominga at the Sherburne County Jail. According to Krominga, Ture confessed to murdering the Hulings and signed a written confession that Krominga had drafted according to Ture’s instructions.   Although the police obtained a copy of the written confession and questioned Ture on several occasions about the confession and the murders, no charges were brought against Ture. In the summer of 1998, Ture and Randall Ferguson were inmates at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights.   According to Ferguson, Ture confessed to the Huling murders.   Ferguson informed the authorities of Ture’s statements in August 1998, and in May 1999 Ture was indicted on four counts of first-degree murder.  Ture was found guilty!

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