Arlis Perry (Update)

I covered this story in one of the first episodes of the podcast, back in March of 2016. Now, some new information has surfaced which points to a resolution…

Arlis Perry, born Arlis Dykema, had lived in Palo Alto, California for a short period of time when she was murdered in 1974. 

Earlier that year, she had married her high school sweetheart, Bruce Perry, who was attending Stanford University. Before his sophomore year, the two married, and Arlis joined him out in the Golden State - which was a far cry from her hometown of Bismarck, North Dakota. 

Arlis, who was very religious, struggled to adapt to her new environment. She began working for a Palo Alto law firm, but struggled to make new friends, and ended up spending a lot of time at a church nearby the dormitory she lived in with her husband, Bruce. It was the Stanford Memorial Church - an epic, grand-looking cathedral that was just a short walk away. 

Arlis had lived on the Stanford University campus for only eight weeks, when - on the night of October 12th, 1974 - her and her husband Bruce got into an argument. After arguing for a short period of time, she set off for the nearby Memorial Church, at around 11:00 P.M.

Hours began to pass, and Arlis didn't return home. Bruce, who had been studying and napping on-and-off throughout the evening, called police at a little after 3:00 AM, but Arlis wouldn't be found for hours.

At around 5:40 in the morning, the security guard that had closed up the Stanford Memorial Church - named Stephen Crawford - allegedly discovered a side-door of the church which had been forced open from the inside. He later told investigators that he looked into the strange sighting, which led him to discover the gruesome scene inside the Memorial Church. 

Arlis Perry had been brutally murdered, her body laid out in a grotesque, demeaning manner. Early reports would indicate that there was some kind of occult relationship to the crime, while others noted that it had simply been the work of a violent, sexual offender.

Investigators theorized that Arlis had been killed with an ice pick, having been stabbed in the back of the head. They were able to lift a palm print from a church candle, as well as semen from a nearby church kneeler, but neither led them to the killer. After all, forensic testing in the mid-1970s was very primitive. 

Both Arlis' husband, Bruce, as well as the security guard, Stephen Crawford, were suspected. Bruce was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but Stephen Crawford remained linked to the case... however, police admitted that they had very little evidence against Crawford, especially when preliminary forensic testing seemed to rule against him. 

As 1974 came to a close, the case began to grow cold. 

Rumors began to allege that Arlis had been involved in some religious feuding, and a North Dakota cult had followed her from her hometown to commit the heinous murder. Years later, the Son of Sam himself - David Berkowitz - hinted at some involvement. When the Satanic Panic craze of the 1980s kicked off, everyone was trying to find related cases to link to this high-profile murder, but none seemed to fit. 

That's because the answer was much simpler than anyone expected. And now, years later, investigators believe that they have solved the tragic murder of Arlis Perry. 

Stephen Blake Crawford, who often went by his nickname of "Steve," was a veteran of the United States Air Force. 

In 1971, Crawford began working for the Stanford Department of Public Safety, as a police officer who carried a firearm with him. A year later, though, a new police chief began to completely revamp and reorganize the department, forcing many of his officers to re-apply for their positions, as well as their firearm qualifications. 

Over 75% of the officers were then forced out of their current positions, and - as compensation - were then offered jobs as security guards. 

Crawford was one of these officers. 

He became a security guard for the Stanford Department of Public Safety, eventually landing a position that put him in the background of the lives of Arlis and Bruce Perry. When Arlis stormed off to the Stanford Memorial Church to clear her head, it was Steve Crawford who locked up the church, and eventually discovered Arlis' body the following morning. 

Two years after the terrible murder at the Memorial Church, Steve Crawford left the Stanford staff. However, he had seemed to hold a grudge against the school, and would be later linked to the university forever. 

In my original episode, I mentioned that Stephen Crawford fell into some legal trouble in 1992, years after leaving the staff. He was arrested and charged with stealing several items from Stanford collections, including Western-style bronze statues and books - items numbering in the hundreds. He had been stealing from the multiple buildings he had access to, as well as from the offices of faculty and staff members themselves.

This event was just something that I discovered during my research for my original episode - which came out over two years ago - but I found it odd. 

If he had been committing petty crimes like that for years, what else had he gotten away with?

Santa Clara investigators, to their credit, also found it odd. They had never dropped Steve Crawford from their list of suspects, but had never obtained enough evidence against him. They had struggled to make a case in favor of his guilt, due to the rudimentary means of forensic testing available in the 1970's. 

Sheriff Laurie Smith, who began working for the Santa Clara Sheriff's Office shortly before the murder of Arlis Perry, has long been obsessed with the case. In the years since, she has worked her way up to the position of Sheriff itself, and mentioned that Crawford was always at the top of their list of suspects. 

"Nothing ever cleared him. There was just not enough evidence to charge him with a crime."

Following his arrest in 1992, Crawford spent a short amount of time in jail, and was back in the real world shortly thereafter. 

In 1993, he moved to San Jose, California, in an area just off of Highway 85, at the 5200 block of Camden Avenue. He moved into the first floor of the Del Coronado apartment complex, where he had lived in Apartment #185 ever since. 

Neighbors and tenants say that Crawford, who often wore a cowboy hat and walked with the assistance of a cane, was quiet and kept to himself. His landlord says that Crawford hadn't worked in some time, and lived off of either social security or retirement. 

In recent months and years, DNA testing has progressed significantly, and investigators began revamping their investigation into the murder of Arlis Perry. They began experimenting with new testing methods, which would allow them to turn evidence found at the scene into results. 

Matt Braker, a prosecutor in the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, stated: 

"This case has been looked at for years by members of the Sheriff's Office and the DA's office. Multiple heads of our cold-case unit advanced the case."

Due to these advancements in testing methods and procedures, investigators were growing much more confident that they would could figure out the perpetrator of this brutal crime relatively soon. As such, they began reviewing old components of their case, and that led them straight back to security guard Stephen Crawford: the man who had discovered the body of Arlis Perry, and had presumably been the last person to see her alive. Crawford was brought in for a series of interviews, over four decades later.

Within the last week, their DNA evidence became conclusive enough to obtain a search warrant of Crawford's San Jose apartment. 

On the morning of Thursday, June 28th, 2018, Santa Clara Sheriff's deputies and San Jose police officers knocked on the apartment door of Stephen Crawford. They announced their presence at around 9:05 A.M., and from there... things did not quite go as-planned. 

A statement from the San Jose Police Department reads: 

"During the execution of the search warrant, sheriff's deputies made verbal contact at a closed front door with an occupant in the apartment. As deputies made entry, they observed an adult male with a handgun, and the deputies immediately backed away. A short time later a gunshot was heard. No deputies discharged their weapons. Deputies eventually entered the residence and discovered an adult male with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The male was pronounced deceased at the scene. No one else was present or injured."

Stephen Crawford, who had become aware of law enforcement's increasing interest in him as a suspect, decided to take the coward's way out, instead of face responsibility for his actions.

Later in the day, a press conference was announced. Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith spoke, and announced their findings:

Stanford University released a statement of their own to the press, which read: 

"We extend our gratitude to local law enforcement for their efforts over decades to try to resolve this disturbing case. It remains a heart-wrenching memory at the university. Stanford has been cooperating with investigators over many years, and we know they've been working tirelessly to try to bring this case to a conclusion."

In my original episode about Arlis Perry, which came out over two years ago, I tried to detail the many moving parts and characters from Arlis' final days. One of those was Stephen Crawford; who I then-viewed as a sympathetic figure that stumbled upon events beyond his control. 

I now regret doing so, and feel naive for being so optimistic of his story. 

Police are continuing to put together their case against Stephen Crawford, and will undoubtedly have more information to release as their case comes to a conclusion. At this point, they feel confident that Stephen Crawford is the culprit of this terrible crime, and his suicide only cements what investigators believe is a guilty conscience. 

They are also exploring other potential crimes that Crawford may have committed over the years, and will release those details in due time. 

Bruce Perry, the once-widower husband of Arlis, has since remarried and had children and grandchildren of his own. He lives in Texas, where he has become a noted author and expert of childhood trauma; after almost every school shooting, his expertise is called upon, and he has become a constant presence on national news every few months. 

The family of Arlis Perry are hoping that this news will bring about resolution for their daughter and sister, whose case has been unsolved for almost forty-four years. Her parents, Marvin and Jean, continued to live in North Dakota, and eagerly awaited any news from investigators. 

Jean Dykema, Arlis' mother, said in an interview yesterday: 

"It's been horrible and my husband wanted to know so badly and he died three months ago."

Arlis' father, Marvin Dykema, had been waiting for over four decades to find out who had killed his little girl, and passed away just three months before the likely answer was revealed. 

According to the strong religious faith of the Dykema family, however, he is now celebrating in the afterlife with his daughter, who has finally received some much-needed closure. 

As for Stephen Crawford: the alleged perpetrator of this crime? Well, Arlis' mother, Jean, has some thoughts about him as well. 

"I know there is someone far greater that will punish this person. I don't have to do that."

As of this episode's recording, it seems like the story of Arlis Perry might actually be resolved.