On April 22nd, 1974, the Hi-Fi store in Ogden, Utah was the scene of one of the most gruesome, inhumane attacks in US history. Over the course of a few hours, hostages were tortured, raped, and shot while the perpetrators loaded up stolen audio equiptment to sell later. The city of Ogden was on edge after the murders, but suspects quickly emerged and were arrested. Of the 5 hostages taken that night, 2 survived, and one of them was able to testify in court about the horrors they endured.
Ogden, Utah
Beautiful Ogden, Utah is just north of Salt Lake City and about 10 miles east of The Great Salt Lake. Along the city’s eastern edge are the WaSatch mountains, which provide ample opportunity for outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, or rock climbing. In the winter months, snowshoeing and cross country skiing are also popular.
At one point, The Flying J gas station / fuel retailer had their corporate headquarters in Ogden. It was also featured as one of the 5 towns for the ABC tv show “Emergency Call,” which features 911 calls and operators from 5 cities in the US, hosted by Luke Wilson.
Over the years, celebrities and athletes have called Ogden home, ranging from Nolan Bushnell (Founder of Atari and Chuck-E-Cheese) to Gedde Watanabe (Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles amongst several other things). None as well known as the family band known as The Osmonds who eventually transitioned to Donny and Marie.
Salt Lake City serves as the home for the Latter Day Saints Church / Mormonism. There are several members of the LDS faith in and around Utah, around 68% of the state’s population are LDS members which equates to around 2 million people. California is the 2nd most populous LDS state with around 750K members of the church.
Ogden was pretty much exactly what you would expect from a mid-sized city in the late 70s. Not too busy, just everyday people going about their lives.
Just south of Ogden sits Hill Air Force Base. It is the Air Force’s second largest base by population and geographical size, and is home to many operational and support missions. The base is also the largest single-site employer in the state of Utah, with an economic impact of more than $3 billion annually. During WW2, Hill served as a maintenance and supply depot in support of the war efforts. They operated 24 hours a day as battle worn planes would be sent there from the war front to be quickly repaired then sent back out to the fight.
So, as you listen to this episode today, there’s a good chance you’re listening on your phone, downloaded from a podcast app, or maybe you’re streaming it on Spotify (Don’t forget to catch us live every Tuesday morning on the Spotify Live App!). Maybe you’re listening in your car on a drive to or from work, or maybe you’ve settled in with a set of headphones and an adult beverage to unwind. In order to listen to high quality audio today, you don’t have to jump through many hoops is the main point here, but back in the 70s / 80s, if you wanted to listen to music in high quality, you had to invest in a sound system that would most likely take up half of your living room and cost you a pretty penny.
If you did want to invest and get a quality setup to impress the neighborhood, you would have to venture out to a specialty store that catered to the needs of an audiophile. Cassette tapes were well on their way to replacing vinyl as the preferred medium for most people, because of the ease of use and the ability to quickly copy from one tape to another, it was like Napster before Napster. One such store was the Hi Fi Shop in Ogden.
The Crime
On the morning of April 23rd, 1974, the local Ogden newspapers headlines were all about the same thing. What were they talking about? They all told the story of the robbery / homicides at the Hi Fi Shop. The police at this point didn’t know who the perpetrators were or where they should be looking. They were still piecing together the clues that they did have.
On the evening of April 22nd, 18 year old Michelle Ansley was working behind the counter at the Hi Fi shop. Michelle had only been working at the shop for about a week or so. She was engaged, with a wedding date set for August later the same year. Working with Michelle was Stanley Walker, who was 20 years old. Stanley had been working at the shop for a while, and this night was essentially the manager on duty, in charge of closing up for the night. Some articles indicated that neither Michelle or Stanley were actually scheduled to work that night, but were filling in for other employees.
Just before closing, 7 PM two vans pulled up to the store and four men exited and entered the store, leaving 2 men outside, one in each van. The four men inside pulled out handguns and began to threaten Stanley and Michelle. Within a few moments, the men had both Michelle and Stanley down in the basement of the shop, bound and gagged. Once they were tied up, the four men set out to rob the store of any and all equipment they could get into the vans waiting outside.
Ok, so before we go further into the story, we need to talk about the men that perpetrated this crime. Several articles say that there were six men involved, but everything you look up about this horrific crime only mention three men being arrested and convicted: Dale Selby Pierre (referred to as Selby), William Andrews, and Keith Roberts. Years after the crime, one officer stated that they knew that 6 men were involved, but they only had enough evidence to convict the three we know about.
Shortly after Michelle and Stanley were taken into the basement, 16 year old Cortney Naisbitt entered the shop. He was immediately taken to the basement and tied up as well. Cortney had been in the area at different stores, but couldn’t find a parking spot. He had gone in and talked to Stanley and asked if it would be okay if he left his car in front of the Hi Fi Shop while he ran his errands in neighboring stores. He was just stopping back in to thank Stanley for allowing him to park there. The men continue to load their vans. At some point the 3 unknown assailants leave with one of the vans, leaving Selby and Andrews inside, and Roberts outside in the remaining van.
Around 9PM, Orren Walker, Stanley’s father arrived at the shop. He knew the store closed around 7PM and was concerned that his son hadn’t arrived back home yet. He had missed family dinner, which was not normal, especially without a phone call or anything. Orren later said that they had just recently purchased a Jeep that Stanley was driving and drove to the shop to see if there might be an issue with it that Stanley needed help with. When he walked in to the shop though, there was no one in the main area. He heard a noise coming from the basement and walked towards the door. As he got there, a man with a gun appeared and told him to get into the basement. As he walked down, Stanley saw his father and began to yell. He yelled out, asking his dad why he was there, but more so he was just upset seeing his father in the situation. As he was yelling the other hostages began to yell as well, and one of the men fired 2 “warning” shots into a wall to get them to quiet down.
So now, it’s about 2 hours after the shop closed and there are four hostages. After the shots were fired into the wall, Michelle and Cortney began to beg the assailants for their lives. Orren and Stanley Walker also tried to talk to the men. They tried to reason with them, saying that they wouldn’t be able to identify them, they had no idea who the men were. They told the men to take whatever money / jewelry they had and just leave.
While this was going on, the door upstairs opened up again, and Cortney’s mother, 52 year old Carol Naisbitt entered the shop. Again, she knew that Cortney was in the area and hadn’t returned home. She saw his car parked in front of the Hi Fi and assumed he was in there. As soon as she was in the store, one of the men appeared from down below with a gun and took her to the basement as well, tying her up along with Michelle, Stanley, Cortney, and Orren.
Torture, Rape, and Murder
So at this point, there are 5 hostages tied up in the basement. There are two men with guns in the shop, Selby and Andrews, and one man out in the van still, Roberts. Selby told Andrews to go get something from their van. The hostages couldn’t hear what he was saying, and could only make out a little bit here and there. Andrews left and quickly returned with a paper bag that had a bottle in it. The two then poured some of the liquid in the bottle out into a plastic cup. It was a thick blue liquid, and as they were pouring it, they told the hostages that it was vodka mixed with sleeping pills to knock them out. They said that it would make them sleep for a while, but while they slept, the two men would finish loading up all the merchandise and leave. After they woke up, they would be found eventually and set free. No harm, no foul, just a lovely tale to carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Selby told Orren to take the cup and give it to the other hostages, but he refused. He was re-bound, gagged and laid face down on the floor. The two men then sat each hostage up into a sitting position and forced the liquid into their mouths. It became apparent very quickly that it wasn’t just vodka mixed with a sleeping pill though. In fact, it was Drano. Immediately after being force fed the Drano, blisters began to form around the hostages mouths and lips. Their tongues and throats were burned by the chemicals as they ingested it. The flesh around their mouths began to peel off.
Orren was the last one to be given the Drano, and as Selby and Andrews were looking away, he let it slip out of the side of his mouth. All the hostages had been screaming and experiencing convulsions, and Orren mimicked them as he laid there.
As the two men waited, they began to get impatient. They then give the hostages another round of Drano, hoping it will speed up the process of killing them. As they gave Cortney the second cup, they poured too much in his mouth and it poured over and down his face and neck, instantly burning as it went down his body. At this point, the hostages are screaming and convulsing, and the two assailants decide to put duct tape on their mouths to stifle their screams and try to keep the sound down. When they tried though, the adhesive on the tape wouldn’t stick to their faces because of all the blood and flesh that was peeling off due to the chemical burns.
Orren continued to imitate the others, praying that he will be able to get out of the situation. As the victims were laying there suffering from the Drano destroying their bodies, Selby went over to Michelle and told her to stand up. She did and he took her to another room in the basement. In that other room, he told her to undress and he raped her. Some articles say that he did this multiple times over the span of 20 – 30 minutes. Some say that Andrews came over at one point and watched.
After he raped her, he allowed Michelle to use the bathroom, and then brought her back to the other hostages, naked. By this time, all of the hostages had begun to vomit. Selby, again frustrated by the time it was taking the victims to die, pulled his gun up and shot Carol and Cortney Naisbitt in the backs of their heads. They then shot at Orren, but missed. Then they shot Stanley in the back of the head, killing him. They turned back to Orren and shot him, but the bullet grazed him and he laid, pretending to have been killed. They then turned to Michelle and as she begged for her life, shot her in the head, killing her. During their trials, Orren would testify that Michelle’s last words were, “I am too young to die.”
After shooting Michelle, the men went upstairs and continued to load their van with equipment. One of them went back down to the basement to check on the hostages and saw that Orren was still alive. Selby got on top of him with a wire and began to choke him, which failed to kill Orren. Later Orren would say that while he was being choked, he was able to position his neck and head in a way while tensing his neck muscles to allow a small amount of air to pass the wire. Then, the two men took a ballpoint pen and jammed it into Orren’s ear. Selby stomped the pen several times. The pen went through Orren’s eardrum, rupturing it before exiting his throat and breaking.
After this, the two men left the shop and got into the van, where Roberts was waiting and drove away.
Almost three hours after everything began, Orren’s wife and other son came to the shop looking for Stanley and Orren, since they hadn’t returned home. It was around 10PM. They went into the shop and it was basically cleaned out, with everything that wasn’t tied down pretty much being stolen. Mrs. Walker immediately called the police. Their son heard a noise from the basement, and called out. He heard his father yelling to get help, and he kicked the door in and saw the results of the carnage that unfolded just hours before.
Stanley and Michelle were both dead. Carol, Cortney, and Orren were still alive, and rushed to the nearest hospital. Carol didn’t survive the ambulance ride though and was pronounced dead when she arrived at St. Benedict’s Hospital. Cortney was not expected to live, but he did survive and was hospitalized for 266 days. He was never the same though. He had suffered severe, permanent brain damage and amnesia. Orren survived as well, though he had severe burns around his mouth and face. He also suffered hearing loss from the torture he endured.
Captured
Immediately following the attack, the police were doing everything they could to try to get any leads. But, we’re talking the mid 70s, so there wasn’t really any forensics or anything like present day. Orren was able to give them an idea of who they should be looking for. He described the men to the best of his abilities. It was a pretty basic description though; African American men, from 5’9’’ to 6’ tall… So, ya know, the police were very thoughtful and didn’t racially profile at all…
Sarah McClennan was driving home from work the day after the attacks. She heard on the radio about the heinous torture and brutal murders. She’s an African American woman and said that it was a scary time. Her son was 16 at the time and had his own car. He was pulled over for no reason other than he was black. One squad leader with the Ogden City Reserves said that “Every car that had more than one black person in it was pulled over.”
As usual, this racial profiling did nothing to help further their investigation. It did however drive a wedge between law enforcement and the African American community in Ogden. What did help the investigation though, was an anonymous tip that was called in by an Airman from the air force base. Months before the robbry / torture / rape / murders, Andrews had told this man, “One of these days I’m going to rob that Hi-Fi shop, and if anybody gets in the way, I’m going to kill them.”
A few hours later, there were two boys dumpster diving in the area around Hill Air Force Base. In one dumpster, they found wallets and purses. They looked inside and immediately recognized the owners as the victims from the crime that had been plastered all over the news. They called the police and detectives were quickly on the scene.
Once there, one of the detectives was looking at the crowd quickly gathering around them and thought that the person or persons who put the items in the dumpster might be there watching. He said that he spoke loud and exclaimed when they found more items. He made it a point to put on a show when he removed evidence from the dumpster with tongs, making sure the crowd could see. Most of the servicemen watching had little to no reaction, just shock and horror. There were two men who were pacing back and forth, raising their voices with one another, and making wild hand gestures towards the dumpster. One of them was identified as Andrews, who’m the tip had come in about and the other as Selby. Roberts was implicated as well. They were each arrested, and a search warrant obtained for their barracks. Yep, they were active duty in the Air Force, stationed at Hill Air Force Base.
Once they searched the barracks, they found several fliers for the Hi-Fi shop and a rental agreement for a storage facility nearby. They obtained another search warrant for the storage unit and discovered thousands of dollars worth of audio equipment along with a half empty bottle of Drano. They used serial numbers to confirm the equipment was stolen from the Hi Fi Shop, and the men were charged with first degree murder and aggravated robbery.
The three men were tried in a joint trial which started on October 15th, 1974. During the trial, the prosecution painted Selby as the mastermind and Andrews as the muscle. Orren Walker testified as their star witness and was able to recount the horrors they went through that night. Cortney was unable to testify due to amnesia. Roberts testified in his own defense that the men got the idea for the Drano by watching the movie Magnum Force. They had spent months trying to find a way to quickly and quietly kill someone. In the movie, a sex worker is forced to drink Drano and immediately drops dead. After seeing that, they thought they found the perfect method of murder they were looking for.
On November 16th, 1974, Selby and Andrews were both convicted of three counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. Roberts was convicted of two counts of aggravated robbery since he wasn’t in the shop when the murders took place. He was given 5 years to life. He served just under 13 years and was paroled in 1987.
Selby and Andrews were both given three death sentences on November 20th, 1974.
At a clemency hearing, Selby testified, saying “The crime took a course of its own. It wasn’t planned that way. People kept coming in and I just panicked.”
Orren Walker also testified at his clemency hearing and said the following, “After he shot Mrs. Naisbitt first, then he was kind of prancing or walking in a manner that I got the impression he was kind of enjoying what he was doing. This has been hard for me. It’s hard for me to believe that I was ever involved with this. My son Stanley’s life was taken with two shots and Drano. He tried five different times to kill me. Each one could have been lethal. It certainly has changed our lives.”
At Andrews clemency his lawyers pointed to his age, 19, at the time of the crimes and said he was under the effect of drugs and never planned to kill anyone. Others said that he had to have had some kind of idea, since he admitted to being the one who bought the Drano. His lawyers said he was a changed man, but his prison record indicated that he had repeat violations for setting fires, concealing makeshift weapons, possessing drugs and alcohol, planning escapes, and assaulting guards.
Both men went through the appeals process and tried to get their convictions overturned several times, citing racial prejudice. The convictions were upheld though. In prison Selby changed his name 27 times, in an attempt to shield his family name from the notoriety associated with his crimes. The two men were hated in the prison system, particularly on Death Row, where they were constantly on the receiving end of verbal abuse from other inmates awaiting death sentences to be carried out.
On August 28th, 1987, Selby was executed by lethal injection at the age of 34.
On July 30th, 1992, Andrews was executed by lethal injection at the age of 37.
On August 8th, 1992, about a week after Andrews’ execution, Keith Roberts died by suicide.
In an interview later in life, Cortney Naisbitt said, “I lost myself. My identity. And they have fixed to me a new identity which not very many people can associate with.”
For several months after the attack, Cortney didn’t even know that his mother had been murdered or that he was a victim in the attack that took her life. On one of his first trips out of the hospital with his dad, Byron; they had this conversation:
- Cortney: Where’s Mom? How come she never comes to see me?
- Byron: Cortney, your mother was in the same accident as you, and she’s not as well off as you are.
- Cortney: Well, if she can’t come and see me, can I go and see her?
- Byron: You really don’t remember, do you, son?
Cortney shook his head, looking at his father and waiting.
- Byron: Your mother’s dead, Cortney.
For a moment Cortney just stared at his father.
- Cortney: Oh, no. No she isn’t.
- Byron: She really is and we have to face the fact that she’s gone.
- Cortney (crying): No she isn’t. She isn’t gone.
On June 4th, 2002, Cortney died from a long battle with an undisclosed illness. He was 44 years old.
Orrenn Walker passed away on Feb 13th, 2000 at the age of 69.
