Myrtle Marie Walter Got Fed Up
October 6, 2008 by impqueen
Rogers, AR – She’d had enough, she told deputies, and she just wasn’t gonna take it anymore. It was either him, or her. That’s why Myrtle Marie Walter, 75, said she murdered her husband on FridayFriday reviews
night. Myrtle shot Paul Walter, 74, three times while he was sleeping.  He was pronounced dead at 2:35 a.m. on SaturdaySaturday reviews
, and Myrtle Walter pronounced herself “sorry (she) had to do it, but relieved he’s gone”. I guess divorce was out of the question.
Friday nights in Benton County, Arkansas are just not all that exciting. In fact, this is only the second homicide this year in the area, and it’s OctoberOctober reviews. Generally Friday nights are for knocking back a few beers, playing some cards with friends, maybe heading over to Oklahoma to play some bingo if you’re feeling lucky.
Well, Paul Walter wanted to get lucky, and Myrtle Marie was not havin’ any. She was sick and damn tired of that man always trying to get a little when she didn’t want to, she said. And he was mentally abusive, too, she told deputies later. Paul and Myrtle had been drinking that evening. They’d gotten in a fight, and after a yelling match over Myrtle’s lack of libido, she took her last beer out onto the back porch to think.
And think she did.
According to statements Myrtle gave to Benton County deputies, she sat there and decided that it was either gonna be Paul, or her. Myrtle Marie Walter just couldn’t take it any more. Paul Walter was bigger. She figured that it had to end and end soon, or he was going to take her out. And Myrtle decided not to wait.
Myrtle crept into the couple’s bedroom, where she got out two handgun boxes. She then took the box that held the .357 revolver into the bathroom, made sure it was loaded and working, and went back to the bedroom, where Paul was snoring in bed, his back to his wife.
WalterWalter reviews shot her husband once, then two more times when she saw that he was moving. She then put the gun down on the bed and walked out of the room. After that, she waited awhile.
A little after two in the morning, Myrtle Walter called her daughters to let them know what she’d done. Her daughter Laura Tucker went to the home and found Myrtle sitting at a desk in the kitchen. Tucker called 911 and told them that her mother had “had an accident”, but she didn’t go in to see Paul Walter. It’s not clear whether Mr. Walter is Laura Tucker’s father, but either way, that’s a pretty telling failure to act. To my mind, the only reason not to check on a person who might be mortally wounded is if you hope he’s dead and you’re afraid to go look.
When police and paramedics arrived, Paul Walter was dead. His body had three bullet wounds – one graze to the face, and two more – one to his neck, and one to his shoulder. The likely murder weapon was right there on the bed, and Myrtle said she didn’t need a lawyer. She readily confessed her crime.
Cold blooded murder or the “he needed killing” defense? In Benton County, I’m gonna bet she may just pull this one off on a plea deal and avoid the death penalty. You put a 5′2″, 115 pound grandmother on the stand in northwest Arkansas and ask her to talk about being abused by her larger, stronger husband, and she might just walk. My prediction? She’ll plea it out and do some time rather than go to trial.
Myrtle Marie Walter has been charged with capital murder, a death penalty offense in Arkansas. She is being held in the Benton County Jail without bond.
8:35 am on October 6th, 2008
Wow, put the beer down people.
Actually this is just sad. That people of this age are still fighting like 5 year old’s and over sex?? Wonder if he really had been abusive or if she really just didn’t want it anymore?
9:01 am on October 6th, 2008
Walk away…call someone, like her daughter. Pity she didn’t do that before ending her husbands life. And in a wierd way, her life. Fair play for using a 357 mag, she didn’t want to only half do the job.
9:30 am on October 6th, 2008
It sounds to me she is pretty rational. She no longer wanted to be abused by her husband and took action. It’s clear cut and she’s willing to take responsibility. I do think she would have been better off to attempt to leave him. Get help from her daughter, live with her. But what’s done is done.
9:31 am on October 6th, 2008
I’m not a huge fan of divorce or anything, but damn! If you’re going to KILL a person and instantly confess so you KNOW you’re going to prison for some time (at 75, any time is significant), why not just give divorce a try? If it doesn’t work out for you, hell, you can always kill him later, right?
Doesn’t anyone teach logic down in the Ozarks?
Divorce isn’t a walk in the park, but, come on, isn’t it better than murder and a life spent in prison??
9:33 am on October 6th, 2008
Can you say”Viagra”
This guy was 74 what’s he doing nagging Myrtle about sex at that age.
I think there is a reason God made it so that the flag doesn’t rise anymore after a certain age.
So women like Myrtle can ride out their post menopause lack of libido in peace.
It’s natures way.
Then some selfish,misogynist pig of a scientist came up with a tiny blue pill.
I imagine after oh,say 50 years Myrtle was more than a little tired of doodling Paul.
Did she have to kill him ? NO
She could have just bought a box of chicklets,painted them blue and had a nice, peaceful rest of her life.
Atleast that’s what I would have done in her shoes.
9:36 am on October 6th, 2008
I would have taught him where pam and her 5 sisters where…good luck to ya!
9:38 am on October 6th, 2008
Yep, it would have been a better option. Instead of spending the rest of her life in jail which is what will happen she could have been spending time with the kids and grandkids and got rid of the fucker, legally!
10:11 am on October 6th, 2008
Oh Ruby you do brighten my day! Thank you for the big smile and chuckle when reading your post!
10:51 am on October 6th, 2008
I had an ex-mother-in-law who was a petite 5′2″ woman who was horribly mentally and physically abused by her 6′+ husband. It went on for many years (this was in the 60’s-70’s). No one would help her, and she had no money and no where to go and 3 girls to raise. She waited until he passed out one evening after beating her bad enough to blacken both eyes, and dislocate her shoulder. She then carefully and quietly took 4 hours to sew him into the sheets, nice and tight to the bed, and then proceeded to beat the living shit out of him with a cast iron frying pan. He never laid another hand on her, and they were married until the day she died.
To me, that was justice!
10:54 am on October 6th, 2008
Ha,ha, Iove that!… Porcelain you gave me a good laugh! he wouldn’t be the wiser at that age his eyes are probably gone to hell….
sad shit.
11:16 am on October 6th, 2008
Justice at its best…amazing how the upper hand can change in the blink of a cast iron frying pan!!
11:42 am on October 6th, 2008
We will never know the truth if she was abused or not, but since she killed him, I would assume she was abused. She is old school taught, no divorce and no telling your kids what trouble your in, You either shut up and put up OR you get out best way you know how…and her only recourse was murder.. Sad…But thats reality with the much older generation..
12:13 pm on October 6th, 2008
4 hours to sew him in, that had to be incredible scary in itself. Wow, but this justice was better than killing and things changed as he obviously got the message. Crazy
1:48 pm on October 6th, 2008
Reecesmom, that’s a crazy story! Did they seem to have, uh, a normal relationship after the cast iron frying pan incident? Hard to imagine. Wow! Also hard to imagine every bone in his body wasn’t broken. Cast iron pans are so heavy!
As for Myrtle Marie, she doesn’t look drunk in her mugshot, for what it’s worth. What is a 75 year old man doing trying to get nookie all the time, anyway? What was he, a Viagra addict?
2:28 pm on October 6th, 2008
Murder is wrong, but I feel awfully sorry for this lady, and the rest of her family. She obviously comes from that generation for whom domestic violence towards spouses and children was hushed up and basically tolerated. This case reminds me of “The Burning Bed” a TV movie based on a true story starring Farrah Fawcett that I first saw in 1984. That case also reminds me of my own, and it took 20 years past seeing that movie for me to be able to leave my situation. *Pardon my old-school feminist attitude*, but I hope she walks. That could’ve easily been me in a couple of decades, so I do feel for her and can pretty much imagine what she went through in that marriage. I wish she could’ve confided in her daughters, or a neighbor, or doctor, etc and gotten out sooner without bloodshed, but I guess both their karma came to pass and what’s done is done. Sad, sad, sad.
And Peep’s right, beer (or any alcohol or drug) just makes a
already volatile situation tend to explode.
2:38 pm on October 6th, 2008
Raven: As far as “The Burning Bed” goes, the woman that story’s based on did confide in others. Such as her own mother, who told her a wife’s duty is to submit to her husband. With regard to Myrtle, I imagine he “had it coming” as much as anyone ever could have it coming. A 75 year old woman doesn’t just up and off her husband for no reason.
2:41 pm on October 6th, 2008
Porcelain–that’s so funny. You know what always amuses me (or should I say what always enrages me)–the number of insurance companies that cover Viagra but don’t cover things like birth control pills or mammograms. Things that make you go HMMMM, as in, HMMM is this Saudi Arabia or is this the USA in the 21st century? Ja.
2:45 pm on October 6th, 2008
Yea, yea viagra should only be prescribed in certain instances I think, not just for joe blow (hee hee) and it should have an age limit. Sorry but that grosses me out, it makes me think of my Grandparents having sex….YUCK.
3:15 pm on October 6th, 2008
I meant that it reminded me of the fact that he was killed in bed, in his sleep.
3:19 pm on October 6th, 2008
Yes, Raven, I understood that. And no need to apologize about your “old school feminist attitude.” You can be post-feminist in the post-patriarchy
if it ever comes.
4:11 pm on October 6th, 2008
Id like to at least see some prior police reports of ANYTHING…if you are going thru something that is bad enough to KILL over,than im pretty damn sure you should MAYBE raise a red flag to SOMEONE,SOMEHOW!? …I do NOT take violence against women lightly AT ALLL,but due to MOST people feeling so strongly about it as i do…SOMETIMES,sometimes people can take advantage of things,and pull the wool over eyes as best they can,as long as its plausable enough… Its the same with the amount of dads out there who ARE falsley accused of being HORRIBLE parents,when in reality,its just vendictiveness between the two adults,that messes with the kid in turn…but still,more often than not,elligations against fathers are MUCH MORE often just accepted as truth,rather than investigated good enough…
4:12 pm on October 6th, 2008
Oh jeez. I was born in Rogers and still have some cousins there…so, yeah, this doesn’t surprise me.
You also forget hanging out at Wal-Mart (world’s first Wal-Mart in Rogers!) and going to Sonic. Then back to Wal-Mart til 2 am. When I visited my cousins back in 1999, we hung out at Wal Mart so much. I have about 42 pictures of me posing on different tractors in their home and garden display from one “crazy” evening.
I am honestly surprised there aren’t more murders in Rogers.
4:29 pm on October 6th, 2008
[...] Myrtle Marie Walter Got Fed Up – The Dreamin’ Demon thats crazy, i went looking and found a pic __________________ "One difference between a LIBERAL and a pickpocket is that if you demand your money back from a pickpocket, she will not question your motives!" Quote: [...]
4:36 pm on October 6th, 2008
No, not necessarily. You’d hope so, but very often it’s not the case. And she comes from an entirely different generation.
4:46 pm on October 6th, 2008
WTF? No idea how your posting is relevant to this thread. But I guess you didn’t notice that Bill CLinton left the country with a huge surplus? And that GWB left us with trillions in debt to frickin CHINA? Are your eyes and ears stapled shut or something? But you probably watch Fox “news” and think that the democrats are the tax and spenders, right? I guess you don’t know that GWB’s gov’t is the biggest spender of all. And I guess you don’t know that GWB is the biggest taxer of all. The only people GWB doesn’t tax are the rich. It’s called trickle-down-economics–and it doesn’t work. As far as taxes go, paying them happens to be patriotic. You want roads built? You want healthcare for poor children? You want some battered wives services for chicks like Myrtle? Suck it up, then. Pay your taxes. If you don’t like it, move out of this country. And, by the way, if you want the least amount of your money taken away as possible, vote for Obama. You won’t be hurting at tax time unless you make more than 250K. But keep in mind that any hurting that DOES happen, it’s because your current administration squandered the Clinton surplus and put us trillions in debt to China while oil companies and companies like Halliburton made millllllions (I guess you ALSO didn’t notice GWB is an oil man, or that Cheney used to be the CEO of Halliburton?). I suggest you unstaple your ears and eyes and start doing your homework instead of making meaningless jokes on a forum that has nothing to do with what you’re talking about. Just my two cents. And you can have those two cents for free. And I won’t even question your motive. I might question your intelligence, but that’s a different matter.
4:56 pm on October 6th, 2008
Underscore, italicize, bold.
And back to the subject at hand…
6:44 pm on October 6th, 2008
I agree she comes from a time no one discussed or called for help. I have a feeling there were past abuse issues just by the way the daughter acted and handled things.
Frankly being a survivor of abuse and wishing I would have had the nerve to do the same thing to the asshole who beat and left me for dead and in the end disabled.
I can really relate to this woman and pray she does please or get off with the lowest charge.
By the way that one from above with the sheets would have scared the hell out of me No way would I have been able to sit there while he was sleeping and do that for 4 hours Yikes.
7:02 pm on October 6th, 2008
I’m so sorry that happened to you, Lilbay!
(and before anyone freaks out over my response to Random Poster, eh, you want to post some OT inflammatory item, you get what you get!)
I doubt very much Myrtle is going to be spending the rest of her life behind bars. Will be interested to see the update.
1:45 am on October 7th, 2008
Dayum! *shakes head* Wouldn’t it have been easier just to get drunk and give the old fart a little?? She could have just laid there and thought about tomorrow nights crockpot meal..
9:46 am on October 7th, 2008
Sugarglider, take a chill pill. That’s Morbid or Imp imbedding a link showing us that another website/forum is giving props to Dreamin’ Demon.
Your freak-out was unwarranted in this instance *shock* and you were just fightin’ with the wind. Now THAT is funny.
11:27 am on October 7th, 2008
[...] Arkansan ‘At Her Wits’ End’ Says She Killed Husband While He Slept Myrtle Marie Walter Got Fed Up 75-year-old Woman Arrested In Slaying Rogers woman “at her wits end” says she killed [...]
11:34 am on October 7th, 2008
I served on the jury of a murder trial just north of Benton County (in southern Missouri) and we sent the lady packing off to prison for a whole two years. She also murdered her hubby as he slept. She had all sorts of defense claims of abuse, most of which we felt was likely true, but a divorce would have been so much neater. I agree, Myrtle better plead out, Imp, ’cause these Ozark Mountain juries are really tough on old ladies who murder their men. Think about it–two years!
11:38 am on October 7th, 2008
Prettyuglyish, if you wanna be rude then you can count on the fact that I won’t give a hot damn what you think is or isn’t unwarranted. Or what you think is funny or not funny. So you’re implying a great many of my postings are “unwarranted”? No one’s forcing you to read ‘em.*shock*
It should have been pretty obvious what I thought I was responding to. Now, I’m glad to know the DD is getting props. Sorry you couldn’t get that point across without being rude. Would have been easy to do that. But obviously that wasn’t your preference, and so: Right back at ya if that’s how you want it. *shock*
11:40 am on October 7th, 2008
Hey Modine, did the similar case involve anyone as elderly as this lady? Be interested to see if her daughter or anyone can corroborate her claims. In the end, though, I wouldn’t be suprised if Myrtle is suffering from senile dementia. That’s possible.
11:56 am on October 7th, 2008
There’s an interesting write-up over on http://pysih.com/2008/10/07/myrtle-marie-walter/
Highlights:
“Myrtle Walter was married to 74-year-old Paul Walter, the self-described patriarch of their Arkansas neighborhood.”
–Anyone “self-describing” as such is probably a bit of a bear to be around.
“often called “Mr. Clean†by his neighbors due to his hobby of frequently washing his five cars. Very much a traditionalist, Paul Walter was always interested in what was going on down the street that he’d lived on for 11 years, and was concerned with how it looked. Paul’s days were usually spent outside, either sitting in a chair by the garage or on a bench swing on the front yard, watching the world roll by his red brick home.”
–Sounds like a bit of a bear, again. I picture him out there making “traditionalist” comments about “youth these days” and so forth before bopping indoors at frequent intervals to demand geriatric nookie from Myrt. And keep in mind that as a “Traditionalist” he’s probably a bit selfish in the sack.
“Oh, they bickered a bit about a variety of things – like Myrtle Walter’s lack of interest in sex with her husband, or Paul’s insistence on Myrtle making dinner.”
–okay, well, sexist pig, we get it: “make me dinner and give me geriatric nookie on demand.”
“Neighbors recall Myrtle Walter often complaining bitterly at the local Adult Wellness Center about always having to make meals for her husband, who refused to do it himself.”
–okay, ditto to what I just said a second ago. Myrt should have just bought a bunch of TV dinners and pointed him in the direction of the microwave.
The article also states that everything seemed just fine to everyone around them–that they bickered a lot but it was assumed to be harmless. As a “Traditionalist” type of old lady, I guess she just sucked it up for a long time and then exploded. What a shame.
“At a quarter past two in the morning, Myrtle called her daughters, Laura Tucker and Debbie Walter, and told them that she had just shot Paul. Laura and Debbie said they’d be right over. Once they arrived, they saw what their mother had done and called the police, telling the dispatcher than their mother had been involved in an accident. When the dispatcher asked what kind of accident, the caller hung up.”
–as imp pointed out in her article, this sounds like a rather strange response if everyone was REALLY so sure all had been fine all along in this marriage. I take it they knew their father was a bit of a bear…
“Police arrived shortly after 2:35 in the morning, finding an extremely unrepentant Myrtle Marie Walter being comforted by her daughter Laura and an extremely dead Paul Walter lying on his bed.”
–ditto to what I just said.
“When questioned, Myrtle Walter freely admitted to what she had done, explaining that she was sorry, but she had to do it, that she had intended on killing her husband and now that it was done she was actually quite relieved that she’d gone ahead with it.”
–sounds like someone who didn’t feel like she had other options. Which is pitiful, of course, but considering her age and “traditionalist” marriage and the amount of time she had been sucking it up as a dutiful obedient wife, it’s not surprsing.
11:59 am on October 7th, 2008
…in short, it sounds to me like Myrt DID complain a lot–that article I quote from above says she “often complained bitterly”–but no one took it seriously, since, after all, it’s a wife’s duty to make the dindin and give up the poon on demand.
2:32 pm on October 7th, 2008
Probably had his nose in everybody’s business, the horny old control freak! Every neighborhood has one, usually a “Queen Bee” personality that thinks she runs things and likes to gossip and tries to run people out that she doesn’t approve of. A male version of that type, I picture spending 50 odd years with such a man and just shudder.
4:12 pm on October 13th, 2008
You know, in her mind divorce may not have been an option. How many people have you either known or read about that DO leave an abusive spouse or sigother, DO divorce them, DO swear out a restraining order, only to have ex spouse/ex sigother kill them as soon as the abuser can get to them? Sometimes you can only take the fear for so long and you just want to feel safe again. And you never ever feel safe as long as the abuser is still alive.
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