A sick West Virginia man confessed on his deathbed to killing a mother and her 10-year-old child nearly a quarter-century ago, leading investigators to their bodies.
Larry Webb, 82, shot and killed Susan Carter, 41, and her daughter Natasha “Alex” Carter in August 2000, then buried their bodies in a shallow grave in the woods on his property. He said he had buried it. WSAZ reported.
The bodies of the mother and daughter were discovered Monday on Webb’s Beckley property. It came about six hours after the gunman died at Fayette County’s Mount Olive Correctional Facility in what police called “a somewhat poetic ending.”
Webb said he shot and killed Susan Carter, who lived in the home with his daughter, after getting into an argument over money. Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said the man was missing cash and believed she had taken it and spent it.
After shooting Susan, investigators said Webb “knew he had ruined his life forever,” according to WSAZ.
He then shot and killed young Alex so there would be no witnesses.
“After he killed both people, he stored them in the basement of his house, where he cried himself to sleep that night. He spent the next two nights digging shallow graves in the woods on his property.” Hatfield said. According to Fox News.
Webb was previously indicted in Alex’s death in October 2023 and was taken into custody earlier this month after the FBI reopened the cold case in 2021, local news outlets said.
Investigators searched the home last year and found a bullet lodged in the wall in what had been the girl’s bedroom, police said. DNA testing on the bullet confirmed that the blood on the bullet belonged to a 10-year-old girl.
West Virginia State Police said Webb confessed to the murder in the first week of April on his deathbed in a moment when he “came to Jesus,” according to Fox News.
Alex’s father, Rick Lafferty, who was in a custody battle over his daughter at the time of Susan’s death, said he was grateful to investigators for finally closing the case.
“It’s a sad day, but it’s also a happy day because we get to take our babies home,” he said at a press conference announcing the findings.
