Murder Of Walter Ackerson Jr.: Where Are Troy Culver, Eric Forsgren And Geoff Calligan Now? |All Social Updates

Murder Of Walter Ackerson Jr.: Where Are Troy Culver, Eric Forsgren And Geoff Calligan Now?

Following the March 1990 kidnapping of 16-year-old Walter Ackerson, Jr. of Yachats, Oregon, this is the subject of Investigation Discovery’s Shattered: The Pact. Thanks to his persistent mother, Karen Hull, the crime went unsolved for almost 20 years. The episode describes the lengthy investigation and, at the end, the 20-year sentencing process of the perpetrators. We’ve got the information you need if you’re curious about the culprits, who they are and where they are right now. So let’s get started, shall we?

Murder of Walter Ackerson Jr

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The cause of death of Walter Ackerson Jr

Walter Thomas Ackerson Jr. was born on July 6, 1973 in Kettle Falls, Stevens County, Washington. To end an abusive relationship, he and his mother, Karen Hull, relocated from the small hamlet of Kettle Falls to Puyallup, Washington. However, Walter found it difficult to adjust to the sudden move to a much larger school district, as he began being teased and bullied at school by other students. He was small and had a hard time when the other kids picked on him, Karen added. Many bullying incidents were simply not addressed in the same way as they are today.

Walter loathed going to school, and when Karen found an alternative—the Oregon Job Corps—he initially shared her joy. It seemed like a very amazing opportunity, Karen recalled. He expected to complete his education, make progress, and use it for something. Walter relocated to Yachats, Oregon in March 1990 to join the Angell Federal Job Corps Center, 200 miles away. Eventually, under strict supervision, he was able to continue his schooling and even earn his GED, choosing culinary arts as his desired career choice.

Before it ended abruptly in the last weeks of March 1990, Walter maintained constant communication with Karen and his grandmother Delores for the first two weeks. An administrator at Walter’s facility called Karen on April 5, 1990 to inform her that her son had been missing since March 24. When I urged them to file a missing persons report, they asked me why. They informed me that my son had escaped to Wyoming with another boy. I gave his age which is 16. Little did she know her son was gone forever and it would take over 20 years to solve the mystery.

Who Was Walter Ackerson Jr.’s Killer?

After discovering that two weeks after the call she had still not received a missing persons report, Karen Hull drove to Yachats, Oregon. Although initially told that Walter had fled with all his belongings, she discovered them in his room. Staff then revealed to her that Walter allegedly hitchhiked with 3 boys to Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon on March 24, 1990 to drink alcohol, but he never returned. Karen also met with three boys, Troy August Culver (20), Eric Forsgren (19) and Geoff Calligan (19).

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Troy August Culver

All three told the same story: they’d sneaked off campus to have a drink on the beach, but Walter was lost and they’d never seen him again. Troy reportedly apologized to Karen and said he felt responsible, which Karen found hard to believe. I told him not to feel bad if my son drinks and walks away, she added. However, she had nagging doubts, and Walter’s classmate Emma Beller only served to confirm them.

Emma informed Karen that there were stories that Troy and Walter got into an argument and that the three boys then beat up their son and pushed him, barely alive, down the Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport. The alleged crime scene was ten stories above the Pacific Ocean. However, the case was dismissed as a runaway teenage case by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department because they accepted the three boys’ version. Boys reportedly frequently left the Angell Federal Job Corps Center, and police identified Walter’s case as similar. They didn’t even follow up on Emma’s account of what happened.

The investigation was handed over to a new group of detectives in 2004 after being cold for some time and briefly resumed in 1996. Eric was being held in the Multnomah County Jail on a few unrelated felonies at the time, so investigators re-interviewed both Geoff and he. Emma couldn’t remember the incident and both men repeated the identical version of what happened, but when investigators spoke to Troy, they began to have doubts. He seemed to remember minute details even after 14 years, though others’ memories of the entire incident were inherently hazy.

The investigation appeared to be dead again, but Prineville police called the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department to let them know that Troy had admitted to his parole officer about killing Walter in 1990. According to police reports, Troy was undergoing counseling, alcohol and drug treatment, and has also been a registered sex offender since he was found guilty in 2007 of encouraging child sexual abuse. On March 24, 1990, he reportedly nearly beat Walter to death and threw him to the ground off the bridge.

Murder of Walter Ackerson Jr

Where are Geoff Calligan, Eric Forsgren and Troy Culver right now?

Under Oregon law, a confession to a crime cannot lead to a conviction unless there is physical evidence to support the confession. Investigators chose to question the other two accomplices because, given the time elapsed, finding evidence was extremely unlikely. Eric Forsgren and Geoff Calligan were again questioned by the police and in exchange for immunity admitted Troy committed the crime. Even after they dumped Walter’s body in the water and over the bridge, Eric reportedly still believed he was alive.

In July 2010, Troy was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Under the 1990 sentencing guidelines, he was charged only with manslaughter and received a maximum sentence of 10 years after pleading guilty. He was released in June 2020 after serving his sentence at Snake River Correctional Institution. In his fifties, he still lives in Prineville, Oregon and is still under municipal supervision.

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