An ailing man confessed on his deathbed to killing a mother and her 10-year-old child nearly a quarter of a century ago and led investigators to their bodies.
Larry Webb, 82, said he shot and killed both Susan Carter, 41, and her daughter Natasha “Alex” Carter in August 2000 and then buried their bodies in a shallow grave in the woods on his property, WSAZ reported.
The remains of the mum and daughter were discovered on Mr Webb’s West Virginia property Monday — roughly six hours after their killer died at Mount Olive Correctional Complex in Fayette County in what police called “a bit of a poetic ending.”
Mr Webb said that he had gotten into an argument with Susan Carter, who was living in his home with her daughter, over money and shot her, the New York Post reports.
He said he was missing cash and believed that she had taken it and spent it, Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said.
After fatally shooting Susan, Mr Webb said he “knew he had ruined his life forever,” investigators said, according to WSAZ.
He then shot little Alex dead so that there were no witnesses.
“Once he had killed both individuals, he had stored them in the basement of the home where he cried himself to sleep that night. And then over the course of the next two nights, dug a shallow grave in the woods on his property,” Mr Hatfield said, according to Fox News.
Mr Webb was previously indicted for Alex’s death in October 2023 and was placed in custody earlier this month after the FBI took back up the cold case in 2021, according to the local news station.
Investigators searched his home last year and found a bullet embedded in the wall of what was the girl’s bedroom, the station reported.
The bullet was tested for DNA, which confirmed that blood on it belonged to the 10-year-old girl.
Mr Webb reportedly confessed to the murders in a “come to Jesus” moment on his deathbed during the first week of April, West Virginia state police said, according to Fox.
Alex’s father, Rick Lafferty, who was in a custody battle with Susan over their daughter at the time of her death, said he was thankful to investigators for finally closing the case.
“Kind of a sad day, but also a happy day, because I can bring my baby home,” he said at a press conference announcing the findings.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and has been reproduced with permission.