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You are here: Home / Unsolved / The cold case of Valerie McPherson

The cold case of Valerie McPherson

June 6, 2016 By Alice

Valerie McPherson with Sandy and Laurie/News4SA
Valerie McPherson with husband Sandy and daughter Laurie/News4SA

Valerie McPherson’s case (Oct 16, 1958 – Aug 05, 1991) needs a better digital footprint. She was stabbed to death around 8am on Aug 5, 1991, while jogging along Contour Drive in Olmos Park, San Antonio, Texas.

Valerie had her 19 month old daughter Laurie with her. The little girl was in her stroller when Valerie was attacked. She remained unharmed. Husband Sandy was at the gym.

The knife attack happened in an affluent San Antonio suburb. Another jogger, Tibaut Bowman, saw Valerie.

“My first thought was that perhaps she had had a heat stroke, because she was down on one knee and she was jogging,” Bowman said in an interview with News 4 back in 1991. “But then when she looked up and I could see her condition, I thought maybe it was a hit-and-run. And then she told me that a black man had beaten her up.”

Suspect in Valerie McPherson stabbing death/News4SA
Suspect in Valerie McPherson stabbing death/News4SA

Valerie died four hours later at Brooke Army Medical Center where she was taken for surgery. Authorities said that she was stabbed nine times in her stomach and in her back. She had been able to give police a description of her attacker:

  1. between 30 and 40 years old
  2. black man
  3. stocky build
  4. about 6 feet tall
  5. dressed in dark blue pants with bright red tennis shoes, stylish clothes
autopsy sketch 1/Valerie McPherson
Upper part of the body sketch

From the articles (links below) I have taken the above details. From the clips, I took these screen shots. Other than this, there is little online. Should you have links to newspaper articles, contact me so we can update this post.

According to the papers Valerie was stabbed in her stomach and the back. However, in the clip you can see the autopsy sketch with the stab wounds. It seems that there are shoulder and neck/upper back wounds as well.

autopsy sketch Valerie McPherson
continued sketch

If Valerie’s clothes are still preserved they should be tested for touch DNA with the M-Vac especially where the attacker’s hand might have touched her.

The shoulder areas seem to be a good place to start. He might have held on to one of her shoulders while stabbing her. It would be useful to know whether the attacker was left or right-handed. The contusion spot on her arm might be from him grabbing her. That sleeve should be tested for touch DNA as well.

Valerie’s husband Sandy, who passed a lie detector test, explained that there is a $50’000 reward.

If you have information, please call the San Antonio Police Department Cold Case Tip Line anytime day or night at 210.207.7401, or you can call 210.207.7635 or 210.207.7484, or call Crime Stoppers at 210.224.STOP.

R.I.P. Valerie McPherson.

Resources:

News4SA 1 and part 2

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Filed Under: Unsolved Tagged With: Knife Attack, M-Vac Systems, Texas, touch DNA, Valerie McPherson

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Author Notes

On this website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and are in need of renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book.

My database has over 325 cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database will always be free to the public to use. You cannot buy ad space on my website, ever.

All writing suggestions that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

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Alice de Sturler

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If you use my work, please add a link back. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. Thank you!

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

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