Pretrial date set for alleged killer in 1974 Fort Worth cold case

The pretrial for the alleged murderer of Carla Walker, Glen McCurley, has been set for June 16, according to Tarrant County court records. The trial may start Aug. 19, according to Carla’s brother Jim Walker, who has been in contact with the district attorney’s office.

Pretrial hearings include both the prosecution and defense and may involve presentations of evidence.

“I was just thinking this morning I need to calculate how many months and days it’s been since Carla was abducted. But it’s been a long long time and we’re so excited to have this opportunity,” Walker said.

The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office referred questions to the court coordinator, who did not immediately return a message.

Carla, a Western Hills High School student, attended a school dance with her boyfriend, Rodney McCoy, on Feb. 16, 1974. In the early hours of the Feb. 17, she was abducted from McCoy’s car in the parking lot of a bowling alley near the Benbrook Traffic Circle. Her body was found a few days later in a culvert at Benbrook Lake.

Despite a massive police investigation, years passed without any arrests. One of the only clues was a magazine from a Ruger left at the crime scene. Police tracked area Ruger sales and interviewed McCurley in the weeks after the murder because he had recently purchased one. He told police his gun had been stolen.

Decades later, with assistance from Golden State Killer detective Paul Holes and parallel DNA sequencing from Othram Laboratories, Fort Worth detectives Leah Wagner and Jay Bennett traced DNA from Carla’s clothing to McCurley. He was arrested Sept. 21, 2020, and Wagner said at a subsequent court hearing police recovered a Ruger from McCurley.

In a jailhouse interview last fall, McCurley told KRLD he was driving around drunk when he noticed Carla outside the bowling alley. “She just gave me a hug. I gave her a kiss,” he said. “I didn’t mean to do it.”

“That’s pretty telling as well,” Jim Walker said. “I don’t know what the defense team’s strategy is going to be, but we feel good. And I’m not privy to a lot of the forensic evidence but my understanding of the conversations is that we feel very solid with all things considered. I personally feel very comfortable.”

Walker has not met McCurley or even seen him in person. He looks forward to the chance to look him in the eye in the courtroom.

“I want McCurley to know,” Walker said, “that we never gave up.”