Caril Ann Fugate, born on July 30, 1943, holds the distinction of being the youngest female in United States history to be convicted of first-degree murder. Her involvement in the infamous crime spree orchestrated by her boyfriend, Charles Starkweather, when she was just fourteen years old, garnered national attention and led to a life sentence for Fugate.
Growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska, Fugate was described as an intelligent and well-liked student at Whittier Junior High School. In 1956, at the age of thirteen, she became romantically involved with Starkweather, who was five years her senior. Their relationship, initiated through Fugate’s sister Barbara and Starkweather’s friend Bob von Busch, quickly spiraled into a series of violent events.
The crime spree began on January 21, 1958, when Starkweather murdered Fugate’s stepfather, Marion Bartlett, her mother, Velda, and her two-year-old half-sister, Betty Jean. Fugate maintained that she returned home to find Starkweather holding her family hostage at gunpoint, coercing her into compliance by promising their safety. Over the following days, Starkweather kept Fugate confined to the house, turning away visitors and arousing suspicion among her relatives. The bodies of Fugate’s family members were later discovered on the property.