Inquest Concludes Schoolcraft Was Killer But Jurors Suggest No Motive Or Find Evidence He Molested Child

Jurors for a Lincoln County coroner’s inquest concluded that bachelor sharecropper Walter Schoolcraft did indeed kill Denise McCoy and her four children before taking his own life in June.

But after three hours of deliberation on Friday, the six jurors said they were not convinced Schoolcraft sexually molested one of the children, 12-year-old Genevieve King.

Neither of the victims’ families appeared happy with the conclusions.

“Where’s the motive? What’s the reason for him doing all these terrible things that he did?” said Janet McCoy, Denise McCoy’s stepmother.

Earlier Friday, Cloyce Corder of the Idaho Bureau of Criminal Investigation testified that a roll of duct tape used to bind and gag Genevieve during her family’s June 11 slaying revealed a fingerprint that matched Schoolcraft’s third right finger.

The fingerprint, located near the edge of the final tear of tape, indicated that Schoolcraft had ripped the tape off, as opposed to picking it up after stumbling upon the crime scene at a rural Lincoln County home, Corder said.

Jury foreman Edward Sandy said later in an interview with The Times-News that the fingerprint “kind of sealed things up” for jurors that Schoolcraft killed the family. But he said it did not prove molestation.

Jurors discussed the possibility that Genevieve might have awakened during the slayings, and that Schoolcraft felt a need to bind her and gag her, Sandy said.

“They realized Walt had probably bound the girl,” he said. “But on the other hand, the information given to us, things did not match. The information that we had could not prove that things had actually happened.”

Testimony showed that DNA tests revealed no other signs of contact between Genevieve and Schoolcraft, or anyone else.

Sandy said jurors also questioned why witnesses could remember Schoolcraft, a friend of McCoy’s fiance, being left alone with the children only once. No one could remember when Schoolcraft baby-sat the children.

Dr. Kerry Patterson, a forensic pathologist from Burley, testified on Thursday that Genevieve may have been molested some time before and during the slayings. And Dr. Morris Morgret, a Twin Falls psychologist, testified that he believed pictures Genevieve drew indicated signs of prior sexual abuse.

But Sandy said jurors gave little weight to Morgret’s testimony, particularly when he inaccurately stated that Genevieve was shot three times. She actually was shot twice.

“His testimony was very sensational; his testimony turned off many of the jurors,” Sandy said.

McCoy, 33, and her children - Genevieve; Jordan King, 10; Chelsea King, 8, and Adrianna McCoy, 2 - were found shot to death at the farmhouse where they were living with McCoy’s fiance. Schoolcraft, 48, was found shot to death in his pickup truck outside his nearby home.

Before the verdicts were announced, Schoolcraft’s family issued a written statement thanking officials for conducting the inquest called by Lincoln County Prosecutor Brit Groom to clear up lingering questions about the case.

“Given the facts, we still do not understand the reasons this incident occurred,” the statement said. “We will always believe in the Walt we knew and our memories of him being filled with fondness and love.”