Warning. This series contains scenes of graphic violence that may not be suitable for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

In the final week of January 1958, Lincoln Nebraska Chief of Police Joe Carroll and Lancaster County Sheriff Murrell Karnop were dealing with a developing situation the likes of which they had never seen as lawmen.

The mother, stepfather, and two-year-old half-sister of a local girl named Carol Fugate had been brutally murdered.

Their bodies had been discovered in an outhouse and a chicken coop behind the family home.

Carol and her boyfriend, Charles Stark, whether were missing. They were suspected of some sort of involvement in the crimes, but given their brutality, it was hard to understand how two teenagers could be responsible.

With that said, Charles and Carol had disappeared and there were multiple reports of suspicious behavior at Carroll's house before they went missing and the bodies were discovered.

Chief Carroll and sheriff Karnop had issued bo-lows to their officers. Be on the lookout for Carroll Fugate and Charles Stark, whether.

Unfortunately, the top lawmen in the county had issued the alerts too late.

If officers had known earlier, they could have caught 19-year-old Charles and 14-year-old Carol at a local gas station before they fled Lincoln.

As it was, the teenagers had driven 15 miles southeast of town to the edge of a tiny farming village.

Charles knew a farmer down there named August Meyer. Charles and his dad had hunted on Meyer's land when Charles was younger.

Charles was confident that Meyer would let he and Carol spend the night on the farm.

Meyer was 70 years old and a bachelor, so the fugitives wouldn't have to worry about Meyer's family members cluttering up the works.

But whether Charles had let his mean streak loose, or there had been a conflict between Charles and Mr. Meyer, Charles had killed Meyer with a shotgun.

August Meyer was victim number 5 in a rampage that was still just beginning.

Charles had gotten his car stuck in the mud on the road up to Meyer's house, so he and Carol were forced to walk or hitchhike into the town of Bennett a couple miles away.

Shortly after they started trudging down the country road toward town, a car drove toward them.

Two high school kids, Robert Jensen and his girlfriend Carol King were out for a drive.

They saw a boy and a girl on the side of the road, and the boy had his thumb out in the international signal of a hitchhiker.

As Robert slowed the car in preparation to offer a ride, he noticed that the hitchhikers were carrying guns.

Robert Jensen and Carol King had not been listening to the radio.

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