(WatchDogReport.org) – A man in West Virginia who recently confessed to the killing of a 41-year-old mother and her 10-year-old daughter in 2000 died only six hours before the remains of the two victims were discovered.
Larry Webb was in his 80s when he died at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex on April 22, shortly before the bodies of Susan Carter and her daughter Natasha were found. August 8, 2000, was the last time the victims were seen alive. At the time of their disappearance, Susan was dealing with a custody battle with Natasha’s father. According to authorities, the mother and daughter were staying at Webb’s home at the time.
The disappearance of the Carters remained a cold case for longer than two decades before the FBI reopened the case in 2021. The investigation led to authorities searching Webb’s home in both 2022 and again in 2023. They indicted Webb in November and arrested him in April 2024. Investigators visited the suspect at the Hilltop nursing home center later that month, when he admitted he murdered the Carters.
As FBI supervisory special agent Tony Rausa stated at a news conference, when officials obtained a search warrant in 2022, they found a bullet lodged in the wall of the bedroom known to have been used by Natasha “Alex” Carter. The blood-stained bullet underwent DNA testing at an FBI lab, where it was confirmed that the blood belonged to Alex. Webb reportedly experienced a medical episode at MOCC, where he was being held without bond, on the morning of April 22. Before he died, Webb made his confession and revealed that he shot Susan Carter in a dispute about cash kept in the home that he thought she had spent. He then shot Alex to leave no witness to his crime.
Webb stored the bodies in his basement overnight after the fatal shootings before burying them in shallow graves in the woods located on his property. The confession led authorities to Webb’s property in Beckley, West Virginia, where they found the remains. Alex’s father, Rick Lafferty, said in a press conference the following day that he almost lost hope several times when the case went cold. He described it as a sad day but was glad to be able to finally bring his daughter’s body home. Webb was charged with first-degree murder, but court proceedings were stalled because of his failing health.
Copyright 2024, WatchDogReport.org
