The murder of Mary Robin Walter
Great Bend, Barton County, Kansas · 1980
Overview
Mary Robin Walter, a 23-year-old wife, mother and nursing student, was shot to death in her mobile home at the Nelson Trailer Park west of Great Bend, Kansas, on the evening of January 24, 1980. Her husband, Douglas Walter, found her body when he returned home around 6:40 p.m. A neighbor, Steven Lawrence Hanks, was suspected early on but never charged for lack of evidence, and the case went cold for more than four decades. In April 2022 a Barton County Sheriff's detective reopened the investigation; new DNA recovered from the victim using M-Vac technology, combined with re-interviews in which Hanks admitted his role, led to his arrest in December 2022. Hanks pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August 2024 and was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison, in what authorities called the oldest Kansas cold case ever solved and resulting in a conviction.
How it was solved
The case had a prime suspect almost from the start. Steven Lawrence Hanks was a neighbor of the Walters in 1980, and Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir later said Hanks was looked at early but that investigators of the era did not have enough to arrest him. The file then sat largely untouched for decades. In April 2022, Detective Sgt. Adam Hales of the Barton County Sheriff's Office persuaded Bellendir to reopen the case and apply techniques unavailable in 1980. Reviewing the consolidated record, Hales concluded some information had been overlooked and some added later. Investigators applied M-Vac wet-vacuum DNA collection to surviving evidence and recovered a DNA profile from the victim's mouth, which a private Florida laboratory tested; it matched Hanks. Hales and Lt. David Paden then re-interviewed Hanks, who by his own account had been a suspect for over forty years; according to the Kansas Attorney General's office and Hales's preliminary-hearing testimony, Hanks admitted to the killing, framing it as an encounter that turned violent and attributing his conduct that night to alcohol. Hanks, by then living in Burden in Cowley County, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge in December 2022. He was bound over for trial in 2024, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on August 7, 2024, and on September 12, 2024, Barton County District Court Judge Steve Johnson departed upward from the plea agreement and sentenced him to a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 25 years in the Kansas Department of Corrections. Officials described it as the oldest cold case in Kansas to be solved and result in a conviction, spanning more than 44 years from the homicide to the sentence.
Sources
- Man sentenced in 1980 cold case murder of Kansas woman
“Mary Robin Walter, 23 ... nursing student at Barton County Community College ... shot multiple times on January 24, 1980 ... found dead in her trailer at Nelson Trailer Park ... Detective Sgt. Adam Hales reopened the investigation in April 2022 ... the oldest cold case in the State of Kansas to be solved and result in a conviction.”
- Mary Robin Walter cold case: Steven Hanks arrested in 1980 killing of nursing student in Kansas
“Mary Robin Walter, 23 ... Great Bend ... shared with her husband and 5-year-old daughter ... shot 12 times ... The murder weapon, a small-caliber pistol, belonged to the Walters ... Douglas Walter ... discovered Robin Walter's body around 6:40 p.m. ... Steven Hanks, of Burden ... charge of second-degree murder.”
- A Senior Citizen Was Arrested In Cold Case Of Kansas Nursing Student
“Steven Lawrence Hanks ... had been a suspect ... in the early days of the investigation, according to Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir, but there reportedly wasn't enough evidence to arrest him ... a neighbor of the victim at the time.”
- Hanks bound over for arraignment in 'cold' murder case
“DNA found in the victim's mouth via M-Vac technology (tested by a private Florida lab) ... .22 Ruger pistol ... Detective Adam Hales reopened the case in April 2022 ... Lt. David Paden assisted in interviews ... Hanks attributed the crime to alcohol consumption in 1980 ... arrested in 1981 for rape, battery, robbery and burglary; sentenced 1983, discharged 1993.”
- Cowley County Man Pleads Guilty to 1980 Barton County Murder
“Steven L. Hanks, 70, of Burden ... pleaded guilty August 7, 2024 ... During re-interviews by Sergeant Detective Adam Hales and Lieutenant David Paden, Hanks admitted to killing Walter ... On September 12, District Court Judge Steven Johnson sentenced Hanks to serve a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 25 years.”
- 'I just hope he's sorry': Daughter speaks about murder of nursing student shot 12 times in 1980
“Pamela Walter Cooper ... 5 years old ... 'I already knew who did it. I knew that he wasn't convicted of it, but we knew who did it.' ... 'We knew it was Steven Hanks, the neighbor.' ... 'My dad is the one that found her.' ... 'I just hope that he is sorry ... I forgave him a long time ago.'”
- Man sentenced in nearly 45-year-old Barton County cold case
“Mary Robin Walter, 23 ... shot multiple times with a 22-caliber handgun ... Nelson Trailer Park ... arrest December 8, 2022 ... guilty plea August 8, 2024 ... Judge Steve Johnson ... departed upward ... not less than 10 years, no more than 25 years ... 44 years, 7 months, 19 days from homicide to sentencing.”
- Mary Robin Walter: Kansas cold case ends 44 years later as man is sentenced for killing his former neighbor in 1980
“23-year-old nursing student Mary Robin Walter was found dead in her trailer in Great Bend ... the Jan. 24, 1980, shooting death ... had gone cold until 2022, when a detective persuaded Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir to reopen the case ... In his interviews, Hanks admitted to killing Walter, the attorney general's office said.”