Florida Concludes Child Killer Ottis Toole Guilty: Adam Walsh Case Closed

The Adam Walsh case is closed. The State of Florida has concluded its investigations and declared Toole did it. This case closure is reminiscent of other cases,

like that of Jon Benet Ramsey and of the current one involving Caylee Anthony, where the public was fascinated by the stories about the killing of a child. The public fascination comes from the fact that people find the killing of a child abhorrent. For John Walsh, however, the death of his son, Adam, brought a new direction to his life as he became, and remains, an advocate for the victims of violence. The killing of Adam Walsh was a sensational case when it happened. The young boy was six years old and taken from a Hollywood Mall Sears Department store in Florida. He was subsequently found killed and decapitated. Ottis Toole later confessed to the crime of killing Walsh two years later while in prison, but wasn’t tried for it because a short time later police had decided that Toole was no longer a suspect. Toole eventually died in prison of liver failure after being convicted of multiple murders.. In the meantime Adam’s father, John Walsh, went on to become an advocate for crime victims, particularly children. He has also been the host of America’s Most Wanted, television program devoted to covering crimes where violence was involved. Ottis Toole was one of those classic cases of individuals described by professionals of an abused child who had suffered violence early and went on to commit multiple acts of violence himself. He hooked up with Henry Lucas, another man who got his kicks from killing; and the two developed an intimate relationship. Their partnership continued while a number of killings followed, with Toole accusing his partner after both were caught. Lucas confessed to killings, but later said he hadn’t been involved and that only Toole had been responsible for killings in which both Toole and Lucas initially said they were involved. Toole went on to be convicted of killing a prostitute nicknamed “Orange Socks,” in 1979. In 1983 he killed 19-year-old Ada Johnson. Then in 1984 Toole locked a 64-year-old man by the name of George Sonnenburg in Sonnenburg’s home, then set in on fire killing him. Toole received death sentences for all three killings, but received commutations for all of them after an appeal. He was sent to prison where he pleaded guilty to having killed four other people. Toole made his confession of killing Adam Walsh, which took place before the other killings for which he was convicted. He was able to continue killing after the Walsh child because there hadn’t been enough evidence for Toole to remain a viable suspect at the time, authorities maintain. Now that the case is closed John Walsh will likely have some relief from a lifetime he has spent without closure.