A Car Bombing in Texarkana

There is something particularly sinister about murders that not only go unsolved, but where it is impossible to even find the motive for the killing.  Such an unaccountable act of evil leaves onlookers with the horrified thought, “For all I know, that could have been me…”  The following mystery is one of those cases.

36-year-old Daryl Crouch was president of a successful family-owned pharmaceutical company, the Walsh-Lumpkin Drug Co.,  in Texarkana, Texas.  He and his wife, Jan, appeared to be happily married, and they adored their 10-year-old daughter, Sandy.  Daryl was described as “one of this city’s most promising young businessmen,” a civic leader who was “always a man spreading good will.”  He was a likable fellow who had no known enemies or notable personal problems.  In short, he was among the last people you’d think anyone would want to see dead.

However, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, someone did.

On the evening of February 2, 1987, Crouch left his office to have dinner with his wife and daughter.  Afterwards, Jan (whose father founded the company) went to her husband’s office to use the copy machine.  The family then left the building.  Daryl and Sandy got into his Mercedes, while Jan returned to her Lincoln Continental.

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion that could be heard for blocks away, and the Mercedes turned into a fireball.  Sandy Crouch miraculously managed to escape the car with only minor burns, but Daryl was killed instantly.  The blast was powerful enough to destroy three nearby autos.  A 30-inch hole was blown in the floorboard of the Mercedes directly under the driver’s seat.  No one in Texarkana had ever seen anything like it.  Someone had managed to place beneath the vehicle a pipe bomb that was designed to be very, very lethal.  (Police were unable to determine how the bomb was detonated, as Daryl had yet to start the car, but it was thought possible that it was set off by remote control.)

This unusually brutal murder of one of the city’s most well-known and well-liked residents left Texarkanans understandably shocked--and frightened.  People were afraid to leave their parked cars unattended.  Police struggled to determine not just who placed that bomb under Crouch’s car, but why.  Rattled citizens demanded answers that no one seemed able to provide.

Unsurprisingly, the local rumor mill attempted to fill this vacuum.  Some speculated that Crouch was not murdered at all, but staged an unusual suicide.  This theory was fueled by the fact that Crouch had recently resigned his position on the board of Security Savings Association (a major local thrift institution.)  The past December, the institution had posted a $62 million deficit.  However, spokespeople for Security Savings insisted that the timing of Crouch’s resignation and his death was a mere tragic coincidence.  Crouch had planned to retire from the board for some time, in order to concentrate on his other business interests.  They pointed out that the financial institution had options for dealing with the deficit, such as cash infusions or mergers.  Besides, even if Crouch had considered suicide, his friends found it impossible to believe that he would have done so in a way that risked the lives of his wife and daughter.

Police also examined an odd incident that took place the previous summer.  Walsh-Lumpkin received an anonymous phone call saying that the company’s products would be poisoned unless they paid an undisclosed amount of money.  The caller--whoever he or she may have been--was never heard from again, so at the time, the threat was shrugged off as a sick prank.  However, after Crouch’s death, persistent rumors arose that this extortion attempt somehow led Daryl to fear for his family’s safety.  Jan denied such claims.  “He had absolutely no idea something like this was going to happen,” she said.  “If he had, he would have said, ‘Look we need to do so and so.  We need to be real careful.”

The car-bombing is one of those inexplicable crimes where there is very little to report about the matter.  Despite their most diligent efforts, police were utterly unable to find even a remotely plausible suspect, and the motive to blow to bits a seemingly thoroughly respectable and popular businessman remained equally unknown.  To date, the murder of Daryl Crouch remains one of Texarkana’s most unnerving cold cases.