Sussex County-Lynchburg City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Blanks, William A., family, 1950 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ WILLIAM ALEXANDER BLANKS FAMILY "Evening Star" (Washington, DC), April 13, 1950, p. A-6, col. 5 Youth Kills Parents And Sister, Sets Fire To Home, Slays Self By the Associated Press HUNTINGTON, W. Va., April 13. - An 18-year-old high school boy knifed and hammered the three other members of his familyto death today, set the house afire and took his own life when cornered. William Blanks, Jr., who had been in scrapes for stealing cars, died in a hospital seven hours after shooting himself. Surgeons had tried to save him with an emergency brain operation. Detective Azel Bryant said the youth had murdered his parents and a 10-year- old sister, Brent, in an unexplained rampage just before 2 a m. Policemen surrounded the garage behind the house and ordered the youth to come out. They heard moans and two shots. They found the youth wounded in the head and took him to a hospital. No Motive Found. Mr. Bryant said he could find no motive immediately. The boy twice had been in trouble for stealing cars. He was released on probation last October after a mental examination at the Federal Reformatory at Ashland, Ky. Firemen stumbled onto the gory scene when they answered an alarm that the house of William A. Blanks was on fire. They found the bodies and four blazes. The inside of the house was a shambles. The body of the girl was sprawled face up on her smouldering bed in the front upstairs room. Mr. Blanks, 46, and his wife Mildred, were found in the rear bedroom. Mrs. Blanks was on the bed, face down, and Mr. Blanks was on the floor near the bed. He lay stretched on his left side as if he had attempted to escape the killer. Pet Dog Also Slain. Police found a 16-inch blood-smeared kitchen knife and a ball-peen hammer in the house. Cecil Kessick of the homicide squad said he counted "15 or 16 stab wounds" on Mrs. Blanks' back, and that her head had been crushed. In the kitchen lay the family’s pet dog, a Spitz. The animal's skull had been split open, and his fur showed indications of knife wounds. The flames were discovered by a passerby, who tried to rouse the family. When he couldn't he sounded an alarm. ****************************************************************************** "The Key West [FL] Citizen," Apr. 13, 1950, p. 1, col. 5 Youth Goes Beserk Today HUNTINGTON, W.Va., Apr. 13. - (AP). - An 18-year-old high school boy killed three members of his family today, set the house afire, and then took his own life when cornered. The boy, William Blanks, Jr., a high school student, is said to have murdered his parents and his ten-year-old sister in a rampage still unexplained. When he was trapped in a garage by police, he shot himself in the head. Emergency surgery failed, and he died seven hours later. He had been in trouble previously for stealing cars. ****************************************************************************** "Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch," Apr. 15, 1950, p. 9 4 VICTIMS OF SLAYING, SUICIDE WILL BE BURIED AT WAKEFIELD WAKEFIELD, VA - April 14 - Joint funeral services for the four victims of a triple slaying and suicide which wiped out the William A. Blanks family in Huntington, W.Va., Thursday, will be conducted at the graves in Wakefield at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. They are William Alexander Blanks, his wife, Mrs. Mildred Robertson Blanks, Mildred Blanks, 10, and William Alexander Blanks, Jr., 19, who killed his parents and young sister with a hammer and butcher knife and fired their home in Huntington. The youth then killed himself. The elder Blanks is survived by a brother, Robert Blanks, of Washington, and three sisters, Mrs. D.S. McClarin, of Norfolk; Mrs. M.L. Whatson, of Los Alamos, N.M., and Mrs. R.L. McClannan of Lynnhaven, Va. Mrs. Blanks is survived by two brothers, D.S. Robertson and Eugene Robertson, both of Wakefield, and six sisters, Mrs. Maude R. Sledd, of Richmond; Mrs. Lillian R. Livesay, of Suffolk; Mrs. R.G. Hutcheson, of Louisa; Mrs. E.C. Nettles, of Wakefield; Mrs. Horace R. Higgins of Waverly, and Mrs. Allen Jones, of Romney, W.Va. ****************************************************************************** "Smithfield (VA) Times," Vol. 32, No. 47, Apr. 19, 1950, p. 1, col. 3 Mass Funeral Held At Wakefield For The Blanks Family Mass funeral services were held in Wakefield Sunday for the Blanks family which were slain by 18-year-old William Blanks Jr. who then killed himself. Wakefield was the former home of the slain mother, Mrs. Mildred Blanks, 39. Graveside services were held at 2:30 P. M. Sunday. Mrs. Blanks, her husband, William, Sr, 46, native of Lynchburg, Va., their daughter, Valinda [sic; Mildred] Brent, 10, were bludgeoned and stabbed to death in their beds early on the morning of April 13th. Young Blanks then set fire to the house, after also slashing his pet dog to death. He fatally wounded himself a short time later when police cornered him in a garage behind the modest, white-frame home. William Alexander Blanks, Sr. was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Robert Thompson Blanks of Lynchburg and is survived by a brother, Robert Blanks of Washington, D.C., three sisters, Mrs. D.S. McClaren of Norfolk, Mrs. M.L. Whatson of Los Alamos, N.M., and Mrs. R.L. McClannan of Lynnhaven. Mrs. Mildred Robertson Blanks was the daughter of the late Jesse Thomas Robertson and Mrs. Nannie Osborn [sic; Osborne] Robertson of Wakefield. She is survived by six sisters, Mrs. Maud R. Sledd of Richmond, Mrs. Lillian R. Livesay of Suffolk, Mrs. R.G. Hutcheson of Louisa, Mrs. Allen Jones of Romney, W.Va., Mrs. E.C. Nettles of Wakefield, Mrs. Forest R. Higgins of Waverly, and two brothers, D.S. Robertson of Wakefield, and Eugene T. Robertson of Wakefield. The tragedy occurred in Huntington, West Virginia. Police consider the case closed. They termed the slayings and suicide one of the city's most shocking tragedies, then marked the file "motive unknown". Young Billy Blanks had suffered a brain hemorrhage at birth. ****************************************************************************** "Tidewater News," Apr. 21, 1950, p. 1 VICTIMS OF FAMILY TRAGEDY BURIED IN WAKEFIELD CEMETERY More than 2000 persons attended the mass funeral services in Wakefield on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock for the four members of the Blanks family wiped out last Thursday morning, April 13, by the 19-year-old son, who later committed suicide. The tragedy occurred in Huntington, W.Va., where the family of William A. Blanks, Sr., was residing. The victims were the father, aged 46; his wife, Mrs. Mildred Robertson Blanks, 40, formerly of Wakefield; a daughter, 10-year- old Mildred Brent Blanks; and William A. Blanks, Jr. The last named, described as brilliant but moody, bludgeoned and stabbed to death the other members of the family as they lay in their beds and set fire to the house. Shortly afterwards he shot himself to death in the garage behind the house when ordered by the police to come out. Graveside rites were conducted by Rev. J.E. White, pastor of the Wakefield Baptist Church, assisted by Rev. J.L. Blankenship, pastor of the Wakefield Methodist Church. Four different sets of pallbearers bore the caskets to the grave. The Wakefield choirs sang "Sometime We'll Understand." ****************************************************************************** William Alexander BLANKS, b. 7 Jul 1903, Lynchburg, murdered 13 Apr 1950, at home, Huntington, WV, interred in Wakefield Cemetery*, 16 Apr 1950, Find a Grave Mem. #127287619 Mildred Young (ROBERTSON; Mrs. William A.) BLANKS, b. 15 Apr 1910, Surry Co., murdered 13 Apr 1950, at home, Huntington, WV, interred in Wakefield Cemetery*, 16 Apr 1950, Find a Grave Mem. #127685181 William Alexander "Billy" BLANKS, Jr., b. 13 May 1931, Huntington, WV, suicide 13 Apr 1950, Huntington, WV, interred in Wakefield Cemetery*, 16 Apr 1950, Find a Grave Mem. #127685356 Mildred Brent BLANKS, daughter of William A. & Mildred (ROBERTSON) BLANKS, b. 28 Oct 1939, Huntington, WV, murdered 13 Apr 1950, at home, Huntington, WV, interred in Wakefield Cemetery*, 16 Apr 1950, Find a Grave Mem. #127685110 *The family were buried with Mrs. BLANKS' parents. Wakefield list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/cemeteries/wakefd.txt The couple m. 8 Mar 1930, in South Mills, Camden Co., NC. Ancestry.com "Virginia Marriages" also shows m. 4 Aug 1930, in Norfolk. (Surry Co. m.lic.) William Sr.'s parents, Robert Thompson Sr. & Frankie (LAZENBY) BLANKS, are buried in Spring Hill Cemetery, Lynchburg. (Find a Grave Mems. #154465689 & #122976529) Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/obits/b452w1ob.txt