Shot in the Dark: Who Killed Carl and Jessie Stabb?
A Mother and Father Gunned Down in their own Home
Mother’s Day in 1993 was a joyous day at the Stabb home outside of Canastota, New York where family had gathered to celebrate Jessie Stabb, the matriarch of this large family. But less than 24 hours later, Jessie and Carl, her husband of almost 50 years, were shot in their living room as they watched television – shot from outside the house. Who would have a motive to kill the Stabb’s?
The Stabb homestead was located on South Court Street at the outskirts of the quaint village of Wampsville in Madison County. Carl, 76-years-old, and Jessie, age 66, had raised 10 children on the property that borders rolling hills and farmland. At that time the Stabb’s had about 25 grandchildren, so Mother’s Day brought an even larger gathering to Jessie’s already well-attended Sunday dinner. The Stabb children who lived out of town called to extend best wishes to their mother.
The following day, Monday, May 10, 1993, began as usual – Jessie would make breakfast, lunch and dinner; Carl would tend to the animals he kept in the barn and yard – chickens, pigeons, ducks, and turkeys. Carl had also been a hunter and fur trapper in his day, and continued to buy and sell furs which was a cash business, said youngest son Terry Stabb. Carl mistrusted banks, so his cash was kept at home, and it was not unusual for him to have large sums both on him and tucked away throughout the house, said Terry.
By 1993 the children had all moved from the family home. But son, Tom had returned amidst a separation from his wife. Carl and Jessie’s youngest daughter, Veronica, told us that Tom, age 36, had been staying with their parents for a couple years. On that Monday evening May 10, Tom and brother Joe, Sr. were visiting their parents during the evening. According to state police, Tom left at about 7:30 PM, Joe around 8:30 PM. Since Tom was living there, he was expected to return later that evening.
Tom came back just before 10:30 PM after reportedly being “out and about” in the nearby city of Oneida. He entered through a side door which was commonly used by the Stabb’s rather than the main front door which would have been locked at the late hour. Tom told state police in 1993 that he had noticed the flicker of the television as he returned, and had called out to his parents who did not answer. When he entered the living room, he reported that he found his parents dead in their recliners. He called state police at 10:24 PM. Police and EMS crews responded to the South Court Street home.
The couple was obviously dead and an investigation began. One of the first things noticed was a broken window at one end of the living room – a window that was on the right side of the house adjacent to the door used by the family. Outside of that window were several shell casings. State police are not disclosing the number of shots, casings, or the caliber of bullet. But they did tell APB Cold Case that several bullets struck both victims in the head – gunshot wounds being the cause of death for both Carl and Jessie.
Veronica described the orientation of the window to the entry door the family typically used, and the location of where her parents would have been seated in the living room. “The side door that we used, before you get to the door, there’s was a window right there to the living room. That’s the one they were shot through. My mom sat on one side, straight across from that window. And my dad sat on the other side going into the dining room.”
One of the things police wanted to determine was whether anything was stolen from the Stabb’s. A wallet belonging to Carl appeared to be missing. But if robbery was the motive, Carl still had a large sum of cash on him, and there were even larger sums around the house. Police would also learn that a rifle was apparently missing from the barn. Terry said, “My dad at one time did keep a loaded gun in the barn, if something was attacking the chickens, or something like that.” Terry continued, “I know he took it with him when he was hunting or trapping… Otherwise, he kept it in the barn.”
Police scoured the crime scene looking for clues. They even had canines and divers come in, trying to track a suspect and search for the murder weapon. One thing they did not find was the rifle from the barn. They interviewed neighbors and motorists who may have passed through the area. Some neighbors thought they may have heard gunshots. State police reenacted the shooting from the outside of that living room window, but they were left unconvinced that anyone heard the actual shots that killed the Stabb’s.
Police said that there had been two previous burglaries at the Stabb home. While Carl and Jessie never took a vacation, they did have routines for going to the Farmer’s Market and grocery shopping. The previous burglaries apparently occurred at times when the home was unoccupied: once in July 1992, and again in March 1993, just a few months before the murders. There were no suspects publicly identified in these burglaries and no arrests have been made.
State police said that several family members were interviewed as part of the investigation. Among them Tom and Joe Stabb, Sr., the last family members known to have been with Carl and Jessie before they were killed. Inv. Timothy Dougherty of the New York State Police said, “standard course of our investigation would be to alibi out those individuals as well as everybody else whose names came up. And those alibis had differing levels of success. Some are very well alibied out, and some not so much.” Joe Stabb, Sr. has since passed away. The Stabb’s youngest daughter, Veronica, said she has heard that her brother Tom is a suspect. “I knew he done other stuff, so, I can’t be positive. But he could have done that.”
We asked Terry Stabb, Carl and Jessie’s youngest son if he had heard the rumor that Tom was a suspect. Terry said, “I have heard that some people suspect my brother Tom… I don’t know why he would have done it. I haven’t specifically asked him if he had done it. But, in my heart, I don’t believe he did it.”
Veronica told APB Cold Case that family members were asked to provide DNA samples and take polygraphs. According to Veronica, all family members complied except for Tom.
Veronica also said that Tom had some trouble in the past, accused of threatening the Mayor of the nearby city of Oneida. According to a report in the Syracuse Post Standard[1] from 1987, 6 years before the murders, Tom was accused of attempting to extort $100,000 from the nearby City of Oneida through a couple of threatening letters and a phone call to the Mayor. It was alleged that Tom Stabb threatened to kill the Mayor’s family and city firefighters if his demand was not met. Those same reports indicate that an FBI handwriting expert testified at Stabb’s trial, saying that his handwriting matched one letter exactly, and had similar characteristics to the other. The threatening phone call to the Mayor was traced to the residence of Carl and Jessie Stabb where Tom was reportedly working outside on his wife’s car. But after a trial in 1988, Tom was acquitted of the charges against him.[2]
Terry Stabb told APB Cold Case that the loss of his parents had a profound impact on the family. “My parents were the focal point. So we don’t do the big Sunday dinner.”
The circumstances of the murders of Carl and Jessie Stabb are curious, but there are certain parts of the chronology that are telling:
· The selection of a vantage point along the side of the home that afforded a view and trajectory of the shooter – does this demonstrate someone with intimate knowledge of the property?
· And if they did approach from the side or back of the property, something that would be treacherous especially at night, does that also indicate someone with familiarity with the property?
· The rifle that Carl used to keep in the barn is unaccounted for – Terry said that only family members would know its location, since it was not kept out in open view;
· The prior burglaries of the Stabb residence were the type of daytime entry that would be low-risk for a perpetrator, especially in knowing the family’s routine. For the Stabb residence, a night time entry would seemingly be high risk – due to the dwelling being occupied at night, especially in a rural setting where owners would logically have weapons. The risk, however, is arguably reduced if the perpetrator knows who is at home, and where they are situated.
· With all of the money that was inside the Stabb home, including on Carl at the time of his death, it appears that nothing was taken, and there’s no proof that the shooter went inside after killing the couple. Do these elements eliminate or at least decrease the usual motive or theft? Is it more about grievance or vengeance? If so, who might the suspect be?
While there is some rumor and speculation surrounding the identity of the killer, there is certainly one person who knows the answer.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE: Shot in the Dark: Who Killed Cark & Jessie Stabb?
Photographs courtesy of Stabb family, used with permission.
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[1] Syracuse Post Standard; Man Cleared of Accusation of Extortion; Jun. 24, 1988, p.55
[2] Ibid