Vicki Durian and Nancy Santomero were two (2) women on the precipice of the adventure of a lifetime. Durian was a twenty six (26) year old Licensed Practical Nurse from Iowa City, Iowa. She grew up among a large, blue collar family who worked a ninety six (96) acre farm. By 1980, Vicki was living the nomadic life of a real “hippie”. She loved her work as an LPN as it gave her the flexibility to travel as she seemed fit. Vicki’s nickname was “Bright Star” a nod to her shining personality and optimistic demeanor. Nancy Santomero was a nineteen (19) year old from Huntington, New York. Like Vicki, Nancy also grew up in a large family. Nancy was a tall (stood at 5’9”) tomboy, and budding environmentalist who had made her way out west to Tuscan in 1979 after dropping out of the State University of New York at Buffalo. She met Vicki outside of a Food Co-Op, where they struck up a quick friendship.
The pair had been traveling across country from Tucson, AZ to Iowa City, Iowa, where they met up with another friend, Liz Johndrow. From there, they traveled as a trio en route to Pocahontas County, WV where they were set to attend the 1980 Rainbow Gathering.
For those who are not familiar, The Rainbow Family is a group that meets once a year (usually around the 4th of July) to join together and pray for world peace. It is their way to “renew their commitment to a better way of life, to be closer to the Earth, and to share love and joy with one another.” The name Rainbow is meant as a means of encompassing the diversity of those who participate in the Gathering. Though the festival had been held annually since 1972, this would be the first year that the Gathering was held out east, specifically, “by the three forks of the Williams River, near Webster Springs, West Virginia in the Monongahlia National Forest.”
The trio hit Charleston, WV in record time and opted to head South to Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina where they swam in the ocean and slept on the beach. Their plans were cut short however, after the promise of bad weather caused them to head back to West Virginia a day early. It was while en route back to West Virginia, that Liz Johndrow had a premonition of sorts, a feeling that she should not continue on with her journey. She phoned home just outside of Richmond, VA, only to find out that her father would be getting married that week. She left Vicki and Nancy outside a truck stop in Richmond, heading North towards her family home in Vermont, a decision that could have ultimately saved her life.
On June 25, 1980, Robert Must discovered the bodies of the two (2) women laying in a remote field on Briery Knob, near the Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park. It was around 9:00pm, and though late in the day, the last bit of sunlight was still visible in the sky. By 9:55, law enforcement had arrived on scene and the women were pronounced dead. Judy Cutlip, who was the EMT attending to the women that evening recalled that the bodies were still warm at her time of arrival and therefore the women must have been killed recently.
From the autopsy, which was completed by State Medical Examiner Irvin Sopher, it was learned that no sign of sexual assault was present on either body. One woman had been shot twice (2x) in the chest, the other, three (3x) times in the chest, neck and head. They had not been shot as they had been discovered, but rather the trajectory of the bullets suggested that the bullet traveled downward at a forty five (45) degree angle as though the women had either been kneeling or sitting and were shot from above. They had been shot at such close range that gun shot residue was noted on the right hand of one girl and the face of the other. No identification was found on either woman, but authorities did uncover a pocket knife and a map with hand drawn directions to The Rainbow Gathering in one of their pockets.
Law Enforcement went about trying to identify the women, traveling to the Rainbow Gathering and distributing papers with the women faces on them. It wouldn’t be until July 11th, the week following the Gathering, that Kathy Santomero began to wonder if one of the women (who notably wore her hair in braids like her sister) could be Nancy. She traveled with a friend from New York to Charleston where the bodies were being stored and it is here, that she learns the tragic fate of her younger sister. Though initially she had her doubts, Kathy was certain of Nancy’s identity upon seeing a bracelet that she had gifted her sister on her wrist (It is important to note that Nancy was the woman who had been shot in the head, and therefore facial identification would have been more difficult than usual). Kathy was able to give identification to both women, but she also gave authorities another piece of information: her sister had been traveling as a trio, not a duo, and the woman (only known as Liz) was still unaccounted for.
Kathy returned home to deliver the devastating news to her family while WVSP contacted authorities in Iowa City to reach out to the Durians. The Durians would later travel to West Virginia to conclusively identify Vicki.
There have only been two (2) main suspects in the case throughout the years. Though, the official status of this case is somewhat up in the air… Some consider the case unsolved, while others insist that the man responsible walked free with a $2 million dollar exoneration settlement, some are certain the true murderer died in the electric chair in Missouri back in 2013. But which is it? Below is a brief summation of both individuals and their “involvement” in the Rainbow Murders.
Jacob Beard: Described as both “the town bully” and a “hard working family man” by those who know him, Jacob Beard grew up in Pocahontas County, West Virginia the son of wealthy farmers. Beard came to the forefront of the investigation after placing several suspicious phone calls to the Durian Family two (2) years after the murder in late July 1982. Beard was ultimately arrested for the murders in 1993, but maintained his innocence filing multiple writs of habeas corpus. He was ultimately exonerated in 2000 after a retrial was granted in 1999. The defense argued that a withheld confession (from Joseph Paul Franklin, Suspect #2), flip flopped testimony by the Prosecutions main witnesses, coaching by law enforcement, and Beard’s alibi were enough to prove Beard’s innocence. In 2003, Beard won a wrongful conviction lawsuit against Pocahontas County Law Enforcement, which resulted in his receipt of a $2 million dollar settlement.
Joseph Paul Franklin: Franklin, was a white supremacist who went on a murderous spree beginning in 1977 ending in late 1980. He has at least fifteen (15) confirmed kills, eight (8) of which he was convicted, and over twenty (20) more that he was suspected of having committed. Franklin was ultimately arrested in October 1980. In 1984, Franklin made his first (1st) confession to the murders of Vicki Durian and Nancy Santomero, even drawing a map of the route he took and where he disposed of the bodies. Though he would go on to play a game of cat and mouse (recanting and re-confessing to the murders multiple times) many of the details Franklin gave of the crime have been known to check out. Though he was never charged with the Murders of Vicki and Nancy, he did end up paying the ultimate price for his sins when he was executed in 2013 by electrocution in Missouri.
So what do you think? Join the Cold Case Crew as they re-tell The Murder of Vicki Durian and Nancy Santomero (The Rainbow Murders), a cold case local to Pocahontas County, West Virginia. This episode will be presented in two (2) parts, with the first set to air on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. Be sure to like, share and let us know WHAT’S YOUR THEORY?
References:
Books:
Eisenberg, Emma Copley. The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia. Hachette Books. 2020.
Websites:
Newspapers:
The Angus Leader
Newsday (Suffolk Edition)
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Pittsburgh Press
Daily News (New York)
Newsday (Nassau Edition)
The Herald Sun (North Carolina)
The Colombian (Vancouver, Washington)
The Iowa City Press Citizen
The Des Moines Register