Friday Marks 25th Anniversary of Markle Murders (Slideshow)

by Arkansas Business Staff  on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 8:58 am  

John Markle was an eccentric but profitable trader at Stephens Inc.

The house at 1820 S. Main Street in Little Rock where John Markle murdered his wife and two daughters before killing himself, Nov. 16, 1987.

John Markle's mother, actress Mercedes McCambridge, sits with Markle's daughters, Suzanne (left) and Amy.

Amy Michelle Markle was 13 when she was murdered by her father.

Suzanne Marie Markle was 9 on the night her father shot her five times, killing her.

The guns Markle used in the murders and in killing himself included a Western style Colt 45. He wore a rubber mask as he shot his family and left behind notes to his lawyer and to his mother.

A closer look at the mask Markle wore as he shot and killed his wife and two daughters.

Tre Baker

 A plaque at Gibbs International Magnet School in Little Rock in memory of Suzanne Markle, who was murdered by her father, along with her mother and sister, in November 1987.

Friday is the 25th anniversary of one of the strangest business-related crimes in Arkansas history: the Markle murders.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 16, 1987, an oddball futures trader at Stephens Inc. named John Markle shot to death his wife and two young daughters as they slept in their home on Main Street in Little Rock's historic Quapaw Quarter. Then he turned two weapons on himself, shooting himself in both temples simultaneously.

In short order, the Little Rock Police Department would discover that Markle had been fired the previous Friday (the 13th) for a sophisticated embezzlement scheme that benefitted Markle's mother, Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge.

Ten years ago, Arkansas Business Editor Gwen Moritz wrote a "Fifth Monday" feature recounting the case as its 15th anniversary approached. Here's a link to that story and related sidebars.

15 Years Later, John Markle Murder-Suicide Fades From View

Markle Home Becomes Party Venue (Nov. 17, 2003)

 

 

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