Elderly Missouri couple arrested for historical murders

The quiet farming community of Chadwick, Missouri, was left reeling following the arrests of residents Gerald and Alice Uden for separate, decades-old murders.

For years, the couple, aged 71 and 74 at the time of their 2013 arrests, led an unremarkable life on a 110-acre property where they raised children and emus.

This perception of normalcy was shattered on 26 September 2013, when Alice was arrested for the late 1974 killing of her third husband, Ronald Holtz.

His remains had been discovered in an abandoned Wyoming gold mine just weeks prior. Alice had shot Holtz in the head while he slept, a secret she eventually confessed to her children and a religious organisation.

Just one day after Alice’s arrest, Gerald Uden was taken into custody for the 1980 murders of his ex-wife, Virginia Uden, and her two young sons, aged 10 and 12.

Gerald admitted to shooting the trio during a bird hunting trip and attempting to hide their bodies.

Erica Hayes, Alice's youngest child, recalled the harrowing moment Gerald confessed to her at a truck stop, asking, "What difference is it going to make if you knew?" Gerald eventually pleaded guilty to all three counts and received a life sentence.

Alice Uden was convicted of second-degree murder in 2014 and died in prison in June 2019 at the age of 80. Gerald, now 83, remains incarcerated. The couple had originally met in 1976 and married shortly after Gerald’s separation from his first wife, Virginia.