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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/TheBonesOfAutumn on 2023-12-27 17:13:53+00:00.
Original Title: In December 1947, 60-year-old store clerk Lura Adams was found critically injured on the floor of Louisville, Kentucky’s National Appliance Store. During the investigation, an unusual possible murder weapon was found; a 30 inch crowbar festively wrapped in Christmas paper.
Just after 11am on December 11, 1947, 63-year-old J.W. Greer entered Louisville's National Appliance Store on West Market Street seeking window shades. Minutes after browsing the large one room store, an unsettling sound drew Mr. Greer's attention. He followed it, only to find clerk Lura Adams, 60, sprawled on the floor, gravely injured and surrounded by a pool of blood. Mr. Greer ran from the store and sought help from a nearby pharmacist named John Krekal.
After summoning police, John desperately attempted to render aid to Lura until medical personnel arrived. Sadly, despite their valiant efforts, Lura passed away at General Hospital only hours later without ever regaining consciousness. Her cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma inflicted to the base of her skull. The attack on Lura had been so violent, it had resulted in a deep depression and devastating fracture.
An inventory of the National Appliance Store revealed $39 was missing from the register, along with a $30 tabletop style radio. An intriguing clue was also found amongst the store’s seasonal items; a 30-inch, 7-pound crowbar festively wrapped in light-green Christmas paper and secured with a red silk ribbon crafted from a garment, peeked out from a child's toy wagon. While the paper did not appear to be damaged, later analysis of the crowbar and its wrapping yielded positive results for blood, leading investigators to suspect it as the murder weapon.
Store owner Ben Kraus explained that at the time of the attack Lura had been working alone. That morning, Ben had been working at another store he owned, located just across the street. He adamantly denied having any knowledge of the crowbar found at the scene, stating he neither stocked that style of tool nor the distinctive paper and silk ribbon that had been used to wrap it.
A young witness, nine-year-old Dorothy Whalin, offered investigators a crucial glimpse into the events preceding Lura’s death. Dorothy recounted passing the National Appliance Store at 10:30 AM on her way home. As she stopped momentarily to admire the store’s window display of Christmas toys, she spotting Lura engaged with a customer admiring a wooden rocking horse. As Dorothy continued her walk, she saw the customer abruptly sprint from the store, concealing a radio beneath his arm. She described him as a black male standing roughly 5'8" tall and weighing around 170 pounds. He sported a mustache and donned a brown ensemble; pants, a short coat, and a hunter's cap with tied ear flaps.
The investigation pressed on, with detectives interviewing several individuals matching the description of the man. However, despite Dorothy’s vivid description of the fleeing figure, she was unable to definitively identify any of the questioned suspects as the man she saw.
Lura was laid to rest in Louisville’s Eastern Cemetery. Born in Indiana and widowed twice, she left behind five children; one son and four stepdaughters. Sadly, with no definitive leads, the case quickly settled into a disheartening silence until Lura’s death became just another unsolved chapter in Louisville’s history.
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