Welcome

Welcome to the Free Bill Macumber website. We are working toward the release of an innocent man. Please add your name to the petition on the right, or contact us for more information.

In 1974, Bill Macumber was simply living his life, a former U.S. Army soldier, a father of three boys, with a good job. Suddenly, in August of that year, he was arrested and charged with a double murder, taken into police custody and thrust into a nightmare.

Told that his handprint was found among the evidence from the crime scene, Bill could not believe what was happening. He went to prison, a convicted killer, with his life as he knew it, his sons, and his future, now taken from him.

A 12-year old double homicide had gone unsolved and was known as one of Arizona’s most famous cold cases. A young couple, Tim McKillop and Joyce Sterrenberg, had been out for the evening on May 24, 1962, and were found murdered, both shot and left in the Scottsdale foothills.

At the time of his arrest, Bill Macumber was going through a divorce. He had temporary custody of his three sons, and his wife, Carol, was alleged to have been involved in sexual misconduct at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Her job and her family were at risk. She approached the Office and claimed that her husband had confessed to her his responsibility for these murders, and suggested they re-examine the evidence on file. Subsequently, Macumber’s palm print was found among the prints from the scene. Carol Macumber had taken courses in fingerprinting only a few months previous.

His wife’s testimony, a palm print, and gun shell casings were the main evidence items against Bill. Unbelievably, the case files and evidence for this notorious crime were not protected through the years, and were available to almost anyone who was in proximity. Carol Macumber admitted that she might have read the case reports.

During a stay in Maricopa County jail in 1964, an inmate named Ernesto Valenzuela told his cellmate that he had had committed the McKillop/Sterrenberg murders. Valenzuela repeated his confession to a psychiatrist and to the sheriff’s office. Three years later, he was charged with a separate homicide and spent his remaining days in prison. He confessed again about the McKillop/Sterrenberg murders to his then defense attorney who to this day re-affirms this fact, but the confessions were not revealed during Bill Macumber’s trial in 1974.

There is no DNA evidence today to prove Bill’s innocence. All of the evidence — from an unknown handkerchief found at the scene to the gun shell casings to the fingerprints (which never matched Bill) and palm print – is completely gone. Ernesto Valenzuela’s confessions were never admitted in Bill’s trial, and now that possibility is gone too, Valenzuela having died in prison in 1973.

Bill Macumber steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout this ordeal. He repeated that he would never ever admit to something he did not do. Bill could have gained parole years ago by “confessing” to this crime and expressing remorse, but absolutely refuses, even though 35 years without his family and freedom have passed. He has said that although he might spend the rest of his days in prison, he will die an innocent man.

In 2009, Bill Macumber took one last gasp at gaining his freedom and rejoining his family. His petition to the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency was heard and in May, every single member voted to recommend clemency for Bill, not based on remorse and reform, but based simply on his innocence – a historical first for the Board. The recommendation then went to Governor Jan Brewer, while Bill, his family, his supporters, and justice workers, waited. On November 13, 2009, the recommendation was denied. Now 75 years old, Bill Macumber received word that he was to remain in prison.

UPDATE: Phoenix KPHO-TV aired a report on May 19, 2010 regarding Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s denial of clemency for Bill Macumber.

Arizona Governor Refuses To Explain Clemency Ruling

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Arizona Channel 3 KTVK aired a report on July 25, 2010 >>

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Channel 12 News aired coverage of the story on July 11, 2010 >>