Sarah Walker
12 min read
I have worked for Keller Williams Real Estate for almost six years. Whenever I hear a case about a realtor being murdered, it makes the brutality of these crimes seem even more real. Realtors often show properties alone and meet up with total strangers to try and earn their business. I wanted to cover this case to include some safety tips for my real estate community to become familiar with. Secondly, it happened 12 minutes from my apartment, which always freaks me out.
Credit: Forensic Files: House Hunting
Introduction
On July 8, 2006, Andy Lilliston and his wife arrived at 5700 Conch Train Rd in McKinney. They were viewing a model, upscale home built by D.R. Horton. When they entered, Lilliston thought the house appeared to be ransacked. He observed a large pool of blood in the living room by the sales desk and followed a trail into the kitchen. He saw realtor Sarah Walker lying face-up on the floor, the upper half of her body covered in blood. Lilliston directed his wife to call 9-1-1, and they fled the model home.
Credit: Maiya Beeson
Texas Ranger A.P. Davidson arrived at Conch Train and immediately detected signs of struggle. According to the court document, the desk had been skewed, the chair was out of place, a plant stand was knocked over, and a potted plant was on the floor. In addition, a pair of women's shoes, a broken hair clip, and a broken earring were found. There was also a trail of blood leading from the dining room into the kitchen.
Walker's body was on the floor, and she appeared to have multiple stab wounds. Police suspected she had been dragged by her feet because the long skirt she wore was rolled up to her waistline. They found blood on the plant stand, the ceramic tile in the entryway, under Walker's fingernails, the wall beside the front door, the pull cord for the window blinds, and a partially bloody fingerprint on the doorknob. In the sink, detectives processing the scene also found what appeared to be blood that had been diluted with water. They collected swabs of everything they could find to be sent off for testing. The results showed a second DNA profile had been uncovered at the crime scene. Walker had tried to fight off her killer and injured him during the attack, causing him to bleed and try to clean himself up in the sink.
The Collin County Medical Examiner who performed Walker's autopsy, William Rohr, testified that she had sustained several blunt force injuries to her head. He opined that the injuries resulted from "several blows" and were consistent with Walker being struck in the face and head with the plant stand in the model home. She had six contusions on her face. Her nasal bones and two of her teeth were fractured. Rohr also saw evidence of strangulation. Further, the autopsy report revealed Walker had been stabbed 33 times. Sixteen of the wounds were on her head and neck, ten on her torso, and six on her extremities. There was also a bite mark on the left side of Walker's neck.
According to Walker's ex-husband, who saw her the morning of her murder, she had shown him a Rolex watch she had just bought. Photos from a Bank of America branch that Walker visited at approximately 11:45 a.m. that morning showed her wearing a watch and a ring. When Walker's body was discovered, both were missing from her body. When police later searched Walker's home, they found a box to a Rolex and its receipt but no watch. It was difficult for investigators to envision a crime of this extent in an upscale housing development. From the autopsy results, it appeared to police that this must have been someone who knew Walker closely, but why would they steal from her?
Credit: Forensic Files: House Hunting
Suspects
Detectives started looking into Sarah's past. They found that she had recently been divorced from her second husband, Randy Tate. According to her family and friends, it was a divorce she didn't want, and she wasn't happy with it. Sarah had planned to work at the model home, so Tate picked up their son early that morning on the day she was killed. Police interviewed Randy Tate, and he had an alibi - he was playing golf with buddies at the time of her death. In addition, he provided a DNA sample that did not match the blood collected from the scene.
Subsequently, investigators found that Sarah had joined a website called millionairematch.com. Since her divorce from Tate, Sarah hadn't dated many men, but investors questioned every man who interacted with her on the site. Each guy provided DNA samples, and all of them were eliminated. Several weeks had passed since Sarah's murder; unexpectedly, Nelson Villavicencio, the husband of another realtor, came forward with some information.
On July 8, 2006, real estate agent Mamie Sharpless received a call from a man identifying himself as "Chan Lee." According to a court document, the man told Sharpless he had found her phone number in a Keller Williams advertisement and that he wanted to look at a townhome she had listed in the Craig Ranch Subdivision. He said that he had just moved from North Carolina to the Dallas area, had graduated from the University of North Carolina, and now worked for Texas Instruments, a manufacturing company. Lee said he was calling from a phone booth at the 7-Eleven at Midway and Park and that he was staying in Room 245 at the "InTown Suites." They agreed to meet at the townhome sometime around 11:30 a.m. When Sharpless asked him for a contact number, he said he did not have a cell phone. The phone "cut off" before their conversation ended, so Sharpless tried to reach him by calling his hotel. Sharpless testified that she called two InTown Suites, and one didn't have room 245, the other one did, but there was no one there by the name of Chan Lee.
Being in real estate, I know how desperate realtors sometimes are to earn a commission. So, I understand why Sharpless decided to bring her husband along for safety and drive to the townhome to see if "Chan Lee" would show up - no matter how sketchy the client appeared. Sharpless and her husband, Nelson Villavicencio, sat outside the property in their car and waited. They saw a man drive by in a white Ford Mustang and park across from a D.R. Horton model home down the street a little while later. The man got out of his car, and they drove over to him; Villavicencio asked him if he was "Chan Lee," and he replied "No.", looking up at the sky and not making eye contact.
Sharpless and her husband went inside the townhome to prepare to show another potential buyer. As Villavicencio looked out the bedroom window, he observed Sarah Walker arrive in her Porsche Boxster. Walker parked her car across the street from the D.R. Horton model home and went inside. At that point, Villavicencio also saw a white Mustang parked in the street in front of the model home. Sharpless finished showing around 1:00 p.m., and the couple left to get lunch, noticing the Mustang was still there.
Credit: Maiya Beeson
Police also discovered from Walker's cousin, Jessica Allen, that Walker had called her at about 12:30 p.m. from work and was in a great mood. They talked for about 15 minutes; then Walker said that someone had just walked into the model and she would call her back. At approximately 1:10 p.m., Andy Lilliston and his wife had arrived and discovered Walker's body.
Unfortunately, several weeks had passed when Villavicencio had called the police about a possible sighting of the killer. Detectives feared he may have forgotten some of the man's physical characteristics, so police decided to try forensic hypnosis before asking Villavicencio any questions. The purpose is to get the person in a relaxed enough state to bring up a date or an offense and place them back where they were and where they might recall an incident. Forensic hypnosis has been used by law enforcement since the 1800s.
Villavicencio described the man as muscular, about 5'5, of Asian descent, and had a "buzz-cut." He then looked through a book of photographs to choose the most similar features of the man. Each page contained different-shaped eyes, mouths, and noses. Then, the sketch of the possible murder suspect was drawn up and released to the media. It immediately produced leads. Another local real estate agent, Barbara Johnson, said she recognized the man. She had shown him some houses, and a couple of months later, he showed up at her home, asking if he could use the phone because his car was broken down in her driveway. When she refused to let him inside, he got mad and started banging on her back door. She was terrified, and her dog started barking, so she called the police, telling them there was a man in her backyard who drove a white Mustang. Police identified the man as Kosoul Chanthakoummane.
Credit: Forensic Files: House Hunting
Capture
Chanthakoummane was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 1, 1980, to Laotian parents. He worked as a delivery truck driver and had a history of violence. At age fifteen, Chanthakoummane assaulted two classmates and was sent to juvenile detention, he was released, and only a few months later, he stole a car. Then, when he was sixteen, he and a friend tied up and held two older women at gunpoint after stealing a car and leading police on a chase. As a result, Chanthakoummane was convicted of aggravated robbery and kidnapping and served nine years in prison. He was released on parole just six months before Walker's murder and had decided to move to Dallas to live with his sister.
On September 5, 2006, police arrested Chanthakoummane at his home in Carrollton and interviewed him that night. According to the tape, he tells authorities he doesn't know why he's been detained except that it could be for street racing. Officers Randy Norton and Steve Riley tell Chanthakoummane that several witnesses spotted his white Ford Mustang with an identical tag number in the McKinney city limits. Chanthakoummane had no explanation for this and said, "Let me know what you're getting at. I know you're playing with me, man." "When we figure out that you're being honest and straight up, then we can tell you what's up," Norton said back.
Credit: Dallas News
Chanthakoummane first tells Norton he may have stopped in McKinney to buy cigarettes or lottery tickets. He later changes his story and admits his Mustang may have overheated and broken down in the neighborhood of Walker's model home and that he knocked on the door of the model home where Walker had been working on the day of her murder. He admits he walked into the house for a few seconds. "When I passed through the door, nobody was there," Chanthakoummane said. "I know because I said, 'Hello? Hello?'" He said that he went to the kitchen sink for a drink of water but "didn't know how to use the faucet because the hot water came out," so he left. Chanthakoummane acknowledged that he had old cuts on his hands from work; he could have been bleeding inside the model home. However, when Norton asks him if he may have left some of his blood on the deadbolt to the front door, Chanthakoummane says, "I'm not talking to you all no more. You're scaring me, man."
Kosoul Chanthakoummane denied any involvement in Walker's murder. Police had noticed that his left hand was covered in recently healed scars. The scars were going in every direction as if he'd been in a knife fight. Since the suspect had bit the victim, investigators took photographs and dental impressions of Chanthakoummane's teeth. Those were then compared to the bite mark on Sarah Walker - it was a match. Chanthakoummane's DNA was also confirmed to match the blood collected at the scene.
Credit: Forensic Files: House Hunting
Trial
On October 8, 2007, Prosecutor Greg Davis said in his opening argument that Walker was sitting at the desk at the model home at 5700 Conch Train Road when Chanthakoummane entered the house, walked to the desk, picked up a plant stand, and hit her with it. That broke her nose and fractured two teeth. "She struggled. Then he took out a knife and stabbed her over and over and over again," Davis said. "He took her Rolex watch off her wrist, took her ring off her finger. Then he locked the front door and dragged her lifeless body to the kitchen. He went to the sink and washed his hands and walked out the front door."
Defense attorney Keith Gore said that Chanthakoummane entered the townhome with the intent of robbing Walker. "It didn't go too well," Gore said. "And he killed her. I wish I could say it was self-defense, that he was fighting her off, or that it was temporary insanity. But it wasn't." Realtor Mamie Sharpless and her husband placed Chanthakoummane at the crime scene, identifying the defendant sitting at the table as the man they saw on the afternoon of the murder. They also said the man was driving a white Ford Mustang that was discovered to be registered to Chanthakoummane.
Finally, Collin County prosecutors closed their case with their most important piece of evidence - DNA. Stacy McDonald testified she received several blood swabs from the McKinney PD that contained partial or complete traces of Chanthakoummane's DNA. The samples came from two pull cords, a deadbolt, a lock faceplate, and Walker's fingernail clippings. McDonald ran random match possibilities and verified that another unknown source having Chanthakoummane's identical genetic code is 165 trillion to one. Dr. Brent Hudson, a forensic dental adviser, said he made an impression of the bite mark on Walker's neck and compared it to impressions of Chanthakoummane's teeth. He said he believed the bite on Walker's neck matched Chanthakoummane's teeth "within reasonable dental certainty beyond a doubt." The jury convicted Kosoul Chanthakoummane after 30 minutes of deliberation, and he was sentenced to death on October 18, 2007.
Where is he now?
It has been almost fifteen years, and Chanthakoummane is still on Polunsky Death Row in Livingston. His execution date has been moved many times. In 2017 he filed an appeal that claimed the bite mark was improper forensic evidence. Since Villavicencio was placed under hypnosis, he said this was a scientifically invalid testimony used to convict him. He was granted a stay. Chanthakoummane was scheduled to die again in November 2021 but claimed Texas was violating his religious freedom by not allowing his spiritual advisers to pray aloud and place a hand on his body at the time of his death. His new execution date is August 17, 2022. There are still people who think Chanthakoummane is innocent, as he has never admitted to being the murderer. However, based on his own testament and forensic evidence, I think he is guilty, and I hope the state follows through with his execution this time.
Safety Tips
Being a realtor is a risky job in almost every aspect. Consequently, it is essential to take precautions and be aware of your surroundings, especially females.
Before showing:
Meet all potential first-time clients at your office if possible.
Record personal information about them: name, address, contact numbers.
Ask them personal questions - "Did you grow up around here?"
Do not tell them personal information about yourself.
Introduce them to someone else in the office. Most suspects don't like attention.
If out showing, tell a co-worker where you are going and when you will return. Make sure they know the address.
Drive your own vehicle to showings.
Arriving at the property:
Park your vehicle on the street, not in the driveway where you can be blocked in.
Park your vehicle, so it faces the way out of the neighborhood.
Place your purse or other valuables in the trunk of your car before arriving.
Is this an area with heavy traffic, or is it isolated? Could someone hear you if you need help?
Did you notice any vehicle following you to the property?
Make sure your car has a full tank of gas.
Getting the home ready to show:
Arrive early and turn on all interior lights.
Open all curtains.
Unlock all doors, including the exterior gates; this will allow you to escape from the backyard if necessary.
Check and see if the telephone has a dial tone.
Make sure the homeowner removed all valuables, weapons, or pieces of information that could be used for I.D. Theft.
Showing the property:
Keep your car keys and cell phone on your person. Use a belt clip if necessary.
Do not wear expensive jewelry or watches. This could make you a target of a robbery.
Leave the front door open while the prospective buyer is inside.
Never put your back to the prospective buyer. Let them walk in front of you and stay in the doorway as they go into the rooms.
If they are going to isolated areas like a basement, let them go alone.
Have your office, spouse, or friend call and check in on you every hour.
Closing the house:
If the house is two-story, start from the top and work your way to the bottom. Work back to front.
Check all doors and windows; some burglars view a house earlier in the day, unlock a window and come back in the evening to loot.
Know how to use your personal defense system like pepper spray.
Trust your gut feeling!
Credit: Forensic Files: House Hunting
Sources
https://casetext.com/case/chanthakoummane-v-director
"Forensic Files: House Hunting (Season 13, Episode 2)"
https://starlocalmedia.com/mckinneycouriergazette/news/state-rests-its-case-in-punishment-phase-of-trial/article_68edcfd6-0f50-579d-8597-63fe513f42eb.html
https://starlocalmedia.com/mckinneycouriergazette/news/walker-autopsy-report-goes-into-details/article_c7149445-b608-5f36-af3e-143ced2e4de0.html
https://starlocalmedia.com/mckinneycouriergazette/news/chanthakoummane-killed-walker-defense-admits/article_3bfe968e-f955-57be-8a8d-ac511d12316b.html
https://starlocalmedia.com/mckinneycouriergazette/news/chanthakoummane-s-dna-found-at-crime-scene/article_048ff11e-c5b4-5c2d-88b1-0a95fb566d85.html
https://constable8.harriscountytx.gov/RelatedLinks/Personal%20Safety%20for%20Realtors.pdf