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William Deparvine’s Murder of Richard and Karla Van Dusen
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William Deparvine’s Murder of Richard and Karla Van Dusen

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Last updated: August 1, 2025 5:58 am
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Published: August 1, 2025
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Such As This:Associated

A Computing Floridian Makes Use Of Lorry Sales to Establish Targets
(‘ Simply Desserts,’ Forensic Documents)

It was 2 days prior to Thanksgiving 2003 and William Deparvine had factor to really feel thankful.

He had actually lately been launched after 9 years in a Florida jail. He had actually located job doing building. The regulation level he ended up while put behind bars may have caused various other task possibilities. And his youngsters still enjoyed him and desired him in their lives.

Karla and Richard Van Dusen

Yet Deparvine really did not count his true blessings. Rather, he eliminated 2 complete strangers, swiped their vehicle, and wound up on fatality row.

The Forensic Documents episode regarding the situation raises the concept that Deparvine’s main objective had not been taking Karla and Richard Van Dusen’s classic Chevrolet Cheyenne– yet instead that he supplied to acquire the car as a way to obtain them to a private place where he might finish their lives.

For this blog post, I checked into his past and located that, while it’s unclear whether he’s a thrill awesome, he’s certainly also scarier than Forensic Documents depicts him. The episode points out that his initial imprisonment came from a tools fee, yet he was currently presumed of method more-serious criminal activities than that.

I likewise located some history info on innocent targets Karla and Richard Van Dusen. So allow’s start on the wrap-up of “Simply Desserts” in addition to added info from the Tampa Fl Bay Times‘ exceptional coverage on the situation in addition to various other information resources offered online:

On November 26, 2003, a shopkeeper found a suspicious-looking Jeep Cherokee in a car park near his company in St. Petersburg, Florida. The car had actually a smashed windscreen, a seat belt hanging outside the guest door, and blood in the inside. A handbag in the car had some money and an ID for Karla Van Dusen.

The Jeep came from Karla and her hubby, Richard William “Rick” Van Dusen, that resided in the village of Tierra Verde. They had actually been wed a couple of years and had youngsters from previous marital relationships.

Karla Jean Smith Van Dusen, 49, was a court press reporter that at once had Freelance Coverage Providers in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In her downtime, she sang in a church choir and impersonated a clown to do for ill youngsters. Richard, 58, functioned marketing color-copy equipments and gathered antique vehicles.

Shot of a boat on share next to a condo complex in Tierra Verde, Florida
Tierra Verde, in Pinellas Area, has less than 4,000 homeowners

Richard took satisfaction in his recovered 1971 Chevrolet Cheyenne pick-up. He cleaned the glossy red car weekly and entered it in vintage-car programs.

Yet after he and Karla wed, he wished to invest even more time with her and much less with his vehicle, according to the Tampa Fl Bay Times He attempted, unsuccessfully, to market the Cheyenne by means of public auction for $17,000. After that, he supplied it for $14,500 in a St. Petersburg Times advertisement, yet located no purchasers. Richard reduced the rate to $13,700 in November 2003.

And now the vehicle was missing out on and the pair’s Jeep had actually become a forensic proof storage locker. Fifty percent a mile to 3 miles (resources differ on the range) from the Jeep, on a separated dust roadway off Old Memorial Freeway in Hillsborough Area, the Van Dusens’ bodies lay on the ground. The awesome or awesomes had not troubled to swipe Richard’s gold rings or cash clip with $83, and Karla still had 4 gold rings and gold hoop jewelry on her, according to court documents

Authorities thought that an assailant had actually made use of a.9-millimeter weapon to fire Richard outside the Jeep, in the rear of his head, and placed 2 bullets in Karla while she beinged in the car. After that, cops supposed, the awesome stabbed her, removed her seat belt, tossed her body out of the cars and truck, and drove it to the parking area.

Male blood in the pole position of the cars and truck, which really did not match Richard’s DNA, possibly arrived when the assaulter inadvertently reduced himself while cutting via the safety belt or stabbing Karla, cops thought.

Near the Jeep, cops located the motorist’s permit of an ex-convict called Henry Carlton Sullivan, age 32. His document consisted of battery, narcotics, and parole infractions, and he had no description for why his ID turned up near a murder scene.

Authorities located the Van Dusens’ Cheyenne in the parking area of Henry’s apartment in midtown St. Petersburg, and found he had two.9-millimeter weapons.

Luckily for him, a ballistics professional established that his weapons really did not match a 9-millimeter bullet located in the Jeep. And the male blood from the car really did not lug his DNA.

Yet Henry had a sibling– Justin Sullivan– that in some cases made use of Henry’s name to deceive police. Possibly Justin dedicated the murders and afterwards went down Henry’s permit to shake off cops.

The examination, nonetheless, entered a brand-new instructions when a male called William Deparvine came close to cops while they were researching the Cheyenne in the apartment parking area. The 6-foot 1-inch high Deparvine, 51, claimed that he had actually gotten the vehicle from the Van Dusens the day previously, after seeing an advertisement in the paper.

William Deparvine

Deparvine, that was helping P.J. Callaghan Building in Pinellas Area, had a receipt for $6,500.

Authorities located him enjoyable adequate to talk with.

Yet among Richard’s colleagues remembered Richard’s claiming that he and Karla had a customer that accepted pay $13,500. Why would certainly they unexpectedly go down the rate by fifty percent for Deparvine?

Authorities found that Deparvine’s nine-year jail term came from a sting procedure entailing an automobile sale. He secured an advertisement supplying a Harley Davidson at a severe discount rate. Some motorbike devotees presumed a rip-off and educated authorities. When Deparvine asked one potential purchaser to bring $4,000 in money and trip with him to a barn in Tarpon Springs to make the sale, a covert police opted for him on the drive. Deparvine had actually a hidden hand gun– and there was no barn and no motorbike.

Deparvine’s various other criminal activities consisted of arson, grand burglary, and saying (imitation), according to a Florida federal government web site

The arson was especially unpleasant. Deparvine had actually attempted to work out a rental fee conflict with an occupant by putting a ring of fuel around her residence and illumination it ablaze, according to the Tampa Fl Bay Times The lady and her 3 youngsters were asleep within, yet they all made it through.

As terrible and unscrupulous as Deparvine was, he had a respectable-seeming history. Birthed in Detroit on April 21, 1952, he finished from Wayne State College, wed his senior high school sweetie, had 3 children and a kid, and sustained them by means of building tasks while dealing with a legislation level, according to a public protector managing his situation.

And he was clever adequate to practically prevent offering cops with a DNA example. He declined their demand and made sure not to leave any kind of things with a trace of his hereditary product anywhere authorities may discover it. Yet as Peter Thomas kept in mind in a preferred Forensic Documents quote, “he quit at a gelato shop in a mall and acquired a treat called a Snowstorm.” Authorities that were stalking him at the Tyrone Square Shopping center fetched his spoon, which had DNA matching the blood on the guest side of the Jeep and on the guiding wheel.

A next-door neighbor called Christopher Coviello remembered that prior to the murder, he saw Richard driving the vintage vehicle, with Karla complying with in their Jeep behind them. When the Van Dusens reached Deparvine’s house, detectives think, Deparvine asked to follow him someplace to ensure that he might obtain the money from a close friend to spend for the vehicle.

Yet there was no close friend and no money. When they reached a deserted roadway, Deparvine fired them and afterwards deserted the Jeep in the St. Petersburg great deal. He left Henry Sullivan’s motorist’s permit at the scene to mount him. (He and Henry Sullivan were neighbors, yet it’s unclear precisely just how he got the permit.)

Prior to the test, even more info connecting Deparvine to various other, unresolved criminal activities started rolling out. It ended up that Deparvine had a company companion that went missing out on in 1985. Russell Kenburg had actually accepted obtain huge life insurance policy plans on himself and make Deparvine the recipient. Both had actually prepared to open up a motor home rental company in Texas. After complying with Deparvine in his cars and truck to apparently consult with an accounting professional and a lender, Kenburg was never ever seen once more, according to the Tampa Fl Bay Times

There was likewise the issue of a witness arranged to affirm versus Deparvine in an imitation situation. The guy showed up dead in a ditch in 1989. Overall, Deparvine may have been associated with 6 various other murders.

In January 2004, individuals that lived to inform of awful experiences with Deparvine spoke up. Kenburg’s close friend Ed Bowler– that was promoting an examination right into Deparvine’s feasible participation in Kenburg’s fatality– claimed that an undetected shooter frightened him by shooting at his head; the bullet simply missed him.

After That there was John Todderoff. After submitting a civil fit versus Deparvine over a seized residence they both wished to acquire, Todderoff was assaulted by a shotgun-wielding guy in a cars and truck. Pellets struck Todoroff in the arm and upper body, yet he had not been seriously hurt. He really did not see the face of the shooter.

Deparvine's adult daughters
William Deparvine’s children informed the court that having the ability to see their papa behind bars was necessary to them

At the very same time, Deparvine had next-door neighbors and various other associates that defined him as carefree, enchanting, and a clean housemaid of his $400-a-month home, according to the Tampa Fl Bay Times

The cops that tracked Deparvine, nonetheless, defined him as a loner that preserved an uninteresting regimen.

He may have appeared boring in some cases, yet he was unscrupulous. It would certainly appear later on that in August 2002, Deparvine prepared a phony notarized proof of purchase with the buck quantity space by acting he wished to acquire a 1996 F-150 pickup from a male called George Harrington, that would certainly take place to affirm versus him. (Deparvine most likely made use of that record as the proof of purchase for the Cheyenne.)

Prior to the initial test started, buddies and family members of the Van Dusens started marketing, by means of letter-writing and an on the internet request, for district attorneys to go with the death sentence.

Richard’s children Michelle Kroeger and Renee Koppany created that “you can reveal your honor to them [Karla and Richard] for their relationship, their genuine love and empathy and their brilliant spirit by creating of the impact this criminal activity has actually carried you directly.”

Karla’s close friend Dianne Foster claimed in a paper meeting that she had actually sobbed each day considering that the murders. “Karla and I constantly believed we would certainly age with each other, enjoy our youngsters have youngsters, traveling and chef. Do extra enjoyable points. Currently, it’s not mosting likely to occur,” Foster claimed.

At the 2005 test, district attorneys billed Deparvine with 2 matters of first-degree murder, armed kidnapping, and armed highjacking. Karla’s mom indicated that her child called her while driving the Jeep and claimed that Deparvine was leading her and Richard to someplace where Deparvine would certainly obtain money and they might do the documentation.

On the witness box, Deparvine drifted a variety of alibis regarding his very own location the evening of the murders. He condemned the murders on Henry Sullivan.

Photo of James Myers in scrubs at his dental practice
James Myers

Deparvine likewise asserted that Richard Van Dusen had actually approved his deal of $6,500 for the Cheyenne due to the fact that he aspired to dump it.

Oh, and Deparvine claimed that he got the money for the Cheyenne by marketing a Rolex watch that he had actually hidden in his jail’s site visitors park. Costs Jamison, the prisoner that Deparvine claimed gotten the watch, could not prove the tale due to the fact that he was dead. Deparvine could not show that he ever before had the $6,500 in money or that he paid the Van Dusens for the vehicle.

In The Future in the test, a reduction professional called Sara Flynn indicated that Deparvine had actually matured in an unloving, unsupportive home and he had actually striven to obtain an education and learning while behind bars. His children, Kelly Cousineau, Tina Holtusm, and Kourtney Deparvine, all informed the court that he was an excellent papa.

Kourtney, the youngest, claimed that her papa had actually taken care of while she recuperated from significant surgical procedure, assisted her with her research, and attended her french-horn shows.

Nevertheless, the court chose the death sentence.

When State Circuit Court J. Rogers Padgett reviewed the sentence, Deparvine revealed little response, and Van Dusen family members accepted in the court room, according to an Associated Press account.

As court policemans took Deparvine away, Richard Van Dusen’s mom sobbed and asked, “Is it over? Is it over yet?”

Deparvine went straight to jail.

A couple of years after the test, Deparvine generated displeasure and disgust around the U.S.A., when papers ran a tale regarding his most current barrage: From jail, he filed a claim against the making it through Van Dusens for the classic vehicle.

Richard and Karla Van Dusen
Richard and Karla Van Dusen were considering transferring to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where Karla had actually taken down some origins

” The last point I desire is him to win or obtain a judgment claiming that my family members needs to pay him for anything,” Michele Kroeger, Richard Van Dusen’s child and administrator of his estate, informed the Tampa Fl Bay Times “He’s currently burglarized us of a lot.”

The Van Dusen family members had actually currently sold the vehicle by now anyhow; probably it was a memory extra bitter than wonderful.

Yet a significant break came Deparvine’s method 13 years later on when the High court ruled that states could not execute implementations unless the courts had actually gotten to consentaneous choices for the death sentence. Deparvine’s initial sentencing was based upon a ballot of 8 to 4.

At Deparvine’s resentencing hearing, participants from both his family members and the Van Dusens’s offered influence declarations.

” The entire globe was much better with her in it,” claimed Karla’s boy, James Myers, at the 2022 resentencing.” My whole heart was squashed irreparable.”

James, a dental practitioner with a technique in Charlotte, North Carolina, promoted maintaining the death penalty.

Deparvine’s children Kelly and Tina both talked. “I still gain from having a father,” claimed Kelly.

One more supporter for Deparvine kept in mind that he had no significant offenses while behind bars which he might utilize his regulation level to aid various other prisoners.

William Deparvine in his current prison photo
William Deparvine in a present jail image

The district attorneys recognized that no matter the penalty, Deparvine would certainly pass away behind bars– yet asked jurors to allow the state choose when. Aide state attorney general of the United States Michelle Doherty indicated the cold-bloodedness of the criminal activity. “This had not been done due to the fact that this customer was upset or did not like the Van Dusens,” she claimed. “This was done only to swipe their vehicle.”

The panel elected to decrease the sentence to 2 life terms.

The choice indicated Deparvine might leave fatality row and sign up with the major jail populace.

Deparvine can be grateful for that. And the 1,500 prisoners in Suwannee Correctional Organization Annex in addition to him can be pleased they recognize sufficient regarding killers to prevent the sort of configurations Deparvine made use of on righteous individuals like Karla and Richard Van Dusen.

That recommends this blog post. Up until following time, joys. — R.R.


See the Forensic Record episode on YouTube

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