Six-Year Murder Investigation in Johnson City Leads to Arrest
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Six-Year Murder Investigation in Johnson City...
Six-Year Murder Investigation in Johnson City Leads to Arrest
Courtesy: Washington County Detention Center
Dale Keith Larkin
* Please note this is now the correct photo - the wrong photo of another man, named Larkins, was mistakenly posted for a short time.
Johnson City Police officers have arrested one man on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder and insurance fraud.
This morning, officers arrested Dale Keith Larkin, #2 Wayland Court, Johnson City.
The arrest stems from a six-year investigation into the death of Larkin’s wife, Teresa “Teri” Larkin, who was found unresponsive at their home in November of 2003.
The home where the Larkin’s lived together, on Wayland Court, is a high-income neighborhood and, before her death, Teri Larkin was a pharmaceutical sales representative.
According to police, Dale Larkin is unemployed. However, his brother, Dr. Donald Larkin, says that Dale manages a real estate business.
At a press conference held today, police released that information as well as information about life insurance policies taken out by Dale Larkin on Teri Larkin. In the two years before her death, police say that four separate insurance policies, totaling $1 million, were taken out on Teri.
Dale Larkin has since collected most or all of the money from those policies, despite a three-year waiting period and an investigation by the insurance companies.
At the time Teri Larkin was found by her daughter, emergency crews were called to the scene – but police were not called.
Larkin’s body was removed from the home, where she was found in a bathtub. An autopsy was performed soon after, and at that time police were called.
Police say that Dale Larkin was a suspect from the beginning of their investigation – since he admitted to being home at the time. However, since they were not able to conduct a search of the crime scene in time and the first autopsy was inconclusive, no evidence was found.
In March 2009 police say they were able to exhume Teri Larkin’s body from the grave and a second autopsy was performed in Knoxville. The results of that autopsy provided police with more evidence as to how she died.
The autopsy showed she died from suffocation and blunt force trauma was found all over her body. She also had some broken bones. All of this evidence pointed to murder, according to police.
Larkin is currently being held without bond in the Washington County Detention Center and will appear in court tomorrow morning.
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Reader Reactions
I agree with laughoften. Murderers can seem just like a normal person. This is a well known fact. I am afraid Mr. Larkin fooled alot of people. The evidence is overwhelming! The fact that he sent his 11 yr. old daughter in to find her mother is the icing on the cake for me. He is a heartless, money-hungry man. I hope for Teri’s daughter sake, he gets what he deserves. If only the first coroner had done her job correctly!
How much proof do you need? Her 11 year daughter finds her in a bath tub. she didn’t drown, she was suffocated, beaten, bruised and broken bones. He had 4 or more life insurance policies on her. with all the money going to himself. some falsified.
I feel sorry for her daughter, That he had her find her mother in the tub. Like he knew nothing had happened.
Way to go JCPD!!
This is a very sad situation for everyone involved. It is not up to us to judge. If you weren’t there, you don’t know what happened. Dale is a wonderful person! This is a very emotional time for both Dale’s daughter and Teri’s daughter. I will be praying for everyone involved.
Excuse me, pshepardoasis, how was teri’s family concerned about the financial aspect?!! Dale was the one who got a million $, and I think Teri would have wanted her daughter to be taken care of. However, Dale recieved most of the ins. claim. Sounds fishy to me!!! And Dale has not even said two words to his “stepdaughter” since shortly after this happened, nor has he tried to make sure she was okay. So, in our eyes, he absolutely had no concern for her after this was done. And FYI I do know Dale, yes he does seem nice, but some people have dark sides no one ever knows about.
People just wait for the facts of the case to be presented in court. If Dale did it then it will be presented in court. I do feel horrible that a 8 yr old child walked in and saw her mother laying there motionless. A 8 yr old child can’t even begin to comprehend what is going on at that point but will live with images of it. But here is one good point why would a random person walk into someones house and kill them. Now I wasn’t put on this earth to judge others but if it smells like a duck and quacks like duck most of the time its a duck…
Laughoften, you can try to justify what you said, but I am pretty sure that Dale was the one who had the upmost concern for Teri’s daughter when this event took place. Teri’s family was soley concerned about the financial aspect of the deal. They wanted to make sure that they were “taken care of” throughout this whole situation. Dale is NOT a killer. He is actually one of the most rational people you will ever meet. This backwards town (not everyone, just people who say before they think) is so quick to jump the gun when they havent taken the time to understand the situation. This isnt Salem.
I’m praying for Teresa’s daughter and pray that they send her mom’s killer to jail for the rest of his life. And I’m also praying for her family because they are the ones that have truly suffered a loss and stress!?!?!
What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? In this country it seems it is guilty as soon as it is reported. Dale is one of the nicest most laid back guys I know.
Let me tell you who I have known for many years, Teresas daughter, who has grown up without a mother for the past six years, in the most difficult time, her preteen and teen years. Who also has to live with the images she saw that day. Of course Dale seems nice, so did lots of other killers in history, in fact, most of the time people are always saying, “he seemed so nice, I can’t believe that he would do something like that…“ And to the person who commented on growing up because I said some sort of justice was done, for us some sort of justice was done when they put him in handcuffs and lead him out of his “nice neighborhood” and we will wait for the guilty verdict. As far as feeling sorry for Dales daughter what about the little girl who’s life was changed forever when her mom was found murdered, let’s not confuse her with Dale’s daughter, she was Teri’s daughter, not his. At least for Dale’s daughters he is still alive and they can see their dad, even if behind bars.
I didn’t know Him personally and every man and woman is innocent until proven guilty. I did though help him with plumbing purchases at Ferguson ent. and he would always talk to me in a kind manner. Its weird thou that everyone might have a dark side that things you don’t know are hidden away. For his Daughters sake I hope he is innocent. I feel so bad for this family. Bit when it comes to justics. Justics isn’t served until someone is proven Guilty…
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