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Tim Wile

Ward 1956 Packard Patrician stolen by Charles Starkweather

Home away from home

I've recently read a number of articles and books on the Starkweather homicide spree that took place in Nebraska and Wyoming in late 1957 and early 1958. In doing so, I noticed that the vehicle in which Starkweather was captured was a 1956 black Packard Patrician. Starkweather had stolen this Packard from a businessman, by the last name of Ward, in Lincoln, Nebraska, after the husband, wife, and maid were killed.

I've appended two photos of the Starkiweather Packard that I managed to find on the internet. Notice the shattered rear window that resulted from the Wyoming chase in which Starkweather was captured. The window was shattered by police gunfire. While Starkweather was not shot, he was hit by some of the flying glass from the shattered window, causing him to bleed, which is why he pulled over and surrendered. The left rear bumper also looks damaged. Whether that happened during the chase or when police towed the vehicle from the scene, I have not learned.

I was curious whether anyone knows what happened to that Packard. Was it repaired and continued on as someone's vehicle? Was it destroyed or junked by the family after it was released by the police? It would be something if that '56 Patrician was still extant and in whose ownership it is in now.

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