Shocking case in the United States: the remains of a mother and her daughter, discovered after the killer confessed to his crime on his deathbed, 24 years after committing it

A West Virginia father has finally found peace after authorities discovered the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them in the back with almost two decades.

Benjamin Hatfield, the attorney general of Raleigh County, called it “a little bit of a poetic ending that even I couldn’t write,” during a press conference Tuesday, CNN reports.

In a “detailed, uncontested and uncontroversial” deathbed confession made earlier this month to one of the investigators in the case, Larry Webb admitted to fatally shooting 10-year-old Natasha “Alex” Carter at that time, and her mother, Susan Carter, almost 24 years ago, Hatfield said.

In 2000, the Carter family lived in Webb’s home, authorities said. Webb told the investigator that some of the money he had in the house was missing, and Webb suspected Susan Carter of “spending a lot of money.” They argued about it and he shot her,” Hatfield continued. Webb said he felt he had no choice then to shoot Alex as well, “to avoid being found out that he killed Susan.”

Webb told the investigator that he stored their bodies in the basement of his home and, over the course of two nights, dug a shallow grave in the woods on his property, Hatfield said, where he buried the two together.

Alex’s father, Rick Lafferty, said Tuesday that it was “kind of a sad day, but also a happy day because I was able to bring my child home.” Webb was a suspect from the beginning of the investigation, authorities said.

In October 2023, Webb was charged with first degree murder in Alex’s death, but neither Carter’s nor Alex’s bodies had been found at that time. Before the indictment, investigators had DNA evidence and witness statements, Hatfield said.

But, after the indictment, “due to Larry Webb’s health, the legal proceedings were postponed for various reasons. He was moved to a nursing home. We had problems with transportation,” Hatfield said. “We had problems with securing his medical clearance to be incarcerated. … It was a little difficult to move through the judicial process in the first stages”.

Before a court date earlier this month, one of the investigators was able to speak with Webb at his nursing home, according to Hatfield. Webb confessed to the murders, detailing the motive and the location of the bodies behind his property, Hatfield said.

“The confession aligned exactly with the investigative efforts and the evidence collected” by the authorities, Hatfield said.

Authorities began exhumation efforts on April 9, according to Hatfield, but it was a “difficult process” because Webb’s description of the location “was limited” and “clouded by memory and physical and mental health at the time.”

That day, investigators brought Webb to the excavation site, but his health had deteriorated so much that the move proved futile, they said.

Web was transferred from the hospice unit at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex, where he was incarcerated, to Montgomery General Hospital, where he died Monday morning, Hatfield said.

Hours later, the bodies of Susan and Alex Carter were found, Hatfield said.

The investigation is ongoing, and the remains are at the coroner’s office, the authorities said.

On Tuesday, Lafferty offered some advice for anyone in his situation: “Never give up. Never give up hope of finding your child”.