Chilling story about a killer couple who leave a trail of bodies in their wake
WITH her thin, wispy white hair and wrinkled complexion, Alice Uden was regarded by those close to her as a mild-mannered and meek retiree.
At 74, she was frail beyond her years – so it came as a complete shock to those who knew her when she was arrested and charged with murder.
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The creepy revelations didn’t stop there either.
As would later be revealed, both Alice and fourth husband Gerald had been hiding a host of sinister secrets for decades, with the ‘evil’ couple leaving a trail of at least four dead bodies in their wake…
‘He was immediately sold’
Their story together began in 1976, when mother of five Alice, then 37, moved to Fremont County, Wyoming, for a fresh start after leaving her third husband.
She had been divorced twice and widowed once, but this had not stopped her from finding love and that summer she began dating neighbor Gerald Uden, then 32, a maintenance worker who also had three failed marriages.
Speaking on the Hayu documentary Snapped: Killer Couples, true crime author Ron Franscell says: “One day there was a knock on Gerald’s door and it was Alice.
“He fell in love immediately. She was for him the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in the world.”
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‘Great mother’ and a ‘good father’
Five months after meeting, the couple married and bought a farm.
Erica Hayes, daughter of Alice Uden, says: “My mother was a wonderful mother. [Gerald] I fell head over heels in love… As their child, I never really wanted anything.”
But in the summer of 1980, Gerald’s ex-wife Virginia Uden and her two young sons, Richard, 11, and Reagan, 10, also moved to the area.
They weren’t Gerald’s biological children, but he had adopted the boys before the divorce, so he paid child support.
Ron Franscell says, “Gerald took his fatherly role very seriously, and he was a good father.”
But things took a sinister turn when on September 13, 1980, just two months later, Virginia’s mother Claire Martin reported Virginia and the missing boys to the police.
Lawyer Leigh Anne Manlove said: “Claire knew her daughter better than anyone and she knew her daughter wouldn’t have just left without saying a word.”
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A huge source of tension
Three weeks later, on October 4, police discovered the Virginia station wagon on the edge of a very deep gorge, with traces of blood on the back.
The blood was type A, which matched that of Virginia.
Agent Andrew Hanson of the Wyoming Criminal Investigations Division says, “Virgina and the boys were a huge source of tension in Alice and Gerald’s relationship and part of that came from Virginia wanting more child support.”
Lawyer Leigh Anne Manlove says: “There was a lot of hatred between each other [Alice and Virginia]. It wasn’t a fight about Gerald, it was really about money.”
Two months into their investigation, police spoke to both Gerald and Alice.
Former Fremont County Sheriff Larry Matthews said, “Alice was crying and emotional and couldn’t answer much.
“[Gerald] became very physically upset, shaking…I knew right away that we had our man and that he had something to do with it.
“He said even if there was a crime, we couldn’t prove it because there was no body.”
But with no evidence linking Alice and Gerald to the disappearances, years passed with no new leads.
5 Hayu True Crime Shows You Must See
- Deadly cults – In this series, researchers discover and expose the dark world of cults that kill. Each episode focuses on a different sect, looking at the behavior of their leaders and followers.
- Snapped: Killer Couples – Each episode reveals the shocking story of a couple who committed murder together. The show, a spin-off of the series Snapped, which chronicled the lives of women who lost control and were accused of murder, has aired seventeen seasons, each with ten episodes.
- In icy blood – This series, hosted by Ice-T, revealed scandalous stories and shocking true stories about sex, money, murder and sometimes a fatal cocktail of all three.
- Charmed to death – A series that follows the true stories of manipulative and deceptively dangerous criminals who use their charm to deceive, steal and lure unsuspecting victims into romantic relationships, ultimately leaving a trail of destruction and death in their wake.
- The girl in the box – Colleen Stan relives what it was like to be kidnapped, locked in a coffin, and how she bravely escaped. The 20-year-old’s ordeal all started when she accepted a ride from Cameron Hooker and was held captive for almost a year…
A sudden, unexpected turn
In 1982, Alice and Gerald suddenly sold their farm and moved to Chadwick, Missouri, where they lived until 1994, when things took a sudden and unexpected turn.
Alice’s eldest son, Todd Scott, told police that his mother had once confessed to being involved in a murder – but not of Virginia or her sons, but rather of her third husband, Vietnam War veteran Ron Holtz.
The couple had married in 1974 after a whirlwind romance, and according to Todd, their relationship was turbulent and abusive from the start.
Lawyer Leigh Anne Manlove says: “One night then [Todd] When he was about 14 or 15, his mother told him that years earlier, when she was married to Ron, he had been very abused and that she was afraid of him, so one night while he was sleeping, she got her [gun] and she shot him in the back of the head as he lay in bed.
“She took his body out of the trailer, put it in a barrel and threw him in an abandoned gold mine.
“Todd carried a huge burden for a long, long time and eventually he had to lift it off his shoulders.”
The police expanded the investigation, but without results.
Former Fremont County Sheriff Tim McKinney says, “We had nothing else to go on… No bodies were discovered, so it became a cold case. It was very frustrating.”
Discovery of human remains
Ultimately, both cases gained new interest in 2005 when Officer Andrew Hanson began re-examining cold case files.
On January 18, 2005, police visited Alice and Gerald’s home. Ron says: “When they knock on the front door, Alice answers and is very grandmotherly at that moment.
“They ask her to answer a few questions, and she does.”
When Alice was confronted with Todd’s story, she denied it happened.
Tragically, Virginia’s mother Claire died on April 4, 2013, having never found justice for her daughter and only grandsons.
However, a few months later the police got another chance when the abandoned gold mine was searched.
Pieces of a barrel were found and a human skeleton, with a bullet hole in the skull.
It was enough to arrest Alice Uden, then 74, for Ron’s murder.
When confronted with the evidence, Alice eventually relented, claiming in the interview that he had threatened to kill her daughter Erica so she shot him before dumping his body.
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‘Ten seconds and they were gone’
At the time Alice was arrested, truck driver Gerald was at work.
When he arrived home, officers met him and told him Alice had been arrested.
Mistakenly assuming that she had been questioned about Virginia’s disappearance, he finally came clean and said, “Since you’re here, I have to assume you’ve found some bodies… I have to tell you if you found bodies.” it is a miracle.”
The gun was there, I was there and I shot her right in the back of the head and she went down. It was that fast.”
Gerard Uden
He revealed on September 12, 1980 that he had lured Virginia to meet him with the intention of taking them dove hunting.
During a police interview, Gerald said: “Virginia was there. The gun was there, I was there and I shot her right in the back of the head and she went down.
“It was that fast. It took 10 seconds and they were gone.
‘I didn’t get any pleasure out of it, none. But it did stop child support, and that would be about $16,000.”
Larry Matthews says, “He said they put them in steel drums, like an oil barrel.
“He poked holes in the drum, took them, put them in a boat and then went out to sea Fremont Lake and immersed the vessels under water.”
Any more sinister surprises?
Gerald was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, plead guilty and was later sentenced to three life sentences, while Alice opted to go to trial.
But just before the case began, police received a shocking tip that revealed Ron Holtz was not the first husband to kill Alice.
Her second husband Don Prunty died at the age of 45, and at the time this was not considered suspicious.
Erica says: “I know my father was an alcoholic, and the death certificate lists alcoholism. They had no reason to do an autopsy.
“However, there is a belief that my mother poisoned my father. There is a belief that my father was her first victim.”
Acting on the tip, police examined Don’s medical records and his symptoms were consistent with poisoning, specifically antifreeze.
However, there was no evidence to prove this theory.
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‘Two deeply evil people’
On May 8, 2014, a jury convicted Alice of manslaughter, and five years later in 2019, she died in prison.
Gerald remains in prison despite claims since he falsely confessed to the triple murder – a claim the court has rejected.
Officer Andrew Hanson says: “I really saw Alice as a person in our society who saw killing people as a solution to a problem.
“I think with Gerald and Alice we have a perfect storm of a sociopath and a narcissistic person.”
Lawyer Leigh Anne added: “I think the relationship between Alice and Gerald was unique because these were two deeply evil people who found each other.”
Snapped: Killer Couples is available to stream Hayu in Great Britain
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