Arlis Perry was living with her husband on the Stanford University Campus. Her husband was Bruce D. Perry, who was a pre-med student. During this time, she worked as a law firm receptionist. She is originally from Bismarck, North Dakota, and so is her husband. Six weeks before her murder, she left Bismarck.
On October 12, 1974, at about 11:30 pm, Arlis went inside Stanford Memorial Church to pray. This was after she and her husband, Bruce D. Perry, argued about their car's tire pressure. At about 3:00 am, Bruce called the Stanford Police when he became Increasingly worried when he realized that Arlis hadn't come back yet. He told them that she was going to the Stanford Memorial Church. The doors were all locked from the outside when they went to check.
On October 13, at about 5:45 a.m. The Campus Security Guard Stephen Crawford said he found Arlis Perry face up with her hands folded across her chest. This was in the Church near the altar, east transept. She had been strangled, and an ice pick was sticking out the back of her head. Strangely, the handle had been broken off and missing. She was found naked from the waist down. An Altar candle had been inserted into her vagina, and another was put between her breasts. In a Diamond Pattern, her jeans were gently placed on top of her legs.
According to Crawford, after midnight, he locked up the church. Also, he said that around 2:00 a.m., he rechecked the church and said the doors were still locked. To open up for the day, he visited the Church at 5:45 a.m. and saw that forced from the inside; the westside door was broken open. The police checked the candles for prints and said they found a palm print that didn't match Crawfords or Bruce Perrys. Next to Arlis Perry was a semen-stained pillow. Multiple people went inside the church that day and the next. This is around seven. All of them were identified, but only one wasn't. One person said they saw a sandy hair man walk into the church around midnight. He was around 5"10, medium build, and wasn't wearing a watch.
This same description was mentioned again, as supposedly a man went into Arlis Perrys' work earlier that day and allegedly had a serious discussion with her. This was revealed when the woman who saw this interaction met Arlis Perrys' husband and told him of the incident. She never mentioned it before because she thought that was Arlis's husband. The identity of this mysterious person was never found.
The case had remained a cold case for a long time. However, serial killer David Berkowitz told investigators and Maury Terry he had information on the Arlis Perry case. In 1979, he sent a book to Terry Gardner, a cop in Bismarck, North Dakota, with the words HUNTED STALKED AND SLAIN. David Berkowitz said that a man admitted or had inside knowledge of the case at one of the cult meetings. Berkowitz explained in detail a man named Manson II killed Arlis Perry and told this to Maury Terry. However, nothing came of this man, and Terry couldn't solve the case. However, in 2018 there was an arrest made in the case.
Security guard Steven Crawford was arrested for the murder of Arlis Perry after DNA from the pillow was connected to him. However, they never could stop him because he pulled out a gun and killed himself once they were at his door. In his belongings, they found a suicide note written a year before and the book "The Ultimate Evil" written by Maury Terry in his closet. The case is officially solved. However, people believe there are still more co-conspirators to this day.
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