COLD CASE CRACKED

Suspect Arrested 40 Years After Brutal Murder on Philly Railroad Tracks

Wayne Anthony Walker was considered a suspect from the start.

Police in Philadelphia arrested a man and charged him with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy on Friday, nearly four decades after an 18-year-old woman was found beaten to death near a railroad outside Philadelphia. Wayne Anthony Walker, age 58, was considered a suspect from the start in the murder of Denise Pierson and was interviewed multiple times since 1981. Walker and Pierson had attended a party the night she was killed. When she tried to leave, according to police, Walker’s friend hit her over the head with a billy club. Afterwards, Walker and several others tied her up and brought her to the tracks, where they stabbed and beat her until she died. Her body, hidden in bushes, was not found for three years. Police reopened the case in 2018 and were able to make a breakthrough, a spokesperson said at a Friday press conference. Walker is in custody and has been denied bail. ​​Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said, “Finally we are able to let her family have some relief. This was a heinous murder, but at least one individual will be held responsible, and we hope this is the beginning of holding everyone else responsible.”