Source: YouTube/Inside Edition
Brian Hawkins, a Northern California man, admitted to a 1993 killing in a television interview, citing the influence of his faith.
As he explained on KRCR of Redding, Hawkins detailed that he and two accessories, identified as Curtis Culver and Shanna Culver, a brother and sister pair, robbed and killed a young man named Frank Wesley McAlister, the victim of a decades-old, unsolved murder.
As Hawkins explained to officials, McAlister was stabbed to death and his remains were dumped in the forest area of Shasta County; a hiker eventually came across McAlister’s body a year later.
In 1997, a man named Michael Vielbig, who was the suspect in the high profile murder of a woman named Christine Munro, made a similar confession but investigators could not find a connection. Hawkins’ confession is believed to be the biggest break in the case since.
Who Is Brian Hawkins?
Hawkins is 44 years old and is a resident of Shingletown, Northern California.
Redding police believe that the murder was motivated by money, specifically, money McAlister obtained from a settlement; the three are believed to have lured McAlister to Shingletown under the pretense of selling him methamphetamine, instead robbing him. His car had been abandoned at a Costco.
While appearing on television, Hawkins explained that his faith inspired him to confess to the murder:
“God and Christ and these things that have happened over the course of 25 years have pushed me and pushed me to do the right thing. I know the wrong can’t be changed but this is the closest I can come to doing the right thing.
Horrible, horrible, horrible, absolute horror, absolutely horrible since that day. Every minute of every day has been a nightmare. It’s kind of weird, Frank never got to have a life, but we were teenagers and now I’m 44 and still haven’t even had a life and now most likely won’t anyway.”
Hawkins reportedly came into contact with McAlister’s family around a year ago, asking for their forgiveness:
“I talked to them several times and told them I was going to make it there so I could tell them what happened and I wanted their forgiveness. By the time I got there, his father had passed away.”
After making the televised confession, Hawkins turned himself into Shasta County Sheriff to meet with police investigators; since then, Hawkins and the two Culvers have been arrested for charges related to McAlister’s death, including burglary. Of the three, the men are each being held on $1 million bails, although Shanna Culver is being held without bail.