Arlis Perry was only 19 years old when she was found murdered and half naked at the altar of Stanford Memorial Church. Her case went unsolved for 44 years until DNA revealing her killer surfaced in 2018.
Background
Arlis Perry was born on February 22, 1955 in Linton, North Dakota. She was the youngest of three children to Marvin and Jean who were devout Christians who raised their children to be closely connected to the Presbyterian church.
The family eventually relocated to Bismarck in 1963 which was a small, quiet isolated city on the eastern banks of the Missouri River and was surrounded by forests.
Marvin and Jean ran an automotive company and helped found the Bismarck Reformed Church, which was later named the Bismarck Community Church. Marvin served as an elder and Sunday school superintendent.
Arlis was described as being compassionate, kind, and very trusting. She also had a sense of naivety about her and often saw the best of people. On weekends, she taught Sunday school and worked for Young Life, which is a Christian Youth organization that is dedicated to spreading the word of Jesus Christ to adolescents and teens to help develop their faith.
High School Sweethearts
Arlis’ father, Marvin, stated that Arlis lived a pretty sheltered life having never left Bismarck prior to attending Bismarck High School. It was here that Arlis met Bruce Perry, her high school sweetheart.
Perry’s mother, Donna, was a stay-at-home wife and his father, Duncan, was a dentist. Bruce had a comfortable childhood and was very popular growing up. By all accounts, Arlis and Bruce were an “All-American” couple–Arlis was a conservative religious cheerleader who was kind and bright and Bruce was an athlete who set many local records for track & field events and was also intelligent (he was planning on attending Stanford University).
In 1973, Bruce and Arlis graduated from high school. Based on his athletic performance, Bruce was admitted to Stanford and moved away to California and enrolled as a pre-med student majoring in human biology. Arlis stayed in Bismarck where she took classes at Bismarck junior college and the two decided to maintain a long-distance relationship.
After a year of long distance, Bruce returned home and asked Arlis to marry him. The wedding was held on August 17, 1974 at the Bismarck Reform Church. The married couple remained in Bismarck for two weeks and then moved to California. Bruce spent much of his time studying, taking classes, and working to support his family, and Arlis spent her time as a homemaker and would occasionally take jogs or runs around campus. She also spent a lot of time at the Stanford Memorial Church.
Arlis sent several letters back home to friends and family saying how lonely she was. It was hard to make new friends in California and Bruce was gone a lot of the time. Her loneliness was put at ease when she got a job as a receptionist at a law firm.
Flat Tire
On October 12, Arlis wanted to walk to the mailbox to send out letters to her friends and family in Bismarck. Since it was 11:30 at night, Bruce decided to join her so they could get some quality time together and since it was so late at night. On their walk, the couple got into a minuscule argument about who put air into one of the tires of the car because it had deflated. The argument was small, but Arlis said she wanted to go to the church to cool down and have time to herself. Bruce conceded and went back to the apartment.
Stephen Crawford, who was the night watch security guard on duty, said that he saw Arlis enter at around 11:50 pm. When she arrived there were two other silent worshippers there and they said they saw her enter, walk to the front pews, and knelt to pray. The worshippers said that Arlis was deep in prayer when they left around midnight, which is when the church is supposed to close. Crawford was running behind that night and didn’t check in until 12:10am. He said that he didn’t see anyone so he called out asking if anyone was there. After no response, he locked up the church at 12:15 – 12:30 am.
Around this time was when Bruce started to worry about Arlis. He decided to go to the church and see if she was still there. Since the doors were locked, he walked around campus in search for her. After not being able to find her, he called police and reported her missing. The police went and checked the church, but again the doors were locked. They assumed it was a domestic case and she would eventually return.
Left at the Altar
At 5:45am Stephen Crawford returned to the church to open it for the day. When he arrived, he realized that one of the doors was already unlocked–it was later discovered that the door was forced open from the inside. When he entered the church, he found the body of Arlis Perry on the left-hand side of the altar in the front pews where the two witnesses had seen her the night before. She was naked from the waist down and the jeans she had been wearing were draped across the lower half of her body. An ice pick was found jutting out behind her back left ear, which ended up being the cause of death.
TW: Sexual Assault
Her arms were crossed over her chest and her legs were spread open. She had been sexually assaulted with one of the altar candles that was a meter long and was found lodged inside of her. Her blouse was ripped open and another altar candle was pressed on her chest with her arm crossing over it. Near her body was a kneeling pillow which was found with semen on it. There was also a partial palm print found on one of the candles.
End of Sexual Assault TW.
Investigation
After discovering the body, the police immediately suspected Bruce Perry and Crawford. They did a very basic DNA check on both the semen and palm print, but no matches came up. These men were ruled out as possible suspects.
Eventually in 2018, the case was reopened by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Office who were able to determine, with a more advanced DNA test, that Crawford was linked to the murder.
TW: Suicide
On June 28, police arrived at Crawford’s residence in San Jose, California with a search warrant. As they arrived, Crawford locked his door and committed suicide with a pistol before he could be arrested.
End of Suicide TW
With advancements in forensic science and a new DNA sample from an item of Perry’s clothing allowed investigators to finally solve the case. After knowing the truth behind their daughter’s death, Arlis’ family said “After all these years, it’s about time.”
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