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Hi-Fi murders

SOLVED1974Hi-Fi Shop, 2323 Washington Boulevard, Ogden, Utah3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · sexual violence · torture · crimes against children · suicide — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

On the evening of April 22, 1974, Dale Selby Pierre, William Andrews, Keith Roberts, and three other men drove to the Hi-Fi Shop, a home audio store in Ogden, Utah, shortly before closing time. Four of the men entered armed with handguns while Roberts and another man stayed outside with two vans. Employees Stanley Walker, 20, and Sherry Michelle Ansley, 18, were taken hostage and bound in the basement. About an hour later, 16-year-old Cortney Naisbitt stopped by the shop and was also taken hostage. Stanley Walker's father, Orren William Walker, and Cortney Naisbitt's mother, Carol Elaine Naisbitt, each came looking for their sons later that evening and were also bound in the basement, bringing the total to five hostages.

Pierre and Andrews forced the hostages to drink Drano-brand drain cleaner, telling them it was vodka mixed with sleeping pills; it burned the victims' mouths and throats but did not kill them as intended. Pierre shot Carol and Cortney Naisbitt in the head, killing Carol and leaving Cortney alive, then fatally shot Stanley Walker. He took Ansley to a corner of the basement, raped her, and fatally shot her. Pierre and Andrews also tried to strangle Orren Walker with a wire and forced a ballpoint pen into his ear before leaving. Walker and Cortney Naisbitt survived; Ansley, Stanley Walker, and Carol Naisbitt did not.

The bodies were discovered about three hours later when Orren Walker's wife and other son went to the store looking for him and heard noises from the basement. Two teenagers searching a dumpster near Hill Air Force Base, where Pierre and Andrews were stationed as helicopter mechanics, found the victims' wallets and purses and alerted police. Investigators also recovered stereo equipment stolen from the shop, identified by serial numbers, from a storage unit rented in Pierre and Andrews' names. The two men were brought in for questioning after detectives observed their behavior near the dumpster during the evidence search; a third airman, Keith Roberts, was taken into custody weeks later after being identified as a participant.

Pierre, Andrews, and Roberts were charged with first degree murder and aggravated robbery. Their joint trial began October 15, 1974, in Farmington, Davis County, Utah. On November 16, 1974, Pierre and Andrews were convicted on all charges; Roberts was convicted only of aggravated robbery and acquitted of murder after the court found he had no role in or knowledge of the killings. Four days later, Pierre and Andrews were each sentenced to death, and Roberts received five years to life. Trial testimony showed Pierre and Andrews had watched the film Magnum Force, in which a character is forced to drink Drano, and decided to use the method in the robbery. Survivor Orren Walker was the prosecution's principal witness; Cortney Naisbitt, left with amnesia, was unable to testify.

After sentencing, the NAACP and Amnesty International campaigned to commute the death sentences, citing alleged racial bias, since Pierre and Andrews were Black and the victims and jury were white. Andrews' later appeals alleged that a handwritten note containing a racial slur directed at the defendants had been found in the jury area during the trial. Both death sentences were upheld on appeal. Pierre was executed by lethal injection on August 28, 1987, and Andrews on July 30, 1992. In December 1996, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that the United States had violated its international obligations by denying Andrews a trial free of racial discrimination. Roberts was paroled in 1987 and died by suicide on August 8, 1992.

Key facts

Victims
Stanley Orren Walker, Sherry Michelle Ansley, Cortney Naisbitt, Carol Elaine Naisbitt, Orren William Walker
Date
1974
Location
Hi-Fi Shop, 2323 Washington Boulevard, Ogden, Utah
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1974-04-22

    Six men rob the Hi-Fi Shop in Ogden, Utah; five hostages are forced to drink drain cleaner and shot, killing three and leaving two with severe, lasting injuries.

  2. 1974-10-15

    The joint trial of Dale Selby Pierre, William Andrews, and Keith Roberts for first degree murder and aggravated robbery begins in Farmington, Utah.

  3. 1974-11-16

    Pierre and Andrews are convicted on all charges; Roberts is convicted only of aggravated robbery and acquitted of murder.

  4. 1974-11-20

    Pierre and Andrews are each sentenced to death; Roberts is sentenced to five years to life.

  5. 1987-05-12

    Keith Roberts is paroled after nearly 13 years in prison.

  6. 1987-08-28

    Dale Selby Pierre is executed by lethal injection.

  7. 1992-07-30

    William Andrews is executed by lethal injection.

  8. 1992-08-08

    Keith Roberts dies by suicide.

  9. 1996-12

    The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights finds that the United States violated its international obligations by denying Andrews a trial free of racial discrimination.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Stanley Orren Walker

    VICTIM

    20-year-old Hi-Fi Shop employee; fatally shot during the robbery.

    citation on file

  • Sherry Michelle Ansley

    VICTIM

    18-year-old Hi-Fi Shop employee; raped and fatally shot during the robbery.

    citation on file

  • Keith Leon Roberts

    CONVICTED

    United States Air Force airman who acted as getaway driver; acquitted of murder after the court found he had no role in or knowledge of the killings, but convicted of two counts of aggravated robbery, sentenced to five years to life, and paroled in 1987.

    citation on file

  • Deloy White

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Ogden Police Department detective who investigated the robbery and whose observation of suspects' behavior near recovered evidence helped identify Pierre and Andrews.

    citation on file

  • William Andrews

    CONVICTED

    United States Air Force airman convicted of three counts of first degree murder and aggravated robbery; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on July 30, 1992.

    citation on file

  • Dale Selby Pierre

    CONVICTED

    United States Air Force airman convicted of three counts of first degree murder and aggravated robbery; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on August 28, 1987.

    citation on file

  • Cortney Naisbitt

    VICTIM

    16-year-old hostage; shot in the head and survived with severe, lasting brain damage that left him unable to testify at trial.

    citation on file

  • Carol Elaine Naisbitt

    VICTIM

    Mother of hostage Cortney Naisbitt; fatally shot after coming to the store looking for her son.

    citation on file

  • Orren William Walker

    VICTIM

    Father of hostage Stanley Walker; survived being forced to drink drain cleaner, shot at, strangled, and having a pen forced into his ear, and testified against the defendants at trial.

    citation on file

Places

Hi-Fi Shop, 2323 Washington Boulevard, Ogden, Utah

41.2246, -111.9707

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Three people were tortured, forced to drink drain cleaner, and shot during a 1974 armed robbery at the Hi-Fi Shop in Ogden, Utah; two of the three men convicted in the case were later executed for murder.
Where did the murders happen?
Hi-Fi Shop, 2323 Washington Boulevard, Ogden, Utah.
Who was convicted?
Keith Leon Roberts (United States Air Force airman who acted as getaway driver; acquitted of murder after the court found he had no role in or knowledge of the killings, but convicted of two counts of aggravated robbery, sentenced to five years to life, and paroled in 1987.), William Andrews (United States Air Force airman convicted of three counts of first degree murder and aggravated robbery; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on July 30, 1992.), and Dale Selby Pierre (United States Air Force airman convicted of three counts of first degree murder and aggravated robbery; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on August 28, 1987.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.

Sources

  1. Hi-Fi murderswikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-06
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — The New York Timesnews · The New York Times · 2026-07-06
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — Associated Pressnews · Associated Press · 2026-07-06

Last verified JUL 2026

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