On July 31st, 1949, Laura Showalter met her demise as a result of an attempted rape in Alaska. Months after this incident, Harvey Carignan, who was 22 at the time, was apprehended for his attempt to rape Christine Norton.
Carignan was found guilty of first-degree murder and assault with intent to commit rape, and he was sentenced to death for his offenses against the two women. In 1951, however, Carignan was granted a new trial because his confession was not valid since it had been procured in an inappropriate manner. An officer had falsely led Carignan to believe that if he confessed to the crime, he wouldn't be put to death, prompting him to confess.
Even though his confession was not admitted in court, the murder charge eventually got dropped, however, he still had to serve a 15-year sentence for attacking Norton.
In 1960, Carignan was granted parole, yet shortly afterwards he and his brother were detained for burglary in Minnesota. Found guilty, Carignan was given a four year prison sentence and was paroled on March 2, 1964. Merely eight months later, he perpetrated another burglary, for which he was convicted and handed a 15 year sentence. He was eventually paroled in 1968, although he was incarcerated for another year for breaching his parole.
No charges were ever brought against Carignan in relation to Brock or Miller's killings since the prosecutors had not enough proof to link him to the offenses.
Though he was found guilty of only three murders, it is believed that Carignan killed a minimum of five people and sexually assaulted many others.
At the start of this month, Carignan, aged 95, passed away due to natural causes while serving his life sentence in a correctional facility in Minnesota.