The Crystal Lake McDonald’s Murderer

After I graduated from Crystal Lake Community High School in 1960, I worked the counter at McDonald’s for the summer.

The calculator as too slow, so I added up the prices in my head.

And, there was only one hamburger picked off the floor and put on the grill at Mr. Bechtel’s establishment. (The sign changed from 8 to 9 million sold that summer.)

One of my co-workers was Bill Caldwell, a Lake in the Hills resident.

He even invited me to bring our outboard to his lake, which I did.

A couple of years later I read that he was arrested for killing his parents and stuffing them into the car trunk.

Reading the history of the Sheriff’s Department, I found these details.

1963

On June 18, 1963 at 222 Hawthorne Road, in Lake in the Hills Edward and Lucille Caldwell were the victims of a double homicide committed by their son, 18-year-old William Caldwell.

William killed his mother with a hammer and shot his father after an argument with his mother about him going out too much and spending too much time with his girlfriend.

He then attempted to cover up the murders by wrapping the bodies in a rug and a drop cloth and putting them in the trunk of the family’s car.

William went to the basement to clean up the blood, took the hammer and rifle and drove the car along the tollway where he threw the weapons out the window along the way.

Three days later, William called the Lake in the Hills police department to report his parents missing.

He reported that they had gone to visit friends in their blue 1961 Ford Galaxie and never returned home.

The next day a woman called the Sheriff’s office to report a blue 1961 Ford that had been parked by her home for three days.

Chief Deputy [John] Carroll went to investigate the scene and found thecar locked on the edge of Barlina Road.

He then went to the Caldwell home and brought William to the vehicle.

The police interviewed William and eventually he did confess to the crime.

Deputy Carroll walked along the toll road and was able to recover the rifle that was used in the murder of Edward.

William was convicted and sentenced to not less than 12 years and not more than 18 years for murder and voluntary manslaughter.