The Futo Family Murders
For this case I watched an episode of American Monster. It’s season 6 episode 5, titled ‘It Was All of Them.’ I like American Monster because the cases are told through home movies, interviews and sometimes interrogation clips.
In the early 1990’s, a family was killed in St. Louis, Missouri, to cover up a family secret.
Background
Imre, Joe, Nick, Emory, Euna and Emory’s wife, Angela
The Futo family were a family of five, living in St. Louis, Missouri. Imre Futo was a native of Hungary, who came to the United States in 1956, at 19 years old. He met his wife, Euna in 1964, and they married just a few months later. They went on to have three boys, Emory, Nick and Joseph.
Imre was very strict, and you can even see it in some of the home movies. However, his cousins said he loved his wife and his boys.
The Boys Grow Up
In 1984, Emory graduated from high school and enlisted in the United States Navy. In 1987, Nick graduated and followed in his brother’s footsteps and joined the United States Army.
Nick wasn’t sure about his future, and his family worried about him. It wasn’t talked about any further, but it seemed that Nick just didn’t know what he wanted to do in life, but that he stayed close to his family.
In 1989, Emory married his fiance, Angela and left the military. He and his new bride moved to Big Bear, California. In the summer of 1990, about a year before the murders, Emory’s son, Joshua was born.
Around Thanksgiving of that year, things seemed to be very tense in the Futo family.
The Murders
On July 26, 1991, the bank where Euna worked as a accounting clerk, called the neighbor of the Futo family. Euna hadn’t shown up for work, and she didn’t call in. The neighbor called the police, because the family was missing, but Euna and Imre’s cars were in the garage.
The police arrived at the Futo home. First, they found Euna’s body in the hallway. She had severe trauma to her head, and an extension cord was wrapped around her neck. There was blood spatter on the walls and floor. Euna was 50 years old.
The police walked around the rest of the house, and found 53 year old, Imre’s body in the basement. He had multiple gun shots and stab wounds to his body. This was a personal attack.
The police found out that the couple had three sons, one lived out of town and the other two still lived in Missouri. They needed to find the boys.
Around 6pm, the police received a call from a groundskeeper at a local cemetery. 24 year old, Nick Futo was found dead. He had four gun shot wounds to his body, and a piece of paper in his pocket said American West 1408. The police were confused by it, but they hoped their investigation would lead them to the right person.
Finally, two blocks away, Joe Futo’s car was found two blocks away from the Futo home. Joe was found in the backseat, covered with trash bags. He had been shot, and killed at 23 years old.
Tracking a Killer
The police went back to the Futo home for further investigaton. By this point, their number one suspect was Emory Futo. They tried contacting him, but their was no answer for now.
The police also found a bloody footprint at the crime scene, and many broken pictures of the Futo family. The only picture still in tact was the picture of Joshua, Emory’s son.
Twenty four hours after the murders, Emory finally called his cousin back, who had been trying to reach him as well. He said he had been camping and just got back. His cousin, Betty, told Emory that his family was dead. She was surprised with his response, he said “they’re trying to pin it on me, aren’t they?” Betty never told Emory that they were murdered, just that they were dead.
The Multiple Stories of Emory Futo
The police obtained a search warrant to get Emory into custody, they needed to speak to Emory.
Emory told the police that he hadn’t been back to St. Louis in a year and that he was camping with a friend at the time of the murders. However, by this point his friend had already told the police that the camping trip was a ruse. He also said he had taken Emory to the airport so he could fly back to St. Louis. What was his flight number you ask? 1408. Just like the note they found.
Emory was confronted with this information. He admitted Nick picked him up from the airport and he was going to help him with a cocaine deal. He said while they were together, at the cemetery, he heard gun shots and fled.
He said after he fled, he went to his parent’s house, where he found them dead. The police asked him why he didn’t call the police and Emory then changed his story.
He said the real killer was Nick. He said Nick killed his family, shot Joe after he went ballistic and then they went to the cemetery and had a suicide pact. He said he shot his brother, and then shot him three more times to make sure he was dead. Emory said he couldn’t shoot himself and fled in his brother’s car.
Emory said the reason Nick killed their family, especially their dad was because Imre had abused them. Their cousin, Betty, backed up his story and said Imre had abused her as early as five years old.
Arrest and Conviction
The police believed the motive, however Emory Futo was arrested and charged with four counts of first degree murder.
In March 1993, he was found guilty and sentenced to four consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole.
In September 2020, Emory finally admitted that he was the one who killed his whole family. He said in his interview:
“I miss them. I miss them so bad sometimes. I don’t know what more to say. To have this weight sitting on me all these years. I need to do this for me. I need to clear my chest and my heart. I know now that what I did was wrong. I hope and pray I will be forgiven. I’m sorry for all the pain I caused,” “I am so sorry. I know I am going to die in prison.”
Emory Futo
FINAL THOUGHTS
I believe the story of abuse, however, it was a weird dynamic in the beginning of this episode. Imre’s family said nothing but good things about him until the end of the episode when the abuse was brought up. I mean maybe they were told not to reveal the abuse until the end, but from what was said in the conclusion, Imre was a monster. But, so was Emory. He killed his whole family, when his mom and brothers were innocent. He said his brothers “turned on him” so, that’s why they were killed.
It’s a sad, tragic and violent case. Like I said, 100% think the abuse was real, but it’s kind of like the Menendez brothers case, his family didn’t need to die. He got away, and he could’ve stayed away. He ruined his life because he wanted revenge. He deserves to be in prison forever.
Sources
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-28-mn-517-story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/30/us/man-held-in-family-deaths.html
