The 1968 killing of a milkman who was a WWII veteran has been solved 56 years later

[Pelican Press 0]

The 1968 ******** of a milkman who was a WWII veteran has been solved 56 years later

Fifty-six years after a Florida milkman ******* to return home after his rounds, his ********* has been solved, closing the oldest cold case in Indian River County Sheriff’s Office history.

The emergence of two people who say the suspect confessed to them helped investigators determine who ******* Hiram “Ross” Grayam, a decorated World War II veteran who was fatally shot ********** style while working on April 11, 1968, according to the sheriff’s office.

The victim’s son Larry Grayam, who was 16 at the time of his father’s ******, said the resolution of the case has brought mixed emotions.

“It devastated my family as a young ****, and caused me to actually lead a life of public safety and work as a photojournalist as well,” Larry Grayam said.

Hiram Grayam, 47, a married father of three from Vero Beach who was a recipient of the Purple Heart, was last seen by a witness talking to two males who then got into his truck, Sheriff Eric Flowers said Thursday at a news conference.

The witness “said Mr. Grayam engaged them in conversation and announced that he would be back shortly,” Flowers added. The next day, Grayam’s body and truck were located in a wooded area in what was described as a “chilling scene,” the sheriff’s office said in a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Over the subsequent years, 16 separate investigations occurred through April 1974 in an effort to solve the case, Flowers said.

In 2006, the case was reopened at the request of a family member. After the victim’s family was interviewed by the media, the suspected *******, Thomas J. Williams, wrote a letter to the editor of a local newspaper saying he had been accused of the ******** but denied being involved in it, Flowers said.

“At that point, he wasn’t on anybody’s radar,” Larry Grayam said at the news conference. “He kind of interjected himself into the ****** and became a suspect.”

Williams ***** in 2016, but two people said prior to his ****** he confessed to them that he had ******* Grayam, the sheriff said.

The sheriff’s office told CNN investigators were tipped off in February 2022 by an inmate in their jail, who told them Williams had confessed to him. The inmate was a member of Williams’ family, the sheriff said.

After receiving that information, detectives tracked down the suspect’s ex-wife, who also said Williams confessed to her, Flowers said.

The sheriff’s office noted the two individuals who knew of the confession were independent witnesses who did not know each other and had not come forward earlier out of ***** for their safety as Williams had threatened them. The witnesses said the suspect had been arrested and convicted several times on other charges, the sheriff’s office added.

“Thomas Williams, we believe is our shooter in this case… but we know there’s another person out there that knows what happened on that day. We know who he is, and we want someone to come forward from the community to give us more information about that,” Flowers said.

The sheriff’s office said the developments in “the milkman *********” case “stand as beacons of hope for families like the Grayams, ensuring that no victim is forgotten, and no ****** is unpunished.”

Cara Lynn Clarkson contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Larry Grayam,Eric Flowers,Thomas Williams,Thomas J. Williams,Hiram Grayam
#******** #milkman #WWII #veteran #solved #years

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up