Steven Hanks convicted in unsolved murder of Mary Robin Walter

A convicted rapist was sentenced Thursday to at least 10 years in prison for the 1980 murder of his neighbor, closing the book on Kansas’ oldest unsolved case.

Steven L. Hanks, 70, was brought to trial 44 years after he fatally shot Mary Robin Walter, 23, in her Great Bend trailer.

“It disturbs me that many people who were so affected by this tragic crime have since passed away before the suspect was brought to justice,” Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir said in a statement Friday.

“I consider myself fortunate to have had the resources and diligent personnel to close this case. The credit for solving this homicide goes to the dedicated police officers who had the tenacity to secure a conviction.”

Walter was a wife, mother and nursing student when she was shot multiple times on January 24, 1980. Police found a .22-caliber handgun at the scene and confirmed it was the murder weapon.

Hanks, who was 25 at the time, was considered a suspect, but the case was closed two years after the investigation began after detectives found nothing linking him to the murder.

The case remained unsolved until 2022, when a detective persuaded Bellendir to reopen it and use new technology and techniques that were not available at the time.

Detectives re-interviewed Hanks, who had spent a decade in prison for rape, assault, robbery and burglary.

He admitted to killing Walter, but authorities have not revealed his motive.

He formally pleaded guilty in August as part of a plea deal that called for a sentence of at least five years and no more than 25 years.

The district court judge, however, raised the minimum sentence to 10 years at Thursday’s sentencing hearing.

The sheriff said he believes it is the oldest cold case in Kansas to be solved and result in a conviction.

“Robin’s killer was finally brought to justice because of their dedication and commitment to this cold case,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jessica Domme said in the statement.