Experts say ‘human need to confess’

It’s the question everyone is asking. Why now?

There’s something almost surreal about a 66-year-old man walking into a police department on his own volition and confessing to not just an unsolved murder, but a double homicide. And one 31 years old at that.

 Courtesy photo Matthew Putney/Associated Press

Jack Pursel, left, appeared for an initial court hearing with his attorney, Aaron Hawbaker, on Thursday in Waterloo.

Yet Jack Wendell Pursel of California did precisely that very thing when he walked into the Waterloo Police Department on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, and confessed to brutally murdering 85-year-old Robert Huntbach and his wife, Goldie Huntbach, 77, in the couple’s Waterloo home on January 12, 1981.

What could possibly motivate one to give up his or her freedom, especially when — by all practical purposes — they’d gotten away with it so far with no arrest warrant in sight?

Derek Grimmell, a forensic psychologist who performs mental health evaluations in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska, told the Des Moines Register on Monday something reset [Pursel's] moral compass.

“It could have been a serious life event. It could have been a cumulative set of experiences,” Grimmell told the Register. “I believe it is possible to have a religious conversion that leads a person to believe the way that he has lived his life is not acceptable.”

Dale Yeager, a criminal behavior analyst from Philadelphia, suggests the desire to confess is built into the human psyche.

“It’s almost a part of our DNA,” he said. “It’s like being a little kid getting caught doing something bad. Your first reaction is denial. Your second is to beg forgiveness. Your third is to stomp off in anger” — but the yearning to confess remains.

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Robert Huntbach

Courtesy photo WCFCourier.com

Jack Wendell Pursel, confessed killer of Robert and Goldie Huntbach.

BREAKING NEWS: MAY 9, 2012

Sixty-six-year-old South Gate, California, resident Jack Wendell Pursel has confessed to robbing and killing Robert and Goldie Huntbach.

Goldie Huntbach

On January 12, 1981, Robert, 85, and Goldie, 77, were found dead in their home at 311 West 10th Street in Waterloo.

It looks like justice will finally come for the Huntbachs after 31 years!

Click on the following link to read about the confession: Huntbach Confession

We Remember: Upcoming Cold Case Anniversaries

Upcoming cold case anniversaries are listed below and also include — where noted — birthdays the victims would have celebrated.

Helen J. Kelly
83 YOA
Sioux City
Missing Since:
May 18, 2005

Fabian E. Liendo
Age at Report: 26
Wapello, IA
Louisa County
May 20, 2003

Chad William White
21 YOA
Corning, IA
Adams County
May 21, 1993

Breiton Ackerman
4 YOA
Orange City
Sioux County
May 22, 2005

Margaret Feige
88 YOA
4030 N.W. First St.
Saylor Township
Polk County, IA
May 22, 2008

Jackie Douthart
Age at Report: 24
Missing From:
Mount Pleasant, IA
Henry County
May 22, 2011

James Chamberlain
Wabash Railroad Trestle
Ottumwa, IA
Wapello County
May 25, 1893

Debra Barajas-Gutierrez
44 YOA
Pacific Junction, IA
Mills County
May 25, 2006

Un-ID White Male
Missouri River
Fremont County, IA
Case # 66-00724
May 26, 1966

Jane Doe
River Area SE
Des Moines, IA
Case # 1980-20704
May 26, 1980

Patricia Jauron
45 YOA
1516 Old Hwy 141
Sioux City, IA
Case # 98-06160
May 26, 1998

Peggy Ann Cottrell
Age at Report: 66
Marshalltown
Missing Since:
May 26, 2001

Bryan Pence
22 YOA
3725 Hubbell
Des Moines, IA
Case # 1986-22875
May 29, 1986

John W. Jeffery, 31
1018 E. 12th
Des Moines, IA
Polk County
Case # 1990-21313
May 29, 1990

Lillian A. Chapman
70 YOA
518 12th Avenue S.
Clinton, IA
Clinton County
May 30, 1950

Robert Scott
43 YOA
1000 Blk. E. 12th
Des Moines, IA
Polk County
Case # 1996-22677
May 30, 1996

Family Poisonings
Lucy Kemp Rhode
72 YOA
Tabor, IA
Fremont County
May 31, 1948

Mary S. Keller
Age at Report: 54
Des Moines, IA
June 1, 2008

Erin Kay Pospisil
Age at Report: 15
Cedar Rapids
Missing Since:
June 3, 2001

Triple Homicide:
Earl, Mary, and
James Hardy
Van Cleve, IA
Marshall County
June 5, 1910

Clarence Cecil
Age at Report: 81
Davis County, IA
Missing Since:
June 5, 2004