The 1968 murder of a milkman who was a World War II veteran has been solved 56 years later

Fifty-six years after a Florida milkman failed to return home from his tour, his homicide has been solved, closing the oldest unsolved case in the history of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.

The emergence of two people who say the suspect confessed helped investigators determine who killed Hiram “Ross” Grayam, a decorated World War II veteran who was fatally shot 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 death, said the resolution of the case brought mixed emotions.

“It devastated my family when I was young and led me to lead a life of public safety and also work as a photojournalist,” Larry Grayam said.

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

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

Over the next several years, 16 separate investigations took place through April 1974 in an attempt 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 alleged killer, Thomas J. Williams, wrote a letter to the editor of a local newspaper saying he had been accused of the murder but denied being there. involved, Flowers said.

“At that point, he wasn’t on anyone’s radar,” Larry Grayam said at the news conference. “He somehow got involved in the crime and became a suspect.”

Williams died in 2016, but two people said before his death that he confessed to them about killing Grayam, the sheriff said.

The sheriff’s office said CNN investigators were tipped off in February 2022 by an inmate at 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 had confessed to her, Flowers said.

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

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

The sheriff’s office said the developments in the “Milkman Homicide” case “are a beacon of hope for families like the Grayams, ensuring that no victim is forgotten and no crime remains unpunished.”

Cara Lynn Clarkson contributed to this report.

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