Nima Louise Carter Was Abducted On Halloween 1977, And Her Murder Is Still Unsolved
On October 31, 1977, 19-month-old Nima Louise Carter was abducted from her home in Lawton, OK, but her parents didn't realize she was missing until the following morning. A month passed before Nima's body was discovered in an abandoned home where it had been placed in a refrigerator.
Although no one has ever been officially charged with Nima's murder, strange events in the Carter home - as well as another child murder in the town - led to endless speculation. The horrific Halloween murder remains a hotly debated case over 40 years later.
Nima's Parents Heard Her Crying The Night She Was Abducted
Rose and George Carter could hear their 19-month-old daughter, Nima Louise, crying in her bedroom after they put her to bed on Halloween night, 1977. Since they subscribed to the "cry it out" parenting method, however, they didn't check on her.
The following morning, Rose asked George if he had seen Nima after finding the child's crib empty. As they searched the house together, the couple quickly realized their daughter was gone. The nursery window was locked, as was the front door to the house.
George later speculated that someone had been hiding in Nima's room that night, and he spent decades questioning his and Rose's decision to let Nima cry herself to sleep. "What if we had gotten up to check her that night? What if we had brought her in to sleep with us?" George wondered in a 2007 interview.
Nima's Body Was Found One Month Later
After Nima's abduction, police searched the Lawton, OK, area for any sign of her. They also closely investigated Nima's parents, George and Rose Carter, but found no evidence linking them to their daughter's disappearance.
The day before Thanksgiving, a Fort Sill soldier investigated an abandoned house where a group of children claimed a child's body had fallen out of an old refrigerator. The soldier later found Nima's body in the home. An autopsy determined that Nima suffocated after being placed in the fridge while still alive.
Two Children Were Abducted The Year Before In A Similar Manner
On April 8, 1976, a Lawton babysitter named Jackie Roubideaux reportedly lured twin sisters Mary Elizabeth Carpitcher and Augustine "Tina" Jacqueline Carpitcher out of their home. Sixteen-year-old Roubideaux took the girls, who were both 3 ½, to an abandoned house and locked them in an old refrigerator.
After being trapped for two days, Mary perished from suffocation, but Tina managed to find enough air to survive until a group of children playing near the home heard her cries for help. When questioned about the incident, the surviving twin indicated that Roubideaux was responsible. Even with Tina's witness statement, Roubideaux didn't stand trial until three years later.
Jackie Roubideaux, The Carpitchers' Babysitter, Later Babysat For The Carters
Despite Tina Carpitcher telling police that Jackie Roubideaux had kidnapped her and her sister, the child's young age and a lack of physical evidence prevented any charges from being brought against the teen girl. Roubideaux was described as "quiet" and "shy," and she eventually began babysitting for other families.
Around this time, Rose and George Carter began hiring Roubideaux to babysit Nima. Both of the Carters worked full time and enjoyed going out on the weekend. According to George Carter, Nima was fond of Roubideaux and would greet her with a hug when she came to babysit.
Strange Things Happened To The Carters Prior To Nima's Abduction
Two months before Nima was abducted on Halloween, the Carters experienced two other strange occurrences at their home: First, the family dog was poisoned by an unknown person, and only a few days after the poisoning, the family's home was vandalized.
Again, there were no suspects, but George Carter stated that he felt the crimes were committed by someone close to his family and likely by the same person who killed Nima.
Roubideaux Was Questioned In Relation To Nima's Death
Although police initially suspected Rose and George Carter in their daughter's death, the couple passed lie detector tests and were ruled out as suspects. As the investigation continued, police then questioned Jackie Roubideaux, along with another neighborhood babysitter.
When asked about her whereabouts on Halloween, Roubideaux reportedly told authorities that she had been playing bingo. Though Roubideaux said nothing that would indicate her potential guilt, investigators noted odd behavior, later stating, "She never looked you in the eyes; her eyes were always somewhere else or looking at the ground."
The District Attorney Refused To File Charges Against Roubideaux In Nima's Death
According to retired police detective Cecil Davidson, Jackie Roubideaux was the most likely suspect in Nima's death; however, despite her connection to the Carpitcher twins' abduction and Mary Carpitcher's subsequent death, the district attorney never charged Roubideaux with Nima Louise Carter's death.
Davidson acknowledged that detectives weren't able to find any conclusive physical evidence that pointed to Roubideaux or anyone else, but circumstantial evidence regarding Carter's case was later used when Roubideaux was tried for the murder of Mary Carpitcher.
A Neighbor May Have Witnessed The Carpitcher Twins' Abduction
One of the Carpitchers' neighbors, Thelma McCaig, eventually testified that she witnessed Jackie Roubideaux dragging the twins from their home on the night of April 8, and that both girls were trying to get away from Roubideaux.
However, McCaig didn't report the incident to police, later claiming that, "I guess like other people, I didn't want to get involved."
Similarities In The Carpitcher And Carter Cases Lead Some To Believe They're Connected
The numerous similarities between Nima Louise Carter's abduction and the Carpitcher twins' abduction paint a compelling picture but are largely circumstantial evidence.
To begin with, Jackie Roubideaux babysat for all three children. She was also spotted near both of the crime scenes before the girls disappeared. Not only that, Roubideaux had easy access to both homes as the families' babysitter. Furthermore, all three children were found in the refrigerators of abadnoned homes.
Some have also noted that all three children were Native American. While not related to the actual crimes, it is a strange coincidence that children were the ones to find both Nima and the Carpitcher twins.
Roubideaux Was Eventually Convicted Of Mary Carpitcher's Murder
Although Jackie Roubideaux was never officially charged with Nima Louise Carter's death, she was charged with first-degree murder in 1979 for the death of Mary Carpitcher. The surviving twin, Tina, took the stand as the prosecution's key witness during two trials, the first occurring when she was just 10 years old.
The first attempt to put Roubideaux behind bars ended with a mistrial. In 1985, Roubideaux was found guilty during the second trial, and the judge sentenced her to life in prison. The former babysitter attempted several appeals, but she perished in prison from cirrhosis of the liver on August 26, 2005.
George Carter Does Not Believe Roubideaux Was Involved In Nima's Murder
Despite all the speculation surrounding Roubideaux's possible involvement in Nima's death, George Carter was never convinced that she murdered his daughter. "The Jackie Roubideaux we knew? No, it just doesn't add up," Carter said in an interview. "I never sensed that about [Roubideaux]."
In contrast, Nima's grandmother, Audrey Carter, characterized Roubideaux as "just weird" and believed the babysitter was capable of committing the crime.
In a 2019 interview, George Carter said he wished he could speak with Roubideaux, who had died 14 years prior. "I'd like to talk to Jackie now," Carter told a reporter. "If I did, I'd ask her if she killed Nima. I'd hope she would tell me the truth." Carter also stated that he had forgiven Nima's killer in order to move on with his life.
