Wayne Nathan Nance

Case record

Wayne Nathan Nance was a serial offender who was fatally shot during a home invasion on September 4, 1986.

Background

Wayne Nance had been known as a “weirdo” since his teens, when he boasted of worshipping Satan and once used a hot coathanger to brand himself with Satanic symbols. By age thirty, Nance appeared to have worked through most of his adolescent problems, impressing his employers and acquaintances as something of an “average guy.”

Nance was an independent truck driver from Missoula, Montana. On the night of September 4, 1986, he turned at the Missoula home of a female store manager for whom he sometimes delivered furniture.

The offence

On the night of September 4, 1986, Nance met a husband outside the couple’s home and clubbed him with a piece of wood. After invading the house and drawing a pistol, Nance forced the woman upstairs and tied her to a bed.

Nance dragged the husband into the basement and bound him to a post when the man regained consciousness. Drawing a knife, Nance plunged it into the victim’s chest and left him for dead. Nance went back upstairs to rape his female victim with the intent of killing her afterward.

While Nance was upstairs, the wounded husband freed himself and found a rifle kept in the basement.

Investigation

Authorities later concluded that the September 4, 1986 incident was not isolated.

In 1974, Donna Pounds was murdered in a manner described as eerily similar to elements of the attack involving Kris Welles and Doug Welles. Nance had been a close friend of Donna Pounds’s son. Officers had not suspected Nance of personal involvement in the 1974 case at the time.

A search of Nance’s home reportedly showed that he possessed property stolen from the home of Michael and Theresa Shook, who were described as victims of a 1985 double-murder that also bore similarities to the Welles incident. The search reportedly also recovered hairs that matched those of a “Jane Doe” found dead outside Missoula in 1984. Around that time, a woman believed to be the Jane Doe disappeared after staying for a short time with Nance.

Investigators also believed Nance may have been connected with the death of a Seattle runaway found dead near Missoula in 1980.

It was also stated that Nance was believed to have attacked a five-year-old girl in 1974. The youngster had been sexually molested and stabbed, but survived.

The body-count for Nance was described as three and climbing.

Other related incidents described

The narrative further described that Michael and Theresa Shook’s killer tried to burn the house while children slept upstairs, but neighbors had arrived before the fire had time to spread. A hunting knife and a small ceramic statuette stolen from the Shook home were reportedly found in Nance’s possession.

Arrest

Nance was not arrested. He was killed during the incident.

Trial

No trial or court proceedings were described.

Outcome

During the exchange of gunfire on September 4, 1986, both the husband and Nance were hit. The husband, described as continuing to attack despite injuries, broke the rifle stock on Nance’s skull, then seized the pistol and dispatched Nance with a bullet to the brain. Wayne Nance died a few hours later.

Doug Wells recovered from his injuries. Kris was stated to be not physically harmed.

Aftermath

With Nance permanently silent, it was stated that how many other crimes he committed in the years before his death would never be known.

The narrative also stated that Nance had attempted to make a couple in Missoula, Mont., Kris and Doug Wells, his 11th and 12th victims.

Names and victims mentioned

• Kris Welles (also written as Kris Wells): female victim
• Doug Welles (also written as Doug Wells): male victim
• Donna Pounds: victim in 1974 (murder case described)
• Michael and Theresa Shook (also written as Michael and Theresa Shook/Shook): victims in 1985 double-murder described
• “Jane Doe”: corpse unearthed outside Missoula in December 1984 (linked by hair)
• Seattle runaway: victim described as found dead near Missoula in 1980
• Five-year-old girl: victim described as sexually molested and stabbed in 1974 (survived)

Other details

Nance was described as working as a bouncer in a local bar during the period referenced in the narrative. Witnesses recalled a youthful female drifter who had shared his lodgings and abruptly disappeared in autumn of 1984.

The narrative included an additional claim about a “psychotic serial killer” and a separate example involving a gun shoved in a vagina; it also stated that Wayne Nance was one of the most sadistic killers in American history and that he attempted to make Kris and Doug Wells his 11th and 12th victims.