Cold Case: Who Killed Valarie Pettit and her 4yo Son?

A cold case over 30-years-old remains unsolved, but it rests heavy on the minds of officers with the Dallas Police Department. Valarie Pettit and her four-year-old son Matthew were found murdered in their home on February 8, 1990 in a case that has been rife with suspicion but just not enough evidence to lead to an arrest. While this case remains unsolved all these decades later, detectives have long-suspected one individual in the slaying of the woman and young child. Could they be wrong about their suspicions — and if they’re not, why haven’t they pursued an end to this tragic cold case?

When the bodies of Valarie Pettit and her four-year-old son Matthew were found in their home, it was discovered that the woman’s 15-month-old child had not been harmed. This detail could have something to do with the only suspect that’s ever been publicly named in the search for the killer. Authorities have long-believed that Valarie’s husband and father-in-law acted together in the murders, sparing the son the slain woman shared with the former. Unfortunately, detectives have only run into brick walls over the course of over 30 years, with Brad Pettit having an alibi (such as being at work the day the bodies were found). Brad Pettit hasn’t been receptive to questions from the public over this case, either. According to a 2008 report published by The Dallas Morning News, the slain woman’s husband refused to speak with a journalist who was covering the cold case.

The day of the murders of Valarie and Mattew Pettit has been referred to as “Dallas’s Deadliest Day,” in a news report published in 1991 by D Magazine. The double slaying of the 32-year-old woman and four-year-old boy went down as two out of several murders that occurred on just that day alone. With 1990 being the noted “deadliest year” in Dallas (up to the perspectives of the year 1991, at least), it almost seems as though this double-murder became slightly overshadowed by an era of homicidal violence. Very little has been written over the past few decades about this murder, with little more than a few nods in the reports like the aforementioned ones, and the occasional reminder through sources that mention cold cases. What is known, is that a mother and her child were slain in their own home, and the only person ever suspected by authorities has never been brought to any means of justice.

Even though this cold case has received very little attention over the years, the Dallas Police Department continues to push for information that might lead to some kind of resolution. In a post made by their official Facebook page on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, authorities with the Dallas PD publicly requested information in hopes of solving the case. It has been more than 30 years, but it’s still possible that someone out there might have some kind of information that could point detectives down the right avenue. Nonetheless, they have never publicly changed their stance about the slain woman’s husband, who has never been charged or arrested in association with the crime.

Will we ever fully know all of the circumstances of this murder, or learn who’s responsible? Hopefully another 30-something years don’t pass before we do.