| Walter Scott | |
| Birth Name: | Walter Simon Notheis Jr. |
| Birth Date: | 7 February 1943 |
| Birth Place: | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Death Place: | St. Peters, Missouri |
| Occupations: | Singer |
| Years Active: | 1966–1983 |
| Associated Acts: | Bob Kuban and The In-Men |
Walter Simon Notheis, Jr. (February 7, 1943 - December 27, 1983),[1] best remembered by his stage name of Walter Scott, was an American singer who fronted Bob Kuban and The In-Men, a St. Louis, Missouri-based rock 'n' roll band that had brief national popularity during the 1960s.
Scott was born Walter Simon Notheis Jr. on February 7, 1943, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Catherine Marie (née Johnson; July 22, 1923 – June 27, 2022) and Walter Simon Notheis Sr. (May 31, 1921 – January 5, 2003). Scott found fame with Bob Kuban and The In-Men in 1966 with his lead vocals on the song "(Look Out For) The Cheater." "The Cheater" spent eleven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 12 on 12–19 March 1966.[2] Scott left the group soon after to attempt a solo career. When this failed, Scott began touring with a cover band during the 1970s.[3] In early 1983, Scott and Kuban performed together for a television appearance, and they planned to reunite the band for their twentieth anniversary in June 1983.[4]
Scott disappeared on December 27, 1983. In April 1987, his body was found floating face-down in a cistern. He had been hog-tied and shot in the chest (Forensic Files and The New Detectives erroneously stated that he was shot in the back). Scott's second wife, JoAnn (née Calcaterra; c. 1944 – May 12, 2019), pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution of his murder, and received a five-year sentence. She served 18 months of her sentence as a result of a plea bargain. Her lover, James H. Williams Sr. (January 15,1939-September 11, 2011), whom she married in 1986, was found guilty of two counts of capital murder involving the deaths of his previous wife, Sharon Williams (who died from what was originally thought to be an auto accident in 1983), and of Walter Scott. Police were told where to look for Scott's body by Williams' son who was incarcerated at the time and didn't get along with his father.[5] [6]
The case was documented on Court TV's Forensic Files (season 7, episode 1: The Cheater),[7] HBO's Autopsy 3: Voices From the Grave,[8] Secrets of the Morgue (episode: The Wells Run Dry), Oxygen's Exhumed: Killer Revealed (episode: Murders on the Edge of Town), and as part of The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science (episode: Grave Discoveries).
On September 11, 2011, James Williams Sr. died at age 72 while serving his life sentence.