‘Amazing, beautiful, full of life.’ Sisters remember Terri McAdams 39 years after murder
Terri McAdams desperately tried to protect herself after a series of killings and disappearances of young women in North Texas that made headlines beginning in 1984.
The 22-year-old UT Arlington student took extraordinary precautions such as quitting her job in Irving so she wouldn’t have to drive home to her apartment at night, her late mother, Anne McAdams, told the Star-Telegram in 1985.
After dark, especially when her fiance was out of town, Terri McAdams became reclusive, her mother said. She rarely left home, even to buy groceries. She called her mom in Little Rock to discuss her fears, sometimes more than once a day.
Fort Worth police and other law enforcement in North Texas started a task force to investigate the possibility of one or more serial killers committing the murders.
“She was terrified,” Anne McAdams said in March 1985. “All the girls (who disappeared or were killed) were about her age, and they were young, pretty girls. So naturally, being that far from home in a strange town, and something like that going on, you would be afraid. She was really careful about not going out at night, and she took every precaution she thought necessary.”
The man who murdered Terri McAdams broke into her home in February 1985 and beat her to death, according to Arlington police, who on Wednesday announced that the killer has been identified through investigative genetic genealogy after almost 40 years.
Bernard Sharp did not know McAdams and apparently killed her at random, police said. Sharp died nine months later when he shot his wife and two other women and then turned the gun on himself, police said. Earlier this year, investigators obtained a DNA sample from a close relative of Sharp, which they matched to DNA evidence from the crime scene.
Terri’s younger sister Karen Hopper spoke at the news conference. Wednesday at the Arlington Police Department when officials announced the case was solved.
Over the years, Hopper has thought about what it would be like to know who killed her sister, she told the Star-Telegram after the news conference. She always thought it would be better to find out that her killer was alive and could be arrested and to watch justice be served.
Now, though, she said there may be a blessing in not having to go to a trial after all these years. Knowing who killed Terri gives the family answers they need for peace. “Closure” isn’t the word she’d use to describe it — there will always be a wound from losing her big sister — but she does finally feel at peace.
“Terri was an amazing girl, beautiful and full of life,” Hopper said. “She was the best big sister to me and Pamela.”
Terri was enrolled at UT Arlington because her fiance got a job in the city, Hopper said. She started at the University of Arkansas, where she met her fiance, and then moved to Arlington with him. She wanted to finish her education, so she started at UTA.
Growing up, Terri was always popular. As a teenager she drove a convertible with an 8 track player. That made her the most popular person to drive when she went out with friends and her sisters. Hopper said they would ride around in her car for hours, listening to music and belting out the lyrics together.
Terri was part of the Phi Mu sorority at the University of Arkansas and was a cheerleader, always popular and never without a friend.
She liked dance and took classes for it for years, but when she reached Arlington she was more focused on planning her December 1985 wedding and finishing her degree. She changed her major a few times, always finding something else that interested her, and her family can’t remember exactly what she wanted to do after college.
Hopper recalled stories from when Terri went to Europe with her best friend. Terri told everyone stories about her travels, but one that pops back to Hopper’s head regularly is how she met Princess Diana while going out dancing at one point. It was a brief encounter — Terri and her friend saw the princess and Terri asked if she would dance with them. Diana said she couldn’t just then, but they got an opportunity to talk with her.
To her younger sisters, Hopper and Pamela McKinnis, Terri was the big sister who was always there for them. She’d keep them entertained and taught them how to drive.
Hopper described her sister as “feisty and fun” and said she truly loved life. “To know her was to love her,” she said.
Police said McAdams was killed on the night of Feb. 13 or early on the morning of Feb. 14. She had gone to a store that day and was planning to bake a cake for her fiance.
Her body was found by a maintenance worker on Valentine’s Day. Her $5,000 engagement ring was stolen.
Investigators found evidence that the murderer broke into McAdams’ apartment through a sliding glass door. A filtered cigarette and other evidence found at the scene were tested for DNA, according to the Star-Telegram’s archives.
With her voice breaking, Hopper thanked detectives who worked tirelessly to solve her sister’s case.
“As I stand here today, I know that she and my mom and dad are smiling down on this miraculous moment,” she said. “There really are not words sufficient enough to describe how this feels.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2024 at 3:26 PM.
