EDITOR'S NOTE: One in an occasional series

The slayings of Valerie Pettit and her 4-year-old son, Matthew, inside their southwest Dallas home remain as inexplicable today as they were 18 years ago.

Brad Pettit, the husband and father, told police he made the gruesome discovery when he returned home from work about 5:45 p.m. on Feb. 8, 1990.

The 33-year-old wife and mother of two was found beaten to death in her bed. The red-headed, freckle-faced Matthew was found strangled in his bed.

Ms. Pettit's 15-month-old son was unharmed, sitting on her bed gazing at his mother.

There were signs that someone may have broken into the house in the 9500 block of Timberbluff Circle in The Woods area of southwestern Dallas. Some rooms appeared to have been ransacked, but very little was taken. And neighbors in the tight-knit community reported nothing out of the ordinary.

"It wasn't a robbery," said Debby Holmes, a neighbor and friend of the family. "What was taken was their lives. What was destroyed was their family."

Ms. Holmes said the horrifying deaths represented the end of an era in a community where children once played outside and adults lounged on lawn chairs and sipped beers.

"There was something personal about this," she said. "And who in their right mind? I have no idea."

Although authorities never gathered enough evidence to make an arrest in the case, a 1992 Dallas police investigative report identifies the only strong suspect to develop: Mr. Pettit.

But in the aftermath of the killings, friends and neighbors disagreed with the investigation's apparent focus, Ms. Holmes said.

"It's one thing for a husband and wife to have a spat," Ms. Holmes said. "But your child? Your child? That's another thing."

The Pettits had no known history of domestic abuse, and friends and neighbors interviewed by police said they appeared to have a stable marriage of 10 years.

Approached recently at his Tarrant County home, Mr. Pettit declined to comment. A message left for attorney Bill Hill was not returned. Mr. Hill represented Mr. Pettit after the slayings and before Mr. Hill's eight-year stint as Dallas County district attorney.

Those who knew and cared about the victims remember a devoted mother and a rambunctious son.

Val, as friends called her, was the second oldest of four children. Raised in Wisconsin and the Rochester area of New York, she was the more outgoing among her siblings, her family said.

"She wasn't wild, like some would be," said her mother, Helen Spencer. "But she just enjoyed the music, the dancing, her friends."

Ms. Pettit followed her older sister Kathy Strong to the Dallas area.

"We did a lot of things together, and she was like my best friend," Ms. Strong said. "She was a really wonderful person."

In Texas, Ms. Pettit met and married Brad Pettit. Their first-born, Matthew, was a blue-eyed child who loved to play with his toy cars.

The cheery images of the two in life are a stark contrast to their violent deaths.

Ms. Pettit's injuries indicated she struggled with her attacker, who beat her to death.

A front kitchen window was open and the screen had been removed. The large family dog was kept outside, and neighbors told police they did not hear any barking, according to police documents.

Mr. Pettit told police he left the house for work about 6:30 a.m., and a supervisor confirmed he was at work that day.

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COURTESY PHOTO

The 33-year-old wife and mother of two was found beaten to death in her bed.

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Investigators believe the killings likely occurred sometime in the morning, leaving the youngest boy to wander the house all day.

Cracker crumbs were found on the bed next to his dead mother. Cherries and a jar of peanut butter were nearby. It appeared he had gotten hungry and carried those items from the kitchen to feed himself, police documents said.

Dallas police homicide Detective Jesse Briseno was the original investigator assigned to the case and is now a member of the unit's cold case squad. He suspects there was a reason why the older boy was killed and the younger one was left unharmed.

"The fact that they killed the older boy, who could talk, led me to believe it was someone he knew," Detective Briseno said.

At the funeral, which drew hundreds, mother and son shared a coffin. Matthew was buried in his mother's arms.

For Ms. Pettit's family members, the days after the killings are largely a blur. But all these years later, they remain hopeful that the killer will pay.

Ms. Spencer, 74, said that when she visited Dallas on the 10th anniversary of the murders, she captured an image that symbolized that hope.

"I took a picture of the courthouse and I said, 'I'm going to be in there one day, I'm going to be inside there one day.' "

Anyone with information about this case or other unsolved Dallas homicides is encouraged to call police at 214-671-3661 or e-mail dpdcoldcase@dpd.dallascityhall.com.

Every year in Dallas, dozens of homicides go unsolved. As the leads dry up, the cases go cold. In stories and through videos, The Dallas Morning News takes a look at a selection of cold cases.