Viewers distraught over movie about Boy Scout who murdered his family

Harrowing documentary about Arkansas Boy Scout who murdered his mom, dad and sister after being molested by one of worst pedophiles in state’s history leaves viewers distraught

• In January 1997, a statewide manhunt was launched for Heath Stocks, 20, following the murders of his family 
• Stocks pleaded guilty to the slayings, but maintains they were fueled by the heinous crimes of one of Arkansas’ worst ever pedophiles 
• A new documentary has shed light on the saga over 25 years on, which has sparked fury among some viewers 

Over 25 years ago, the small community of Lonoke, Arkansas was struck by tragedy. 

Heath Stocks, a 20-year-old former Boy Scout, murdered his parents and sister in cold blood in a crime that left the nation wondering – why did he do it?

As investigations continued, it became apparent that Stocks himself was the victim of a horrific crime. For years, he had been sexually and psychologically abused by one of the worst pedophiles in the state’s history, Jack Walls, who served as his Scout Master.

Stocks is currently serving a life sentence for the brutal killings, but the saga that landed him behind bars was one that uncovered a damning scandal at the heart of the Boy Scout organization. 

The killings are the subject of new documentary ‘Scout Master: One of the largest sex abuse scandals in US history’, which has left viewers distraught at the unfathomable cruelty on display. 

Heath Stocks (right) murdered his family in 1997 after being subjected to years of abuse at the hands of his Boy Scouts leader Jack Walls (not pictured)

Stocks was one of countless boys who were preyed upon in the Boy Scouts 

Stocks was one of countless boys who were targeted and abused by notorious predator Jack Walls during his three-decade reign of terror as a Boy Scout leader. 

He was said to target vulnerable boys with learning difficulties or with unhappy home lives. Walls would then befriend the parents of his victims, earning their confidence while warning the boys to keep quiet.

In a story detailed in the documentary, the deviant was almost caught five years before the Stocks family murders, when he preyed upon another Boy Scout in 1992. 

He was acquitted in trial, and while the Boy Scouts of America initially booted Walls from the organization, he was back leading the troupe soon after amid allegations the organization protected the pedophile to save face.  

Stocks says he was abused by the pedophile hundreds of times, beginning when he was aged just nine or 10. Walls manipulated the boy and pitted him against his abusive father, Joe, driving a wedge between them so he could fill the void and gain his trust. 

‘The part of me that craved the attention that my father denied needed what Jack gave me emotionally,’ Heath said in the documentary. ‘He became a safe place… and in the midst of that, he started doing what he did.’ 

Walls, who is now serving a life sentence for his heinous crimes, was able to carry on the abuse because he was able to hide it behind a façade as a respected member of the community. 

Walls was even named Lonoke’s ‘man of the year’ for his work with the Scouts, all while habitually molesting the boys he was trusted to help. His exact number of victims is unknown, but is feared be over 100.  

Nine days before he killed his his father Joe, his mother Barbara, and his sister Heather, the abuse Stocks was subjected to was finally recognized when Barbara accidentally witnessed it in his bedroom. 

When his mother only told a pastor and no action was taken, Heath confessed to Walls that he had revealed the truth to his family, which he says was fueled by a fear that he could lose the only father figure in his life. 

But the pedophile Scout Master reacted with fury, using his position of power over the boy to manipulate him into believing he had ‘betrayed’ his mentor. Knowing he had a strained relationship with his father, Walls coerced Heath and instructed him to ‘kill the problem’ he created.

Jack Walls (pictured) was one of the worst pedophiles in Arkansas state history, and his heinous crimes were blamed for the Stocks family murders 

What happened next is the subject of debate. Just over a week after the truth came to light, Stocks said he returned home one day to find his empty home had been ransacked. 

Heath maintains to this day that his abuser had staged the home to look like a robbery-gone-wrong, telling him he could either participate in killing his family or die with them. 

According to conflicting reports, it is alleged that Stocks was planning on killing himself with a .45 handgun he found in his home, before changing his mind and killing his family when they came home instead. 

Heath alleged that Walls was sitting on the couch while his family returned home,  and when his abusive father became enraged by the situation, he says ‘I took a step back and shot him.’ 

Heath Stocks pictured behind bars in a more recent, but undated image. He is serving three consecutive life sentences for the murders of his family

By the end of the night, Joe, Barbara and Heather were all dead, and Heath was on the run. While Heath pleaded guilty to all three murders, he now alleges that another former Boy Scout abused by Walls pulled the trigger on Heather. 

Authorities launched a statewide manhunt, and Heath was swiftly taken into custody by 6am the next day when he was captured in a friend’s apartment.  

While he took a guilty plea and admitted to the murders, it has been frequently posited in the years since that Walls’ manipulation and coercion drove him to do it. 

Sat behind bars with no chance of parole, Heath spent the next 25 plus years hoping for an early release due to the harrowing circumstances that led him to murder.  

In a harrowing interview with KARK in 2020, a 43-year-old Stocks lamented the saga that landed him behind bars. 

‘It’s hard not to think about it every day,’ he said. ‘I’m surrounded by the outcome of the events that led me to be here.

‘He was probably the worst pedophile in Arkansas history to use the Boy Scouts to groom and prey on kids,’ Stocks says. ‘I was arrested for crimes that happened solely because I had tried to end my abuse.’ 

Stocks said the harrowing abuse from Walls began when he was just nine or 10-years-old

The disturbing story is the focus of the latest documentary from Al Jazeera’s production company Fault Lines. 

Some viewers have reacted with repulsion to the upsetting content and details of Walls’ depraved crimes. 

‘What happened to those boys and every other victim of sexual abuse that has ever been over looked or swept under the rug by a larger institution is extremely unfair,’ said one commenter. 

‘This is simply terrible. Jack Walls deserves a lot more punishment than what he got,’ added another. 

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