Atoll where couple was
killed now a nature
preserve

Answer: The atoll about 1,000 miles south of Honolulu has been managed as a nature preserve since the Fullard-Leo family sold it to the Nature Conservancy in 2000 for about $37 million.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers the 50 islets, which cover 8,300 acres of coral reef, as well as the 12-mile zone surrounding them, which was designated a National Wildlife Refuge in January 2001.

The subject of the 2000 sale arose Monday in a lawsuit filed in state court claiming that the late Leslie V. Fullard-Leo was given incorrect advice by an investment firm that caused his heirs to lose a substantial amount of his $10 million share from the sale.

Attorney Laree McGuire said the amount will not be disclosed until trial in the suit against American Express Financial Advisors Inc. Fullard-Leo died in February 2001, three months after he invested.

Leslie and Ellen Fullard-Leo bought Palmyra in the 1920s, and after it was used by the Navy during World War II, they had to fight to reclaim possession in a suit decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1947.

Palmyra is not open to the public. There are facilities on the island for workers from the two agencies whose job is to protect the seabirds, marine life and tropical forest environment.

A current project is the eradication of rats that eat bird eggs, said Nature Conservancy spokesman Grady Timmons. Researchers and volunteers, such as marine biologist Susan Scott, who writes the Star-Bulletin's "Ocean Watch" column, visit the island with permission.

Mariners often anchored there, but they must now have permission and are allowed to stay for only a short time, Timmons said.

A San Diego couple was murdered while anchored at Palmyra in 1974. The killers sailed their yacht to Honolulu, where it was recognized as belonging to Mac and Muff Graham.

Buck Walker was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his companion was acquitted in a violent chapter of Palmyra history that led to a best-selling novel and movie.

Ever wonder what happened to a person, event or issue that has been in the news? We'll find out for you if you e-mail us at cityeditors@starbulletin.com, call us at 529-4747 or write 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana, Honolulu, HI 96813. "What Ever Happened to ..." runs Saturdays.