Editing Palmyra Atoll (section)

==== ''Sea Wind'' murder ====
In 1974, Palmyra was the site of a murder, and possible double murder, of a wealthy San Diego couple, Malcolm "Mac" Graham and his wife, Eleanor "Muff" Graham.<ref name="scott">{{cite news |url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/oceanwatch/20100614_Palmyras_scads_of_rats_rival_its_crabs_and_birds.html |title=Palmyra's scads of rats rival its crabs and birds |last=Scott |first=Susan |date=2010-06-14 |work=Honolulu Star Advertiser |access-date=2017-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222220347/http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/oceanwatch/20100614_Palmyras_scads_of_rats_rival_its_crabs_and_birds.html |archive-date=2015-02-22 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The mysterious deaths, including the murder conviction of Duane ("Buck") Walker (a.k.a. Wesley G. Walker) for Eleanor Graham's murder, and the acquittal of his girlfriend, Stephanie Stearns, made headlines worldwide, and became the subject of a [[true crime]] book, ''[[And the Sea Will Tell]]'', written by [[Bruce Henderson (author)|Bruce Henderson]] and [[Vincent Bugliosi]], Stearns's defense attorney. The book led to a CBS television miniseries of the same name, starring [[James Brolin]], [[Rachel Ward]], [[Deidre Hall]], and [[Hart Bochner]]; [[Richard Crenna]] played lawyer [[Vincent Bugliosi|Bugliosi]]. The story was retold in ''[[The FBI Files]]''.

Walker and Stearns were arrested in Honolulu in 1974 after returning from Palmyra aboard ''Sea Wind'', the yacht stolen from the Grahams. Because no bodies were found at the time, Walker and Stearns were convicted only for the theft of the yacht. Six years later, a partially-buried, corroded chest was found in a lagoon at Palmyra, containing Eleanor Graham's remains. Walker and Stearns were arrested in Arizona for murder, and Walker was convicted in 1985. Stearns was acquitted in 1986 after her defense argued that Walker had committed the murders without Stearns's knowledge. Because no body or other evidence of Malcolm Graham's death has been discovered, his murder was never formally alleged.

Walker served 22&nbsp;years in the [[United States Penitentiary, Victorville]], California, before receiving parole in 2007. He wrote an 895-page book about his experiences and life on Palmyra Island, in which he denied killing Eleanor Graham. It states they had sexual relations; her husband Malcolm Graham caught them and shot at them in anger, inadvertently killing her. Walker said that the two men had a gunfight the next day and that Malcolm Graham consequently died from a rifle wound.

Walker accused author Vincent Bugliosi – Stearns' lawyer – of [[vainglory]] and exploiting [[class prejudice]] against him and wrote that his lawyer, Earle Partington, was incompetent. Walker did not implicate Stearns in any killing.<ref>{{cite book |title=Palmyra: the True Story of an Island Tragedy |last=Walker |first=Wesley |date=2007 |publisher=B. & E. Press |location=Incline Village, Nevada}}</ref> Walker died in a nursing home following a stroke on April 26, 2010.<ref name="scott"/>
[[File:Palmyra AKK World Discoverer.jpg|thumb|The ship [[MS World Discoverer]] at Palmyra]]