(Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph), The area of Lake Hawkins near where Suzanne Harrison, Bryan Boone and Gena Turner were abducted by Jerry McFadden in 1986 pictured March 8, 2016. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. But the case went nowhere. The evidence is telling us things it never could tell before because the technology wasnt there, he said. Going into a separate office, he sat on the floor, absently tracing his finger on the carpet as he and Scott discussed what to do next. Police expect to file charges against Paul Owen Beasley Jr. Monday and set bond at that time. Born in 1948, McFadden a heavyset man with a thoroughly tattooed torso was convicted of two counts of rape in Texas in 1972 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to a timeline produced by the Portland police. Simons and Scott often had disagreements; in truth, the two men didnt much care for each other, and the cop had already told the chief he was considering leaving the force at the end of the year. Learn more about Brooks Lake / Brookhaven Lake. McFadden, before his escape, was being held in jail on charges he raped and murdered Suzanne Harrison, 18, of nearby Hawkins, Texas, in May. These are serious allegations against public officials sworn to seek justice, read the response. He did it! she screamed. When the medical examiners tests did not return any DNA profiles, Dannen arranged for the evidence to be sent to Forensic Science Associates (FSA), a California lab run by Ed Blake, one of the countrys pioneering DNA scientists. Days later, police found Boone and Turner shot to death. in 2014, insisting he was painting houses in Bryan, as several alibi witnesses had told police he was. But Simons knew he was on the right track, and he was going to see it through, skeptics be damned. Associates of Cook also reported to authorities that she possibly sold and used cocaine, Ratliff said. Simons, a man of intuition, couldnt always explain his methods, but everyone knew they got results. The family was impressedand heartened when Dannen told them he planned to publish his findings in his book, which would be out in about a year. Whoever did it wont just go to jailhe is going to pay for this. MARSHALL, Virgil Euristi Then, within a week, the DAs office asked for all the police files on White. "You cry. She had been. Sorry! But no one emerged as a credible suspect. He likes to brag a lot, he told his lawyers, and I just thought he was just trying to brag about that because he thought it was something cool.. A system error has occurred. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. Schonemann visited Tony and Gilbert again. But her sister didnt answer when Rose Ann opened the door and called her name on that night, July 24, 1979. The town historically offered reasonable, affordable housing for workers and a plentiful infusion of cash when the oil field was booming. Though there was nothing exculpatory in the odontology testimony, the lawyers decided to address it at the upcoming hearing anyway, just to put it in the record. The brothers were set to testify against Muneer Deeb at his retrial, in December 1992 in Fort Worth, and both had been promised help with their paroles if they did. That case will stand on its own, he said. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Most journalists who came to Texas after Spence was executed werent interested in him but in finding stories about the Texas criminal justice system, remembered Schonemann. The families are now undergoing a "formal grieving process" now that they know "that their loved one is actually deceased, not just missing or living a new life somewhere," Bluffington said. It was, and remains, a close-knit community of common sense values, where people look out for one another and scold other people's children if they need it. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? More important, Tony, in the expectation of getting help with parole, had agreed to give a more detailed statement and testify against Spence. Local schools suspended classes for the day, allowing students who wanted to attend the funerals to do so. He and Melendez drove the bodies to Speegleville and dumped them there. For Hlavkas family, the news is bittersweet. But his most revealing tattoo is largely hidden under his prison shirt. But their curiosity had quickly turned to horror: a young man, in jeans and an orange shirt, lay gagged, his hands bound behind him. Beasley, 29, of Hawkins, was charged in the June 15, 1986, shooting and stabbing deaths of his father, Paul Owen Beasley Sr., 71; his mother, Ruth J. Beasley, 62; and his sister, Linda Birkinbine, 37, of Euless. Simons, he claimed, got him food and visits with his girlfriend in the DAs office and said he would help him get parole. Then there was the report detailing a bizarre polygraph test taken by Kenneths father, Richard Franks. Schonemann spoke with him too. The two became fast allies. Early in the investigation, the prosecutor had written a note on his stationery: G[ilbert] M[elendez] told [fellow inmate] Robert [Garcia] he did not know anything but was going to make up a story to get off of [the] sexual abuse case., Why would Gilbert confess to such a horrible crime if he didnt commit it? Price obliged, agreeing to halt the investigation until after Washington went to trial. Her father, Ash, is suspicious of Hill, thinking that he married Joan for money, which he used to buy a house and indulges in some odd hobbies. Now it was dinnertime, and Simons had been thinking about grabbing some food, maybe at the Whataburger over on Seventh. The deadly shooting happened Saturday, July 25 . Dannen hoped the reporter would call before the execution took place to say a court had stayed it, but she didnt contact him until his watch read almost eight. Three months later, Dannen flew to Austin. Whoever had assaulted Hlavka had never been entered into the directory. They told me they got enough to get me out, he said. Mrs. Lane phoned the authorities, who asked for a clothing description and accounting of her last known steps. WILLIAMS, Nanon Mckewn Bernadette Feazell, who knew Perry, arranged for the two to present Melendezs case to the governors deputy general counsel, Mary Anne Wiley. Did Spence do it or not, I cant tell you, she said. Dannen wasnt fully convinced of Spences innocenceas a veteran journalist, hed made a career out of being skepticalbut hed learned enough to know he had the makings of a great story. GUTIERREZ. In the end, Jerry Walter McFadden, 38, a three-time convicted rapist, was arrested for the slayings. Yet Dannen remained thoroughly excited about the case. Melendez had always denied any involvement in the lake murders, but now Simons, encouraged by the headway hed made with Spence, began to press the inmate. Barber assisted in the search area after the victims were reported missing. Spence seemed more and more bewildered about what was going on in his mind. Why is it taking so long?. She was kidnapped with her companions Gena Turner and Bryan Boone from Lake Hawkins, in May of 1986. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. As soon as hed heard about Whites death, hed called Dennis Baier, who told him that a black man had been seen exiting Whites stolen car. ", The day she and Gena disappeared wasn't anything out of the ordinary. How that might happen remains to be seen. She found that the weather and the laid-back, friendly attitude of Texas suited her. But he was hopeful in spite of himself. According to Price, she tried to share this development with Simons, but the deputy was too busy gathering information on Williams, who was arrested the following month for burglary. The nightmare didn't seem real to Suzanne's aunt and uncle, then or now. SKILLERN, Derrick J. Schonemann, however, was frantic. Perhaps more significant, however, was the fact that Texas, unlike many states, had no law requiring that a death row inmate be granted legal representation for his writ of habeas corpus. Had Frueh called Franks because he had seen Kenneth in trouble? There were so many witnesses they wanted to call that they first persuaded Judge Norman Black to let them collect depositions instead of having everyone testify in court. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. In addition, Owen hired a former president of the American Board of Forensic Odontology, Thomas Krauss, to review Homer Campbells conclusions; Krauss pronounced Campbells methodology well outside the mainstream. The lawyers then found that in August 1984, just two months after Campbell had testified against Spence, he made a mistake that called his expertise into question: he positively identified the remains of a woman alongside a highway in Arizona as those of a missing Florida teenager by comparing the dead womans teeth with an enhanced photo of the teenagers teeth. Lying in the grass was the body of a young blond woman. Family members linked to this person will appear here. CORWIN, Javier Nelson Simonss plan had been forming ever since hed first learned about Spence. In April 1983 she had received a letter from a young woman who wrote to say that she and her boyfriend had been at Koehne Park and seen Kenneth with the girls in the Pinto. Throughout the proceedings, Spence exhibited little of the calm hed shown during his first trial. Hawkins is a city in Wood County, Texas, United States. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. On the stand, Tony told basically the same story as Gilbert, saying that he and his brother and Spence had killed the teenagers at Koehne and then loaded the bodies into Gilberts truck. The inmate had taken his mothers death hard; his ex-wife, June Ewing, whom he had married and divorced years before, reported after a visit that hed stood in the prison yard and screamed at the sky in anguish, Are you real? Though two investigators, Ramon Salinas, of the WPD, and Leon Chaney, who worked on Melendezs behalf, found several alibi witnesses for him in Bryan, the inmate says he was never informed of their reports. 29, 2022 at 8:42 AM PDT. Davids mom suffered. Verify and try again. The Rev. 'Linda lives in Euless and had come over for Father's Day. None of the officers on the scene had ever encountered a crime this grisly. The inmate was also heartened when Walter Reaves took up his case pro bono a year later. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. I acknowledge that I am not in possession of all the facts, he wrote, but I cannot fathom why, if there is new evidence that casts doubt on the states case against Mr. Spence, he should be executed without a hearing. Dannen added that he planned to look into the case for a magazine story. Paroled serial rapist Jerry Walter McFadden, 38, who called himself Animal, was charged with Suzanne Harrison's death after witnesses reported seeing him with the three young people shortly before they disappeared. Schonemann had been visiting Gilbert and Tony periodically since 1991; though both had told him they had lied in their statements and testimony, they refused to speak on the record. Still, the defense attorneys made a miscalculation in their overall strategy. Local teenagers liked to gravitate to a small beach called "the point," and parents felt safe letting them go there, said retired Precinct 3 Constable David Barber, who at the time was serving as a Wood County sheriff's deputy. "I asked them to parole him back to West Texas, where the officials there knew his habits and could better keep an eye on him.". Jr. Mauriceo Mashawn Please reset your password. We have set your language to If somethings not right, you do something about it. A charismatic, headstrong lawyer, Feazell had stepped into office that month, at the age of 31. He was known to camp not too far from the point, where rolling waves crashed against the rugged shoreline and pretty girls flirted with the guys. Harper was no longer alive to talk; he had killed himself with a shotgun in 1994 when police tried to arrest him after hed attacked an elderly couple with a knife. And why? Nicholas He had been in touch with a KXXV television reporter in Waco, who promised to phone him when Spences sentence was carried out that evening. Hopper learned that police had used DNA information in public genealogy databases to identify DeAngelo. Throughout the spring of 1984, an endless string of pretrial hearings domi-nated the local papers; in nightly broadcasts, Wacos citizens were regaled with details of the defendants shady pasts, including the rumor that Spence was a Satan worshipper. Spence insisted he couldnt remember murdering anyone, but he began to wonder if it was possible that he had really done it. BROWN, David Winona (9 miles) Big Sandy (9 miles) Owentown (14 miles) The only friend Ive got, he told Simons that night, is the guy whos trying to kill me on this lake case.. Her husband died in 2005, and her daughters often stop by to visit the retirement village where she lives, in Waxahachie. Winnipeg Jets Edmonton Oilers 2 -155. "We want to compete the investigation," Bluffington said. Sitting calmly nearby, Simons would tell him to let it all out. You know I didnt do this, he said he told the deputy. Yusef Hawkins was murdered in the racially charged case, that came to be known as The Bensonhurst Murder Case. We remember your smile. And, simply, We remember you., One letter in particular moved Thompson. Chad Beasley, 9, the son of another relative, was treated for a broken leg and released. We had everything but the picket fence. Three days later, Spence was given the death penalty. This is where they say those three teenagers were killed, he said Spence told him. "For five horrible days, we didn't have a clue where to look," Barber said. I know he put in many hours and sleepless nights, but I also know he raised hopes for people and didnt follow through., Lawrence Wright, who hasnt talked to his friend since 2002, recalls Dannens single-mindedness. Its the only time Ive ever seen the police investigate a DA, said Walter Reaves, who, after working as Spences lawyer, had gone on to represent Williams. Add to your scrapbook. And besides, everyone believed Feazell and Simons. He based his first statement on what hed read in the newspapers and heard from his jail mates; when there werent enough details in it for him to testify against Spence, he said, Simons took him out to Lake Waco and showed him around, casually slipping him details. She was estimated to be about 30 years old at the time of her death. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. GARZA In April 1992 the federal court denied Spences petition for habeas corpus relief. Tristan But Melendez later recanted, saying he had only confessed because hed been threatened with the death penalty. I assumed she wouldnt be willing to speak with us, but she was candid and forthcoming. Sitting at a Dennys in Waco, the three discussed Simonss work with informants, and Price gave an affidavit about the Juanita White case. PORTLAND, Oregon The Portland Police Department in Oregon says a notorious East Texas convicted killer is responsible for the murder of 20-year-old Anna Hlavka, who was found dead on July 24,. (Simons would later say that it was Price who believed the wounds on Whites body were bite marks and that they agreed to get the mold after looking at autopsy photos together; Price insists that the mold already existed when she and Simons joined forces.). Texas law sets the bar very high for innocence claims, effectively requiring conclusive proof of innocence, said Raoul Schonemann, who is now the co-director of the Capital Punishment Clinic. Frederick I can tell you he shouldnt have been prosecuted for it., Far from Waco, in Louisiana, Spences ex-wife looks back on the past three decades with deep sadness. WPD officers combed the parks repeatedly and interviewed between 150 and 200 people, yet they found few clues and no discernible motive. She was gagged, her hands bound behind her back. Thinking that it was a pranka mannequin, perhapsor that maybe theyd come across a sleeping drunk, theyd stopped to investigate. To some of Simonss colleagues, the results of the polygraph were no surprise. That same month, after succumbing to complications from HIV, Gilbert Melendez died in prison, a development that only fueled Dannens determination. Simons thought the inconsistencies were likely due to Melendezs drug- and alcohol-addled memory, but the changing statements, plus the fact that Melendez claimed it had been Spence alone who did all the raping and killing, made other investigators suspicious. It was only after she had described the bracelet to police that it was found, she told Dannen. Truman Simons (far right) helping carry the body of the teenagers out from the brush in Speegleville Park on July 14, 1982. Simons went back to the inmate, even taking him to Koehne and Speegleville parks the next morning; over two days, Melendez gave three statements that included other discrepancies, such as different times for when he and Spence arrived at Koehne Park. In July 2002 Dannen was drawn into Feazells libel suit against Pardo, which the former DA had filed in 1998. In July 2001, after Washingtons release, Thompson told Dannen she couldnt keep her doubts quiet anymoreshe had to tell the rest of her family, and she needed his help. In 1982 a brutal triple homicide shook the city of Waco and soon became one of the most confounding criminal cases in Texas historyone that still haunts the many people who have tried to solve it. Though he was not officially assigned to the investigation, he spent hours at the lake, devoting much of his free time to searching the woods and talking to people. Melendez had been suffering from multiple maladies, including bone cancer and kidney failure. A possible answer came from Spences ex-wife, June, who, besides Schonemann, was one of the inmates most consistent visitors. (As for Frankss polygraph, without context, it is just as likely that Richard Franks statement was that he was with them in spirit.), Spences prosecutors, in fact, had long maintained that they had turned over everything to the defense that they were required to. Dannen and Blum also drove to Dallas to meet Muneer Deeb, who in his years out of prison had been profiled in Life magazine; filed a $100 million civil suit against Feazell, Simons, and other law enforcement officials (it was thrown out of court); started a limo company; and spoken on Amnesty International panels, including one with the Dalai Lama. Yes, Mikel said, Simons had shown him crime-scene photos and fed him information. He had grown up in Rosenthal, a tiny town just south of the city, and joined the WPD in 1965, a few years after dropping out of high school. Now, at police headquarters, Simons grilled Deeb about his acquaintances. When Simons then learned that, two weeks before the murders, Deeb had taken out an accident insurance policy on Kelley that paid $20,000 in the event of her deathand listed himself as Kelleys common-law husbandhe felt his instincts confirmed. After all these years, he doesnt remember exactly what he was doing on the night of July 13, 1982, but he knows he wasnt in Waco. Then Simons got a surprise visit from Ned Butler, an assistant DA who had recently been hired to try capital cases. Yusuf Hawkins (sometimes spelled Yusef Hawkins) was a 16-year-old from Brooklyn who lived in the East New York neighborhood with his parents. When Williams was nevertheless found guilty and given a life sentence, Price was so peeved that she stepped up her informal investigation. White rushed the letter over to Russ Hunt, Spences trial lawyer.
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