A Town in Terror Part II: Hawkins mourns three young victims, as law enforcement searches for their killer, By JACQUE HILBURN-SIMMONS, jasimmons@tylerpaper.com, A Town In Terror: How Jerry McFadden's 1986 crime spree stole the lives of Hawkins' best, brightest, Police say executed East Texas killer Jerry "the Animal" McFadden killed Oregon woman, A Town in Terror Part III: Accused murderer Jerry McFadden takes hostage, escapes jail and sparks Texas-sized manhunt, A Town In Terror Part IV: A look into the legal challenges that freed serial rapist Jerry McFadden to commit murder, A Town in Terror Part V: Former hostage shares story of new life, healing power of giving back, A Town in Terror: Reporter recalls covering one of the most tragic, terrifying stories of his career, Chapel Hill High School hosts Donuts with Dad, Smith County moving tax foreclosure auctions online, East Texas tree business shifts focus from removal to revival, With 'Dilbert' discontinued, we want to hear from you. To see all this unfolding before my eyes and know I couldnt stop it was terrible., Her ordeal over, Price began keeping tabs on the men who had been sent to death row as a result of Simonss work, Spence and Deeb. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Many of the wounds were shallow, suggesting they had been tortured. Two friends who accompanied her on May 4, 1986, for a Sunday drive were shot to death. McLemore sent out copies of the TRCs brief to journalists, trying to get attention for Spence; he also made a case for the inmates innocence in the March 1997 issue of Pardos monthly political newsletter, Capitol Watch. "For five horrible days, we didn't have a clue where to look," Barber said. GENTRY, Michael Dean Before long, other inmates were also coming forward with things Spence had told them: he had been in a satanic cult; hed been paid to kill the teens but had killed the wrong ones; a foreigner named Lucky had paid him to kill the three because a girl had dishonored him. The evidence is telling us things it never could tell before because the technology wasnt there, he said. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. A Town In Terror: How Jerry McFadden's 1986 crime spree stole the lives of Hawkins' best, brightest, By JACQUE HILBURN-SIMMONS, jasimmons@tylerpaper.com, A Town in Terror Part II: Hawkins mourns three young victims, as law enforcement searches for their killer, A Town in Terror Part III: Accused murderer Jerry McFadden takes hostage, escapes jail and sparks Texas-sized manhunt, A Town In Terror Part IV: A look into the legal challenges that freed serial rapist Jerry McFadden to commit murder, A Town in Terror Part V: Former hostage shares story of new life, healing power of giving back, Chapel Hill High School hosts Donuts with Dad, Smith County moving tax foreclosure auctions online, East Texas tree business shifts focus from removal to revival, With 'Dilbert' discontinued, we want to hear from you. A soft-spoken, patient woman who kept journals about the Lake Waco investigation, Thompson had attended Spences aggravated sexual abuse trial in 1983, as had Franks; it was there, she told Dannen, that Franks had unexpectedly mentioned to her a phone call hed received the night of the murders that made him think something was wrong out at the lake. McLennan County DA John Segrest ordered that a sample be sent away for DNA testing and received results in February 2001. Burial. And then last April, Hopper read news reports about the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the suspected Golden State Killer linked to at least 13 murders and 50 rapes. 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. Low 51F. Just ten weeks earlier, a father of five had been beaten to death by a stranger in his front yard because he wouldnt light the guys marijuana cigarette. We have many There was never any link to him coming up here. Suspects were grilled and released. The 9-year-old boy apparently escaped from the attack and ran to the neighbor's house, Roberts said. His tenacity, in fact, was about to pay off in other ways. He never would have risen to the level of a suspect.. As a police department, we were totally unprepared for the complexity of this case., Simons in particular seemed to be deeply affected by the brutal scene hed encountered. Jan. 1, 1974. 'Two shotguns, a pistol and two knives were retrieved from the scene. She's a former police reporter who also wrote a book about the KFC murder. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? Cook moved to the Houston area with her girlfriend at the time to establish "a new life," Bluffington said. I replied, Whats there to know, Truman? Mr. Simons said, People get killed here real easy. Then, leaning in for emphasis, he added, Even cops. Blum and Dannen were taken aback by what they understood to be a threat. Now Driggs asked Krauss to set up the study. If a purse was inadvertently left in the car overnight, it was still there the next morning. Beasley had been declared incompetent to stand trial in September and was sent to Rusk State Hospital for treatment. In fact, not one of the seventeen people interviewed by police who had been at Koehne Park that night mentioned Spence or the Melendez brothersor anyone who looked like them. All of his criminal history and police contacts and even address information is all from about three counties in Texas. In June 1991 she got her wish with Deeb, when the Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his murder conviction. HERNANDEZ. Nonetheless, Spence was set to be executed in four days. A book comes out by a New York writer that says Tonys innocent and Texas may have executed an innocent manand Tonys going to get clemency? ratio d'endettement ngatif interprtation. CRUZ, James Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. He was violent with women, finding pleasure in stalking and then overpowering females that interested him, according to officials and prison records. Then the lawyers waited. HAWKINS - Glyndia Lane of Hawkins can't make broccoli, cheese and rice casserole without feeling a sharp pang of sadness. Later in the evening, the woman wrote, she saw Kenneth in the front seat of a maroon Lincoln Continental with Robert Frueh, a local reverend with a fondness for teenage boys who often cruised through Wacos parks. David Spences hideous cruelty permeates the testimony of each man, Jones wrote. He was continually unnerved by Feazell, who seemed to enjoy provoking him: during jury selection, for example, as Spences lawyers questioned potential jurors, the DA passed him taunting notes (Youre drowning and your lifeguards dont swim! read one). Melendez had been suffering from multiple maladies, including bone cancer and kidney failure. Dannen told them he did not think Carroll was connected in any way to the Lake Waco killings, though he did consider the burglary at Whites house after her death to be highly suspicious. In the spring of 1997 Fredric Dannen had just returned to New York City after a month of reporting in Hong Kong for a magazine article on organized crime. We cannot tell which are gun wounds and which are knives.'. 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. Whoever did it wont just go to jailhe is going to pay for this. What he actually got was the opportunity to reoffend, again and again. HAWKINS On a clear May 4, 1986 evening, Suzanne Harrison, 18, and her best friend, Gena Turner, 20, waved goodbye to their families, jumped in the car and headed out on an ill-fated ride around Lake Hawkins. Though no one has ever been held accountable for Gena and Bryan's deaths, McFadden is guilty in the court of public opinion. Simons promptly put out feelers to his contacts on the street and got a name: Calvin Washington, a 31-year-old neer-do-well who, it turned out, had recently landed in the McLennan County jail for car theft. Simons felt uneasy. And he liked to talk. The more people Price talked to, the more she doubted the case against Washington and Williamsand wondered about the case against Spence, Deeb, and the Melendez brothers in the lake murders. "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.". Simonss plan had been forming ever since hed first learned about Spence. Failed to report flower. When the officers got to Dallas, he informed them that Washingtons mold matched the wounds on Whites body. After campaigning on the promise to shake up a complacent DAs office, hed been elected in an upset, and he now set about hiring more prosecutors, tightening protocols for defense attorneys, and increasing security measures. This time it was sent to Homer Campbell, the expert in Spences trial, along with Washingtons mold and Whites autopsy photos. Dannen would have to find evidence to support his ideas in other ways. After the phenotyping was completed, investigators began working with GenMatch to use genetic genealogy to compose family trees for both of the victims. 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. On December 18, the day before Spence was to die, the lawyers filed for a stay of execution as well as a federal habeas corpus petition, citing 25 grounds for reversal. He didnt want to tell you anything beyond This is what Ive got, Price told me. USA Trucking Companies. The former DA remained confident of Spences guilt and felt he had nothing to hide; he was even contemplating filing a libel suit against Pardo for maligning him in Capitol Watch. In September 1986 Feazell was arrested on federal racketeering and bribery charges; once again, the DA claimed it was a retaliatory move by local and federal forces for the embarrassment hed brought to the Texas Rangers in the Henry Lee Lucas case. 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. He had been working on the lake murders in his spare time, he told his boss, and he wanted permission to take over the case. Schonemann, however, was frantic. They knew they had to attack the jailhouse testimony; if Robert Snelson had lied, they figured, other inmates probably had too. Some wouldnt talk, but three of them recanted their testimony, saying theyd agreed to speak on the record for food, cigarettes, and conjugal visits. He stopped Kelley mid-sentence. Suzanne and two former classmates from Hawkins High School vanished May 4, 1986 during a Sunday evening drive around Lake Hawkins. Sundays found her at the First Baptist Church for worship service, alongside her academically gifted best friend, Gena, and a host of other young people. Their only option now was to go to the federal courts. Jerry McFadden, 51, made no final statement. Dannen wondered if the answer lay in another detail Thompson shared with him. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. Though it was supposedly key evidence, the truck then sat outside for more than two years before Simons sold it to a junk dealer, who scrapped it. I was amazed, he told me. She was really excited, he recalled. "She was that kind of person she's with her Father, the one she designed her life after.". He hadnt really intended to become a cop, but once on the force, he found the work to be a calling, and over his seventeen-year career hed covered every inch of Waco, leading both the narcotics and tactical squads. Price began to work the murder, but within days, she learned that someoneeither from the sheriffs office or the DAs officehad been making calls to the Dallas County crime lab, where Whites body had been sent, to ask for the preliminary autopsy results. You all just fucked up the whole goddamn case, a disgusted Horton told Simons and Baier in front of a crowd of detectives the morning after Deeb was brought in. Spence was executed in 1997, Melendezs brother Gilbert died in prison of complications from HIV in 1998, and Muneer Deebwho won an acquittal in a 1993 retrialdied of. Upon learning of the teenager's death, Suzanne's mother's anguished cries seemed to echo through the town. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. 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. However, though he couldnt say Spence was the biter, he also couldnt exclude him. Simons turned on a tape recorder as Melendez recounted the events of that night. There had indeed been bad blood between Deeb and Kenneth, they learned; Kenneth had shouted obscenities at Deeb inside his store, called him Abdul, and made fun of his limp. The defense tried its best. On the same day the three friends disappeared, McFadden just months into his release was trying to stay one step ahead of authorities. Decades later the violence that unfolded that summer continues to defy explanation and understanding. Lying in the grass was the body of a young blond woman. Instead hed come face to face with a chubby middle-aged man who insisted he was innocent. Jills mother, Nancy, who was scheduled to be a witness, had forced herself to study the crime-scene photos as a way of bracing herself for the gruesome details shed hear in testimony. I love you all, he said with tears in his eyes. The town historically offered reasonable, affordable housing for workers and a plentiful infusion of cash when the oil field was booming. On September 9, Simons walked by Salinass desk and saw the case file lying out. Ex-Inmate Now Free as a Bird read the front page of the Waco Tribune-Herald. Finally Franks relented, and the two men met at a Lubys on Valley Mills Drive. It would mean a cut in pay and status, but Simons didnt care. "She was very excited. He was taken into custody and jailed in Wood County on suspicion of aggravated robbery with a bond of $100,000. As in Whites case, the assailant had kicked in the door; he had also stolen her purse. Simons, who had become a private investigator after retiring from the sheriffs department in 2000 and now did work for Feazell, agreed. He was a man who liked to work alone, following his gut instincts; hed worked the streets long enough now to have seen many of his hunches proved right. I was with my uncle and my cousins in Bryan, painting apartments, he told me. I do know that just about every one of the witnesses who said that Calvin or Joe murdered Mrs. White would say anything to benefit themselves. (In a deposition Simons gave in 1989, he said, I only talked to Angela Miles one time, and she said that she couldnt write a statement out, and as she quoted it to me, I wrote it out. He insisted that he let her examine it. Even if someone elses DNA is found, the state can be expected to argue that that doesnt prove Tony is innocent, only that another person was involved in the crime. Rob Owen, now a clinical professor at Northwestern University School of Law, is also pessimistic about Melendezs chances, having worked similar innocence cases. The former Haskell, Texas, oil field worker dropped out of school before completing junior high, and by 19 was married to a girl, who was 15. (Years later, Feazell would tell the Waco Tribune-Herald that the accusation that he had not disclosed exculpatory evidence was a total lie.), But Owen and Schonemann had bought themselves two more months, so they went out on the road again. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph), The front page of The Journal, the hometown newspaper in Big Sandy, remembers the lives of Suzanne Harrison, Bryan Boone and Gena Turner who were killed by paroled sex offender Jerry Walter McFadden in 1986. When Campbell reported his results, his conclusion was different from Halesit was Williams, he said, not Washington, who had bitten White. Winona (9 miles) Big Sandy (9 miles) Owentown (14 miles) CARPENTER, Christopher It began to dawn on both lawyers that the Spence case was going to be different from any they had handled before. 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. Drag images here or select from your computer for Gena Lee Turner memorial. Though several people had seen them arrive at Koehne, and Raylenes car was found there, no one had seen them leave. But Schonemann felt strongly about Spence, and the lawyer made frequent visits to the Ellis Unit to interview the convict. You cry all night long. Kenneths parents had divorced in 1975, after Franks had acknowledged he was gay. With James Stewart, Strother Martin, Mayf Nutter, James Hampton. He gave Simons a cryptic message: soon, Butler said, hed be able to tell the deputy whether his theory that Spence had killed the teenagers was correct. She recognized the inconsistencies in Gilberts testimony but said his words had been corroborated at Spences second trial by Tonyas well as by the bite-mark evidence. So the Portland Police Bureau sent the crime-scene DNA to Parabon NanoLabs, a Reston-based firm, which used a database with more than a million profiles from people who have submitted their genetic information from companies like 23andMe or Ancestry.com, the Oregonian reported. The nonprofits executive director scrambled to find a firm to represent him, but no one wanted to defend a man whod twice been convicted of butchering three teenagers. 'There are indications of both gun wounds and knife wounds. As she would later testify, she had checked with the courthouse records and found out that many of the jailhouse informants were getting their cases dismissed by the DAs office. H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. Gena is forever missed by her family and many friends. We feel the angels have been with us, a fragile-looking Nancy told news reporters at the close of the trial. Clear skies. In late March, he met with two of Bushs legal aides. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. In other comments to the paper that same year, he was similarly unequivocal. Theyd seen Simons take over an investigation before. In September 1999, in a conference room at a Fort Worth Marriott, Chapman delivered boxes containing pieces of clothing, the bloody bindings, the stray hairs, the two beer cans, and more. To everyone's horror and disbelief, they never made it home at all. When Juhl finally did break things off, Spence went so berserk he had to be given a shot of Thorazine. Yet by 2008, he was no closer to proving Melendezs innocence. The rest of her remains were located in a wooded area near the home, Ratliff said. After further DNA tests on the sweatshirt revealed that the blood on it did not belong to White, as Simons had theorized, Judge Allen ordered Washington released on July 5. McFadden was condemned for raping and beating Ms. Harrison, a high school cheerleader, then strangling her with her own underwear. I wasnt a saint, my brother wasnt a saint. Contact a real estate agent. Eight days after the assault, Carroll was arrested for the rape, and he pleaded guilty. Each brother now spoke at length, officially recanting his testimony about Spence. in 2014, insisting he was painting houses in Bryan, as several alibi witnesses had told police he was. I think you all know whats going on, the DA told news cameras as he was taken into the federal courthouse in Austin. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Simons crouched down next to her lifeless body. Finally, on Labor Day, with 45 days until his execution, Owen and Schonemann were assigned the case. $20,000. He and Simons, who continues to work as a private investigator in Waco, maintain that there is abundant evidenceincluding the trial records and Melendezs confessionthat shows that the four men convicted in the murders were guilty. Either you believe in the system or you dont, he said. When Simons had shown it to her, all she could say was that shed bought Jill one that looked similar. [Simons] brought to my office no less than five separate confessions. The WPDs policy, he said, was simple: If its additional information that you are wanting to put in their confession, you put a supplement to it, you dont take a whole new confession., Horton had also been suspicious. We held Truman on a pedestal for so long. There was a problem saving your notification. Evidence will show, he declared, that David Wayne Spence . The beautiful Gena, voted Miss Hawkins High School, was academically gifted and valedictorian of the 1984 graduating class. Kenneths mother, Sandra Sadler, had come to watch, as had Jills brother, Brad; her sister, Monica; and their father, Rod. As investigators processed the scene, another body was found in close proximity but they were in "vastly different stages of decomposition," Ratliff said. "There wasn't anybody any sweeter than Suzanne, everybody loved her. June 14th, 2022 . He took a female jailer hostage and for three days evaded one of the most intense manhunts in Texas history. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition. The trial judges postponed Spences execution to give the state time to respond, rescheduling the date for December 19. The first DNA exoneration in the country, in 1989, had come about when the DNA of a Chicago man convicted of rape was shown not to match that of the semen found on his alleged victims underwear; since then, this exclusionary approach had led to the exoneration of dozens of others. Spences attorneys made a stronger case for prosecutorial misconduct than the state had made against him for murder. Randall Wayne So they filed all the other documents they had collectedincluding fifteen witness depositionsand when Krauss sent the final results of the study three months later, they filed those too. (903) 769-3962 Add Website Map & Directions 8993 S Fm 14 Hawkins, TX 75765 Write a Review. Jr. David In early March Feazell announced that he was creating a task force to take a new look at the Lake Waco murders. A new Dateline NBC episode that aired in December took another look at the sexual assault and shooting of two South Texas women nearly a decade ago. Spence was the kind of criminal Simons knew well: rough, poor, and full of swagger. I dont know if Calvin Washington or Joe Sidney Williams Jr. killed Mrs. White, Miles told Price. This browser does not support getting your location. The contents of Whites purse were strewed across the floor, and her car was missing; the vehicle was found several hours later at an apartment complex about fifteen blocks away. Michael Anthony GREEN, Geronimo Rene If theres one thing for certain, its that the Lake Waco murder case does indeed stand on its own. Then Price began to develop a different suspect. Gilow said he was trying to get his officers a $2 per hour raise, but the council denied that. Not long after Spences trial, Gilbert contacted the deputy; he had seen a news report on Spences getting hustled off to death row, and he now wanted to make a deal before his own trial. Now she told Price in detail how Simons had visited her after hearing that she had dated Washington; though shed told him she had no information to offer, he kept returning, even bringing crime-scene photos. MARTINEZ, Ireneo The polygraph, given twelve days after the murders, was ultimately inconclusiveyet decidedly strange. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph), The picnic tables at Barnwell Mountain Recreational Area in Gilmer are pictured March 8, 2016. Autore dell'articolo: Articolo pubblicato: 16/06/2022 Categoria dell'articolo: tippmann stormer elite mods Commenti dell'articolo: the contrast by royall tyler analysis the contrast by royall tyler analysis After his direct appeal had been denied, the former shop-keeper, who never wavered in his protestations of innocence, had resolved to free himself: sitting on the floor of his cell at the Ellis Unit, hed studied law books and typed out cases, trying to learn the rhythms of legal writing. At 41, Dannen had built a formidable writing career, publishing a best-selling nonfiction book about the music business, Hit Men, before joining Vanity Fair and then the New Yorker as a staff writer. "They were loved by someone.". Like Price, Reaves was certain that Williams and Calvin Washington had been convicted with faulty evidence. That's the way it was, you just kind of bounced from house to house.". This Hawkins County Tennessee Most Wanted List posts the top 50-100 fugitive criminals on the run. 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. 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. Dannen had a sample of the carpet sent to the Tarrant County medical examiner; the lab, Dannen told me, was unable to exclude its gold fibers from the gold carpet fibers found on Kenneths body. Dannen also managed to locate the two men he believed were with Harper that night; they were in prison for other crimes. He was especially struck by one detail: after Spences second trial, Dannen told them, Carlton Stowers, the author of Careless Whispers, had bought Gilberts truck and towed it to Simonss property. Authorities were eager to locate the unkempt man. I suffered. You can always change this later in your Account settings. I could never have asked for the death penalty if I didnt sincerely believe they were guilty. He has already raised doubts about the DNA evidence, saying he believes the material has been tampered with. MADDEN, Gerald Edward In a wide-ranging presentation that spanned more than three hours, he offered details about Deeb, who had died of liver cancer in late 1999; Simonss methods; the informants; and the confessions of the Melendez brothers. 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. CORWIN, Javier Today in Music History for March 4: In 1678, composer Antonio Vivaldi was born. I just dont believe he had anything to do with the murders. Melendez has written Thompson a stack of letters, and he recently began calling her at home every week to discuss the impending DNA results. At that time, prisoners were granted excessive time off their sentences for good behavior, essentially opening the spigot for releases. His older brother, 16-year-old Daniel Hawkins, was killed in the Sunday night crash on Temescal . He matched the description of a wild-haired, tattooed man who approached a couple at Lake Hawkins about 7:45 p.m., asking for money and a quick sexual encounter. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9). Price was astounded to find that a few days before her death, White had received a letter from Spence that had been sent to him by Robert Snelson, one of the men who had testified against him; he was the informant who told jurors that Spence had confessed to biting off Jills nipple. Evans changed her name to Jan Price, and after several dedicated years on the force, she became a detective. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. The murders of the women, named Jane Doe and Janet Doe, were part of a larger murder mystery known locally as the "The Calder Road Murders" or "The Killing Fields," involving four women in total, according to authorities. Because Melendez pleaded guilty, the burden to prove his innocence is especially great. There was no hit. She asked Dannen to make a presentation, and she set up a meeting at Nancys house. Lets go get them and fuck them up. Yet another claimed that Spence told him he had sexually assaulted the girls with a whoopee stick. The inmates denied receiving anything in return for their testimony. (You can put away the bad guys all you want, but youve got to do it right, said a former investigator with the McLennan County DAs office years later, recalling Simonss work.) Then there was the report detailing a bizarre polygraph test taken by Kenneths father, Richard Franks. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Deeb loudly protested his innocence, claiming he knew nothing about the killings. He took it to the girls mother and aunt, who both said she had owned a bracelet like it. Avon If the DNA test excludes Tony, Spence, and Gilbert, said Reaves, and it includes somebody else who was originally considered a suspect, that would be enough for an actual innocence writ or a clemency petition to the governoror both., But even those results wouldnt necessarily mean a get-out-of-jail-free card.
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