Rick Halperin
Tue Aug 16 12:14:09 2005
June 18 TEXAS: Deputies arrest father of 3 in 1990 slaying A father of 3 was arrested on Wednesday and charged with the murder of a Van Horn resident in 1990. El Paso County sheriff's officers arrested Eduardo Yepez, 38, at the LaVictoria Adult Day Care Center at 1:30 p.m. on a capital murder charge, sheriff's spokesman Rick Glancey said. Passers-by found the body of Matt Thomas Talley, 61, near Interstate 10 and Clint on July 3, 1990, about 10 a.m. Glancey said that Talley's white 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass was not found with Talley's body. The car was later found near a strip mall at Lomaland Drive and Trawood Drive. By 1993, detectives had exhausted all their leads, Glancey said. Yepez's sister-in-law, Dolly Conejo, has known Yepez since 1989 and said he is a good father. "He's the type of father that is at the PTA meetings and summer programs. He is loved by so many people," she said. Conejo said that Yepez has two elementary-school-age children and a teenage daughter. Niece Jacqueline Alvarez said she was also shocked by the news. "He's somebody that I would never expect that from. I still don't believe it," she said. Detectives were able to use a lead from the mid-'90s with new technology to make the arrest, though they declined to give details of what led to the arrest. "Detectives believe that robbery was the motive," Glancey said. The cause of Talley's death was listed as asphyxiation. The day-care worker is being held without bond. Conejo spoke to Yepez, who said he is not guilty, Wednesday night. "He was shocked. He said it's a nightmare," Conejo said. Day-care center owner Marta Ramirez hired Yepez 2 years ago and said he doesn't have a criminal history. "We do criminal background check on all of our employees. His came out with no prior arrests," she said. Detectives are still looking for one more suspect, Glancey said. (source: San Antonio Express-News) **************** Another family affected by suspected murderer Lamar Baskin There is more heartache from another broken family that claims an ex-con's one man crime wave has forever changed their lives. Another family may have been affected by Lamar Baskin's alleged trail of violence. Their mail is untouched. The store he ran is empty. Family members said that when Rafeek Karamath's life came to an end, eventually, so did his business. "He was always so full of energy and that's what we're gonna miss about him, my dad and I," said his sister, Debra Gomes. "He taught me everything that I know." Houston police said Karamath's murder was one of two at the hands of 44-year-old Lamar Baskin. They said in December 2002, Baskin's crime spree would include the robbery and shooting death of 28-year-old Laura Higgins, in addition to three other aggravated robberies. In all 5 attacks, Baskin's method was reportedly the same. He would target victims who were alone and working at business parks. In March, Baskins was picked up at an apartment complex for an unrelated crime. He allegedly had been living there with his 2nd wife. Lamar Baskin is currently being held at the Harris County Jail. Through his attorney, he has maintained his innocence. Debra Gomes doesn't buy it. "He's got to pay for his crimes and for the people who he's left behind who are hurting, and will hurt forever," Gomes said. Police said that ballistics link Baskin to the 5 crimes and DNA links him to 3 aggravated sexual assault attacks on women in 2001. He's charged with capital murder in connection with the death of Laura Higgins. When asked what her family believed would be an acceptable punishment, Debra Gomes replied, "Death". (source: KHOU News) ****************************** Man Suspected In Blugeoning Death Appears For Hearing A 19-year-old man charged with capital murder for his alleged role in the bludgeoning death of a Smith County man was in court Thursday for a bond reduction hearing. Trey Neil Morris is charged, along with his best friend Brian Daniel Alana, 20, for the Dec. 5, 2003, death of 40-year-old Edward "Eddie" Erwin Jr. Morris' lead defense attorney, Jeff Haas, filed a motion in Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s 241st District Court to reduce the defendant's bond from $500,000 to $50,000. He asked the judge for a speedy trial as an alternative, if Skeen does not grand the bond reduction. Skeen announced he would give his decision Friday after he had time to read court documents, including hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony. Alana allegedly beat Erwin with a crowbar and put him in the backseat of his car in front of several witnesses. Erwin's partially clothed body was found lying beside a small private pond in a remote thicket west of County Road 3178 and U.S. High-way 271 - an area familiar to Alana, who lived nearby. Morris' mother, Sandra Woodberry, testified for the defense during the writ of habeas corpus hearing Thursday. The day of the alleged murder, Alana and another of Morris' friends came to Mrs. Woodberry's house and picked up her son, she testified. She said she talked on the telephone with her son several times that day. Mrs. Woodberry testified to her son's accounts of the incident as she had heard him telling Alana's court-appointed defense attorney Guy Conine. Morris said Alana was in an altercation with Erwin, struck him on the head a few times with a crowbar, and put his body in the backseat of the man's car. Morris said he thought Erwin was still alive as Alana drove Erwin away and he did not know what he did with the body. When questioned by First Assistant District Attorney Brett Harrison, Mrs. Woodberry said she was aware her son burned trash behind her house the next day but was unaware he may have burned blood evidence. When police arrived at her house she said she called Morris on a cell phone and he refused to tell them where he was. He had left on Dec. 5 wearing jeans and a shirt but when he returned the next day, he was wearing coveralls and a cowboy hat, Mrs. Woodberry testified. Morris said he and his friends drank whiskey on Dec. 5. Mrs. Woodberry said she was unaware whether her son used marijuana that day but he had been smoking the drug since he was about 13, sometimes with her, she said. Haas said another witness testified during grand jury proceedings that Alana and Erwin got into a fight after Erwin stole something from Alana's father. After he was placed in the car, Erwin attempted to crawl out but was kicked in the head by Morris. Alana drove off by himself with Erwin while the others attempted to clean up. Erwin was the same person missing from what was initially reported to Tyler police as a hit-and-run accident. "My client is charged with capital murder," Haas said. "His culpability of the crime, if any, is as a party ... He didn't wield the crowbar - he didn't use the crowbar." He said there was no evidence that the community would be in any danger if Morris was released from jail. In an average capital murder case he would not request a $50,000 bond but Morris' case has unique circumstances. Harrison said the offense was extremely violent. He said Alana beat Erwin nearly to death and Morris kicked him in the face, helped wash away and burn evidence and may have helped dump the man's body in the lake. He said there was no indication the family could not raise funds to pay for the $500,000 bond. Mrs. Woodberry, a housewife, testified her husband works for Kelley-Springfield, has a house that is paid for and 3 vehicles. Morris's biological father lives out of town. Skeen said he anticipated setting the case for trial in August, as requested by Haas, between 2 other capital murder trials if the bond reduction is not granted. The attorneys, which also consisted of DA Matt Bingham, Assistant DA Joe Murphy and defense attorney Don Davidson, went into the judge's chambers after the hearing to discuss possible dates. (source: Tyler Morning Telegraph) ******************** Quoted prosecutor may be held in contempt of court A judge threatened to hold in contempt of court the lead prosecutor in the cases against alleged members of a human-smuggling ring blamed for the deaths of 19 undocumented immigrants. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore ordered Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rodriguez to appear in her court this morning to show why he should not be held in contempt of court for, she alleges, violating her gag order. The order referred to an article in The New York Times' online edition about the guilty plea entered Monday in Gilmore's Houston court by Karla Patricia Chavez Joya, a Honduran accused of leading the smuggling ring. The article on nytimes.com quoted Rodriguez as saying, "In contemporary history, we haven't seen anything worse, so this is a significant guilty plea." He was referring to the 19 deaths among more than 74 illegal immigrants who were sealed in a refrigeration trailer. The trailer was found May 14, 2003, after being abandoned in Victoria. The comment attributed to Rodriguez echoed previous public statements by Houston-based U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby. The article further quoted Rodriguez as saying about Chavez, "We hope she will be capable of providing assistance to find out what other individuals were involved and to ensure that the individuals who have already been indicted are found guilty, and that everything that was done is disclosed." Gilmore wrote that the comments "were in direct contravention of this court's order and were obviously made to flout this court's authority." "It was, and still is, the court's concern that the level and type of publicity that was being generated by this case was seriously impinging on the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial trial," she wrote. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Herrera, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, declined to comment Thursday. Gilmore orally issued the gag order May 11 after ejecting reporters and closing a pretrial hearing for Erica Cardenas, one of 14 alleged members of the smuggling ring. Neither the defense nor the prosecution had sought a gag order or a closed hearing. The head of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas called the closed hearing a violation of the constitutional guarantee of a public trial and said undue publicity was an insufficient reason to exclude the public. Public defender Margie Meyers later asked Gilmore to sanction Shelby for comments he made to the Associated Press on the anniversary of the discovery of the bodies. At that hearing, Rodriguez asked the judge to clarify her order, saying he understood that it applied only to the Cardenas case. Gilmore issued the written order May 18, limiting comments to the media in all 14 cases to information that is on the public record and to schedule changes, "without elaboration or any kind of characterization whatsoever." (source: Houston Chronicle, June 17)