Jan. 2
TEXAS:
Walter found guilty in Outback deaths
The trial of the first defendant in the Outback Steakhouse triple murder
was high on may local residents' minds in 2004. Indeed, the level of
public attention on the murders, the arrests and the legal aftermath, was
a factor in moving the proceedings from Bowie County.
Stephon Lavelle Walter, 25, of Texarkana, Texas, was convicted of capital
murder for the deaths of the local Outback's proprietor/part owner,
Matthew Hines, general manager Rebecca Shifflett and assistant manager
Chrystal "Chrissy" Willis. He is half of the pair accused of robbing the
Texarkana restaurant and then killing its management team on Labor Day
2003 in execution style.
Walter's lawyers, Jeff Harrelson and Ray Keith, successfully lobbied the
jury to forgo the death penalty in favor of life in prison.
Although the trial was expected to be held in Bowie, by virtue of the
murders occurring in Texarkana, 5th District Judge Ralph Burgess moved the
trial to Collin County, near Dallas. He found the media attention was too
pervasive for Walter to get a fair trial here.
But the new venue didn't seem much better, at least in the eyes of the
defense attorneys. Harrelson and Keith argued that Collin County did not
have a racial makeup that would favor a fair trial.
Burgess overruled their objections, in part because there was no other
place that could accommodate the trail based on the expected length of
time Bowie County's officials would need courtroom space.
Participants spent about a month in McKinney, Collin County's seat,
selecting a jury for the Walter's case. The trial itself was held in
November and lasted about a week.
Key witnesses in the state's case against Walter were his own mother,
Delinda Roever, and his sister, Torian Hill.
Hill admitted to jurors that she lied about an alibi she gave her brother
to account for the time between his last being seen at a friend's house
and his return to Hope, where Walter was staying with a friend. Roever and
Billy Ray Johnson, Hill's common-law husband, admitted to destroying a gun
that they found and thought was the murder weapon when cleaning up
Walter's apartment after his arrest. They cut the gun up with a grinder.
Bowie County assistant district attorneys Mike Shepherd and Adam Fellows
are expected to prosecute Walter's alleged accomplice, Richard Markeil
"Lucky" Henson, also of Texarkana, Texas, this year.
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Supreme Court upholds Banks' appeal
Delma Banks Jr. got what most death row inmates want: A successful appeal
in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The nation's highest court found that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals, which has oversight of Texas cases, both state and federal, had
erred. The nation's highest court ruled that Banks' lawyers should have
been able to argue in federal district court whether he got a fair trial
in the guilt/innocence phase when he was convicted of capital murder.
Banks has been on Texas' death row since October 1980 for the April 1980
shooting death of 16-year-old Wayne Whitehead of Texarkana, Texas.
Banks was unsuccessful in his state appeals that spanned two decades. But
when he started his federal appeals, which began in federal district court
in Texarkana, Texas, Banks got his death sentence set aside.
He argued that the sentencing phase was unfair because jurors relied on
testimony of a paid informant. Jurors did not know the witness was paid
for assisting police. Folsom agreed and set that aside but let Banks'
conviction stand.
Both the Texas Attorney General's office and Banks' own lawyers appealed
Folsom's rulings. Banks wanted an outright overturning of the conviction
and death sentence.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a split decision, decided that Folsom should
have heard Banks' arguments that evidence had been withheld in the
guilt/innocence part of the trial.
Banks' lawyers learned that a transcript existed where authorities
questioned a key witness in a Dallas jail days before Banks' trial began.
The late Louis Raffaelli, who was district attorney at the time, did not
pass the transcript on to Banks' lawyers as the Supreme Court says he
should have.
Assistant District Attorney James Elliott, who came on to the Banks case
at the last minute, found the transcript and forwarded it on to Banks'
lawyers when he got a records request as part of the federal appeals.
Elliott was not the prosecutor who participated in the transcript and says
he had no knowledge of it until he delved into the case file as he
prepared the records for Banks' lawyers.
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KFC DEVELOPMENTS SEEN DURING 2004
Prosecutors and investigators again worked with grand jury members in 2004
in an effort to solve the Kentucky Fried Chicken murders, which occurred
in Kilgore in 1983, and may have moved several steps closer when a "prime
suspect" was charged with perjury.
THE MURDERS
On Sept. 23, 1983, unknown suspects made their way into the Kentucky Fried
Chicken restaurant in Kilgore and abducted five people.
The suspects then took the five victims to a rural oil field on Walter
King Road, where they shot each victim in the head and left them for dead.
The bodies were discovered the next day by an oil field worker.
Mary Tyler, 37; Opie Ann Hughes, 39; Joey Johnson, 20; David Maxwell, 20;
and Monte Landers, 19, were found shot to death. All 5 victims were shot
at least twice.
The Kilgore Police Department, Rusk County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, the
Tyler Police Department crime unit, Texas Department of Public Safety
troopers and Texas Rangers all joined in the investigation scouring the
murder scene and the restaurant for clues.
The Kilgore Police Department set up a hotline number, which spawned clues
and tips from all over the nation as the reward money grew larger for
information leading to the arrest of those responsible.
The case, though gaining national attention, soon grew cold.
Over the years the case has been revisited several times and in 1995 one
suspect was indicted on 5 counts of capital murder.
However, in 2002, the suspect's record was expunged and he was cleared of
the charges.
In 2003, Rusk County grand jury members met repeatedly as the Texas
attorney general and the Rusk County district attorney presented
voluminous amounts of evidence.
INVESTIGATION IN 2004
As investigators continued to round up witnesses, another grand jury was
called and extended to hear the evidence beginning in September.
The result was the arrest of Darnell Hartsfield, whom Kyle Freeman, former
Rusk County DA, named as a prime suspect in the murders.
The arrest was based on an indictment the grand jury handed up to the
district court stating that the members believed Hartsfield lied when he
told the grand jury he had not been in the restaurant the night of the
murders.
Several people of interest to authorities were asked in recent years to
submit DNA samples, which were compared to evidence collected from the
scene.
Those donors are still considered "prime suspects" the Freeman said.
They include Romeo Pinkerton, 46, who is housed in the Hamilton Unit in
Bryan; Aaron Lamon Muse, 34, who is in Henderson County on a bench
warrant; Gregory Eugene Muse, 40, who is in the Beto Unit in Tennessee
Colony; Robert Louis Waters, 46, who is located in the Daniel Unit in
Snyder and Hartsfield is housed in the Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony.
Hartsfield, Waters and Pinkerton all appear on the original suspect list
obtained by the Tyler Courier-Times--Telegraph in the early stages of the
investigation.
Freeman said there was no set date for the grand jury hearing KFC evidence
to return. However, he did say he believed more indictments would be
forthcoming.
"I think before this grand jury ends, which is (expected) on Jan. 29,
2005, we will get more indictments in this case," he said at the time
Hartsfield was indicted.
NEW OFFICIALS STEP IN
Michael Jimerson, who was sworn in as Rusk County district attorney on
Friday, said he has looked at the KFC file and is ready to get to work on
it.
"I would really like to get this solved for the victims' families and it
is really a dark cloud hanging over our county," Jimerson said.
Sheriff Glen Deason says his office will provide any assistance the state
needs to solve the case.
"They (the AG's office) have taken over the investigation, but if they
call and need assistance, then we will help in any way possible," he said.
Jimerson said his office would continue to cooperate with the state
attorney's office and use the agency's valuable resources.
"Lisa Tanner, the assistant AG handling the case, and her investigators
are really committed to this case and to the families. We will do
everything we can to see this case is finally solved," he said.
Rusk County district attorney's investigator William Brown said he
believes he will hear from the AG's office within the week.
"The current grand jury goes until the end of January and I believe we
will see some activity before then," he said.
(source for all: Texarkana Gazette)
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Homicides donimated headlines
On Friday, the final day of 2004, the closest parking spot I could find
for the funeral of 54-year-old Marie McDaniel was down the street and two
blocks away from the Solid Rock Baptist Church at 11th and Henderson in
northwest Paris, where hundreds packed the predominantly black church to
celebrate her life and that of her 3-year-old grandson.
Thus, 2005 ended much as it began - deaths to loved ones, some under more
tragic circumstances than others. Paris had four homicides for the year.
This double loss of life, though listed as a traffic accident, was just as
painful to those who knew Marie "Tudy Girl" McDonald and Kevontre "KeKe"
Mc-Donald and whose lives were filled with the wonderful memories she
provided.
There were more mourners to say their goodbyes than could fit into the
churchs 500-seat capacity Friday. The late arrivals for the 11 a.m.
funeral had to wait through the 2-hour service in the hallways of the
church or outside.
Friends and loved ones came not only to mourn but to celebrate the lives
of this woman and her grandson, who lost their lives in a traffic accident
three days before Christmas on icy Farm Road 195, a mile and a half
northeast of Loop 286. The car they were in was rearended by a pickup
whose driver said he was unable in his attempt to swerve around them
during a heavy snowfall - the citys first of the winter.
By the reaction to the stories told during the funeral, dozens upon dozens
- maybe hundreds - had spent wonderful times in the Novice home of this
special woman, who had cooked for so many of them through the years and
brought joy to their lives in other ways.
The middle third of the sanctuarys 500 or so seats was filled just with
family. They and close friends laughed at the memories shared, followed by
sorrowful cries as the congregation filed by the open caskets at the end
of the service. In the 17 rows of pews on either side - holding 9 and 10
people each - among those at the funeral were dozens of her co-workers
from Campbell Soup Co., still in their work uniforms.
Several homicides filled the pages of The Paris News during 2005:
- Marvin George Davis, 79, was found dead Jan. 8 in his trailer at Gene's
Flea Market. Davis was known to carry large sums of money, and his
billfold was missing. He had been strangled and bludgeoned. Michael
Dewayne Davis, 39, no relation, awaits trial on charges of capital murder
and robbery. A man told police he had sold drugs to an unnamed man in
possession of a wallet containing credit cards and bills with the name
Marvin written on them.
- Mary Ann White, 76, was found dead Feb. 18 in her residence at 421
Northwest Third St., apparently hit on the head with a flower pot. Clark
DeWayne Mayes, 38, awaits trial in her death.
- Ebonee Dillard, 13, died from a shotgun blast March 13. She had been
dead nine or 10 hours before a relative found her body and called police.
A 14-year-old boy pleaded guilty to deadly conduct and a 13-year-old boy
pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The boys said they were playing with a
shotgun.
- Charles Smith, 89, and Ruth Smith, 88, were found shot to death Aug. 29
in their residence in Reno. Police said hundreds of dollars taken from
them were used to buy drugs, and jewelry taken from their home was pawned.
Their grandson, Christopher Cobb, 22, was indicted on capital murder
charges.
Billy Frank Vickers, 58, was executed Jan. 28 for the 1993 slaying of
Arthur City grocery store owner Phillip Kinslow during a botched robbery.
As he lay strapped on a gurney before lethal drugs coursed through his
system, Vickers said, "It was nothing personal. I was just trying to make
a living."
Anzel Jones, on death row for the 1995 killing of Sherry Kay Jones in
Paris, got a stay of execution March 10. The Supreme Court is looking into
the constitutionality of executing someone who was a minor at the time of
the crime.
Another death row inmate, Larry Wayne Wooten, 46, was returned to Lamar
County in December. He was brought back for an IQ test as part of his
appeal. The Supreme Court is also looking at the constitutionality of
executing those who are retarded. Police officers who have known Wooten
all his life - Wooten's father was a sergeant on the Paris police force -
say he is not retarded.
Shannon Finley, 23, was sentenced in July to 4 years in prison for fatally
shooting his best friend, Mark Douglas Sneed, 22, in a city park in August
2003. Finley accepted a plea bargain offered by former County Attorney
Mark Burtner, who said with no witnesses he couldn't disprove Finley's
story that he shot Sneed accidentally when someone approached the pickup
they were sitting in about 11 p.m. one night. Finley said he was firing
through a window, trying to shoot the unknown other person, but 3 of his
shots hit Sneed instead.
2 Canadian brothers were arrested in July after a convenience store clerk
in Paris said they bought soft drinks, paying for them with counterfeit
$20 bills. The clerk got their license number and called law enforcement
officers. The brothers were arrested in Clarksville later in the day. They
had other counterfeit bills on them when they were arrested.
A woman in her upper 70s was scammed out of $9,000 by a younger woman who
approached her in the Wal-Mart parking lot, saying she had found $80,000
and would split it with her if she could come up with $9,000 to pay the
taxes on it. The woman lost her $9,000 in what police called a "classic
pigeon drop" scam.
As the year ended, a 67-year-old Maxey man was convicted of child
pornography charges. Gary Young, the new County and District attorney,
pulled off the table the offer of his predecessor of a five-year prison
term for Orian Lee Scott, and reindicted him on additional charges. A jury
last week found Scott guilty on all charges, and state District Judge Jim
D. Lovett sentenced Scott to 100 years in prison and fined him $90,000.
(source: The Paris News)
