A connection between all four murders has not been determined yet, other than the location of where their remains were found, said League City Police Lt. Michael Bluffington. 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. This was a homicidal frenzy. There was one person in particular who Dannen figured might offer insight on the matter: Kenneths father, Richard Franks, whose accounts of that night had troubled a few police officers. Because Melendez pleaded guilty, the burden to prove his innocence is especially great. Opening it, he read that there were still no definitive leads. But with the primary suspect long dead, life in the small town of Hawkins has settled into a new normal, albeit different than before. It was only after she had described the bracelet to police that it was found, she told Dannen. Harrison was found dead the next morning, sexually assaulted and strangled with her own underwear. Sometimes they take her to the country cemetery where Jill is buried. Investigators couldnt figure out how theyd gotten across the lake to Speegleville. To use this feature, use a newer browser. Timothy Wayne based on information from your browser. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. It was left next to the brown granite headstone by a woman who had never met Jill but was drawn to visit the grave site after learning of the lake murders. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Gena Turner (6653351)? Soon after his interrogation of Deeb, hed headed over to the jail with Baier to meet the inmate. (There were times I thought I was going to be ambushed at my house, she told me.) In return Melendez got two life sentences. As IVs were placed in each arm, he looked through the glass at relatives of the Lake Waco victims. He gave her a partner, Officer Frank Turk, and took them off all other cases so they could look directly into the DAs and Simonss handling of the White case. The sergeant got on his hands and knees and crawled under the branches. The lawyers found two other jailhouse inmates who had not testified but nevertheless claimed that Simons had fed them information also, offering them leniency and favorable treatment if they turned the words into testimony. They met with Lieutenant Horton, who stated in an affidavit that the medical examiner had initially told him that marks on Jills breast were definitely not bites; it was only after she reexamined the photos and talked with Butler that she changed her opinion. It also marked the latest triumph for a new, controversial branch of DNA testing that has used public genealogy sites to close scores of lingering cold cases, while identifying high-profile suspects like the Golden State Killer. PRIBLE It wasnt right., But does that mean Spence was innocent? Feazell didnt have to rely as heavily on the murder-for-hire theory; thanks to Simons, he had new ammunition. Somebody went in there looking for something, she told me years later, recalling the strangeness of the case. Failed to delete memorial. You have permission to edit this article. It was there, he felt, that he could actually solve crimes, often using a network of informants he had carefully developed over the years. All rights reserved. After all this time, I still think about it.. And theres not a shred of doubt in my mind that Anthony Melendez is innocent. All Dannen needed at this point was DNA from the crime scene. McLennan County DA John Segrest ordered that a sample be sent away for DNA testing and received results in February 2001. ), The truck being destroyedthat was huge. I dont know why I started writing, Thompson told me, but I felt it was the thing to do. Is this your business? He began working on a proposal for a book about the lake murders, and in September 1998 he sold the book to Simon & Schuster. Now Simons, with the help of Stowers, ordered one and had it installed. It was such a relief, she told me, to know there was somebody who understood how I felt.. So should you.. Former Wood County Sheriff's Deputy and retired constable David Barber is pictured where he worked a roadblock on Farm-to-Market 2659 during the manhunt for Jerry McFadden in Hawkins. Hopper, the Portland detective, and her partner traveled to Texas to take more samples from McFaddens family members. They knew they had to attack the jailhouse testimony; if Robert Snelson had lied, they figured, other inmates probably had too. McFadden, before his escape, was being held in jail on charges he raped and murdered Suzanne Harrison, 18, of nearby Hawkins, Texas, in May. 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. That didnt happen. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. And, crucially, they kept and carefully stored forensic evidence from the scene. When she didnt show up for church the next morning, her Sunday school teacher stopped by the house and found her. (He was acquitted of all charges in June 1987, and four years later his libel suit concluded with a jurys awarding him $58 million, the biggest libel verdict in U.S. Her body was left in a wooded area near a local grocery store. Simons would allow him long phone calls to Juhl, sometimes until three or four in the morning, but she failed to turn up any new leads. The run-up to Spences trial was particularly contentious. Then, in August, the journalist visited Washington in prison; he too agreed to provide blood. It would mean a cut in pay and status, but Simons didnt care. Prudhomme "just kind of fell out of contact with her family," Bluffington said. On the line was a publicist he knew who happened to do work for Brian Pardo; the publicist asked if he wanted to take a look at one of the habeas writs for David Spence. He was confident, even giddy. 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. Yet Dannen remained thoroughly excited about the case. Donna Prudhomme was born on April 23, 1957, in Port Arthur, Texas, and was estimated to be about 34 years old at the time of her death, Ratliff said. There was no hit. Months before, in the spring, the DA had drawn nationwide attention when he cast doubt on the murder claims of famed serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. (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.). Larry Pack is an active carrier operating under USDOT Number 2158667. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. He choked her it was horrible. This is a carousel with slides. We remember your smile. And, simply, We remember you., One letter in particular moved Thompson. Theyd seen Simons take over an investigation before. 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 are not certain of the cause of death,' he said. 'It appeared to be a family feud,' he said. Now 24, Spence had become more and more unpredictable and violent. It would be several gut-churning days before the bodies of all three young people were discovered, sparking a murder investigation and manhunt of historic proportions, the likes of which East Texas had never seen. It was the second time in four months a gruesome murder had been committed in the tight-knit community. Occasionally he slipped back into Texas to do a clandestine interview when a source, such as Harpers sister, agreed to talk. Suzanne was raped at a remote roadside park and then strangled with her own panties; her two friends, Gena Turner, 20, and Bryan Boone, 19, were shot and tossed into a ditch several miles away from the park. More significant, the officers also had another suspect: Tony Melendez, Gilberts younger brother. Who had been the caller? ADVERTISEMENT 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. Later that day, when Simons returned to see him, he had something to say. Beasley is being held in the deaths of his mother, Ruth Johnson Beasley, 62, and sister, Linda Beasley Birkindine, 37, who was visiting from Euless, Texas, Wood County Chief Deputy Jim Roberts said. 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). That October, a second trial for Spencethis time for Kenneths murderwas just as straightforward. Price and Turk made quick headway. We had life-size pictures of the marks and a cast of [Spences] teeth brought into the jury room, remembered one juror afterward. When the deputy drove Gilbert out to Koehne and Speegleville parks for the inmate to walk him through the crime, Gilbert said, he had taken his cues from Simons when identifying the spot where the teenagers were killed. They also sought out Spences former attorney Walter Reaves, who was now representing another death row inmate with innocence claimsCameron Todd Willinghamand Raoul Schonemann, who was still doing work for the Capital Punishment Clinic in Austin and representing death row inmates. Im tired of lying. Even Feazell was won over. The twelve jurors found Spence guilty in less than two hours. Spences execution date was set for October 17, 1991. On May 4, 1986, 20-year-old Gena Turner, 19-year-old Bryan Boone, and 18-year-old Suzanne Harrison were on a day trip to Lake Hawkins, about 100 miles east of Dallas when a savage murderer attacked them. The second body was found on Feb. 2, 1986, by two juveniles who were riding bikes in the same area where Frye's body was discovered on Calder Road, Ratliff said. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. Each one, I was certain was going to be the suspect. White had struggled with her attackerher nose was broken, her ear torn, her body battered. in 2014, insisting he was painting houses in Bryan, as several alibi witnesses had told police he was. I dont have any guilt feelings about causing their deaths.. HAWKINS, Anthony Cardell The police had developed a few suspects, including Terry Lee Tab Harper, a local tough guy with a long record of assaults. 'The man in custody is refusing to talk. MADDEN, Gerald Edward I thought you might like to see a memorial for Gena Lee Turner I found on Findagrave.com. But he braced himself for more bad news, whichhardly to his surprise nowhe got in March 1996, when the Fifth Circuit turned down his clients appeal. In October 1979, he was arrested for violating his parole and later sentenced to a life term, but again paroled early in 1985. Two friends who accompanied her on May 4, 1986, for a Sunday drive were shot to death. 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. He had never been to Texas before, and he hired Peter Blum, a retired police detective and friend whom hed met while reporting on Chinese gangs, to go with him. To retrieve it, Dannen had turned to Thompson for help; as a relative of Jills, she had the authority to request that her nieces personal belongings be returned. 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. These peoples whole lives were based on lying, Price told me. Spences attorneys made a stronger case for prosecutorial misconduct than the state had made against him for murder. He sent them molds and five-by-seven autopsy photos, refusing to enhance the images as Campbell had done because, according to other experts, doing so could produce false or misleading results. Meanwhile in Utah, 35-year-old Joseph Mitchell Parsons was scheduled to be executed at 12:01 a.m. Friday for fatally stabbing a man. Two people riding horses in the area in September 1991 found the fourth body, which was given the name Janet Doe by the medical examiner, Ratliff said. CARRERA, Daniel Lee They interviewed countless suspects. 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. Two others did match a mark to one of the molds, but it was not Spences. It belonged to another young woman, this one dark-haired. For Hlavkas family, the news is bittersweet. Spence was strapped onto the gurney in the execution chamber. Two days later, White was dead. I dont trust Reaves or Dannen, he told me. To keep creating Simons knew Waco well. When Reaves and Dannen explained that they had exhausted their funds, Wiley recommended they seek help from the Texas Center for Actual Innocence, at UTs School of Law. She had been. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. 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. 'Linda lives in Euless and had come over for Father's Day. In 2009, Portland police sent old evidence to the state crime lab to see if new DNA techniques might turn up any leads. He and Spence had been riding around in Spences car, he said, drinking and smoking, when they went to Koehne Park. He didnt want to tell you anything beyond This is what Ive got, Price told me. But just six years later, he was paroled. He filed petitions with the U.S. Supreme Court, a motion to reconsider with the CCA, and a petition for clemency from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor George W. Bush. In 1991 Texas was carrying out more executions than any other state. He was a little twitchy, she told me. "They were loved by someone.". Nothing like this had ever happened in Waco, Officer Dennis Baier would remember years later. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. However with the murder of police officer Aubrey Hawkins and the help of America's Most Wanted this prison escape would come to a sudden end in Colorado. Mrs. Lane said. It began to dawn on both lawyers that the Spence case was going to be different from any they had handled before. (Simons testified that he fully cooperated with Price.). Waco didnt get much credit for physical beauty, but this lake, just inside the citys western border, was a jewel, deep and blue. 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. I know hes no angel, but as far as what hes there for, thats not what I call justice. Simons told Price that, through his informants, he had learned that Washington had had a partner in crime, a nineteen-year-old named Joe Sidney Williams. They met with Pardo, who eagerly shared his files. But later he told the police that he was out driving around the parks at about eight in the evening; this inconsistency, among other details, had prompted Detective Ramon Salinas and Lieutenant Marvin Horton to briefly consider Franks a suspect. He was sent to prison. Youre confusing courage with wisdom). 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. Schonemann and Schwartz had no time to lose. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. But as spring turned to summer, the limelight had grown dark: in June, Dallas television station WFAA ran a ten-part investigative series on Feazell and his office, accusing him of, among other things, dismissing DWI cases in exchange for money. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? After that, however, the teenagers trail vanished. Hottest Bets. Spence claimed hed had nothing to do with the murders, but Simons bided his time, talking to other inmates and coming to the jail outside work hours. ALBRIGHT, Richard Learn more about Brooks Lake / Brookhaven Lake. The trial lasted just over two weeks. They told my mom and my girlfriend that they were killing me by not getting me to plead out. (Melendezs mother recalled this too. Hopper learned that police had used DNA information in public genealogy databases to identify DeAngelo. A tough 28-year-old from Waco whod served time in the mid-seventies for assault with intent to murder, Melendez had been given seven years after pleading guilty in the aggravated sexual abuse case. Me and some friends of mine from Fort Worth, you know, we did that, we took care of them. When Gilbert didnt believe him, Spence described how hed picked up the teenagers at the tables. Winona (9 miles) Big Sandy (9 miles) Owentown (14 miles) His tenacity, in fact, was about to pay off in other ways. 0 cemeteries found in Yoakum, DeWitt County, Texas, USA. Physically, McFadden cast an imposing shadow. (Simons later testified that he didnt file reports because the WPD and the sheriffs office had different reporting systems and it would mess up the statistics.) And although Simons initially shared leads from his informants, Price told me that when she tried to corroborate their claims, several of them said Simons had instructed them not to talk to her. Larry Pack (Texas. Judge Black didnt address anything we had done.. HAWKINS, Texas (KLTV) -Monday, April 27, true-crime network Investigation Discovery (ID) will air the story of Hawkins' serial murderer and kidnapper Jerry McFadden, dubbed "the animal," on a new show called Southern Gothic. She found that the weather and the laid-back, friendly attitude of Texas suited her. The way the investigation went, the way it was handled with the jailhouse informants, the way the bite marks were matched. Nonetheless, Spence was set to be executed in four days. Al Sharpton led demonstrations after Yusuf Hawkins' murder. Hunt and Fuller promptly called their own expert, who said the quality of the photos was too poor to make a valid comparison. No one had heard any screams. But then in July 1986, as he awaited trial, McFadden knocked out a sheriffs deputy and kidnapped a woman who worked as a dispatcher and jailer. (a) A person commits criminal homicide if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence causes the death of an individual. One said the photos were of such poor quality that he refused to compare them against the molds. The trail went cold again. When Simons took a break, Fortunewhod been present for the interrogationmentioned that he too knew Chili. 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. 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. The brothers testimony differed on some detailsTony said theyd partied for two hours before the violence began and that he stabbed Jill; Gilbert said the violence began almost immediately and that Tony stabbed Raylenebut they were consistent in their portrayal of a night characterized by beer, weed, and bloodshed. The prosecutors, Owen and Schonemann wrote, had engaged in a campaign of deception that was breathtaking in its scope, including withholding evidence that was exculpatory. Hawkins' death was the third killing of a black male by white mobs in New York City during the 1980s; the other two victims were Willie Turks, who was killed on June 22, 1982, in Brooklyn, and Michael Griffith, who was killed in Queens on December 20, 1986. After Jills parents divorced, when she was in middle school, the girl spent a lot of time at her aunts house. Talk about a commanding presence. Congress, no longer willing to pay to defend convicted murderers, had pulled the nonprofits funding. The purpose of one of Prudhomme's moves was to escape an abusive relationship and she arranged for her two sons live with their grandparents, Bluffington said. I did it, he said. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. He was violent with women, finding pleasure in stalking and then overpowering females that interested him, according to officials and prison records. General Freight. Mrs. Lane phoned the authorities, who asked for a clothing description and accounting of her last known steps. On March 30 Dannen was busy writing in his apartment when the phone rang. There was some hope, he told Spencethere were still petitions pending. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. He said one of them had some big tits, Gilbert told his lawyers. In early 1999 he obtained a copy of Whites autopsy report, which noted the presence of semen. Why should he confess? The lawyer told me, Youre going to kill your boy.), I was afraid to die, said Melendez. Hale, at least, seemed to reassure her that Simons was on the right track. Suzanne always dreamed of living in a small town, Mrs. Lane said. After nearly three hours of deliberations, a jury reached a guilty verdict Thursday in the double murder trial Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced South Carolina . But the world that she and Turk were investigating was so shadowy that they never got anywhere on the Lake Waco case. He sped away, holding her at gunpoint with the deputys .38-caliber revolver, according to a recounting of the crime spree by the Tyler Morning Telegraph, until he crashed while trying to spot a helicopter buzzing overhead. 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. Jill knew Kenneth from the Methodist Home, in Waco, a boarding school for troubled and academically challenged kids; the two had lived there for a while and dated each other but were now just friends. David Spences case came before the TRC that same summer. On November 27 Owen and Schonemann filed a supplement to their habeas writs with the Court of Criminal Appeals. When they returned to Waco, Simons set about gathering information on the young man, talking assiduously to sources both in and out of jail. ANDRADE, Roger To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? On November 17 they spoke with Otis Douglas, an informant who had testified against Williams. Bob Layman, who had baptized the girl, encouraged the audience to set bitterness aside and support one another. There is far too much doubt to carry out an execution. White, the investigators learned, had gotten off work the previous night at nine-thirty, after her shift at Uncle Dans Barbecue, where she bused tables and washed dishes. 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. But the inmate also had a soft side, composing poetry and writing heartfelt letters to Price, Gilbert Melendez, and Schone-mann himself. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph), Farm-to-Market 2659 in Hawkins was part of the search area during the manhunt for Jerry McFadden in Hawkins. The jailer managed to escape unhurt from a railroad boxcar. GREAT NEWS! He would work like a bird dog, around the clock, he recalled. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. He said, I tried to tie the other one up with her bra. Spence also said hed driven their bodies across the bridge to Speegleville. Welcome to r/Funny, Reddit's largest humour depository. His shift, from three p.m. to one a.m., didnt allow the couple to see much of each other, so hed stop by her office when he could, then head back out on patrol. Every now and then I think I should not have gotten this personally involved, but I felt like Tony needed to have someone on his side, she told me. Throughout the proceedings, Spence exhibited little of the calm hed shown during his first trial. On May 4, 1986, McFadden kidnapped Bryan Boone, 19, Gena. I think this is the worst thing to ever happen in Hawkins, Texas. Markkey PATTERSON, Efrain I dont know how many times he told me that Harpers sister was going to open up to him and say, My brother did it. Then he went to Richard FranksI dont know how many times he tried to get him to talk., Dannen was also growing increasingly nervous about his safety. The mother of victim Suzanne Denise Harrison burst into tears as she entered the death chamber, crying, ``He looked at me. She turned away and said, ``He took our children.. I want you to understand I speak the truth when I say I didnt kill your kids, said Spence. Afterward, Deeb had confessed. Dannen felt light-headed, as if he had vertigo. There was a problem saving your notification. ANGLETON, Larry After three hours of testing, the operator delivered his opinion: no deception. An attractive blonde from Detroit, the 29-year-old thought the citys name was pronounced Wacko and assumed its residents got around on horses. From Associated Press HUNTSVILLE, Texas A man who nicknamed himself "Animal" was executed by injection Thursday for the rape-slaying of an 18-year-old high school cheerleader, one of three.