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I am perplexed and bewildered, as Im sure a lot of people are, he told the Waxahachie Daily Light. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. But he hadnt felt any violence at Speegleville. He took a female jailer hostage and for three days evaded one of the most intense manhunts in Texas history. The deadly shooting happened Saturday, July 25 . Mrs. Lane phoned the authorities, who asked for a clothing description and accounting of her last known steps. I am a peacemaker, he told the books author, Carlton Stowers. To their surprise, the condition of the body was such they could not positively say whether or not it was their beloved Suzanne. CARRERA, Daniel Lee Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. He worked on a couple of rewrites, telling his friends and sources back in Texas that it wouldnt be long until he could publish everything. Simons called Chief Scott at home. 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. At the park entrance, Simons met a couple of other policemen and some sheriffs deputies. But others had left even the most hardened officers in the Waco Police Department reeling. According to TDCJ records, McFadden was executed for the abduction, rape, and murder of 18-year-old Suzanne Denise Harrison. PRIBLE The victim, he could see, was just a boy, with a wispy mustache. Not surprisingly, Feazell didnt see it that way, telling reporters that the DNA results changed nothing. to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really Again he was given the death penalty. 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. Hopper had never seen McFaddens name in all the voluminous police files. After three months, Dannen and Blum returned to New York. "She had already been accepted to A&M," Mrs. Lane said. The original case seemed to be unraveling before the lawyers eyes. They were just going riding around. 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. He had one last gesture to make. We list below the cases that we are aware of in which the defendant was found guilty of felony murder. Judy Whitley, a 17-year-old sophomore at Clifton High School, was found raped and murdered in June 1985. After the U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty, in 1976, the first Texas execution took place in 1982; by the end of that decade, the state was responsible for 33 of the countrys 116 executions. Give us all something, she said. The case went cold that is, until last week. In the eyes of the law, the two murder cases remain open, essentially unsolved. Spence was caught off guard and hurthadnt he been trying to help the investigation?but he enjoyed his time with the deputy so much that he nevertheless continued their late-night discussions. I wasnt a saint, my brother wasnt a saint. We have many He tried to interest national media outlets in the story, even sending a pitch to 60 Minutes, but every journalist passed. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Clifton June 14th, 2022 . In June two cops had been shot in a gun battle downtown. If Simons had a job at the jail, he could get close to Spence and use him to solve the lake murders. (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. David was kind of a braggart, Hunt told me. Their parentsits horrible what theyve been through. 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. "It was one of the first times we had a major crime in the area," said former Wood County Sheriff's deputy and retired constable David Barber, a 38-year lawman. Some are in new places in their lives; others are still unable to conquer the despair that arises after such senseless acts. The cases of slow-talking West Virginia attorney Billy Jim Hawkins. Dannen felt light-headed, as if he had vertigo. new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help A middle school dropout with a fondness for beer, marijuana, and amphetamines, he had married at 16, become a father of two by 18, and divorced at 20. Before that happened, you never locked your doors, you left your car keys in the car and your shotgun in the window. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. 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. Jerry Walter McFadden (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph), Former Wood County Sheriff's Deputy and retired constable David Barber and Wood County Precinct 3 Constable Jerry Parker recall their encounters with Jerry McFadden. Harrison was killed by Jerry McFadden in 1986. Congress, no longer willing to pay to defend convicted murderers, had pulled the nonprofits funding. based on information from your browser. 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. When the officers got to Dallas, he informed them that Washingtons mold matched the wounds on Whites body. In the summer of 1982 the city of Waco was confronted with the most vicious crime it had ever seen: three teenagers were savagely stabbed to death, for no apparent reason, at a park by a lake on the edge of town. 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. Fear spread through town, and residents began locking their doors at night and pushing for park curfews. That October, Feazell announced that his office was steadily putting together a puzzle where someone is trying to hide some of the key pieces., One month later, the puzzle was finished. All his time went to investigating the case, circling back to his sources over and over again in the hopes of uncovering new information. The interview went smoothly, so the two were surprised when, as they got up to leave, the conversation took a turn. These peoples whole lives were based on lying, Price told me. The nightmare didn't seem real to Suzanne's aunt and uncle, then or now. The slayings followed a family quarrel in the Beasley home in Hawkins during a gathering to celebrate Fathers Day and Matthew Birkinbines second birthday. 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 was afraid to die, he told Texas Monthly in 2014, insisting he was painting houses in Bryan, as several alibi witnesses had told police he was. Learn more about merges. Yet Dannen remained thoroughly excited about the case. The unlikely crime-fighter cracking decades-old murders? Try again later. Investigators used DNA to identify the bodies found in 1986 and 1991. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. Sitting calmly nearby, Simons would tell him to let it all out. As the mild-mannered Schonemann knew, Spence had a rough historyhis ex-girlfriend Christine Juhl had told the police that he beat her, and testimony at the close of his first trial had included allegations of violent rape. Kelley, he posited, had been the target of the killers. "I used to be a forest ranger where the girl was found," retired lawman Roger Don Holeman said recently. Melendez pleaded guilty to the savage 1982 murder of three teenagers in Waco; he also testified against another man, David Spence in 1985. He was officially charged with capital murder for Suzanne's death and transferred from Wood to Upshur County where he was denied bond. ", Former Wood County Sheriff's deputy and retired constable David Barber, a 38-year lawman. Feazell didnt have to rely as heavily on the murder-for-hire theory; thanks to Simons, he had new ammunition. About 25 yards from the spot where Tony had said Jill was murdered, Simons was suddenly overcome by a strong feeling. Originally from Haskell, Texas, he was allowed to move to the small community of Hawkins to live with his mother and sister. This Hawkins County Tennessee Most Wanted List posts the top 50-100 fugitive criminals on the run. Thirty years later, Suzanne's mother is uncomfortable speaking publicly about her daughter's murder, said Mrs. Lane, who spoke for the family. 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. In early January, the deputys patience paid off: an inmate named Kevin Mikel told him that Spence had bragged about killing the teenagers. Wood County authorities protested vigorously after learning McFadden intended to settle in the Hawkins area. Unfortunately, however, the odontologists took a long time completing their assessments, and as the October 1993 deadline for the depositions approached, the TRC team realized the full odontology report was going to be late. She had been raped, sodomized, beaten, and suffocated. That same month, after succumbing to complications from HIV, Gilbert Melendez died in prison, a development that only fueled Dannens determination. Then, six days before Spences trial, they were dealt an even bigger blow: in an unexpected about-face, Tony pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence. There is a problem with your email/password. He choked her it was horrible. Investigators learned that the girls had driven from Waxahachie, an hour north of Waco, in Raylenes orange Ford Pinto to pick up Jills last paycheck from Fort Fisher, at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, where she had been a tour guide that spring. (According to Dannen, the states forensic expert in Deebs retrial told him that when he asked to test the truck, he was informed it had disappeared in Mexico. Feeling buoyed, Schonemann and Schwartz, now joined by Ken Driggs, decided to again attack the only physical evidence against Spence: the bite marks. 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. Spence seemed more and more bewildered about what was going on in his mind. But four years later she was laid off, and wanting to live someplace warm, she applied for a job in Texas. Meanwhile, Price refused to close the White case; though she now had other investigations to work on, she was convinced that Williams and Washington were innocent and spent her spare time interviewing their lawyers and sources on the street. In the end, Jerry Walter McFadden, 38, a three-time convicted rapist, was arrested for the slayings. He thought the cavalry was coming, he told me. Leave them blank to get signed up. In 2012, Hopper took over the case and began trying to match the DNA profile with various suspects who had been identified over the years. Toward the end of last year, I began to hear from various sources that it was just a matter of time, maybe weeks, before the DNA results came out. On the morning of April 3, Spence met with his loved ones, including June, one of his sons, and his brother. Oops, we were unable to send the email. DUNN, Martin Gonzalez Nancy, who had seemed receptive to Dannens ideas in 2001, re-embraced Simonss theory, telling anyone who asked that Feazell had convicted the real killers. The deputy had also heardfrom other officers or his informantsthat White had been bitten by her assailant, and so on March 17 he visited Washington in jail and asked for his permission to take a dental mold. Their decision would prove pivotal: after two weeks of testimony, in a ruling that sent shock waves through Waco, Deeb was found not guilty. After studying the autopsy photos himself, he determined that several of the wounds on the girls bodies did, in fact, look as if theyd been made by human teeth. On her first visit, shed demanded to know the truth, and then shed kept asking. For Feazell in particular, the victory could not have come at a better time. Jerry McFadden, 51, made no final statement. McFadden was granted parole in 1985 after serving less than five years of a 15-year sentence for aggravated sexual abuse of a young secretary. I was absolutely crushed, he told me. Pardo set up a war room at his corporate headquarters and hired additional investigators. She found herself rooting for two convicted killers. But he was hopeful in spite of himself. But her sister didnt answer when Rose Ann opened the door and called her name on that night, July 24, 1979. Places Near Hawkins with Similar Businesses. When Butler first saw the lake murders file, he immediately asked Salinas if theyd checked the bodies for bite marks. Her brother, Brad, who had refused her request for a ride to Waco on the day of her disappearance, was so distraught and full of rage that Simons feared hed lunge at Spence as soon as he laid eyes on him; the deputy made him promise hed behave himself. The story dealt with the purported solution of a 29-year-old mystery in Central Texas, the disappearance of one John Roan. The intruder had not taken anything of valuethe TV was still therebut had ransacked the front bedroom, opening several boxes and scattering papers everywhere. What might it show if it was? WPD officers combed the parks repeatedly and interviewed between 150 and 200 people, yet they found few clues and no discernible motive. Tristan McFadden became a household name in the Lone Star State the next year thanks to a horrific crime and a heart-pounding escape from jail. 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. He told me a two-day story about the murders., Jan Price has retired from active duty and now works part-time in the WPDs personnel department. "We want to compete the investigation," Bluffington said. It was well into the next day before the battered, partially clad body of a young woman was found around noon Monday at Barnwell Mountain, a remote roadside park off State Highway 155 north of Gilmer. They had also recovered a few hairs from the bodies of the teenagers. All rights reserved. A conservative who favored the death penalty, Pardo had asked to see his hometowns most infamous killer, expecting to find a monster. Dannen then arranged for a series of DNA tests, beginning with one of the beer cans. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. As Kelley, a slim brunette, answered their questions, Simons got a sudden hunch. Though theres a chance were never going to know for sure who killed those kids., Jill would be 49 today, and Thompson thinks of her often. She still had on a Waxahachie High. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. McFadden was eventually caught hiding at an abandoned house nearby. A search turned up their vehicle with purses and personal effects still sitting inside, but there was no sign of the girls or of Bryan. He and Spence had been riding around in Spences car, he said, drinking and smoking, when they went to Koehne Park. 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. 399, Sec. Some cases were the kind hed seen before, like that of a prostitute whod been stabbed and thrown into the river. Based on his reporting, he felt sure it involved Harper, who was allegedly both a drug dealer and close to Kenneth, and two henchmen. Melendez had been suffering from multiple maladies, including bone cancer and kidney failure. Just die, he said, glaring at Spence through the glass. 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. 48 days on Zillow. 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. When Im done with the White case, she told him, Im going to look into the lake murders. (Feazell declined to be interviewed for this story, although he did communicate his view that Prices account of these events was untrustworthy. She was beaten with a hammer, raped, and left for dead. Now it was possible hed orchestrated the whole thing.. Truman Simons (far right) helping carry the body of the teenagers out from the brush in Speegleville Park on July 14, 1982. At that time, we'd never had anything like that happen here. Yet by 2008, he was no closer to proving Melendezs innocence. We used to fight. Simons knew Deeb: he was a 23-year-old Jordanian immigrant who ran the Rainbow Drive Inn, a convenience store across the street from the home. This is a carousel with slides. Thank you very much in advance. Nobody who knows how this works would believe hed get pardoned on the basis of my book. Better to wait for the DNA results, he said, to prove that Melendez didnt do it and that others did. We held Truman on a pedestal for so long. Theyd seen Simons take over an investigation before. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Evans threw herself into her job as a patrol officer; though she knew that many Southern cops believed police work should be reserved for men, her fearlessness and forceful attitude quickly earned her a reputation, in the words of Chief Larry Scott, as one of the best officers we had in the department. The Lake Waco murders, which took place a year after she arrived on the force, were a rude awakening.