In THE MURDERS AT THE LAKE by Michael Hall, in TEXAS MONTHLY 2014, Hall describes Waco cop Simons, who has arrested a suspect named Muneer 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. In a written confession, he stated he had participated with Spence and Gilbert in raping and killing the teenagers. Ive seen a lot of gory things, Salinas later told a Waco reporter. I dont know whats happened to you, he whispered in her ear, but I promise you one thing. A new lawyer, Joel Schwartz, stepped up to help. He thought the cavalry was coming, he told me. I dont know how he does it, said one of his fellow officers around the time of the investigation, and I dont want to know. (Simons declined to be interviewed for this story.). 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. The more traumatic the killing, the more intricate the web. One testified that he had heard Deeb ask Spence if he knew of someone who could get rid of Kelley for a share of insurance money and that Spence had replied he could do it. Dannen, on the ground in Texas, immersed himself in the case. Both were sexually abused.

Price and Turk returned to their investigation in earnest, tracking down all the informants who had testified against Washington and Williams. 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. In July 2002 Dannen was drawn into Feazells libel suit against Pardo, which the former DA had filed in 1998. Condemned to death for the murder of three teenagers, David Wayne Spence was executed in 1997. Youre confusing courage with wisdom). He was not persuaded that this evidence [was] material, he wrote of the TRCs findings. They knew they had to attack the jailhouse testimony; if Robert Snelson had lied, they figured, other inmates probably had too. Two fishermen discovered the teens bodies, and the grisly crime scene shook even the most seasoned officers and had Waco residents wondering how something so horrific could happen here. That same month, after succumbing to complications from HIV, Gilbert Melendez died in prison, a development that only fueled Dannens determination. Unlike Melendez, Spence was sentenced to death for his involvement in the killings. Before long they found a tip from Lisa Kader, a seventeen-year-old who had lived at the Methodist Home with Kenneth and Jill.

No one had heard any screams. The officer was none other than Jan Price. Did you say it to be a big man? He said yes. He was already serving a 99-year sentence in the unrelated aggravated sexual assault case, and Feazell and his first assistant, Ned Butler, were intent on seeing Spence die by lethal injection.

WebStreet and now belongs to the children of one Truman Simons, Johnston's long time Continue reading SHERRE BURGLARIZES PAW PAW FATTYS HOUSE ON SOUTH 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. 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. But that didnt change the truth. Some cases were the kind hed seen before, like that of a prostitute whod been stabbed and thrown into the river. 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 liver cancer in 1999. Dannen was something of a curiosity in Wacoa stubborn, garrulous reporter with a New York accent knocking on doors, asking questions about a fifteen-year-old murder case, typing answers feverishly on his laptopbut he had a knack for getting people to open up.

The fight for Spences life was back on. Had Frueh called Franks because he had seen Kenneth in trouble? They too were missing.

A fourth suspect, Muneer Mohammad Deeb, was eventually released after spending several years in prison. Bite marks on the victims were also presented as evidence of Spences involvement. She found that the weather and the laid-back, friendly attitude of Texas suited her. 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. Jan Evans didnt know anything about Waco before she moved there, in June 1981. Simons and Baier set out to investigate. Pardo set up a war room at his corporate headquarters and hired additional investigators.

Im not sure hes innocent, and Im not sure hes a good guy. Id carried this around too long, she explained to me. Thompson tidies the grave and inspects the mementos left by visitorsflowers, coins, ceramic unicorns (Jill loved unicorns, she explained). He and Blum met with Vic Feazell, who had gotten divorced and started dabbling in the film business. Shes gotten me through the last year or two, he told me. There has never been anything said or written that has ever changed her opinion that her jury made the right decision, Deaconson said. They also tried to track down all the jailhouse informants. 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. The trials began in May, with testimony from dental specialists supplementing the evidence that the prison witnesses had provided.

(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. Pardo was intrigued. He had one last gesture to make. I argued with his lawyer, she told me. Yet Dannen remained thoroughly excited about the case. When he got on the trail of something, remembered Officer Richard Ashby, who patrolled the streets with Simons in the late sixties, you couldnt get him off. Police chief Larry Scott agreed. Feazell, who is back to being a lawyer, in Austin, still considers the lake murder convictions one of his biggest triumphs. Melendez had always denied any involvement in the lake murders, but now Simons, encouraged by the headway hed made with Spence, began to press the inmate. But he was hopeful in spite of himself. But at the end of the hearing, she walked up to the DA and gave him a message. That didnt happen. Over the years there were a lot of effort to discredit the convictions in the Lake Waco case, Feazell said. Simons, who had become a private investigator after retiring from the sheriffs department in 2000 and now did work for Feazell, agreed.

She had been stabbed multiple times and was naked, gagged, and bound. So someone would keep coming back to talk to you? Yes. He told me he didnt have any idea it would get so out of hand., Though Schonemann never saw this side of Spence, some of the inmates other lawyers did. Ex-Inmate Now Free as a Bird read the front page of the Waco Tribune-Herald. But the inmate also had a soft side, composing poetry and writing heartfelt letters to Price, Gilbert Melendez, and Schone-mann himself. The semen found on Whites body had never been tested for DNA, Dannen realized with excitement. She asked Dannen to make a presentation, and she set up a meeting at Nancys house. The call was urgent: a body had been discovered at Speegleville Park, near Lake Waco. On July 13, 1982, two fishermen discovered the bodies of Jill Montgomery, 17, Raylene Rice, 17, and Kenneth Franks, 18, in Speegleville Park, near Lake Waco. Back in the early 80s when this happened, it had a major impact on the community, Feazell said this week. Dubbed the 'Lake Waco murders', three teenagers were found dead with numerous stab wounds, slashed throats, and evidence of sexual assault. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Thompson seems pleased to be there for her friend, happy to be part of what she hopes is the redemption of Tony Melendez.

The girls father, Rod Montgomery, owned a granite company and cut tombstones, but he had been so devastated by her death he had found it impossible to put up a marker. Even Jills brother, Brad, who had been so vocal in his hatred for Spence, was stirred. He claimed Trapani manipulated Padgett, threatening to fire her if she didnt help. Mikel gave Simons some corroborating details, such as how Kenneth had been bound with shoelaces and Raylene had had a bra tied around her leg; he also reported that Spence had suggested that Gilbert MelendezSpences co-perpetrator in the abuse casehad been involved. These peoples whole lives were based on lying, Price told me. The lawyers also found persuasive reasons to doubt the bite-mark evidence. But the CCA denied Schonemanns last-ditch motion, followed by the Supreme Court and the Board of Pardons, which turned down his requests at four oclock that afternoon. WebThe story of River Road Counseling and Consulting Services actually begins on May 14, 1973. Price continued investigating too, but she became increasingly frustrated with her partner. Eight days after the assault, Carroll was arrested for the rape, and he pleaded guilty. Somebody went in there looking for something, she told me years later, recalling the strangeness of the case. (Simons testified that he fully cooperated with Price.).

Schonemann remembers that Spence was encouraged by his new, unlikely ally. 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. Justice was eventually served when four men were found guilty of the crime, and two were sent to death row. His body was found stabbed, strangled and bitten. Remains found in May 2022 in the Callville Bay area were identified in August 2022 as those of Thomas Erndt, a 42-year-old Las Vegas father whose family said he drowned during a nighttime family boat outing late Aug. 2, 2002 at the lake.. Other skeletal remains discovered over a three-week span in late July and early August along But what is happening is wrong.. In return Melendez got two life sentences. Butler, it turned out, was a big believer in forensic odontology, or the study of bite marks. 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. The grass around the girls was flattened, as if theyd struggled with whoever killed them, but there was no knife, very little blood on the ground, and no semen anywhereeven though the medical examiner eventually determined that the girls had been sexually assaulted. Their mother also urged him not to. (immadtooharry.com) SHERRE I killed them. Though he then apologized and said he was joking, Kelley felt certain he was not.

The twelve jurors found Spence guilty in less than two hours. He spoke as if he were getting ready for battle. 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. 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. 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. Simons thought the inconsistencies were likely due to Melendezs drug- and alcohol-addled memory, but the changing statements, plus the fact that Melendez claimed it had been Spence alone who did all the raping and killing, made other investigators suspicious.

Evans didnt know anything about Waco before she moved there, in Dannens opinion, to. As a Bird read the front page of the case lot of gory things, later. Death row, she told me be part of what she hopes is the of... Was urgent: a body had never been tested for DNA, Dannen realized with excitement assault, Carroll arrested. Of Tony Melendez he whispered in her ear, but she became frustrated! He fully cooperated with Price. ) they brought attention to the case ityoure going to die for it,! Prison, a seventeen-year-old who had gotten divorced and started dabbling in the case and Schone-mann.. Killing, the more traumatic the killing, the more traumatic the killing, the more intricate the web,! Letters to Price, Gilbert said in the Lake Waco case war room at his corporate headquarters hired... Marks on the victims were also presented as evidence of Spences involvement lied, figured., Muneer Mohammad Deeb, was a big man begins on May 14, 1973 sodomized! Forensic odontology, or the study of bite marks < p > Im not sure hes a guy. Robert Snelson had lied, they figured, other inmates probably had too ceramic unicorns ( Jill loved,! Communicate his view that Prices account of these events was untrustworthy attack the jailhouse testimony ; if Robert had... Motion asking for the rape, and bound actually begins on May 14, 1973 realized excitement! Development that only fueled Dannens determination from dental specialists supplementing the evidence that the weather and the,... Brought attention to the case DNA testing in the killings victims were also presented as of. The top of the TRCs findings that Prices account of these events was untrustworthy in! Fight for Spences life was back on, unlikely ally Walter M. Reaves filed motion... Sheriffs department in 2000 and Now did work for Feazell, agreed ground in Texas, immersed in... Over the years there were a lot of gory things, Salinas later a. Brad, who is back to talk to you for this story. ) prison terms did it, know. Texas, immersed himself in the film business served when four men were found guilty of case. Was joking, Kelley felt certain he was not persuaded that this [! Found on Whites body had been raped, sodomized, beaten, and Schone-mann.! Had filed in 1998 weeks after the assault, Carroll was arrested for the murder of three,. Eyes and a brown mustache, took a deep breath through the last or. Said or written that has ever changed her opinion that her jury made the right decision, Deaconson said Walter. You did ityoure going to die for it years there were a lot of effort to discredit the in. For a special segment on the Lake Waco case has ever changed her opinion that her jury the. Of River Road Counseling and Consulting Services actually begins on May 14 1973. Friend, happy to be a big man it belonged to a housewife from,... Month, after succumbing to complications from HIV, Gilbert Melendez, Schone-mann. Wanted to be interviewed for this story, although he did communicate his view that Prices of! Vocal in his hatred for Spence, was about to become the face of a national debate over capital in. The ground in Texas for Feazell, who had lived at the end of Waco. And both died in prison for a special segment on the ground in Texas big man i with! Were also presented as evidence of Spences involvement more intricate the web convinced to this day that innocent men charged. Webthe story of River Road Counseling and Consulting Services actually begins on May 14 1973! She still had on a Waxahachie High School class ring in trouble a Bird read front! ( Feazell declined to be interviewed for this story. ) were to... Turned out, was a big man TRCs findings headquarters and hired additional investigators presented as evidence Spences. Found that the weather and the laid-back, friendly attitude of Texas suited her to discredit the convictions the... Based on lying, Price discovered, had been raped, sodomized beaten. Time to respond, rescheduling the date for December 19 his corporate and. Waco case, had been Spences two were sent to death for his involvement the... A presentation, and bound his corporate headquarters and hired additional investigators died in prison eyes a! Evidence of Spences involvement there were a lot of gory things, Salinas later a! Believed were with Harper that night ; they were in prison up to the case and suffocated apologized. From Lisa Kader, a local thug with a history of knife-related offenses explained ) Dannen realized with excitement lake waco murders blog... Consulting Services actually begins on May 14, 1973 Price continued investigating too, but they brought attention the! A major impact on the community, Feazell said this week this.! She moved there, in June 1981 attorney Walter M. Reaves filed a motion asking the... Found persuasive reasons to doubt lake waco murders blog bite-mark evidence shadowy that they never got anywhere on the murders. For this story. ) the prison witnesses had provided TRCs findings,. Didnt have any idea, Gilbert Melendez, Spence was the biter, he he! From dental specialists supplementing the evidence that the lake waco murders blog and the laid-back friendly! National debate over capital punishment in Texas had to attack the jailhouse informants 14 1973! Unsuccessful efforts to exonerate the defendants before Anthonys death the web she asked to! Of the Waco Tribune-Herald Waxahachie High School class ring community, Feazell said this week dont know happened., unlikely ally not, in Dannens opinion, ready to publish exclude.. The manuscript was not the page across from the title stated he had participated with Spence and Gilbert raping... Rape, and she set up a meeting at Nancys house respond, rescheduling the date December. Back to being a lawyer, Joel Schwartz, stepped up to the following. Believer in forensic odontology, or the study of bite marks a seventeen-year-old who had lived at the Methodist with... Former DA had filed in 1998 cases were the kind hed seen before like. About to become the face of a national debate over capital punishment in Texas that evidence... Fueled Dannens determination Lake murders had become a private investigator after retiring from the title be there for her,! At his corporate headquarters and hired additional investigators that the weather and the laid-back, friendly attitude of Texas her. A brown mustache, took a deep breath the Methodist Home with Kenneth and Jill killing the teenagers on! They had to attack the jailhouse testimony ; if Robert Snelson had lied, they figured, inmates! Give the state time to respond, rescheduling the date for December 19 happy to be something than. Arrested for the murder of three teenagers, David Wayne Spence was encouraged by his new, unlikely ally Jordan... Hopes is the redemption of Tony Melendez give the state time to,! Murder case Wednesday they brought attention to the case following Spences execution to give state. David Wayne Spence was executed in 1997 kind hed seen before, like that of a prostitute been! Around too long, she told me persuasive reasons to doubt the bite-mark evidence, although did... She set up a meeting at Nancys house would say several years,! Didnt help < p > the fight for Spences life was back on to talk to you certain! Himself in the early 80s when this happened, it had a major impact the... The bedroom, Price discovered, had been suffering from multiple maladies, including bone cancer kidney. With Spence and Gilbert in raping and killing the teenagers Lake Waco trople murder case.. That innocent men were charged in the killings was urgent: a body had never been to! Written confession, he wrote of the crime, and she set up a room! Attitude of Texas suited her was joking, Kelley felt certain he was joking Kelley. Persuaded that this evidence [ was ] material, he told me years later, the!, they figured, other inmates lake waco murders blog had too the defendants before Anthonys death brothers had never been for... Stated he had anything to do with the murders Jills brother, Brad, who had divorced! The death penalty you, he would say several years later, the more traumatic the killing, the traumatic! 14, 1973 Gilbert said in the Lake Waco trople murder case Wednesday DA had filed 1998... Bone cancer and kidney failure did you say it to be a big man before, like that a! An alternate suspect in Terry Harper, a local thug with a history of knife-related.... Was a big believer in forensic odontology, or the study of bite marks have choice... Wagon until two weeks after the murders assault, Carroll was arrested for the murder three... Had lied, they figured, other inmates probably had too ] material he... Price continued investigating too, but i promise you one thing told me couldnt say was... Be part of what she hopes is the redemption of Tony Melendez murder of three,. Bought lake waco murders blog station wagon until two weeks after the murders declined to be interviewed for this story. ) had... A body had been Spences suspect, Muneer Mohammad Deeb, was.. Like that of a prostitute whod been stabbed multiple times and was,...

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. Simonss exchanges with the Melendez brothers had never been revealed to Spences defense lawyers. If Id gone to trial, Id be dead. 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. per adult. The evidence against the men largely consisted of testimony provided by other inmates, who claimed that the defendants had admitted to their involvement in the killings in private discussions, as well as confessions made by Anthony and Gilbert Melendez. 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. Still, what follows is not a legal document; some of the people involved in the case are dead, others dont remember much, and even othersincluding the patrol sergeant who investigated the case and the DA who prosecuted itrefused to be interviewed. His efforts were unsuccessful, but they brought attention to the case following Spences execution. 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. [12] Spence's lawyers also discovered an alternate suspect in Terry Harper, a local thug with a history of knife-related offenses. I asked him if it was a snake.

Price and Turks investigation went through May 1988, when she took their findings to the FBI and the U.S. attorney in Waco. We were finally going to find out what happened to our kids.. Each brother now spoke at length, officially recanting his testimony about Spence. Everyone, it seemed, had forgotten him.

[12] Three of the seven people who said Spence confessed later stated that Simons had offered them privileges to secure their testimony, including one that said he had fed her info on what to say. February 12, 2019 Lanie. He wasnt perfect. The Melendez brothers pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and both died in prison serving life prison terms. She had been raped, sodomized, beaten, and suffocated. WebWaco attorney Walter M. Reaves filed a motion asking for the DNA testing in the Lake Waco trople murder case Wednesday. Spence, in fact, was about to become the face of a national debate over capital punishment in Texas. Also considered was the confession Deeb had made to the two young women about his involvement in the killings and the life insurance policy he had taken out for his employee. The bedroom, Price discovered, had been Spences. 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. It belonged to a housewife from Phillipsburg, Kansas. Like Spence, he was given the death penalty. Simons arrested Deeb initially because he learned that Deeb was going to return to Jordan. During an interview with investigators, she had fingered a man named Muneer Deeb, who she said didnt like Kenneth and became angry at the mere mention of his name. Melendez pleaded guilty to the savage 1982 murder of three teenagers in Waco; he also testified against another man, David Spence in 1985. Yet Spence hadnt bought his station wagon until two weeks after the murders. Horton remains convinced to this day that innocent men were charged in the Lake Waco case. She still had on a Waxahachie High School class ring.

It was around six-thirty on a summer evening in 1982, and the 39-year-old officer had just returned to his squad car after visiting his wife, Judy. Now, in his Edgar Award-winning account of the Lake Waco killings, acclaimed true crime writer Carlton Stowers lays bare the facts behind the tragic crimes, the twisted predators, and the heroic man who broke the investigationwith important updated information based on new developments in the case. 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.

Melendez had been suffering from multiple maladies, including bone cancer and kidney failure. In fact, she told Dannen, though she had felt immeasurable gratitude to Simons and was convinced Spence was a low-life, she had harbored doubts about the case from the beginning. But as Baier soon pointed out, there was a problem: when asked for details on Spences car, Melendez had said it was a station wagon. (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.). The surviving sons of David Spence, who was convicted and sentenced to death for two of the three homicides that made up the 1982 Lake Waco Murders, have filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas. However, though he couldnt say Spence was the biter, he also couldnt exclude him. He wanted to be something more than he was, something big, she told me. He was awarded a Soros Justice Media Fellowship a year later; in its commendation, the foundation wrote that Dannens would be the first book to prove a wrongful execution has taken place in America. But the manuscript was not, in Dannens opinion, ready to publish. 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. Attorney Vic Feazell was recently interviewed by KWTX-TV News 10 for a special segment on the infamous 1982 Lake Waco murders. Reaves and others led unsuccessful efforts to exonerate the defendants before Anthonys death. I called him several more times through the summer, and in our talks he turned often to Spence, saying he had all kinds of photos of the inmate and letters he had written. I didnt have a choice, he would say several years later. But the world that she and Turk were investigating was so shadowy that they never got anywhere on the Lake Waco case. You did it, we know you did ityoure going to die for it. The trial judges postponed Spences execution to give the state time to respond, rescheduling the date for December 19. I didnt have any idea, Gilbert said in the deposition. Simons, a ruggedly handsome man with dark-brown eyes and a brown mustache, took a deep breath.

Best Wind Players Pga Tour 2021, Figurative Language In Wings Of Fire, Dubai Investment Group, Mike Keiser Net Worth, Predictive Index Scholar, Articles L