He was living an unsettled life, moving from an Austin apartment to a friends guest room in Salado to a girlfriends house in Waco. 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 Rev. You have permission to edit this article. Though he wasnt a regular churchgoer, Simons felt Gods hand in his work, and he often quoted from the Book of Matthew: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.. I have a witness.. He began working on a proposal for a book about the lake murders, and in September 1998 he sold the book to Simon & Schuster. 399, Sec. That case will stand on its own, he said. Give us all something, she said. Those kids didnt deserve to die, June told me. He felt humiliated, remembered Salinas. The New York Times-bestselling true crime author reveals the full story of murder and deception behind the Lifetime movie Secrets of a Gold Digger Killer. All his time went to investigating the case, circling back to his sources over and over again in the hopes of uncovering new information. A few hours later, family members of Suzanne, Gena and Bryan started worrying after the trio failed to show up after their ride around the lake. Dannen then arranged for a series of DNA tests, beginning with one of the beer cans. What makes a great reporter is, you cant be happy until the story is really done. Melendez pleaded guilty to the savage 1982 murder of three teenagers in Waco; he also testified against another man, David Spence in 1985. Leave them blank to get signed up. In his letter, Snelson wrote that he had made his testimony up. Spence raped and stabbed Jill, then Raylene, and finally he killed Kenneth. 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. The girls cashed it at a supermarket and drove to Kenneths house. After his direct appeal had been denied, the former shop-keeper, who never wavered in his protestations of innocence, had resolved to free himself: sitting on the floor of his cell at the Ellis Unit, hed studied law books and typed out cases, trying to learn the rhythms of legal writing. 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. His actions resulted in three convictions that should have kept him behind bars for years. This is where they say those three teenagers were killed, he said Spence told him. The court was not impressed: one week before Spences execution date, the judges denied his appeal, sending Owen and Schonemann into another scramble. She was last seen in July 1991. ", Former Wood County Sheriff's deputy and retired constable David Barber, a 38-year lawman. She was really excited, he recalled. Let us help you so you dont go to death row. It was Melendezs lawyersChuck Youts and Jim Barlow, both now deceasedwho urged him to plead guilty. He also was charged with cutting the throat of his nephew, Matthew Birkinbine of Euless, and clubbing another nephew, Chad Beasley, 9, of Arlington, with a shotgun before throwing him out a second-floor window. It was her late niece's absolute favorite meal and the item most requested for family get-togethers. UPDATE:Tony Melendez, the last living Lake Waco murders defendant, died on Friday, January 13, 2017, at 57 at a prison hospice at the Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony, not far from Palestine. On May 4, 1986, McFadden kidnapped Bryan Boone, 19, Gena Turner, 20, and Suzanne Harrison, 18, from a local lake where they had gone for a night out. But her sister didnt answer when Rose Ann opened the door and called her name on that night, July 24, 1979. Now none of us could honestly say we knew without a shadow of a doubt that thats how it happened. I dont know why I started writing, Thompson told me, but I felt it was the thing to do. This, and only this, would ultimately lead to a hearing where Reaves could question the men who put Melendez and the others in prison and sent Spence to his death, making them answer for their actions a generation ago. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Yusuf Hawkins (sometimes spelled Yusef Hawkins) was a 16-year-old from Brooklyn who lived in the East New York neighborhood with his parents. That same month, after succumbing to complications from HIV, Gilbert Melendez died in prison, a development that only fueled Dannens determination. Baled in a Bale by Mike Cox Though most of the ginning is done by brainless machinery, the industry's human element has developed a colorful folklore with a range of subsets. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Again he was given the death penalty. Im tired of lying. She also reasoned that though a couple of jailhouse informants may have lied, such revelations would not have changed the outcome either. On Valentine's Day 2015, a 24-year-old El Paso woman named Karyna Rodriguez was killed while unconscious during a similar sexual assault. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph), The area of Lake Hawkins near where Suzanne Harrison, Bryan Boone and Gena Turner were abducted by Jerry McFadden in 1986 pictured March 8, 2016. Now it was dinnertime, and Simons had been thinking about grabbing some food, maybe at the Whataburger over on Seventh. Audrey Lee Cook was born on Nov. 25, 1955, in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Houston and Channelview, Texas, between 1976 and 1985, Ratliff said. accessed ), memorial page for Gena Lee Turner (1 Mar 1966-4 May 1986), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6653351, citing County Line Cemetery, Yoakum . He and Reaves went looking for Carroll, but to their dismay, he was dead; after being paroled, he had died of a self-inflected gunshot wound, in 1990. To their surprise, the condition of the body was such they could not positively say whether or not it was their beloved Suzanne. 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. $20,000. They had also recovered a few hairs from the bodies of the teenagers. Frederick 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. He didnt want to tell you anything beyond This is what Ive got, Price told me. You did it, we know you did ityoure going to die for it. Deeb wasnt from here, he recalled. I believe that. Hopper learned that police had used DNA information in public genealogy databases to identify DeAngelo. Nonetheless, Spence was set to be executed in four days. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. In April 1983 she had received a letter from a young woman who wrote to say that she and her boyfriend had been at Koehne Park and seen Kenneth with the girls in the Pinto. On the streets he could also stay away from the politics and backbiting within the police department, which at times had made him consider quitting. Despite this acclaim, Simons felt the most satisfaction from having fulfilled his calling. Yet there was one nagging question: How to explain the many people whod heard him say he was the murderer? But the body count left by the Animal apparently extended well beyond East Texas, according to the new DNA evidence uncovered in October by the genealogy lab. In September 1986 Feazell was arrested on federal racketeering and bribery charges; once again, the DA claimed it was a retaliatory move by local and federal forces for the embarrassment hed brought to the Texas Rangers in the Henry Lee Lucas case. When Simons took a break, Fortunewhod been present for the interrogationmentioned that he too knew Chili. ROSALES, Vaughn She was estimated to be about 30 years old at the time of her death. Spence, who had two new attorneysWalter Reaves, whod represented him on the aggravated sexual abuse case, and Bill Vancegrew increasingly agitated, eventually trying to fire his lawyers. Though he insisted he had been in Bryan painting apartments the day of the murders, he failed a polygraph, and jailhouse informants claimed theyd heard him say he was at Lake Waco. She also lived in Nassau Bay, Texas, in 1991, Ratliff said. The inmate had taken his mothers death hard; his ex-wife, June Ewing, whom he had married and divorced years before, reported after a visit that hed stood in the prison yard and screamed at the sky in anguish, Are you real? If the DNA test excludes Tony, Spence, and Gilbert, said Reaves, and it includes somebody else who was originally considered a suspect, that would be enough for an actual innocence writ or a clemency petition to the governoror both., But even those results wouldnt necessarily mean a get-out-of-jail-free card. Her body was left in a wooded area near a local grocery store. 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. It was April 1983; in a few months, the local media would mark the one-year anniversary of the murders, and yet the investigation was still floundering. He was confident, even giddy. Texass execution tally attracted the interest of antideath penalty activists everywhere, and in 1988 a federally funded nonprofit known as the Texas Resource Center opened its doors in Austin to offer pro bono help to death row inmates, either by connecting them with law firms who could help with their habeas appeals or by representing them in-house. Dannen felt light-headed, as if he had vertigo. Instead, they took it from a lawnmower shed where it had been stored in the heat for a decade, by a court-appointed special prosecutor, and turned it over to a private lab they are paying for.. 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. As he testified in a deposition in 1997, Im a deputy sheriff, Im not an assistant DA or a prosecutor. I do know that just about every one of the witnesses who said that Calvin or Joe murdered Mrs. White would say anything to benefit themselves. (In a deposition Simons gave in 1989, he said, I only talked to Angela Miles one time, and she said that she couldnt write a statement out, and as she quoted it to me, I wrote it out. He insisted that he let her examine it. But Dannen ignored his friends warnings, and in October 1998 he returned to Austin alone, taking along his computer and a digital keyboard on which to play Chopin and Gershwin. 302 days on Zillow. Claim this Business Hours Do you know the hours for this business? Id say, David, if you did this, you deserve to die, she told me when we talked last May. Feazell eventually gave Dannen access to hundreds of tapes he had made of the many conversations in his office about the lake murders. He was so obsessivehe would never be satisfied until he had proved the case, nailed the story. The two asked for a stay of execution. My responsibility to Calvin Washington took precedence over my interests as a journalist and book writer, Dannen told me. Then, on the eve of trial, Schonemann got a surprise. He was a big, wild-haired man whose body was covered in devilish looking tattoos featuring contorted faces and satanic imagery. But the hairs did not implicate anyone in particular, and eight weeks into the case, there was simply not enough evidence to make any arrests. 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.). Though no one has ever been held accountable for Gena and Bryan's deaths, McFadden is guilty in the court of public opinion. Together they drove into the park, heading down a rutted dirt lane that snaked through the brush, until they came to a lonely fork in the road at the edge of the woods. The former DA remained confident of Spences guilt and felt he had nothing to hide; he was even contemplating filing a libel suit against Pardo for maligning him in Capitol Watch. "They were loved by someone.". We had everything but the picket fence. But first he needed to figure out if his evolving theory about the night had any credence. Mr. Hawkins had also been sentenced to death for the abduction, rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, Rhonda Keys of Amarillo, in 1976. Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. When Juhl finally did break things off, Spence went so berserk he had to be given a shot of Thorazine. USA Trucking Companies. There they found a footprint on the front door, which had been kicked in, and some smudged fingerprints around the house. Schonemann, however, was frantic. He had had such an obviously unfair trial, he told me. His tenacity, in fact, was about to pay off in other ways. Once the family trees were completed, authorities were able to locate the son and sister of Janet Doe and coordinate DNA collections for family members of Jane Doe that were out of state. She was kidnapped with her companions Gena Turner and Bryan Boone from Lake Hawkins, in May of 1986. Nevertheless, Simons believed he had found his men. 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. Kenneth had last been seen with two girls from Waxahachie, a blond seventeen-year-old named Raylene Rice and a brunette seventeen-year-old named Jill Montgomery. Price and Turk made quick headway. HAYNES, Ramiro "It seems like yesterday and always will. 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). Authorities were still questioning him about Suzanne's death and Gena and Bryan's disappearances when two more bodies surfaced. Neighbors remembered seeing them with a fourth person, a man, who was older and largely unfamiliar in the area. It was one crisis after another, Schonemann told me. Now she told Price in detail how Simons had visited her after hearing that she had dated Washington; though shed told him she had no information to offer, he kept returning, even bringing crime-scene photos. And, crucially, they kept and carefully stored forensic evidence from the scene. The community will always have a void.". Wed paint all day, then throw down our sleeping bags, turn on the radio, cook, and go to sleep. The shocking announcement of McFaddens role in a crime 2,000 miles away from his usual territory brought an unexpected end to Hlavkas mysterious killing. Dannen soon found what seemed to be confirmation of this during a visit with Thompson. 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. A heavy cloud seemed to descend on the close-knit Hawkins community, and all sense of normalcy came to a halt. He likes to brag a lot, he told his lawyers, and I just thought he was just trying to brag about that because he thought it was something cool.. Jr. Robert Leslie "We all hung out at the point it was the place to be if you were a kid.". I believe that by confessing, I saved my life.. Their mother also urged him not to. His hair is cut close to the scalp, and his close-set eyes are dark with worry. White had another son, Steve Spence, who told officers that she had begun to receive threats; she also thought her phone was tapped. From the start, Dannen had been working on a theory, based in part on Schonemanns writs, that the murders had taken place after a drug deal gone bad. For the first time in years, Thompson felt calm. January 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? Throughout the spring of 1984, an endless string of pretrial hearings domi-nated the local papers; in nightly broadcasts, Wacos citizens were regaled with details of the defendants shady pasts, including the rumor that Spence was a Satan worshipper. I hope that Mr. Spence is still alive when I do so. He then called the chairman of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, though by the end of the conversation, he was convinced that Spence had no chance of a reprieve. She's a former police reporter who also wrote a book about the KFC murder. Both Melendez brothers had testified that they had used the vehicle to transport the teenagers bodies to Speegleville Park. Thank you very much in advance. Al Sharpton. According to TDCJ records, McFadden was executed for the abduction, rape, and murder of 18-year-old Suzanne Denise Harrison. The murders took place during a time when the state of Texas was reducing its prison populations to save money, free up space and avoid building new prisons. Robert Paul Owen Beasley Sr., 70, was listed in very critical condition at Tyler Medical Center Hospital with a gunshot wound to his head and a cut neck, a hospital spokeswoman said. Officials were able to identify the other body as Laura Miller, who was reported missing on Sept. 24, 1984, when she was 16 years old. Simons was sure the DA would be interested in his jailhouse findings, but when he approached one of Feazells assistants, he was told that, as hearsay, the inmate testimony was probably inadmissible in court. It wasnt right., But does that mean Spence was innocent? Hes gone, she said. They were all good kids they were the cream of the crop.". 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. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Clear skies. We remember your smile. And, simply, We remember you., One letter in particular moved Thompson. The Texas Seven was a prison escape which would became a sensation as the seven men from the Texas Department Of Corrections would basically disappeared. Though several people had seen them arrive at Koehne, and Raylenes car was found there, no one had seen them leave. Opening it, he read that there were still no definitive leads. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph), The front page of The Journal, the hometown newspaper in Big Sandy, remembers the lives of Suzanne Harrison, Bryan Boone and Gena Turner who were killed by paroled sex offender Jerry Walter McFadden in 1986. I know theyve spent time and money on the case, and they keep telling me theyre confident they can prove I wasnt there. 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. It was denied. Search above to list available cemeteries. 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. Drag images here or select from your computer for Gena Lee Turner memorial. Yes, Kelley repliedin fact, people had asked if they were sisters. According to Dannen, Reaves, and Bernadette, after a nearly three-hour meeting, Wiley appeared convinced that Melendez was possibly innocentand that Spence might have been too. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted. HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) _ 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 people killed during a daylong murder spree in 1986. need your help for this. Associates of Cook also reported to authorities that she possibly sold and used cocaine, Ratliff said. Two others did match a mark to one of the molds, but it was not Spences. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. I wish you could get the rage from your hearts and you could see the truth and get rid of the hatred., Brad was having none of it. (b) Criminal homicide is murder, capital murder, manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide. Discussing the case had become so painful that she and Thompson quit talking about it. Though Melendez took two polygraphs that seemed to confirm his involvement, he also recanted his confession entirely. I just guessed at it., In truth, back in December 1983 Gilbert had told his first trial lawyers that he had made up his story based on some offhand bragging Spence had done just six weeks after the murders. Detectives eagerly uploaded the information to CODIS, the FBIs national database for DNA. Dannen had now been in Texas for almost three years. There was a problem saving your notification. He had been working on the lake murders in his spare time, he told his boss, and he wanted permission to take over the case. Thats hard to believe, said the deputy to reporters as he walked out. I can do the time., But as that time stretched into a decade and then another and each parole was denied, Melendez grew increasingly hopeless. "When I sit here in retrospect, it doesn't seem like much time has passed at all. HAWKINS, Texas -- A Father's Day gathering in a small east Texas town turned into a blood bath Sunday as a son opened fire, killing his mother and sister and critically injuring his father and hurting two young relatives, police said. Make sure that the file is a photo. They couldnt all be lying. I argued with his lawyer, she told me. There was no time to lose, and the group feverishly got to work. The inmate was also heartened when Walter Reaves took up his case pro bono a year later. Exxon was once a major employer in the area, and the Hawkins school district enjoyed the benefits of being its neighbor. Simons informed him that if he confessed and testified against Spence, hed almost certainly avoid the death penalty. Dannen, who had read every file in the Lake Waco case, remembered the affidavit Price had given Schonemann in 1991, in which she identified a suspect named Benny Carroll. Allen never disclosed anything from the file to the defense. He and Melendez drove the bodies to Speegleville and dumped them there. Would they be willing to identify the remains? $54,900. KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY-TYLER. Seattle Kraken Columbus Blue Jackets 1 -165. I would always get the girls mixed up, Melendez recalled, and hed point at his head so I knew we were talking about the one with black hair., It was Gilbert who persuaded Tony not to testify before Deebs retrial. I can see it still today.". Spence seemed more and more bewildered about what was going on in his mind. There was a lot of apprehension. (Franks was never accused of any wrongdoing.) Now, putting aside any remaining semblance of journalistic objectivity, he signed a paralegal agreement to work for Reaves, who offered to help get Washington out of prison pro bono. Price and Turk returned to their investigation in earnest, tracking down all the informants who had testified against Washington and Williams. On October 16, fourteen hours before Spence was scheduled to die, Owen and Schonemann filed a 164-page writ in each court, in which they stated that in only six weeks of investigating theyd discovered strong indications of astonishing state misconduct in the case against Spence for the Lake Waco murders.