Getting Back to Texas Confidential Online

Anyone who visits this site regularly knows that I generally post original content to it a couple times a week and might have wondered why nothing new has appeared in nearly two months! Ironically, the main reason is that throughout much of October and November I was driving around Texas doing signings and other promotional events for Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State.

Another drain on my resources was "National Novel Writing Month," an annual creative writing project that challenges participants to write a 50,000 word story between November 1 and November 30 that I decided to participate in this year. So, right in the middle of the book tour for Texas Confidential, I spent a month striving to complete a readable fantasy novel -- and am pleased to report that I succeeded in doing so.

Although I am the author or co-author of 10 non-fiction books, I have never really been keen on events like NaNoWriMo for a variety of reasons, but a number of things prompted me to accept the challenge this year. A major incentive for me was that one of the eleven New Year's resolutions I made for 2011 was to finish a novel by the end of the year and, not being on track to do that, I figured that if I was not going to get one done by the end of November that I sure as hell was not going to get one done in December.

Another incentive was the encouragement of my friend Robert Gruver, who also participated in the NaNoWriMo program this year, and I am proud to say that he also met the challenge and completed a 50,000 word novel during the 30-day writing period.

Swords of Kos: Necropolis is a swords-and-sorcery novel and, in that it does not really tie in with the subjects covered on this site I will not say any more about it other than it is on track for publication and that the first 10,000-or-so words of it appear on my NaNoWriMo page, for anyone who might be interested in reading it. Its imagery, however, does draw heavily on my own travels, particularly throughout the Mediterranean and Texas.

But, now that these latest demanding projects are largely done and out of the way, I am back, and will strive to provide useful and entertaining information and observations on this site throughout 2012!

5 Years Ago Today: Janice Vickers Kills Shirley Lindenbaum

CANYON LAKE, TEXAS -- On the night of November 3, 2006, sheriff’s deputies in Comal County, found the barefoot, mangled body of eighty-three-year-old Shirley Lindenbaum near 500 White Oak Drive in the Oaks subdivision of Startzville on the south side of Canyon Lake, about thirty miles north of San Antonio. A resident of the other side of the lake, forty-six-year-old Janice Marie Vickers, claimed to have run over her and then subsequently called 911 around 9:30 p.m.

The Comal County Sherriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Attorney General’s office, proceeded to conduct a two-year investigation of the incident. That led to the arrest of Vickers in December 2008 and a grand jury in early 2009 that determined she should be charged with intentionally striking Lindenbaum with the intent of killing her. Vickers pleaded not guilty to the charges.

After various delays, Vickers’ murder trial began November 2, 2009, one day short of the three-year anniversary of the killing, in the 207th Judicial District court in New Braunfels, Judge Jack Robison presiding. The entirety of the first day of the trial was devoted to selection of the four-man, eight-woman jury.

Much of the initial proceedings on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, involved personal testimony from witnesses intended to establish the respective characters of both the defendant and the victim. The prosecution also presented crime-scene photos that many of the people present found to be horrific and disturbing. The entire top of Lindenbaum’s head was removed when Vickers ran over it multiple times with her Chevrolet Tahoe, and the victim’s body was so badly contorted that, witnesses testified, her breasts and buttocks were both facing in the same direction.

“I’ll have nightmares for a long time,” Mary Lindenbaum, daughter-in-law of the victim, told me when I spoke with her. Other family members and friends of the slain woman seemed equally shaken by the circumstances of her death.

Events: 'Texas Confidential' Signings

Following are signings and other events involving Texas Confidential Michael O. Varhola. This list will get updated frequently over the coming months, so be sure to keep an eye on it and come out for any events you can make it to!

Nov. 19, 2011 (Saturday), New Braunfels, Texas: Weihnachtsmarkt, Book Signing, 1-4 p.m.
I am excited to be doing a signing at this great annual German-style Christmas fest in historic New Braunfels! In addition to having Texas Confidential on hand, I will also have copies of a number of other books I have written, including Life in Civil War America, Shipwrecks and Lost Treasure: Great Lakes, Ghosthunting Maryland, and Ghosthunting Virginia.

Event Report:Camp Mabry Main Exchange (Austin, Texas)

AUSTIN, TEXAS --

Event Report: Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, Texas)

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- I would very much like to thank the entire staff of the Blue Willow Bookshop for setting up a great signing event here on Saturday, Oct. 22, for Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State! The wonderful ladies that run Blue Willow set up the signings I did at Comicpalooza earlier this year and I am pleased to know that we will be working together again at the convention in May 2012.

Special thanks are due to owner Valerie Koehler for scheduling the event, manager Alice Meloy (shown here with me at the signing) for setting up and running it, and bookseller Jordan McPhail for chatting with me during lulls in the action (as she graciously did when I met her during my signings at Comicpalooza). I very much enjoyed visiting with her and Alice and very much look forward to seeing them both again next time we do an event together!

Event Report: Tye Preston Memorial Library (Canyon Lake, Texas)

CANYON LAKE, TEXAS --

Field Report: Bandidos MC

This past Saturday, Oct. 22, I was about halfway between San Antonio and Houston on I-10 east while en route to the latter city for a book signing when I saw a group of bikers coming up fast in the left lane. It was not until they were passing me that I realized they were part of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, one of our local Texas "one percenter" biker gangs. This caught my eye, as much as anything, because the Bandidos are one of the groups I cover in "Gangland Texas," one of the chapters in the "Mayhem" section of Texas Confidential.

There were about two dozen of them and they were moving at about 90 miles per hour and in close formation, two abreast and at tight intervals. Based on what I know of the Bandidos they were likely heavily armed and, if they were on a long run, strung out on methamphetamine or other stimulants. I can only assume that the police give them a wide berth and, if the only obviously illegal thing they are doing is travelling 20 miles over the speed limit simply leave them the hell alone. I can only imagine what would happen if a lone DPF trooper presumed to pull a group of them over. To call them either a club or a gang falls short of an accurate description and it would be much closer to the mark to characterize them as a paramilitary unit.

Established in San Leon, Texas, in 1966, the Bandidos is an outlaw motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate with an estimated 2,400 members in 90 chapters in the United States. It also has more than a hundred international chapters and numerous support clubs that it uses as fronts for both legal and illegal activities. Its symbol is an obese Mexican bandido brandishing a pistol and machete, and its slogan is “We are the people our parents warned us about.”

Historically, the Bandidos have been active in drug running, prostitution, enforcement, and contract killings, and are believed to have been involved in the attempted assassination of U.S. Attorney James Kerr in San Antonio (called for by drug kingpin Jimmy Chagra, who contracted the hit on federal judge John Wood III, which I cover in “The Crime of the Century,” a chapter in the “Murder” section of my book).

Founder Donald Eugene Chambers ended up serving 11 years in prison for his role in the 1972 murder in El Paso of two drug dealers who sold the Bandidos baking soda on the pretense that it was methamphetamine.

“First, the Bandidos and their old ladies tortured the brothers a few days,” journalist Gary Cartwright wrote in his book Dirty Dealing. “Then they hauled them to an isolated spot in the desert and made them dig a common grave,” where they executed them with a sawed-off shotgun and then buried them.

Violence remained an important part of the Bandidos’ way of life. On August 2004, gang member Richard Merla was convicted for stabbing to death International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Robert Quiroga.

“I don’t regret it,” Merla said. “I don’t have no remorse. I don’t feel sorry for him and his family. I don’t and I mean that.” This was a bit much even for the Bandidos, and they expelled Merla, who is currently serving his sentence at the Alfred Hughes unit in Gatesville and will likely be released in 2047.

In March 2006, the police in Austin announced that Bandidos were the primary suspects in the slaying of Anthony Benesh, a 44-year-old motorcyclist who had been trying to start a local Hells Angels chapter. He was assassinated with a high-powered rifle during the same weekend as the Bandidos were celebrating the fortieth anniversary of their founding.

Event Report: Lackland AFB Main Exchange (San Antonio, Texas)

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, TEXAS -- Had a terrific book signing event at the Main Exchange here on Thursday, Oct. 20! I spent two hours here, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., chatting with customers, personalizing copies of the book for people who purchased them while I was there, and then signing the rest so that other customers can pick up an autographed copy.

Thanks to Manager Titus Stokes and his team for putting together this successful event (and for taking the pictures that appear with this report). I knew that the store management was top notch when I showed up and discovered a signing table loaded with about 100 copies of Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State and decorated with balloons -- yes, balloons, a first for me -- and a big poster of me in an especially adventurous pose.

Mr. Stokes expressed an interest in possibly having me come back to do another signing sometime in the foreseeable future and I told him I would be glad to do so and that perhaps sometime in December, when people are doing their Christmas shopping, would be ideal (I also added that I would be glad to do a presentation in addition to a signing if he had the resources to accommodate that). One way or the other, I had a great time at Lackland and am looking forward to the next opportunity to have an event there!

Breaking News: Lee Roy Suarez Arrested!

On Monday, Oct. 3, Mexico authorities arrested Lee Roy Suarez in the region of Monterrey, Mexico, more specifically the Agencia Federal De Investigacion of Mexico City, the Comal County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday, Oct. 4. The Lone Star Fugitive Task Force sponsored by the U.S. Marshals Service has announced the arrest of Lee Roy Suarez (shown at right top and middle).

Suarez was wanted by the Comal County Sheriff’s Office for the homicide of Diego Saenz and aggravated assault of his brother, Vicente Saenz, on Nov. 20, 2004.

Authorities say Vicente was able to identify Lee Roy Suarez and his two friends who started the fight. The others, Christopher Andrew Ortiz and Adrian Guerrero, were quickly taken into custody and charged. Both were convicted, sentenced, and sent to prison. Up until this date, Suarez had remained a fugitive from justice.

The Comal County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. Suarez was aired several times on the nationally syndicated television show, America’s Most Wanted. The countless man-hours finally paid off when members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force along with Mexican authorities, Agencia Federal De Investigacion of Mexico City, were able to track Suarez to San Nicholas, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Investigative efforts revealed that soon after the homicide, Suarez fled to Mexico, assumed another identity, was arrested on at least one occasion by Mexican authorities, but was released before his true identity could be determined.

Still, U.S. authorities continued to pursue Suarez. Suarez was again tracked to Mexico, this time to the region of Monterrey, Mexico. The U.S. Marshals contacted the Agencia Federal De Investigacion. Mexico authorities worked tirelessly throughout this investigation and based upon information shared by U.S. authorities were finally able to locate and apprehend Suarez, who now awaits extradition back to Texas.

"We commend and thank the Mexico authorities, more specifically the Agencia Federal De Investigacion of Mexico City," said Robert R. Almonte, United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas (shown at right). "The cooperative efforts between our two countries clearly demonstrates our resolve to doggedly pursue dangerous criminal and bring them to justice. Furthermore, we hope this arrest brings some closure to the Saenz family and the Comal County community."

Agency members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force participating in this arrest are as follows: Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Comal County Sheriff’s Office, Bexar County Fire Marshal’s Office, San Antonio Independent School District – Police Department, San Antonio Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Office of Inspector General, Texas State Attorney General’s Office – Sex Offender Fugitive Unit and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Breaking News: Inferno Erupts in Waxahachie!

WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS -- An immense industrial inferno broken out at around 10 a.m. CST at the Magnablend Inc. petrochemical plant in this town south of Dallas, threatening a nearby elementary school. The plant is located not far from highway I-35E.

At this writing the fire continues to grow and is spreading unchecked, running out from the plant along roads, railway tracks and around a string of tanker cars, and even along the surface of a stream. The flames are so intense that they have destroyed one of the firetrucks brought in by emergency personnel to battle the blaze.

A massive column of black, choking smoke can be seen for miles of the conflagration.

"This smoke is so thick, that the radar believes it's raining, that's how much stuff is in the air," said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. "This is dangerous, toxic smoke.

Donald Golden, the environmental health and safety manager for the plant, said that all the site's workers had been evacuated and were accounted for and safe. When pressed by CNN for information about what toxins might be contained in the billowing smoke his call was disconnected.

Waxahachie, a community of somewhat more than 21,000 people, is home to more than a half dozen major industrial plants in addition to Magnablend.

"Magnablend is a custom chemical blending, manufacturing and packaging company committed to customer service excellence," the company says on its website.

"Magnablend manufactures products based on each customer's own formulations and specifications, but can assist in the development of new formulations as well. We can assist in the formulation, laboratory, pilot and commercialization phase of any chemical blending project ... Magnablend manufactures custom chemicals for a variety of industries, including: oil field, agriculture, pet food and feed supplements, water treatment, construction and industrial cleaning."

"Magnablend's strategically located facilities allow us to manufacture, blend and package custom liquid or powder chemicals per your specifications quickly and efficiently. Magnablend's strict quality control systems, specialty equipment and processes, custom packaging and labeling, and variety of shipping and receiving methods ensure we will meet and exceed all of your custom chemical needs."

Magnablend has additional facilities in Alice, Texas; Everson, Pennsylvania; Williston, North Dakota; and Caspar, Wyoming.

Video: Magnablend Waxahachie Texas Fire fighting Fail

Event Report: Book Signing, Barnes & Noble Market Heights

HARKER HEIGHTS, TEXAS -- Had a great book signing for Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in the Market Heights shopping plaza near Fort Hood! Thanks to Community Relations Manager Fabbie Santiago not just for setting it up but also for making sure several of my other books were on hand, including Life in Civil War America, Fire & Ice, Ghosthunting Virginia, and Shipwrecks and Lost Treasure: Great Lakes.

One of the highpoints of this event was the opportunity to meet three other Texas authors who were also doing signings at the store, Shawn Henning (Michael Jackson: We Love You More), Peter Lawrence Jackson Jr. (Free the Poet), and H.G. Manning (Southern Legacy, Unwavering Duty). Great chatting with all three of them and very much hope we cross paths again at future events!

Another highpoint was seeing Tanja Cook, an old friend from Munich who lives in the area and took the time to come by and visit for awhile with me and my wife Diane.

6 Years Ago Today: 'Most Hated Woman in America' Murdered!

On Sept. 29, 1995, a trio of kidnappers killed, dismembered, and buried American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her son Jon Murray, and her granddaughter Robin Murray O'Hair. Police in Austin, Texas, did little to investigate the abduction, torture, and murder of the person who had become known as "the most hated woman in America" as a result of her efforts to have prayer expunged from public schools.

While state and federal investigators initially assumed the O'Hair family members had been murdered by religious fanatics, they eventually learned that victims had been abducted and slain by a former employee and his accomplices. They did not benefit from their crimes, however, as one of them was killed by another and they lost the half million dollars they had extorted.

The demise of O'Hair is the subject of "The Most Hated Woman in America," a chapter in the "Murder" section of Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State.

Breaking News: Michael Jackson Death Trial Begins for Houston Dr. Conrad Murray!

Attorneys for the prosecution and defense made opening statements Tuesday, Sept. 27, in the trial of Houston physician Dr. Conrad Murray, 58, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of pop star Michael Jackson in June 2009. The cardiologist has been free on $75,000 bail since February 2010, when he was charged in the felony death of Jackson.

"The evidence in this case will show that Michael Jackson literally put his life in the hands of Conrad Murray," prosecuting Deputy District Attorney David Walgren told the told the seven-man, five-woman jury in the presence of a packed courtroom. "The evidence in this case will show that Michael Jackson trusted his life to the medical skills of Conrad Murray. ... That misplaced trust in the hands of Conrad Murray cost Michael Jackson his life."

Walgren said that Murray administered to Jackson a powerful sedative called propofol in levels equivalent to those used for general anesthesia. Autopsy results showed that Jackson also had a combination of other drugs in his system that contributed to his death.

"The acts and omissions [of Murray] directly led to [Jackson's] premature death at the age of 50," Walgren said and that evidence would show that Murray repeatedly acted with gross negligence, repeatedly denied appropriate care to Jackson, that his repeated incompetence and unskilled acts led to Jackson's death. The pop star was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. June 25, 2009, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

At a hearing in January during which Murray was ordered to stand trial, one of Jackson's security personnel and two paramedics testified that it appeared the singer was already dead before he was taken from his rented home in Holmby Hills to the hospital. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office later determined that Jackson had died of acute propofol intoxication and declared his death a homicide.

Murrary and his defense attorneys maintain that he has been wrongly accused in Jackson's death and suggest that Jackson may have given himself a larger, lethal dose of propofol while the doctor was out of the pop star's bedroom.

Prosecutors allege that Murray administered propofol to Jackson to help him fall asleep after a bout of insomnia following a rehearsal for an upcoming series of concerts in London, failed to properly monitor his patient while focusing on telephone calls and text messages.

Seats were reserved for both Murray's supporters and Jackson's family members and most of them were in court Tuesday, including his parents, brother Jermaine, and sisters Janet and La Toya.

Reporters from more than 30 media outlets also had reserved seats and six members of the public were chosen through a drawing outside the courthouse (but barred from wearing anything related to Jackson or Murray into court).

Testimony is scheduled to begin once the opposing attorneys finish their opening statements. The trial is expected to last four to five weeks. If convicted, Murray could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.

Breaking News: Jasper Hate Killer Executed!

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS -- On Wednesday, Sept. 21, the state of Texas put to death white supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, for his role in the 1998 dragging murder of a black man in Jasper, Texas. All of his appeals had been exhausted and their were no last-minute attempts to stay his execution.

Brewer and two accomplices chained James Byrd Jr., 49, to the back of a pickup truck and then dragged him down a bumpy road until he was not just killed but actually decapitated and dismembered.

"No," Brewer said when asked if he had any final words, a single tear hanging in the corner of his right eye. "I have no final statement."

A lethal injection was administered to Brewer at 6:11 p.m. and he was pronounced dead 10 minutes later. Both of his parents and two of his victim's sisters were in attendance.

One of Brewer's accomplices, John William King, 36, also was convicted of capital murder in Byrd's death and is currently on death row pending sppeal. A third accomplice, Shawn Berry, 36, was sentenced to life in prison.

"One down and one to go," said retired Sheriff Billy Rowles, who initially investigated the horrific scene. "That's kind of cruel but that's reality."

"He had choices," Byrd's sister, Clara Taylor said of Brewer the day before the execution. "He made the wrong choices." She said that someone from her brother's family needed to bear witness to Brewer's execution.

Around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, 1998, witnesses saw Byrd walking on a road not far from his home in Jasper, a 7,000-person community located northeast of Houston. Soon after another witness then saw him riding in the bed of a dark pickup truck. Byrd subsisted on disability payments, could not afford a card, and walked or hitch-hiked to get around.

Around 8:30 a.m., Rowles discovered the grisly scene, in which body parts and blood were spread over a wide area.

"I didn't go down that road too far before I knew this was going to be a bad deal," he testifed at Brewer's trial.

According to testimony at the trial, the three white men drove Byrd out into the country and then stopped along an isolated logging road. There, they attacked their victim, tied him to the truck bumper with a 24-foot logging chain, and dragged him for three miles, dumping his mutilated remains between a black church and cemetery where the pavement on the road ended.

Police arrested Brewer, King, and Berry by the end of the next day.

184 Years Ago Today: Jim Bowie Wins 'Sandbar Fight'!

On September 19, 1827, knife fighter Jim Bowie gained national fame for his role in what became known as "the Sandbar Fight." This armed brawl outside of Natchez, Mississippi, exploded in the wake of an organized duel that ended with its antagonists shaking their hands and walking away.

Bowie was considered to be the most dangerous man in the faction he was part of and some of the men opposing it tried to kill him right away. One of them shot him in the hip and then hit him in the head with the emptied pistol so hard that it broke, knocking Bowie to the ground.

Sheriff Norris Wright of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, with whom Bowie had a running feud, took advantage of his enemy’s predicament and also took a shot at him but missed, upon which Bowie returned fire and may or may not have struck Wright. The sheriff then attacked the prone Bowie with a sword cane and ran him through, embedding the blade in his body. When Wright planted his foot on Bowie’s chest to dislodge his weapon, Bowie grabbed him, pulled him to the ground, and fatally disemboweled him, possibly with one of the long, broad-bladed knives that bears his name.

Bowie was both shot and stabbed at least once more each before the fracas was dispersed but survived his injuries and was lauded in newspapers that covered the incident.

Bowie appears in the chapter "Rogues of the Alamo," one of the "Scandal" section chapters in Texas Confidential, where he warrants inclusion for his role as a slaver in the early 19th century.

6 Years Ago Today: Francis Newton Executed

On September 14, 2005, the state of Texas executed Frances Elaine Newton, who was convicted murdering her 23-year-old husband Adrian, her seven-year-old son Alton, and her 21-month-old daughter. She was the eleventh woman in the United States and the third in Texas to be executed after the reintroduction of the death penalty in the nation.

After apparently shooting all three of her family members with a .25 caliber pistol she had obtained from a man she had been seeing, Newton claimed that they had been slain by a drug dealer. It was Newton, however, and not any drug dealer, who had taken out $50,000 life insurance policies on each of her three victims just three weeks before the murders, forging her husband’s signature and naming herself as the beneficiary.

Despite the fact that the Houston police believed that Adrien Newton was indeed a drug dealer who was in debt to his supplier, reservations among jury members about information that had been withheld during her trial, evidence that her defense attorney was demonstrably incompetent, and other irregularities, Newton was sentenced to death. All subsequent appeals and writs of habeas corpus were denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, as were two appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Newton is one of the three women executed by Texas who appears in "The Women of Death Row," of the of the "Murder" chapters in Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State.

'Texas Confidential' Dedication

Following is the dedication to Texas Confidential. While it is brief, it was important to me to emphasize that, even though my book is concerned with every sort of crime and iniquity, I have not forgotten the victims of those crimes and do not glorify the people who have perpetrated them.

"To the good people of Texas who have, over the years, been preyed upon by the villains of this volume and suffered the effects of their countless crimes."

Breaking News: Pedophile Warren Jeffs Hospitalized!

PALESTINE, TEXAS -- Texas prison officials have announced that convicted pedophile Warren Jeffs has been hospitalized in critical condition as the result of not eating or drinking enough since being imprisoned. At this writing he is at the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, where he was taken Sunday night.

The 55-year-old polygamist leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been incarcerated at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Powledge Unit, near Palestine, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas. He was convicted in early August on two counts of child rape against underage girls that he took as "spiritual brides."

A Year Ago Today: Fires Go Unfought at Canyon Lake

A year ago at Canyon Lake, Texas, the local fire department responded to personal animosities between some of its members and the chief of the neighboring Spring Branch Volunteer Fire Department by refusing to grant mutual aid when it was requested or accept it when it was offered. This policy was blamed by some for the destruction of at least two properties that would likely otherwise have been saved. I covered this issue for The Hilltop Reporter weekly newspaper and the following article is adapted from a piece I wrote for its August 24, 2010, edition.

Lack of public outrage in response to these shennanigans was actually disturbing, and allowed a department that regularly flaunted the rules to act pretty much with impunity; on any number of occasions, I went to publicly announced meetings for its fire board, only to discover that they had been rescheduled for an earlier time and different location, effectively denying the public access to them. One interesting item of note is that the documents the department's board members refused to reveal to the public actually contained nothing and that they invoked attorney-client privilege simply to obscure their actual, personal reasons for refusing to put out fires. Their attitudes toward their vocation are revealed in some of the quotes that follow; "Heroes of 9/11" these guys are not.

CANYON LAKE CITES SAFETY IN ENDING MUTUAL AID
Invokes Attorney-Client Privilege in Withholding Details from Public
CANYON LAKE, TEXAS -- At its regularly-scheduled meeting on Wednesday, August 18, 2010, the Emergency Services District (ESD) 3 Board of Directors for Canyon Lake Fire/EMS only briefly covered the subject of the lapsed mutual aid agreements between Canyon Lake Fire/EMS and the Spring Branch Volunteer Fire Department (SBVFD).

“This is not a gigantic issue at the moment,” ESD 3 Board President Keith Lewis said after reading a short prepared statement on the lapsed agreement, which has been a matter of pressing concern to many residents of the affected communities. Since June, Canyon Lake has declined to render aid at least twice when requested by Spring Branch and has refused to accept it at least once.

Two of those incidents were house fires and one was a grass fire near a home and, in all of the calls, help had to be brought in from more-distant Bulverde and/or Blanco instead.

Chief Sean Wherry responded to Lewis’ statement on mutual aid by noting that he was scheduled to meet with SBVFD Board President Larry Hatfield to discuss the agreements. Two weeks earlier, Hatfield appeared at a special meeting of the ESD 3 Board, read the Fireman’s Prayer, and implored them to restore the mutual aid agreements.

“We’re prepared to sit down and constructively discuss mutual aid with them provided that our safety concerns, and incident command concerns, are properly addressed,” Lewis told The Hilltop Reporter.

Lewis cited “general safety concerns” as the reason for no longer observing the mutual aid agreements and said a list of them had been turned over to the SBVFD Board two months earlier, at a meeting at the Canyon Lake Fire/EMS Station #1 on or about June 19, 2010.

When asked what those concerns were, however, Lewis declined to answer.

“Under the advice of counsel, we cannot at this juncture share detailed written documents, because they are under attorney-client privilege,” Lewis said, refusing also to verbalize the contents of those documents.

“Our whole concern revolves around how a fire scene gets managed and how our firefighters get protected,” Lewis said. “We are not going to have our firefighters exposed to dangerous fire scene activity.”

The Hilltop Reporter also asked the board if anyone associated with Canyon Lake Fire/EMS would be liable if someone died or property was lost in an incident for which they had declined to render aid to Spring Branch when requested or accept it when offered.

“No,” Lewis and a number of the other board members answered immediately.

“We’ve discussed that with our attorney,” Chief Wherry said, and Lewis confirmed that this subject was something they had specifically talked to their counsel about.

ESD 3 Board President Keith Lewis said that details of what had prompted the board to talk to their lawyer specifically about the issue of someone being killed in a fire they refused to render or accept help with was not the public’s business.

“It’s private and confidential,” Lewis said.

And exactly when those concerns will be revealed to the public, and when the agreements will be restored, is still unclear.

“I don’t know,” Lewis said. “Hopefully, during the discussions about a regional mutual aid agreement, everyone will agree how individual fire scenes will be handled, and how the incident command will function, and hopefully … we can develop a workable approach to this.”

“I think as a taxpayer and citizen I’d rather hear about a productive meeting moving forward, versus issues still occurring or issues in the past,” Lieutenant Angela Hemphill said of the board’s decision to keep secret the specific reasons it has decided to stop observing the long-standing mutual aid agreements with Spring Branch.

“I think there is a misconception that all this is based off the e-mail that was sent out by [Bulverde Area Volunteer Fire Department Chief] Charlie Ivy,” said Canyon Lake Fire/EMS Assistant Chief Terry Coffee of a widely-circulated defamatory message about the Spring Branch fire chief. “All these are legitimate fire ground safety concerns we have that our officers have reported to us.”

“What people have to understand is that we have to send firefighters home to their wives and their kids,” Coffee said. “The fire service has changed over the [past] 20 years … It used to be there was an attitude that it was OK to sacrifice all and it was OK to die in a fire. But it’s not that way anymore … we have to look out for our firefighters.”

Addenda: 'Paying for It, Lying About It—And Getting Away With It' ('Sex' Section)

Following is addenda to the chapter "Paying for It, Lying About It — And Getting Away With It," which appears in the "Sex" section of Texas Confidential. Page 48 begins with the words "of lying to the FBI and was fined $10,000 but did not receive prison time or even probation." When Secretary of Housing Henry Cisneros (shown below), the former mayor of San Antonio, lied to the FBI about money he paid his mistress, it caused him untold problems, tarnished a presidential administration, and cost the American taxpayers a lot of money. Following is the entirety of the first paragraph, with the missing words boldened.

The independent counsel’s investigation of Cisneros went on until December 1997, when — eleven months after his term as the head of HUD ended — he was indicted on eighteen charges, including conspiracy, making false statements, and obstruction of justice. In September 1999, he negotiated a plea agreement under which he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of lying to the FBI and was fined $10,000 but did not receive prison time or even probation. And some sixteen months later, in January 2001, Clinton pardoned his buddy as one of his last official acts in the Oval Office.

Breaking News: West Texans Forced to Drink Reclaimed Sewage!

In the face of the second-worst drought in state history, communities have been forced to undertake the reclamation of sewage in order to meet their need for drinking water. The withering heat and lack of rain have destroyed crops, killed livestock, and nearly drained the three main municipal reservoirs in west Texas (the one for Big Spring is shown here).

Officials in ironically-named Big Spring have begun construction on a $13 million water-reclamation plant that is the first of its kind in Texas and which will share its water with the cities of Midland, Odessa, and Stanton. While similar facilities have been built in other states throughout the southwest, their products have typically been used for landscaping and agriculture, rather than human consumption.

In response to to concerns from local residents, officials insist that the plant will produce water that is clean and safe to drink, and even say the water will taste better than the relatively brackish water people in the area have become accustomed to.

What would have been unacceptable in years past is becoming more palatable in direct proportion to how parched the region is. Faced with similar concerns, experts expect other U.S. communities to follow Texas over the coming years.

According to the Colorado River Municipal Water District, it actually began planning for the wastewater recycling plant in 2000 and finally began construction in July. When it is completed in late 2012 it is expected to produce some 2 million gallons of potable water a day.

Even this, however, might be a drop in the bucket, as the water supply for the local district is predicted by some to drop from 65 million gallons a day to 45 million gallons a day within a year.

Breaking News: Terror Attacked Foiled at Fort Hood!

KILLEEN, TEXAS -- Police have captured a U.S. Army deserter near Fort Hood on suspicion of planning attacks against military personel. Private 1st Class Nasser Jason Abdo, a 21-year-old American Muslim, was apprehended after a tip from a gun store employee prompted a multi-agency effort to find him.

Abdo purchased six pounds of smokeless black powder, a box of shotgun shells, and a .40 caliber magazine from the Guns Galore store in Killeen. He raised suspicions in clerk Greg Ebert when he arrived and left in a taxi and indicated that he was not sure what he was buying.

After leaving the gunstore, Abdo had purchased a uniform at a military surplus store and patches of the sort worn by soldiers assigned to Fort Hood, apparently with the intent of infiltrating the facility.

Authorities have said they believe Abdo intended to create a bomb with the items he purchased at the gunstore and some other items discovered in his room at the Americas Best Value Inn at 1100 S. Fort Hood Street, to include some Christmas light timers. Police captured him there at 2:03 p.m. on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 27.

Abdo is currently being held in the Killeen City Jail, where he is facing federal bomb-making charges. Once charges are filed, U.S. Marshals will take custody of Abdo and bring him before a magistrate in Waco.

He had been on the run since July 4, after going AWOL from his duty station of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after being sought on a warrant for possession of child pornography.

Abdo enlisted in the Army in March 2009, trained as an infantryman, and in June of that year was assigned to to 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell. He was reportedly raised in Texas and of Palestinian descent.

Fort Hood was the target of a serious attack on November 5, 2009, when gunman U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist, allegedly opened fire in the post Soldier Readiness Center, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others. Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

On July 27, 2011, Fort Hood Chief Circuit Judge Colonel Gregory Gross set a March 5, 2012 trial date for Hasan to be court martialed for the Fort Hood shooting rampage with a recommendation for the death penalty.

Breaking News: 'Jerry Joseph' Sentenced to 3 Years!

On July 27, 2011, Haitian immigrant Guerdwich Montimere was convicted on three counts of Tampering with a Government Document and two counts of Sexual Assault on a Child and sentenced to three years in prison. He is currently serving his sentence at the Tulia unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Swisher, Texas, and is eligible for parole in May 2012.

Montimere became famous under the assumed name of Jerry Joseph when he became a star player for the Permian High School basketball team, in Odessa, Texas. At that point, he was 22-years-old and posing as a 15-year-old sophomore, in the course of which he dated and had sex with at least one underage girl. His deception was discovered in May 2010 and he was arrested soon after and held in the Ector County, Texas, jail while awaiting trial.

Joseph/Montimere is all the subject of the chapter "Friday Night Lies" in Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State. See also "'Jerry Joseph' Jaws with GQ!"

Breaking News: FBI Raids Medicaid Scammers in San Antonio!

SAN ANTONIO -- Heavily armed FBI agents launched raids against a number of former government employees and their relatives early on Tuesday, July 26, following an investigation into allegations that they used their official positions to perpetrate a Medicaid/Medicare scam.

Breaking News:6 Dead in Grand Prairie Roller Rink Massacre!

GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS -- A gunman went on a shooting rampage at a roller rink birthday party in this Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex community about 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, killing five people and wounding three others before fatally turning his weapon on himself.

A police spokesman identified the shooter as local resident Tan Do, 35, and said the party was for his 11-year-old son. Do reporterly ordered the children to leave the party and, after they ran and hid, opened fire.

According to officials, the victims of the Forum Roller World shooting include Do's estranged wife, Trini Do, 29, of Grand Prairie; her sisters, Lynn Ta, 16, and Michelle Ta, 28; her brother, Hien Ta, 21; and her sister-in-law, Thuy Nguyen, 25. Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye said the incident was sparked by an apparent domestic disturbance between a husband and wife.

Police spokesman John Brimmer said the gunman was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. The wounded survivors of the attack were taken to various area hospitals but their conditions have not yet been disclosed.

Interview: Jim Harold's Crime Scene

Had a great chat this week with radio host Jim Harold for his terrific "Crime Scene" show about Texas Confidential. He asked some terrific questions and I responded with some answers that I had not yet given on any other show. It runs about 35 minutes and anyone interested in listening to it can click here to do so.

Jim hosts a number of great shows and they are normally available by subscription, but he has very generously set up a special link for Texas Confidential Online readers so that they can listen to this show for free!

Breaking News: Texas 'Arab Slayer' Executed

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS -- At 8:53 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice executed convicted murderer Mark Anthony Stroman in the state execution chamber.

Stroman had been on death row at the TDCJ's Polunsky since April 2002, when he was convicted of killing a Dallas-area convenience store clerk from India during a shooting spree that he said was in retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Even though I lay on this gurney, seconds away from my death, I am at total peace," Stroman said a few miniute before his death, adding that he was "still a proud American, Texas loud, Texas proud." The former day laborer said hate in the world needed to end, said he loved his friends, and asked for God's grace shortly before receiving a lethal injection less than an hour after his final court appeal had been rejected.

"God bless America. God bless everyone," Stroman said. "Let's do this damn thing ... One, two, there it goes." Eleven minutes later he was pronounced dead.

In October 2001, Stroman went on a shooting spree throughout the Dallas area, killing two men, 49-year-old Vasudev Patel, an immigrant from India, and Waqar Hasan, an immigrant from Pakistan, and severely wounding Rais Bhuiyan, a native of Bangladesh. It was for the murder of Patel that Stroman was put to death.

Stroman claimed that he was motivated to kill people from the Middle East because of the September 11 terrorist attacks. None of his victims, however, were Arabs or from the Middle East.

Witnesses to the execution included five of Stroman's friends and a police officer who attended on behalf of Patel's family.

Bhuiyan had unsuccessfully attempted to have the execution halted, asserting that his Muslim religious beliefs required him to forgive Stroman. Bhuiyan had also requested to spend time with Stroman so as to learn more about why he had launched his rampage. Stroman shot Bhuiyan in the face with a shotgun, blinding him in one eye.

"Killing him is not the solution," Bhuiyan said. "He's learning from his mistake. If he's given a chance, he's able to reach out to others and spread that message to others." Unmoved by appeals to Muslim mercy, the courts denied his requests.

Stroman's execution was delayed for almost three hours while a state judge in Austin considered Bhuiyan's lawsuit to block it, until the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals barred him from doing so (see the chapter "Cruel Justice" in Texas Confidential for the Texas high courts hard line on death penalty cases). Earlier in the day the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected appeals in the case.

Stroman's claims of patriotism notwithstanding, he was a career criminal who commmitted his first armed robbery at age 12. He had previous convictions for burglary, robbery, theft, and credit card abuse, had served two terms in prison, and was free on bond for a gun possession arrest when he murdered Patel and Bhuiyan.

Stroman's execution was thus far the eighth in Texas in 2011 and at least another eight more are scheduled to meet their fates in the state's death chamber this year.

Welcome to Texas Confidential Online!

Welcome to 'Texas Confidential Online'! This site is an official online supplement to the print edition of the true-crime book Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State, which was released just this month. This site will be home to an increasing body of content, including:

* Addenda, expansions, and updates to the chapters that appear in the book.

* "Behind the Scenes" pieces on the research, travel, and personal experiences behind some of the chapters in Texas Confidential.

* "Breaking News." This department mentions media coverage of things related to the material in Texas Confidential and includes links back to their stories on them. Current items on this sort on the site include Strange Family Ties: Man Discovers Mother Killed by Joe Ball, Police Raid Home on Tip from Psychic, and Court Rules Against Anna Nicole Smith Estate.

* Features on relevant groups and organizations. These will include articles on the Texas Rangers, Texas EquuSearch, and other entities involved in battling crime and its effects in the Lone Star State.

* Additional photos and graphics. For many chapters we were able to find images that did a good job of illustrating the text but which were too low-resolution to include in the print edition of the book, and we will make many of these available here.

* Travel information. An appendix on Travel Resources related to the chapters on Texas Confidential was one of the things that needed to get cut from the print edition of the book and a living version of it now appears on this site.

* Event listings. This will include everything from signings and appearances by the author of Texas Confidential to things like annual festivals associated with sites and episodes described in the book.

* Q&A This section will answer questions from readers, which they can pose as Comments to pertinent sections or send directly via email.

* "Where They Are Now." This department is exclusive to this site and provides updates on the status of people covered in Texas Confidential, to include incarcerations, releases from prison, deaths, and the like.

* Reviews, interviews, lists, links, tips, and other features designed to complement the book. Book reviews currently on the site include ones of conspiracy theorist Jimm Marrs' great The Rise of the Fourth Reich.

* New Chapters. These will include write-ups of historic and breaking episodes of sex, scandal, murder, and mayhem. Examples include pieces on iconic stripper Candy Barr, Rev. John Fiala, who not only raped young boys but also tried to have one his victims murdered, and freakish child rapist Warren Jeffs (sex); the Bush family crimes and connections to the Nazi regime during World War II, the Zambian boys choir enslaved by Baptist minister Richard Grimes, and the Comal County fire department that opted out of fighting fires in the summer of 2010 (scandal); Kennedy assassination theories; redneck couple Gayle and Sheila Muhs, who murdered a child for playing on public property near their home; the role of Houston doctor Conrad Murray in the death of Michael Jackson; and the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood (murder); and the Greer County border war, German submarines preying on shipping off the shores of Galveston, Ozzie Osbourne's indiscretions at the Alamo, the man Laura Bush killed when she ran a stop sign, David Koresh and the massacre at Waco, the Republic of Texas separatist militia, and the one-man Jihad against George W. Bush (mayhem).

Breaking News: Casey Anthony Released from Jail!

Casey Anthony was released from the Orange County Jail in Orlando, Florida, where she has been incarcerated since being arrested in 2008 at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, July 13. Escorted by a heavily-armed sheriff's deputy, the acquitted accused murderess walked out of the county facility with her attorney, Jose Baez (shown here with Anthony), and the two drove off in a gray SUV to "an undisclosed location." An angry mob of protestors chased after the vehicle as it sped off.

Three journalists from different organizations were permitted to cover the release. Texas Confidential Online was not among those granted permission.

Where Anthony went after leaving the jail in Orlando is not yet clear but rumors have ciculated since Wednesday, July 6, that she was going to be relocating to Houston (see "Casey Anthony Moving to Texas!"). Varying reports state she was taken to the offices of Cheney Mason, one of her defense attorneys, and/or that she was taken to an executive airport and thereafter flown to Ohio or some other location. Decoy vehicles may have been used to help obscure her movements after leaving the jail.

Anthony was convicted on four counts of lying to the police and sentenced to one year in prison for each of them and, with time served and good behavior being taken into consideration, was found to have paid her debt to society. (Anthony is shown here after her arrest in 2008.)

CNN's Jane Velez Mitchell was among the talking heads who began discussing rumors that upon her release from jail Anthony would be travelling to the Lone Star State and moving in with an aunt. Motives for this include a desire not to move back in with her father, who she has accused of molesting her, avoiding the angry mobs that have gathered in Orlando and dismissed the validity of the jury's decision, and seeking anonymity in a large metropolitan area.

The ongoing Casey Anthony affair has another Texas connection in the form of Texas EquuSearch, a search organization headquartered in the Houston suburb of Dickinson, which played a big role in the search for missing infant Caylee Anthony. According to the group, it spent some $112,000 organizing searches for Caylee and now wants to be reimbursed by the Anthony family, as reported on by station KIAH in Houston: Texas Equusearch Founder To Sue Casey Anthony

* See also "Casey Anthony Trial — The Aftermath" on the Religion, Politics, and Sex site.

* See also "10 Years Ago Today: Andrea Yates Child Murders" to read about one of the more sensational cases of the same sort that occured in Texas. Yates is one of seven mothers profiled in "(Bad) Mothers of the Year," one of the Chapters in Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder and Mayhem in the Lone Star State.

Breaking News: 'Jerry Joseph' Jaws with GQ!

In May 2010, residents of Odessa, Texas, were stunned to learn that the standout sophomore Permian High School basketball player they knew as Jerry Joseph was really a 22-year old man.

Joseph -- aka Guerdwich Montimere, a naturalized immigrant from Haiti who played high school basketball in Florida (shown here hulking over a genuine high-school student) -- was arrested and has been jailed in Ector County, Texas, for the past 14 months and is awaiting trial on a half-dozen charges that include presenting false identification to a peace officer and statutory rape. Joseph/Montimere recently gave his first interview in more than a year to GQ magazine.

"Odessa is still dumbstruck," writes author Michael J. Mooney in the article. "Principal Garcia wonders if maybe the kid picked Permian because it's the school from Friday Night Lights. 'Maybe he thought we were all a bunch of dumb hillbillies?'"

Go to "Blindsided: The Jerry Joseph Basketball Scandal" to read the full text of the story in the July 2011 issue of GQ magazine. Joseph/Montimere is all the subject of the chapter "Friday Night Lies" in Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State. See also "Jerry Joseph Sentenced to 3 Years!"

Breaking News: Casey Anthony Moving to Texas!

The ongoing Casey Anthony murder trial drama got a Texas connection on Wednesday, July 6, when rumors began circulating that the acquitted accused murderess was going to be relocating to Houston.

Anthony was convicted on four counts of lying to the police and sentenced to one year in prison for each of them and, with time served and good behavior being taken into consideration, is now scheduled to be released on Sunday, July 17. (Anthony is shown here during her sentencing on the morning of Thursday, July 7.)

CNN's Jane Velez Mitchell was among the talking heads who began discussing rumors that upon her release from jail Anthony would be travelling to the Lone Star State and moving in with an aunt. Motives for this include a desire not to move back in with her father, who she has accused of molesting her, avoiding the angry mobs that have gathered in Orlando and dismissed the validity of the jury's decision, and seeking anonymity in a large metropolitan area. (Anthony is shown here after her arrest in 2008.)

* The ongoing Casey Anthony affair had another Texas connection in the form of Texas EquuSearch, a search organization headquartered in the Houston suburb of Dickinson, which played a big role in the search for missing infant Caylee Anthony. Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller has spoken out about his dissatisfaction over the Anthony verdict in a recent story run by KHOU in Houston: "Texas EquuSearch Founder: Casey Anthony Verdict 'Unbelievable'"

* According to Texas EquuSearch, it spent some $112,000 organizing searches for Caylee and now wants to be reimbursed by the Anthony family, as reported on by station KIAH in Houston: Texas Equusearch Founder To Sue Casey Anthony

* Other Texas experts stood by the results of the trial and have spoken out in support of them. These include Tyler, Texas, defense attorney Bobby Mims, whose expressed his views in an interview with the Tyler Morning Telegraph: "East Texas Defense Attorneys Say Casey Anthony Jury Did Its Job"

* Houston attorneys interviewed by KHOU also stood behind the Orlando jury's decision: "Attorneys Weigh-In On Casey Anthony Verdict"

* Many Texans without any sort of legal background, however, derided the decision of the jury, as reported by KDAF TV in Dallas: "North Texans React to Casey Anthony Verdict"

* See also "Casey Anthony Trial — The Aftermath" on the Religion, Politics, and Sex site.

* See also "10 Years Ago Today: Andrea Yates Child Murders" to read about one of the more sensational cases of the same sort that occured in Texas. Yates is one of seven mothers profiled in "(Bad) Mothers of the Year," one of the Chapters in Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder and Mayhem in the Lone Star State.

Breaking News: Los Zetas Gang Leader Caught

Mexican authorities announced July 3 that they had caught founding member of the Los Zetas drug cartel who is suspected of being involved in the recent murder of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar has been identified as third in command of Los Zetas, a dangerous criminal enterprise started by deserters from the Mexican army's special forces. Originally an enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel, over the course of a 10-year period the Zetas evolved into a drug-trafficking entity in its own right.

According to the Mexican federal police, Aguilar was captured without incident on Sunday, July 3, in the town of Atizapan, outside Mexico City. He was one of the most-wanted men in Mexico and the U.S. State Department had offered $5 million for information leading to his arrest (Aguilar is shown here at a press conference July 4).

In February, Los Zetas gunmen attacked ICE agents Victor Avila and Jaime Zapata while they drove along a road in San Luis Potosi state, wounding Avila and killing Zapata (shown at right). A week later, Mexican police arrested one of the gunmen, who said they had attacked the agents only because they thought they were members of a rival gang.

Aguilar joined the Mexican Army in 1993, became a member of its elite Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales in 1996, became an agent with the Mexican Attorney General's Office in 1997, and in 1999 deserted and helped establish Los Zetas.

Los Zetas Cartel active throughout Mexico and Texas and has expanded its operations to include contract killing, extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, oil siphoning, and human trafficking. Its armaments include fully automatic assault rifles, submachine guns, heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, surface-to-air missiles, explosives, armored vehicles, helicopters, and body armor. The gang is blamed for much of the violence that has left more than 35,000 dead since December 2006.

Los Zetas Cartel is one of the criminal organizations covered in "Gangland Texas," one of the "Mayhem" chapters in in Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State.

Breaking News: Court Rules Against Anna Nicole Smith Estate

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Thursday, June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the estate of Anna Nicole Smith in the latest phase of the long-running battle over whether Texas billionaire J. Howard Marshall's alleged promise to give a significant portion of his $1.6 billion estate to his young wife supplanted a will leaving his fortune to his son. The court ruled that a previous decision by a bankruptcy judge to grant Smith millions of dollars from the estate of her oil tycoon husband was decided incorrectly because that judge did not have the constitutional right to reach outside of bankruptcy cases into a probate case.

The late Anna Nicole Smith is the subject of a chapter in Texas Confidential and her slatternly likeness appears on the cover of the book! Read more about about her estate's travails in a recent AP story that appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.

10 Years Ago Today: Andrea Yates Child Murders

10 years ago today, on June 20, 2001, mentally ill Houston mother Andrea Yates murdered her five children. Yates is currently confined at a state mental institution in Kerrville, Texas, and will be eligible for release in November if the state cannot show cause to hold her. She is one of seven filicidal mothers covered in "(Bad) Mothers of the Year," one of the chapters in the "Murder" section of Texas Confidential.

When they were married in 1993, Andrea and Rusty Yates declared that they “would seek to have as many babies as nature allowed.” For the next six years they stayed true to their promise, with Andrea bearing four sons and raising them in a succession of cramped trailers and motor homes while Rusty spent most of his time at work.

By June 1999, however, Andrea’s role as breeding stock had begun to take a heavy psychological toll on her, and she began to suffer signs of severe postpartum depression and psychosis that were exacerbated by her fixation on the message of fire-and-brimstone preacher Michael Peter Woroniecki. She attempted to commit suicide twice and was committed to a mental hospital and prescribed antidepressants and the antipsychotic drug Haldol.

Rusty condescended to move the family into a small house at that point for the sake of his wife’s mental health. By July, however, she had a nervous breakdown, made two more suicide attempts, and spent periods of time in two psychiatric wards, where she was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis.

Despite the urgings of her psychiatrist and warnings that doing so would “guarantee future psychotic depression,” Andrea and her husband conceived their fifth child just seven weeks after her release from the hospital. She went off her medication soon thereafter, and her daughter was born at the end of November 2000.

As predicted, Andrea’s mental state deteriorated rapidly and within a matter of months she had ceased talking, started mutilating herself, and stopped feeding her daughter. She had also taken to reading the Bible feverishly. Between April and June 2001 she became nearly catatonic a number of times and had to be hospitalized.

On June 20, Rusty Yates went to work an hour before his mother was scheduled to arrive at the house and left Andrea alone with the five children, ages six months to seven years, against the instructions of her psychiatrist.

“She drowned the four youngest children in the bathtub and placed them on a back bedroom bed and covered them with a sheet,” the Houston Chronicle reported. “When the oldest boy walked into the bathroom and asked what was wrong with his sister, Andrea Yates told investigators she ran after him and then drowned him,” leaving him floating in the tub.

Yates later claimed that she had killed her children in order to ensure their salvation.

“My children weren’t righteous,” she said. “They stumbled because I was evil. The way I was raising them, they could never be saved. They were doomed to perish in the fires of Hell.”

Andrea’s defense attorneys argued that she was not guilty by reason of insanity but, during her trial in March 2002, a jury rejected this and found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to life in prison with eligibility for parole after forty years. In January 2005, however, a Texas Court of Appeals reversed Andrea’s convictions because one of the prosecution’s expert psychiatric witnesses admitted to giving false testimony.

Yates was retried, and in July 2006, a jury found her to be not guilty by reason of insanity. She was initially sent to the North Texas State Hospital (Vernon Campus) but, in January 2007, was transferred to the low-security state mental hospital in Kerrville.