1982 Lake Waco Murders

BKL67 · Jun 6, 2020

There are a plethora of possibilities as to why Jill Montgomery and Raylene Rice stopped at the Ivy Square Apartments that day and honestly there isn't enough information available to make a satisfactory solid conclusion and unfortunately this question will be one the many that will remain unanswered. A couple things I did see in the reports I found interesting maybe a little strange but probably really doesn't have anything to do with this case but I will throw it out there. First in the reports you find that a number of kids left the Methodist Home and went to live with staff members of the Home, I didn't think that would be permissible, you would want the staff to keep a professional relationship with the troubled kids, moving away from the structured environment of the Methodist Home to live under the same roof elsewhere some personal relationship would develop no matter the extent of that relationship. But maybe some of those kids needed parents and allowing them to be placed with someone they were familiar with was deemed best, I don't know I just thought it was a little strange. The reason I mentioned this is because reading about these kids and Staff members living together you can't miss that Linda Fuqua a staff member was living at the Ivy Square Apartments and was there when so many kids from the Home all ended up there at the same time on a Tuesday afternoon. In the reports and files I do see law enforcement talked to the three run away boys and I would imagine they talked to Ms. Fuqua as well I just can't recall seeing it in the files anywhere and now that the files have disappeared we as lost the ability to verify so much information. I have tried to track down the three boys and Linda Fuqua to see what they have to say but as of yet I've had no luck. I guess I should take the time to explain the whole missing file thing, so people can understand the magnitude of this cataclysmic development, not trying to access blame to anyone as others have tried to do. Part of the problem with the story Bernadette Feazell and Fred Dannen have told over the years and unfortunately has been repeated so often over the last two and a half decades is that it is a extremely narrow view. They chose to pick out a very few items where they were hoping they could wrench some legally damaging technicality out of. Those few issues you could find in two or three filing boxes, the case files are so much more voluminous that this. David Chapman, one of the attorneys along with Bill Lane that handled the prosecution for the State during Deeb's retrial, took possession of the files after the conclusion of that trial because they were so massive no one knew what to do with them. Later in the mid 90's, I believe it was 1996, with the advent of using DNA in criminal cases, In the United States Dr. Edward Blake would be the first to use DNA evidence in a civil case in 1986, it would be Dr. Blake's lab where the physical evidence of this case was sent to in California. The first criminal case to convict someone was in 1988 in New York and after appeals about the use of this evidence went to and were upheld by the New York Supreme Court, little by little other states' Supreme Courts started following suit and allowing DNA in criminal cases. Sorry I know I'm getting a little off track but I can't stop myself. Anyway in 1996 David Chapman had all the files on the Lake Waco Murders case, he would hand those over to Max Courtney and Lori Youngblood, Courtney being a DNA expert hired by the defense. There was some disagreement about this in the legal community some believing Courtney's access should be limited to just the files containing the physical evidence and any files relating to that evidence while others believed it better to keep all the files together, the latter opinion won the argument. David Chapman signed off on releasing the files to Mr. Courtney and in his detailed description of what he is turning over he gives the number of file boxes he is turning over. At the moment I can't recall the exact number but if any one really wants to know I can look it up I know exactly where to find that, I do remember the number of boxes he turned over was over 50. Think about that over 50 boxes of information; investigations from multiple law enforcement agencies, investigations conducted by the different prosecutors and multiple defense teams, interviews with hundreds of people, trial transcripts from all the trials, appeals and the corresponding Appellate courts findings and decisions, the physical evidence collected at the crime scene and samples taken from people of interest, it's all in those files plus so much more that most people have never heard of. Most counties in America have never had a case with so many files so it is no wonder there was difficulty deciding where to store it and the files would expand as further developments occurred, as did the chain of custody of those files. Fred Dannen taking possession of them in the early 2000s, I think 2001 and Michael Hall had excess to those files, as he writes, for a year before he wrote his piece in the Texas Monthly in 2014. As most know a very good article but it has flaws, I would proffer from reading that article, Mr. Hall's access was limited to what Mr. Dannen wanted him to see. Dannen would later run off to Mexico after it was discovered he had at least mishandled the DNA evidence and the State announced they would have questions with any of the DNA evidence Mr. Dannen had taken possession of. Tampering with evidence is a felony, Mr. Dannen got the hint not only leaving Texas but the whole country, heading south of the border. Bernadette Feazell taking up for her once partner in creating the falsehoods of the Lake Waco Murders claimed Dannen had returned all the files before he took off to Mexico but when new lawyers took over representation of Anthony Melendez and Spence's sons they could not locate the files and as far as I know they haven't been rediscovered yet. So you can see by just hearing about 5 or 6 issues from a case of over 50 boxes you are missing a lot of information and it will be information lost forever unless we can get people to talk that were part of filling those files in the first place. Getting back to the three run away boys that I have been unable to talk to, so we don't know what they told law enforcement because of the missing files, there is still something in the reports that stood out to me.

BKL67 · Jun 6, 2020

The other thing I found interesting in the police reports was it seems Fort Fisher was a hot spot for stolen cars bot cars being stolen from the Forts parking lot and stolen cars being abandoned there as well, there are a couple of incidents recorded in the reports in that relative short period of time, seeing the boys stole a car from Waco but exactly where the reports don't say. I would ask is it possible Jill and Raylene ran into the boys at Fort Fisher and in talking to them found out their intentions to steal a car she talked them out of it and either took them elsewhere or asked to meet them elsewhere, not wanting the boys to steal a car belonging to one of her former co-workers and friends? Just a possibility. One problem we have researching this case as I would expect to be the same with any old case is so many things change. When I started looking into this case I tried to find the location of the Ivy Square Apartments, trying to maybe fill in some of the time that can't be accounted for depending on how far the girls might have had to travel to get there. But I could never find those apartments they no longer existed, which would be the same for the Northwood Apartments but I did at least have an address for the latter which was and at least until two years ago just an empty lot. At some point some one did tell me they believed the Ivy Square Apartments that were only on the second floor there being businesses on the first floor. Luckily some one that lived in Waco was nice enough to find some old phone directories from the time for me, this helped me find the address and location of the Ivy Square Apartments and the names of the tenants that were renting the apartments at the time, maybe the kids from the Home knew one of these tenants, to date i haven't found any connection to any of the kids from the Home and any of the tenants other they Linda Fuqua. In the directories all the apartments started with the number 2, usually denoting they are on the second floor, so the information I had received about there being businesses on the first floor looks to be correct. I really couldn't determine what businesses were there or how many. But this is when I found how close the apartments were to Fort Fisher, so if Jill had told her run away friends to meet her some where away from Fort Fisher but close because she wouldn't be long, the Ivy Square Apartments and the businesses under them would have been a perfect place. And if one of those businesses was somewhere the girls could have gotten something to eat, as they told Ms. Booker that's what they were going to do, it would make more sense. So the idea that the girls were planning to meet some one is within the realm of possibilities, even if not the three runaways, maybe some one else and the girls just had time to waste or if they did order some thing to eat and were waiting for their orders to be prepared and again just wanting to waste time decided to look at an apartment because they had nothing better to do. The reports never make clear if Mrs. Oliver and Linda Fuqua saw the girls talking to the boys before or after Jill inquired about the apartment. So we have the possibilities the girls were waiting for somebody or something like their food and just were wasting time, why not get out of the burning Texas mid summer heat into an air conditioned apartment for a few minutes while you wait, that's assuming the apartments had AC and it would be running in an empty apartment , or maybe the girls went there to see one of the tenants there and not finding the person they were looking for, again either to waste time hoping that person would arrive, or maybe being noticed by the manager made up the excuse of wanting to rent an apartment as the reason for hanging around. All these scenarios are considerable possibilities but there is at least one more and it has darker overtones and maybe that's why we never hear about it.

BKL67 · Jun 7, 2020

If Jill was looking to rent an apartment is it possible she was looking to rent it for some one else that couldn't come up with the money to cover the rent on their own and if so whom was the person? What we know from the reports; on Sunday Night July 11th, two nights before the murders, Kenneth Franks calls Jill Montgomery, of coarse we don't the contents of that call, the clues or hints we get come from Jill's mother, some one I would consider a reliable source, it was after this call that Jill started making plans to return to Waco. Also after this call Jill went to her mother and asked something to the effect what do you do when you are in love with some one that is trouble or love some one that you know causes you trouble, Jill's mother not thinking much about it at the time, didn't pry for more detail answering, again inexact, that she (Jill) would figure it out. Jill's remembered this conversation well because it would be the last one she would ever have with her daughter. After that Jill's mother states Jill became somber and just moped around, her mother could sense something was wrong or bothering Jill but now Jill wouldn't talk and that was the status of things up until the time left that fateful Tuesday morning. Theses recollections from Jill's mother haunting as they are are also strong indications Jill was worried and had some self doubt about something she was getting involved in and it probably had something to do with Kenneth Franks. And as Jill's mother was very cooperative which fosters the judgement of her reliability even as grief stricken she was at the time, the same cannot be said of Richard Franks, Kenneth's father. He withheld information, was uncooperative and it looks like was he wasn't being totally honest or trying to hide something. A few examples we see in the reports, one day a few days after the murders the detectives went to the Franks' residence they wanted to go inside to see if they could find anything that could provide them any clues to what had happened or whom might be responsible for the murders, they wanted to check out Kenneth's room but Mr. Franks would not allow them in. Mr. Franks told them he would collect things from Kenneth's room and bring those materials to the station later, which he did about two weeks after the murders. It was this visit to the station most people remember as the time when Mr. Franks made the disturbing and incriminating statement to the police he was there the whole time Kenneth was being killed. Hey I have been very critical of Richard Franks behavior during the early parts of this investigation and I know we have to cut him some slack because we can't accurately predict how some one should act or will act after suffering a loss and tragedy this devastating, so I believe Mr. Franks strange confession was implying he was there in spirit, I believe in doing so he was saying he knew Kenneth was having problems, problems Mr. Frank did nothing to address. This would in complete contradiction to what he kept telling police when stating there were no problems but as we will see a number of Kenneth's friends and associates reported differently. But the most astounding admission Mr. Franks made during that visit to the police station was he had been at Midway Park the night of the murders between 9:00 p.m. and midnight something he had failed to inform law enforcement up until then, well aware as most people in central Texas were that the police wanted to talk to anyone that had been out at any of the parks on the lake that night, to gain information into these people could have seen or witnessed, Mr. Franks two week silence on this is troubling.

In the book Careless Whispers there is little to no mention of Mr. Franks sexual preference, in the police reports there is little on this, maybe the investigators didn't want their own attitudes toward homosexuality conflated with their steadily growing adverse attitude towards the uncooperative Richard Franks. These investigators surely didn't have a problem calling out others as either known homosexuals or possible homosexuals, actually it was a common thread attributed to many individuals mentioned in the reports. Later the story presented to the public was Kenneth Franks didn't have any problems with his father's homosexuality, in the limited mention of this in the police reports and actually the only time it is mentioned in the reports is when a few of Kenneth's friends and associates report otherwise, including Gayle Kelly. And as Mr. Franks' claim that there were no problems at home his claim that Kenneth never stayed out all night or didn't come home this doesn't look to be true. Gayle Kelly would state Kenneth was having problems with his father's life style and also Mr. Franks' live in boyfriend or partner Kenneth King, Gayle adding Kenneth wouldn't go home and stay at Patti Deis', apparently this happened multiple times in the short time Patti had the apartment from June 2nd until the murders on July 13th and Gayle Kelly was not the only one to report striking similar accounts of this to the police.

BKL67 · Jun 7, 2020

In the police reports there are interesting mentions of three Dannys and a Donnie sometimes mistakenly referred to as Danny in some of the reports, this being Donnie Sizemore, at one time a suspect, there is still some question if he was in Waco or Alabama at the time of the murders, the FBI handled this part of the investigation, which is one of the few things you can find in the heavily redacted, limited files the FBI is willing to release on their involvement and investigation of the Lake Waco Murders. One of the Danny's mentioned was reported to be nineteen year old Danny Orslak known to sell meth out of a white station wagon at the parks around the lake, the interesting thing about that is meth was one of many of David Spence's drugs of choice and shortly after the murders he bought a white station wagon, I have asked where David got his white station wagon but no one as been able to provide me with an answer, I guess there should be a title transfer somewhere, so is there a connection I don't know it is just one of those things you see and you question. Now, the other two Dannys I always get mixed up, they would be Danny McGinnis and Danny McSpadden. On the one Danny the Waco PD were informed he was a friend of Kenneth Frank's and might have information about the murders. When they went to talk to this Danny in mid August he stated he was friends with Kenneth but they really weren't that close and hadn't seen him since about a month before the murders. Danny had more to say about the disappearance of Beth Bramlett, her body being discovered a few days before the police talked to him, than he did about the Lake Waco Murders. He attended the party where Beth had disappeared, he claimed he had fallen a sleep in his car only to be awaken when a altercation broke out between some of the other party goers, some one pulled out a gun and started shooting, Beth Bramlett ran into the woods to hide or seek protection from the flying bullets with two other individuals, one being named Robert Watts. The third individual that had run into the woods with Beth and Robert, I believe his name was Isaac Ochoa, came out of the woods and apologized to the individual doing the shooting. Danny said he never saw Beth or Robert ever return that night and added a few days after the murders he saw Robert wearing a belt that belonged to Beth Bramlett. And then Danny informed the police how any of this was connected to the Lake Waco Murders, stating Robert Watts had been the first person to tell some of his friends in Axtell about the murders, Danny providing the name where he had heard this, the name he gave was Percy Singleton. When police went to talk to Percy and his mother they were told the person they probably wanted to or needed to talk to was Drury Singleton, this was one of the individuals Waco PD described as a known homosexual, making in their judgement Robert Watts a possible homosexual, he was the one that had picked up Robert Watts in Waco a couple days after the murders and Robert had told Drury about the murders. Next the police went to talk to Drury and he supported what Percy and his mother had told them, Drury stating he had picked up Robert Watts on the Thursday after the murder hitchhiking not too far from Fort Fisher and Robert was how he had first heard about the murders. Next stop Robert Watts.

BKL67 · Jun 7, 2020

Of coarse Robert Watt's version of event didn't match Drury Singleton's but Robert had a problem keeping his facts straight. The story he told the Waco PD was he had hitch hiked to Waco from the San Antonio area, leaving on Sunday it took him two days to get to Waco, claiming he arrived on Monday night July 12th, he spent that night at Fort Fisher, the next day he was picked up by Drury Singleton before the murders occurred and they drove to Axtell where Robert had been ever since. So Drury's and Robert's timelines didn't match but then Robert told the police the reason he knew about the murders was because he was in Waco when they occurred totally contradicting what he had told the police just a few minutes earlier. Well nothing came of this, as the Waco PD suspended the case a couple weeks later. There was another lead Waco PD received prior to the information they obtained on Robert Watts, they received this information from the Houston PD. At this time Houston PD reported they had talked to an individual that stated he had attended a party and at this party two male subjects stated they were from the San Antonio area and had stolen a van from that area and driven that vehicle to Waco, abandoned it at Fort Fisher, stealing another van off that lot, then they picked up three kids and killed them out at the lake. Waco PD went out to Fort Fisher to check out if they could find an abandoned stolen vehicle at Fort Fisher, they found a bread or bakery truck stolen from San Antonio, again after reporting this to Houston Pd and asking them to let them know if they heard or found anything else about this let them know Waco PD didn't proceed much further with this lead, either Houston or Waco was able to find one of these subjects had a lengthy criminal record and had been on parole. The names of these two subjects were Delano King, arrested multiple time, offenses ranging from assault, the usual drug charges and auto theft and Greg Watts. Greg Watts and Robert Watts, both from the San Antonio area, both arrive in Waco around the same time and both admitted to being at Fort Fisher around the time of the murders, is there a connection or is it just another one of those many coincidences related to this case ?

BKL67 · Jun 8, 2020

So that was the extent of the information this Danny, either McGinnis or McSpadden, provided Waco PD and their follow up investigation of this information. Now the other Danny, again either McGinnis or McSpadden, also had a connection to Beth Bramlett and Kenneth Franks, Waco Pd being informed that he had problems with both. This Danny lived at the Northwood Apartments and was friends with with Donnie Sizemore. Apparently Sizemore stayed with Danny for some time, Sizemore becoming another individual Waco PD designated as a possible homosexual, which in this case seems a little strange because earlier in the reports when Sizemore was first brought to the attention of law enforcement and couldn't be located Waco PD were told they should talk to his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend he lived with at the Northwood Apartments and the information they obtained later from Danny would suggest Waco PD was off on their characterization of Sizemore. When interviewing this Danny, he told them he had dated Beth Bramlett but she had broke up with him and also informed them he was not present at the party the night Beth disappeared. Danny had a lot more to share with Waco PD about Kenneth Franks and the situation at the Franks' residence at the time. The reason Danny gave police as to his dislike of Kenneth was that he (Kenneth) was a braggart and liar. Further adding that back in June, 1982, Kenneth was also friends with Sizemore and Sizemore staying at Danny's at the time, Kenneth stopped by to see him. Kenneth told Danny and Sizemore he couldn't go back home so Danny let him to stay at his apartment as well under one condition Danny did not allow marijuana to be smoked in his place, Kenneth agreed to this but later Danny caught Kenneth smoking and kicked him out. When asked by officers if Kenneth ever said or gave any indication as to why he couldn't return home or why he felt that way, Danny said he hadn't then he recalled an incident that had occurred shortly before this. Danny had gone with Sizemore to visit Kenneth at his home, when they got there Kenneth's father answered the door and informed them Kenneth was not at home but they could come in and wait if they would like, Danny and Sizemore accepted. Mr. Franks was drinking and intoxicated and started making sexual advances toward both Danny and Sizemore, they decided to get out of there and planned on never which Danny hadn't. This incident and Kenneth staying at his apartment had happened in June, so at least a couple weeks before the murders and Danny never saw Kenneth again after he (Danny) kicked him (Kenneth) out. This would be the extent of the information Danny provided Waco PD. Danny's accounts were very similar to Gayle Kelly's and they both point towards Richard Franks not being honest about how things were going between he and Kenneth. It's one thing not to talk to law enforcement as Raylene's mother had done at least you are not lying. And there is a difference between making inaccurate statement or being incorrect with details you give and straight out lying. Mr. Rice, Raylene's father, was inaccurate in some of the details he gave but it is clear he wasn't trying to deceive the police, it's just there were details of his daughter's life he probably didn't have full knowledge of and you can understand why Raylene's parents didn't want anything to do with the case and stayed away because the police were already dredging up details of Raylene's life and family the family probably would have liked to remain private and they did for most part but were in the police reports. Case in point Mr. Rice told police that Raylene had been to Waco only once before the day of the murders and that was in August 1981 when she found out Jeff Test had gotten Raylene's younger sister pregnant, Test was in Waco at the time and Raylene went there to confront him. There were a couple other accounts given to the police that there were other times Raylene had been in Waco other times. Jeff Test worked at a radio station in Waco, his cousin Keith was a DJ at the station, Mr. Rice told police Raylene had dated Jeff and after they broke up Jeff started Raylene's younger sister, Keith told the police it was the opposite Jeff was dating Raylene's younger sister and then started dating Raylene and then Raylene's younger sister found out she was pregnant. Keith also remembered Jeff bringing Raylene to the station with another blonde hair girl, he said it was in March 1981 and Keith stated after he had finished his shift at the station took Jeff and the two girls to a friend of Raylene's in Waco where the three spent the night and Keith picked them up the next morning, he couldn't recall the name of this friend or the address, being that this occurred in March 81 more than a year had passed by the time police talked to him. So Mr. Rice apparently didn't have all the details straight but he clearly wasn't trying to hide anything, he informed the police of the awkward love triangle his two daughters were involved in and the subsequent consequences, probably something that was unpleasant and a little embarrassing for him. That wasn't the case with Mr. Franks, he tried to paint a picture where everything was fine and dandy with clearly wasn't the case. Jill's mother had to deal with the same grief and she told the police all she could, good and bad, pretty much admitting she blew off her daughter when her daughter was having problems and came to her looking for help two nights before the murders. Grief doesn't give you a free pass to be dishonest. Richard Franks lack of cooperation and dishonesty are troubling.

BKL67 · Jun 8, 2020

So could the reason the girls stopped by the Ivy Square Apartments be Jill was trying to rent an apartment for some one that couldn't afford an apartment on their own and if this was the case wouldn't Kenneth Franks be the most likely candidate? I guess it's another one of those things we will never know unless some one comes forward and has something to tell us, maybe like the three run away boys, maybe Jill told them what she was doing there or even told them what she was planning on doing later. Although renting an apartment for Kenneth is a possibility I lean toward this probably not being why the girls were at the apartments. I know kids, teens, hell most adults for that matter, don't plan things out well before they act or look toward the future but you would think a girl that had a job and her parents demanding of her financial responsibility and a girl that had had a job recently and was searching for another because she understood there were things she wanted that she would have to purchase on her own, would understand that renting an apartment for some one that didn't have a job and didn't look to be interested in getting one wouldn't help him out for long if at all. And I don't think Kenneth was responsible enough or capable of holding a job at the time. Not trying to be harsh but he was having trouble with his school work, he was dyslexic, the reason he was attending summer school at the time was because he was trying to catch up on his school work so he could graduate the following year, that coupled with adjusting to living with his father after leaving the Methodist Home was more than enough for him to handle at one time and they were the reasonable expectations put on him, I believe it was understood putting any more on him would be too much. Yes I believe there were problems at home for Kenneth and he might have wanted to get away but I don't believe the girls would have taken part in what they would have seen or known would be detrimental to Kenneth, they to were excited about graduating from high school the following year and one of Jill's most expressed reasons for wanting to return home was she wanted to graduate from her local high school with her friends. Some may point out that if the girls looking out for Kenneth's best interest and well being then they wouldn't have planned to give him money to buy drugs to sell or pay off his drug debt, as it looks could have been the case if you believe the murders were drug related. I would say if this was the case the girls believed they were helping Kenneth either by keep him from being harmed by the person he owed or taking a chance so he could make some money maybe where they all could benefit or at least get their money back, the girls thought they were doing the right thing that's what made them so vulnerable, taking a risk that led them to their heinous fate.

BKL67 · Jun 8, 2020

It is after the girls stop at the Ivy Square Apartments that their activities become harder to track, this would be the two and a half to three hour gap in the timeline, roughly from 3:00 p.m. to either 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. and there are serious questions about the latter times. We do know Jill still needed to pick up her pay check from City Hall which she did at some point in this time frame. And we know around 5:00 p.m. Jill cashed that pay check at the Piggly Wiggly not far from the Rainbow Drive-In, The Piggly Wiggly being on the 1700 block of Herring Avenue, the Rainbow Drive the 1400 block, only three short blocks away. At the Piggly Wiggly Jill cashed her last check from Fort Fisher, it's total approximately $225. Remember that amount $500 that many witnesses told the police Kenneth Franks owed. With the two checks Jill cashed; a personal check for $200 at the Safeway in Waxahachie and then her final pay check of about $225 at the Piggly Wiggly she had about $425. That wouldn't be enough to cover $500 but Raylene also cashes a personal check at the Piggly Wiggly at the same time as Jill for $200, that would take them over $500 and still leave them money to eat, which they apparently did after cashing these checks, or do whatever, just have a little cash on hand. Jill's mother would tell police Jill's bank account and check book didn't match up, the amount of the discrepancy is never mentioned but I would guess Jill hadn't recorded in her check book the $200 deduction she had just made cashing the personal check at the Safeway.

So would have or could have the girls come to Waco to either help out or bail out Kenneth Franks? We have the rumors spread through out the police reports of Kenneth's possible drug dealing and owing some one $500, we have the Sunday night call from Kenneth to Jill, would Jill have just got up and run off to help Kenneth after just one call for help? I think it is accurate to state that Jill and Kenneth still had strong feelings for each other even after they broke up and still later when Jill moved back home. How much contact did they have after Jill returned to Waxahachie, other than that Sunday night call were there any others? Law enforcement requested the phone bills from Jill's mother and Kenneth's father. Jill's mother complied, when she received her next bill she turned it over to the police, the problem was the billing date of that bill ended on July 10th, three days before the murders. To get the crucial days leading up to the murders and the day of, they had to or chose to wait for the following month's bill which they received sometime in late August shortly before the case was suspended the calls on that bill not being checked before the case was put on the self. It wouldn't be until after Vic Feazell was elected D.A. in November and told Waco PD to go back over their files on the case that some one finally checked out the calls on the second bill. From the time Jill returned to Waxahachie on June 18th until the murders on July 13th Jill made four calls to Waco none were to the Franks' residence. One thing the police did find out while tracking these calls was the identity of the last girl that was Jill's roommate while she was at the Methodist Home. This was Angela "Nikki" Rhodes she was Jill's roommate from the time Jill returned to the Methodist Home after she ran away in January until Jill left in June. Now you would think the roommate would have been one of the people Waco PD would have talked to or would want to talk to when they were talking to the kids at the Methodist Home but they didn't even know her name until they tracked down Jill's calls to Waco in November four months after the murders and one of the calls was to the big sisters program and when talking to Jill's big sister she told he officers maybe they should talk to Jill's roommate and provided them with her name. This is just another thing that gives you a glimpse on how the original investigation was conducted. If it was your loved one you would have been asking for some heads to roll, trust me on that one. So those were the extent of Jill's calls to Waco, none to Kenneth Franks, from everything in the reports you get the sense Jill was moving on in her life, happy to be home and going forward. The police had asked Mr. Franks for his phone bill as well, it is not clear if he complied, you don't see any activity of the Waco PD tracking calls from the Franks residence as you saw with the Jill bills but if there was only one Waxahachie number on the Franks' bill and that number was Jill's there wouldn't be any need, hence why you wouldn't read of any activity.. So the bills tell us whatever calls there were they all were initiated from one direction Kenneth to Jill, did that call or calls make Jill return to Waco to help her former and troubled but still deeply embedded in her heart love?

BKL67 · Jun 9, 2020

Tuesday July 13 1982, a day whose ramifications many still live and deal with today. And there are some out there that believe all the coincidences of that day don't mean a thing, it was just some tragic twisted fate, unexplainable, without design, just a chance encounter, killer and victim accidentally crossing paths, maybe strangers, maybe friends turned foes, drugs, money or just pure evil creating a perfect storm of savagery and violence. Then there are those, I myself among them that say all these coincidences mean something, they add up to something much more, exposing connections, not by chance and inexplicable but calculated and premeditated. Where some see coincidence and nothing others see pieces like a puzzle or more fitting like that of a shattered mirror, where the pieces aren't formed to fit together and make a complete pictures, no there will be pieces that you know belong but you just can't get them to fit anywhere, the pieces you connect give you enough of a partial picture to satisfy a feeling of understanding the whole, the pieces that don't fit swept up discarded, forgotten, missing. Simple pieces lost in a complex web. This is the Lake Waco Murders case and why it still intrigues so many people nearly 40 years later. there are opposing views, disagreements, allegations, accusations, insinuations, innuendo, unknowns and most important questions that remain to be answered. We can take a look at any little, what would otherwise be insignificant, detail dissect it six ways to Sunday and still not procure an unanimous conclusion. Let's just take a look at something very simple that everyone agrees on like the day July 13, 1982, no one opposes that although in some of the police reports stating the murders occurred on the 14th, clearly confusing the day of the murders and the day the bodies were discovered, a normal hot central Texas summer day, just a ordinary Tuesday.

We know Jill received a call Sunday night from Waco, Kenneth Franks, and within 48 hours, Tuesday around noon, was on her way, the reason still debatable, just to pick up her final check, pick up some personal belongings she had left behind, see friends from the Methodist Home, which according to the reports she didn't do or was there more. As Jill and Raylene were making their way to Waco another person connected, though peripherally, to the case was leaving. This would be Maria/Lisa Qasem, Deeb's partner Karem's wife. Before Karem met Maria he was in the same boat as Deeb, in violation of his visa, fearing deportation, wanted to find an American wife so he would have an acceptable anchor which would allow him to stay. Enter Maria a Mexican American, that understood all to well the hardships and heartaches of immigration in this country, most of her family still in Mexico, including her mother. Maria was both strong willed and compromising; accepting Karem's Islamic faith as her own, she demanded a responsible and reliable provider and an obedient and faithful husband. She didn't want her man running around like his friend Muneer Deeb doing what God only knows. Maria kept Karem on a tight leash, some say she was extremely jealous. She expected Karem to be home in the evenings with her and then the family when they later had kids. So the couple found a happy medium and by all appearances were doing well. Karem usually worked the days at his new business the Rainbow Drive-In and was able to spend his evenings home as his wife wished. His friend and partner Deeb usually worked the nights, later they would hire a friend of Deeb's Christine Juhl to help out, working both days and nights. This arrangement worked for both partners, Karem kept his wife happy and working evenings allowed Deeb plenty of time to pursue his obsession, Kebanna Reed, stalking her, sitting outside her apartment all hours of the night and after a hard night of stalking Deeb could go home and sleep in, not having to be at work until later in the day. Almost perfect but Deeb was living under the same roof as Karem and Maria and had to be mindful and respectful of the watchful and strict eye of the persuasive wife. Over the weekend prior to the murders Maria was told her mother was ill and Maria wanted to go visit her as soon as possible, making plans rapidly she bought her ticket to Mexico, the date of her departure, Tuesday July 13th.

BKL67 · Jun 9, 2020

With Maria away the leash was off, Karem and Deeb had more freedom of movement. Christine Juhl would later testify; when she arrived at work that day at 6:00 p.m. she told Karem with Lisa/Maria gone he should go out and have some fun, Deeb would be in later and she and Deeb could close up. Which Christine said she and Deeb did at 11:00 p.m. and then Deeb gave her a ride home, estimating she got home around 11:15 p.m.. Christine and Karem's testimony did not mesh but that's a whole other post for another day. Karem testified; He and Christine were working and David Spence was hanging out in the store as he usually did when Christine was working. A discussion arose as to what Karem was going to do for dinner, his usual routine being going home and eating a home cooked meal Maria prepared, now with her out of town that wasn't possible. Discussing options, David Spence stated he was a good cook and he would go and fix them dinner. Spence returned, cuisine in hand, around 6:00 p.m. when Christine was to get off but the three ate the meal prepared by David, then Christine and David left about 6:30 p.m. Deeb came to work later and he andKarem closed at the usual hour, 11:00 p.m., afterwards Deeb and Karem went out looking for someone that owed Deeb money. Karem didn't give the name of this person in his testimony buy did name a couple places he and Deeb had stopped that night. Before leaving for Mexico earlier that day Maria had planned with Karem a time she would call to check in and see how things were going. Karem knew he had to be home when Maria called, the planned time was 1:30 a.m., Karem says he got home shortly before that and was home in time to take the call. Law Enforcement was able to confirm the late night call from Mexico to Karem's home. Karem stated he went to bed after the call and he didn't know what Deeb did, if he stayed home or went back out.

You could spend months even years dissecting the testimony of just those two witnesses; the differences, the possibilities and digging for the truth and mainly on just one issue; who closed the store that night; Christine and Deeb as Christine testified or Karem and Deeb as Karem testified. Timecards? Something that simple with this case, you should know better, again later. There is a difference between the facts and the truth. They are both facts that Christine and Karem testified they were the one that closed the store with Deeb that night but obviously only one can be the truth. That's how cases are put together, especially circumstantial cases where there is a lack of physical evidence and all you have to go on is what witnesses have told you, true or not and the Lake Waco Murders case for the most part was a circumstantial case. Some people have complained the State just cobbled this case together, again that's what you do, no matter what you call it, cobbled or otherwise, you put pieces together. Now it's one thing to take facts and put them together to build a case and create a reasonable narrative, it's another to have a preconceived notion and bending the facts to support that notion. The burden of proof lies with the State they have to exceed that burden, presenting facts as truth but both counsels have to make sure the facts they are presenting as truth can't be disproved., this happened in this case. We often hear about some of the shady facts and testimony Vic Feazell presented during the trials but it was actually the defense in David Spence's first trial, Russell Hunt, that got caught trying to present facts he knew were not true, when he tried to get a witness to testify to something everybody knew wasn't the truth including law enforcement and the prosecution that called him out on it. Hunt was admonished by the judge be told not to try to pull that stunt again, it crushed the defense, that was their whole case, the shotgun defense just pointing out anybody they found find and hoping to hit their mark on one, they didn't have any information, evidence or witnesses. Many people will point out, rightfully so, that no one came forward and said they saw David Spence at Koehne Park the night of the murders but on the other hand David's alibi that he was at Airport Park not Koehne Park that night could not be proved either, he could not provide one name of someone that saw him at Airport Park, the defense could not find anyone and no one came forward to say they had seen David at Airport Park. One other thing I would say on the subject on the weakness of the defense, after the warning Russ Hunt got from the judge, his hands were kind of tied and continuing his planned defense pretty much impossible. David Spence would make issue of this during his first appeals, specifically arguing that his attorneys in both his trials failed to mention Tab Harper as a suspect and possibility the true killer and in doing so committed a grievous error that could have altered the verdict, which is required to overturn a conviction. In their findings the Appellate Court states all the prosecution had to do, if Spence's attorneys had tried to present Harper as the possible killer, was to call to the stand the police officers whom had interviewed, released and found Harper had no connection to the case and explain their actions, no error had been committed. I would add all of this is in the police reports, maybe not as clear as some might like and obviously not enough for some not to try and bend the facts presented in those reports to suit their own agendas.

BKL67 · Jun 9, 2020

Another person's movements on that Tuesday July 13, 1982 that have been widely and vigorously debated is those of Anthony Melendez. That he chose that day to return to Waco to score some crank, meth, speed or whatever he could get his hands on because he could not find any in Bryan Texas and that he met up with his old friend David Spence was all just by chance. Then there are some that argue he never did return to Waco that day. One of the many falsehoods and fact bending, like the six eyewitnesses that saw Tab Harper at Koehne Park the night of the murders, that the deceptive despicable duo of Bernadette Feazell and Fred Dannen put forth during their publicity campaign of the late 90's and repeated by so many since then, was that Anthony Melendez' employer confirmed Anthony worked all day in Bryan and could not returned to Waco and taken part in the crime. Well that just isn't true, surprise surprise. Yes the employer stated he had paid Anthony and his cousin for a full days work for July 13th but added he was a subcontractor and he had many jobs/projects going on at one time, on that day Tuesday July 13 1982 he never went to the site where Anthony and his cousin were suppose to be working, so he never saw them there nor knew if they were, all he knew was he paid them for a full day. Far from a conformation, folks that's how fact bending works, twist the details just enough to change the perception. To further rain on the Anthony Melendez is innocent parade or at least cover it in dark clouds is the fact that Anthony Melendez stated when he worked in Bryan he and his relatives stayed in motels or hotels during the week returning to Waco on Friday for the weekends, guess what, Anthony could not provide the name of the place they stayed the night of July 13th nor could anyone else provide any details where they stayed that night, there are no documents, no receipts, nothing. Maybe they spent the night in one of Anthony's cousins' vans, that would be hard to prove either way, sorry about your luck. Don't forget the family vans are one of those facts that haven't seen the light of day since the early 90's.

And we must not forget at the time of the Lake Waco Murders Anthony Melendez was a fugitive from the law for his participation in a robbery and sexual assault in Corpus Christi and his family was helping him evade law enforcement, starting the day the police went to pick him up after his two cohorts had given him up and told the police where Anthony was living, with his mother, and when police arrived Anthony's mother stated she hadn't seen Anthony in over a year, the police knew she was lying. Then the family slowly migrated back to Waco, where an uncle and cousins were able to find Anthony work where the employer agreed to apply Anthony's wages to one of the cousins' pay checks, that way law enforcement couldn't track Anthony through his employment. So by the age of 24 Anthony Melendez had been implicated in two separate sexual assault cases. His two accomplices in the Corpus Christi caper; two brothers that were white males had already pleaded guilty and gave up Anthony and pointed to him as the culprit that had committed the sexual assault, that would corroborate the teenage girl that had been assaulted description of her attacker, the assailants wearing masks, I presume ski mask to hide their identities, the brothers had worked for the family they were robbing, she stated that the assailant that held a knife to her and sexually assaulted her was darker than the other two. And when he testified during the Lake Waco Murders trials. Anthony in his usual I really didn't want to do it, I was forced to by David trying to lessen his culpability had the gall to state rape wasn't his thing. That some people believe any of his self-aggrandizing is mind boggling to me , trying to be opened minded and understand just gives me headaches. Some might feel I am being a little harsh on Anthony Melendez and maybe so, he out lived the others and had more time to perfect his craft of deception that he used for his own benefit, enabling him to gain unwarranted sympathy. Anthony Melendez never expressed or displayed any real remorse, he was a lying dirt bag and didn't need any aid in weaving false narratives, he deserved to rot away and die in prison. And just think if his lying clan would have been honest to police after the Corpus Christi incident, Anthony probably would not have even been around to have his name brought up in the Lake Waco Murders. You can not dictate time nor conditions on the cosmos but you gotta love KARMA!!!

BKL67 · Jun 10, 2020

So were the brutality and viciousness manifested in the final hours of Tuesday July 13, 1982 repercussions of a calamitous chance encounter as some believe or premeditated, planned out to some degree, criminal plans have the tendency to go awry, mainly because the criminals in their planning often fail to properly consider how their targeted victim will react and then the victims don't act according to plan. If the former is true you really only need to look at the day of the deadly chance encounter, yes you can throw in a little history of the principles to discern a pattern of behavior but for most part all the details you need are the actions of both the victims and killers that day and how their paths unfortunately crossed, aided if possible by any physical evidence. If the latter is the case you have to go back days, weeks and maybe even months to put find information and put the pieces together. Somewhere along the line I started talking about the consistencies in the information about Kenneth Franks' drug activity you see in the police reports then, as usually happens, I end up going off in another direction. There are so many strands to this web, so many sticky threads all connected, you start on one issue and before you know it you're stuck in elements in the further reaches of the six degrees of separation searching for answers. But I need to get back to those police reports and the consistencies found within.

As I stated before in the police reports you repeatedly see references to Kenneth Franks' activities and many of those references consist of notable similarities; that Kenneth owed someone money, the amount of money that was owed, that an altercation had already occurred and threats that if Kenneth didn't make things right there would be consequences. A number of these accounts came from boys that lived at the Methodist Home, which stands out, most of the focus was on the girls from the Home, Jill had just recently left the home, then the break-ins at the apartment Gayle and Patti also having recently left the home. then there was the tip Lisa Kader provided and then interviews with and information from and about Rhonda Evans, Ginger Yoby, Tampra Samples (?), Laura Madderax (?), Michelle Lewis, Christine Hart, Kathy Prochnow, Angela Rhodes and later Starr Compton, Faye Pearson, Delores Perez and Penny McNutt all girls that lived at the Methodist Home. In regards to Kenneth Franks the focus was on his Waco friends, probably that he had known before his stay at the Home and been away from the Home longer than Jill. So for the very few boys that talked and that their accounts were so strikingly similar stands out. Did the information they had come from one common source or did they have first hand knowledge and possibly knew more? Going by the differing details about the alleged physical altercation were the boys that reported this talking about one and the same incident or more than one? Again, I guess we will never know, well unless someone decides to talk. I want to stick to the account or accounts given by one boy, not that I'm just totally discounting the other accounts but it's the details, which changed over the course of two interviews, that he gave, one that the police were actually able to track down, that I find very intriguing.. I am going to call him Kenny A. first because I would probably spell his last name wrong even though it is a common enough name and second honestly since I don't have any of my notes in front of me at the moment I am relying purely on my memory for accuracy which is far from a safe guarantee. My recollection being when I was talking to Gayle Kelly about this and she told me she was still friends with the people that stayed at the Home, playfully referred to has "Homies", I saw this Kenneth A. listed as her friend and seeing his name in the reports I tried to ask him some questions about what he had told the police, what Gayle had just told me and if he had any other information, apparently he didn't want to talk.

This Kenneth A. was one of the individuals that told the police about the physical altercation that took place. During thr first interview stating it had taken place about three weeks before the murders and the name of the person putting the beat down on Kenneth was named Tony. Later when the police went to interview Kenneth A. again he said he had gotten the name wrong now stating that it was Robert or Bobby and that his incident hadn't occurred a few weeks before the murders but around the beginning of the year either December 1981 or January 1982. I would say with his changing details Kenneth A, was getting his information from someone else, his own account being second hand at best.

BKL67 · Jun 10, 2020

But there was something Kenny A. told the police during his first interview, a detail so specific it makes it hard to believe some one was able to recall it from a second hand account and it was the one piece of information from all the reports of the altercation or an altercation the police were able to track down. Not only did Kenny A. remember the car one of the participants was driving or riding in but apparently he remembered the license plate number enabling the police to track down the owner; Mary Russell, the mother of Bobby Brem. And during his second interview Kenny A. stated he had the name wrong when he gave the name Tony during the first interview he believed the name was now Robert or Bobby. Did Kenny A., a resident of the Methodist Home, which is where he met Kenneth Franks, know Bobby Brem , a very close friend of Kenneth Franks that was from Waco? Kenneth A, also change the time frame when this occurred from about three weeks before the murders to around the new year either December or January. And what do we know also happened in January 1982, Jill Montgomery, the girl Kenneth Franks was having a troubled relationship with at that time, ran away and where did she stay for at least a couple nights, until for still unexplained reason she left. I asked Rhonda Evans, the girl Jill ran away with, about why they left Bobby's after two nights and she never gave me an answer, ditto with Bobby. That two friends got in a scuffle over a girl wouldn't be anything new or surprising and this might by why Bobby Brem acted like he didn't know Jill when first interviewed by Waco PD on July 15th. He probably thought it best not to mention the throw down between two close friends over a girl now that one of those friends, Kenneth Franks and the girl, Jill Montgomery had been murdered. Hey, I'm all about Occam's razor but if this was in fact the case don't you believe the rumor mill would have a least given us a little hint somewhere, some might say this was the hint but all the accounts given to the police was the altercation(s) was over drugs and money. These were teenagers, I went to high school and I know it has changed over the decades but changed this much; break-ups, whom hooked up with whom, whom cheated on whom was the topic of the day seven days a week. The absences of any mention of this in relationship to the widely reported altercation, I believe is very telling.

In the book Careless Whispers, the police reports and the trial transcripts there is no mention of any contact between the kids from the Methodist Home and David Spence. In the police reports of the original investigation there is not one mention of David Wayne Spence, primary Detective Ramon Salinas has always stated David's name never came up. This is not true, well I guess it depends on who you believe but Reginald (Gene) Deal, David Spence's parole officer stated he called the police station and talked to Salinas about a week after the murders when David came to his office and told he he might know something about the murders. Deal further stated at that time he didn't believe David was involved in the murders just had information but that would change starting with a visit to the apartment David and Christine Jewell were moving into, that would have been the Northwood apartment Deeb had rented at which Deal called the station again Salinas was out so Deal left a message and then when Deal received a call from David's wrote in August and he went to visit her Deal came away believing David was involved in the murders, leaving another message for Salinas. Salinas never returned either of these calls and there see no mention of any of this in any of his reports. Those missing calls are not the only time we find Detective Ramon Salinas didn't put information in his reports, it was like if he didn't think it worthy or a waste of time he didn't mention it, that kind of selective investigating can leave huge holes in a case. Deal and Salinas wouldn't exchange words until David Spence was arrested for the Pack incident on September 9th and no one would listen to Deal's information and concerns until Simons and Baier took over the case. when they finally had a meeting with Deal later.

So you don't see any mention of David Wayne Spence in the police reports let alone any connection between him and the girls from the Home or any of the victims. The narrative told during the trials and repeated in the book was that the girls from the Methodist Home met David Spence at the Rainbow Drive-In after his girlfriend, Christine Juhl starting working there and David hung around. There is debate as to when Christine Juhl started working there but the store didn't open until February 1982 so obviously it couldn't have been before that. Remember the story the prosecution and book sold was Gayle and David barely knew each other, not even as much as even saying hello to each other and it is never stated but clearly implied that David wouldn't have known Jill any better as well and that is how he mixed up the two girls and killed the wrong one. Before I talked to Rhonda Evans and Gayle Kelly I had to believe the story that the girls met David at the Rainbow I had nothing else to go on or really any reason to believe, the State's timeline seemed to be pretty solid on that. Then I saw Rhonda had visited David on death row and if she ran away in January and never returned to the Methodist Home afterwards and the Rainbow Drive-In didn't open until February some didn't add up, either the timeline was wrong or there was a part of the story we had never heard and I found both to be true. First after talking to Rhonda and hearing they, the girls from the Methodist knew David Spence before the store opened, this was also claimed by Gayle Kelly later, the place Jill was picked up and described by her father from the outside as an unkempt house that state on a corner on Fifteenth Street a few blocks away from the Rainbow Drive-In, I believe he was talking about David Spence's mother's house, he picked up Jill standing outside of this house, what, why and how the relationship between David and Rhonda developed I'll leave you to your own judgement but it is clear Jill Montgomery wanted to get out of there. Then talking to Gayle Kelly and remember when she told me things like this; " a lot stuff never was made public including my previous encounters with David", " We partied plenty at the lake,him and the brothers were always trying to befriend us", what you believe about the story you have always been told starts to change. But it was Gayle's mention of altercations that stirred the intrigue when she told me or asked me; "you know what he did to bobby brem", " What David did to our friend bobby been,is horrible, or Lisa Kader who he also raped". Although no one wants to talk about it and I have been unable to get any details, yet, from anyone; Gayle Kelly, Bobby Brem, Rhonda Evans, Kenny A., Christine Juhl the details of this incident I believe will be very revealing.

BKL67 · Jun 11, 2020

If the story of some sort of confrontation between Bobby Brem and David Spence is true and it is connected to the murders, the how and why become very important. With Kenny A. able to provide the license plate number in the first interview and actually given the name of Robert or Bobby in the second, that would lead me to believe Bobby Brem was at least present during an altercation. The multiple accounts in the police reports state it was Kenneth Franks that was attacked so maybe Bobby was just driving his friend Kenneth around when this altercation broke out, maybe Bobby tried to assist his friend as the reports usually state Kenneth was getting the worse end of the confrontation or maybe whatever altercation Kenneth got in and Altercation between Bobby and David Spence were two entirely different incidents and had no connection. And that's the thing with rumors they gives us tantalizing details sometimes so intricate it's hard not to believe it is true and with rumors there usually is some truth it's just the who, what and whens get misconstrued, names, dates and events get conflated with other events, true hard facts become impossible to come by and in the end it just comes down to a judgement call objective or otherwise.

From the first day I talked to Rhonda Evans four years ago and went back over the police reports and reassessing what were in some of those reports I started to believe Jill Montgomery and Rhonda Evans were in David Spence's mother's house at some point when they ran away and that is where Jill's father picked her up standing outside, Jill wanting to leave and returning to the Methodist Home as the reports clearly show and Rhonda staying until law enforcement picked her up later ending her time at the Methodist Home. As I think I have stated before to understand a case you have to understand the cast of characters and the best way do that is to see what is said in the files, police reports, interviews conducted by a variety of interested parties from the state and defense with obviously opposing opinions. And when you do what comes to light is not the "impossible crime" but the "impossible narrative".

BKL67 · Jun 11, 2020

I will start with Bobby Brem since the overall information of him in the files is scant. From the beginning of the investigation Bobby's name was repeatedly mentioned as one of Kenneth franks' closest friends, physically described as a big guy, over weight or tall or both I'm not too sure, from what few pictures I have seen of him bobby looks like maybe he could have played offense line in high school. The source that provides the most information on Bobby Brem is the girl widely reported to have been Jill Montgomery's best and/or closest friend during the later half of Jill's stay at the Methodist Home was Ginger Yoby. She would confirm Jill and Rhonda had stayed at Bobby's when they ran away and she was the one that informed the police that Bobby wanted to date Jill. Her description or opinion of Bobby was he was a little weird. The description Waco PD used when they interviewed him on July 15th was maybe he was a little slow. Bobby didn't give much information during this interview but there is one thing he said that might provide some insight into his personality and how he fit into this situation. Bobby Brem told the Waco Pd that he was Kenneth Franks' best friend not Patrick Torres. From the very beginning of the investigation Torres was seen as Kenneth's best friend. When responding to the 6:00 a.m. call of the abandoned and vandalized car found at Midway Park, meeting Mr. Franks there and being told the kids hadn't returned home, Officer Meeks told Mr. Frank the kids probably just spent the night at a friend's house and that Mr. Franks should call Kenneth's friends, it was Patrick Torres that Mr. Franks called. Patrick informing Mr. Franks that maybe Kenneth was staying with Gayle Kelly at Patti's apartment, unable to provide Patti's last name nor apartment number, an indication outside of Gayle Kelly and Jill Montgomery Kenneth's friends from Waco were not all that familiar with Kenneth's other friends from the Methodist Home, Patrick was able to provide directions as to how to find the apartment. And then after Mr. Franks officially filed a missing persons report at 9:00 a.m. and went out to Koehne Park where Raylene's orange Pinto was left and met Officer Mike Nicoletti there and Nicoletti asked for Mr. Franks to ask a close friend of Kenneth's friend to come out to the park so Nicoletti could talk to him, again it was Patrick Torres that Mr. Franks called. Patrick did go out to Koehne Park as he was asked and talked to Nicoletti and Patrick was asked to bring in other of Kenneth's friends to the station the next day, which he did, bringing in Donnie Culp and Bobby Brem, this being when Bobby was interviewed. So the statement that Bobby made about him being Kenneth's best friend is a little odd and stands out but I guess that is how he honestly felt and he wanted the police to know. The first thing Truman Simons and Dennis Baier did when they took over the case on September 10th was interview Bobby Brem, it was during this interview that Bobby first informed law enforcement of the rift that existed between Kenneth Franks and Muneer Deeb giving the cause of said rift as Kenneth's name calling, making fun of and generally being rude to Deeb, immature behavior Bobby admit he also took part in. Note, Deeb never displayed any of the visceral hatred towards Bobby that he did with Kenneth. That is pretty much all we get on Boby Brem, other than after their interview with Waco PD on July 15th, Bobby having told them Kenneth had called him to come out with him the night of the murders but Bobby told him he couldn't because he was still grounded from when Bobby and Kenneth had taken out Bobby's parents' boat without their permission during the Fourth of weekend, the police went to Bobby's parents to verify the story and in doing so finding this to be true scratched him off their possible suspects list, really there's not much to go on, what can we make of it? In my objective opinion I guess Bobby could be considered a good ole country boy; big, not some one we would classify as sharp, maybe a little immature, fun loving and probably most important at least in the way he wants the world to view him, a loyal friend that would be there if his friend Kenneth Franks needed him and possibly this turned out to be the case.

GarAndMo39 · Jun 12, 2020

Hi again @BKL67 ! I'm so sorry I've gotten so behind in this thread- I have a chronic illness that's messed up my immune system, and lately I've been pretty sick. I'm going to try to read through your amazingly detailed posts over the weekend so I can hopefully offer some feedback.
I wanted to mention that I noticed you have used the term "Mainstream liberal media" (or something to that effect), and I'm not especially fond of that phrase- but I'll probably use some cliche's you may not like, so I'm fine with agreeing to disagree!

I can't figure out what the deal is with Fred (sorry, don't have his last name in front of me); as in, why did he drop the ball and move to Mexico, for God's sake?! Weird. However, I think highly of Bob Herbert. A nationally known attorney referred me to him when I was trying to get a sociopathic doctor's license pulled. I never got the chance to communicate directly with Bob, but here's a basic write up on Andrew Vachss, the lawyer I did communicate with.

Andrew Vachss - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Here's his website in case you want more info:

The Official Website of Andrew Vachss : The Zero 5.0laf

Official website of crime-fiction novelist, child protection consultant, and children's attorney Andrew Vachss; an enormous resource on all matters of child abuse and neglect.

vachss.com

I have immense admiration for him and his work, and I hope you'll be able to see that he's really careful about who he calls a friend, so I trust Bob Herbert.
You're right, I meant mistaken identity when I wrote of Jill & Gayle. <duh>
I will tell you that I bought Carlton Stowers' book when I visited Texas in 1986. I was taken aback by what I perceived as his glorification of Truman Simons. I read TONS of true crime books, and, often, the authors tend to sort of pick out one or 2 people to receive their highest praises, so that wasn't my basic issue. I just felt Stowers sort of made Simons out to be the next Mother Teresa, so to speak (obviously exaggerating, but you get the picture). There was so much focus on Simons that I felt perhaps others in the book weren't explored as much as I would have liked. I re-read constantly, but that book had been untouched on my bookcase for years until I pulled it out when I was starting this thread. I tried to re-read it, but I'm just uncomfortable with the "Truman Simons Show". I'm not big on jailhouse witnesses (I'm guessing you might agree), so I'm anxious to read all the material you've been posting so I can try to get a better picture of that, and the other testimony & evidence. This case is tough because so many of the individuals were seemingly into dope quite heavily. I'm absolutely NOT judging them (far be it for me to judge!), but I know when I was using meth to the point of insanity, I'd often be awake and going without food for several days at a time. You can't keep things straight at all when you're doing that crap, I'm telling you! But, again, I need to read your posts; I'm sure all the hard work you've done will be a huge help to me!
Thanks for your patience and your research; I'll probably post some of my thoughts as they come up; if they're in response to yours, I'll try to remember to quote you.
Take care, and I look forward to this journey with you.

BKL67 · Jun 13, 2020

@GarAndMo39, good to hear from you. Your health is always the most important thing ,much more important than my ramblings. But this discussion needs some diversity and depth, stir up the stagnant. So on to more sticky matters. I am in total acceptance of respectfully agreeing to disagree but does that mean we have to avoid issues or subjects that might be uncomfortable or heat up the level of debate? Honestly I thought about this long and hard, I know sometimes it might look like I type without thinking, especially when I don't go back and edit, it's between a three fingered sloth and myself as to who is the world's slowest typist, so it takes me like forever to type my post and then I have to edit, it's hard to find the time. I admit my statements about the media are a little bias but I believe with reason, Again I really thought about this, maybe just leave it alone and that still might have been the wise and best decision, if so I apologize for choosing another path. My thinking since I decided to jump into the public arena and take on the often repeated information and misconceptions about the case my goal has always to get as much information out there as possible and usually it is stuff most people have never heard about and a media with a slanted view has played a sizable part in this. And as times goes by we are losing more and more information. When I started really getting into this in 1993 when the internet was first launched, between the time of reading the book and this event there wasn't anything to do or really any thoughts on this case to want to do anything, and Muneer Deeb won his freedom there were so many articles ranging from everything like if the supposed leader of the conspiracy was innocent was there a conspiracy, of coarse issues about the death penalty, then the recantations, Deeb's near hero status, there were just so many angles being thrown out there but most of those articles have disappeared or are very difficult to find, I guess someone that knows how to navigate the world wide web better than I, which wouldn't be a challenge, could find this older stuff. I never thought about saving of these information at the time I didn't realize I would sitting here today nearly 30 years later still trying to understand all there is to understand. So, on my use of the term of "liberal media" I would like to explain an important part of the story most people are not aware of and again mainly because it's not being told and I don't want it to seem like I'm a raving conservative republican angry at the aforementioned media, actually I am an independent, against the death penalty, I don't think David Wayne Spence should have been executed but I do believe the four that were originally convicted, that includes Muneer Deeb, were guilty. I don't want to anger anyone, I have made enough people mad at me already, my Christmas card list gets shorter every year, to the point I don't have one. So I would like to tell this part of the story and after I promise to refrain from using the disagreeable term liberal media again.

Now on thinking about this I realized this is one part of the story I have, up to this point, never gotten into, I've just expressed my dislike and problems of said media and left it at that and there has been a reason. The one and probably only positive thing that can be said about how this case has played out over the decades is it has never been scarred by race either way or in anyway. Do expose and understand the underlying mechanisms that went to work later along in the case that will change. Do I want to be the person to open that can of worms? I am kind of like at a cross roads on this. And it reminds me of Mr. Rice, Raylene's father, everyone with any sense new the Rice family didn't want anything to do with the case, they stayed away and didn't want to be bothered. After Deeb won his freedom a little more than a decade after the murders a journalist, if I'm not mistaken Cindy Culp from the Waco Tribune, tracked down Mr. Rice and asked him what he thought about Deeb being freed. I thought that was so tasteless, after all this time and it was so obviously clear that the family didn't want to be put in the spotlight, they just wanted to be left alone, all that cared about the loss of their daughter, nothing that happened in any of the courtrooms was going to bring back Raylene and they wanted to suffer that loss in private. One thing I think that gets overlooked in this case is that all those convicted were only convicted for two murders, the reason given was just in case the Melendez brothers decided to rant they could be charged with the third murder and re-sentenced, probably with the death penalty. There is some issue as to which murder was never adjudicated, which victim never received any justice. David Spence's trial was clearly, and is mentioned many times during that trial, was for the murder of Kenneth Franks. His second trial, again clearly exhibited, was for the murder Jill Montgomery. For Deeb's original trial the murders of Kenneth Franks and Jill Montgomery were the focus, the alleged drug burn committed by Kenneth and Gayle Kelly or the possible love triangle between the three and the mistaken identity of Jill for Gayle. Seems pretty cut and dry, all four were convicted for the two murders of Jill Montgomery and Kenneth Franks, leaving Raylene Rice as the victim that didn't get any justice and the case that was held over the Melendez brothers head and that was the widely held belief by most people involved on both sides including Anthony Melendez. As with so many other things with this case there is some confusion on this, a wrench thrown in. In the police reports closing the case with the convictions of the Spence, Deeb and the Melendez brothers it states Anthony Melendez was found guilty by plea for the murders of Jill Montgomery and Raylene Rice. What? Which case were they holding over their heads, it couldn't be Kenneth's or Jill's they were both adjudicated. Honestly I'm still confused. This could have just been an error in the report mixing up the names but again you know things can't be that simple but even a mistake in the report can cause problems. Another reasonable view, and maybe legally correct, is that Anthony was convicted for killing the two girls because he admitted to stabbing Jill Montgomery and his brother, Gilbert, testified Anthony had stabbed Raylene Rice, neither brother could recall or saw how Kenneth Franks was killed. With this line of thinking Gilbert is by way of his testimony providing evidence of Anthony's active participation in the murder of Raylene Rice and Anthony with his testimony is admitting to his participation in the murder of Jill Montgomery hence the two convictions of the murders of the two girls. Confusing, welcome to the Lake Waco Murders. Now the reason for this rant on futile judicial let's make a deal / match game is the best way to finally write the final chapter on this endless tragedy and close the book forever is for the immediate family of the victim whose case was held over the heads the Melendez brothers in case they recanted, which they did, is ask that the murder of their loved one is tried. That murder believed by most people to be the murder of Raylene Rice, I believe this as well. I have long been an out spoken advocate for allowing this case to go to trial, especially when the other side kept crying about the same old stuff that had already be decided on in the Appellate courts, if they truly wanted justice and the truth they should be calling for the case to go back to court. In case you haven't noticed all they have done up to now is try to look for a technicality that will overturn the convictions outright, that's never going to happen, it could be possible the a court will decide to grant a re-trial, the loudest voices claiming wrongful doing on the part of the state don't want that. They realize there is so much out there that wasn't presented in the first cases and things have changed so much even more would be available, those convictions would stand. don't believe most people realize how much more information is out there, somewhere. In the time since I have been posting on this thread ranting I haven't even started to scratch the surface. Although I believe another trial is best it is not up to me, these kind of cases and ensuing trials are an ugly affair and don't age like wine, it would be so much uglier this time around, no cooperation or deals, those no longer with us, unable to speak represented only by the words they left us and yes including the statements some of the defendants made and later wanted to rant, that has to do with your right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you even after you are dead dead dead. Back then I thought this would have on been taken care of before David Wayne Spence was executed, it wasn't, then after he was executed I thought the Melendez brothers might take a moment for some self reflection and realize they were given very good deals and start to show some remorse to try to regain good grace and a real chance at parole, although I believe Gilbert's refusal to testify in Deeb's retrial and Deeb walking crushed that. Then in a span of three consecutive years, 1997, 1998, 1999 three were dead, Spence, Gilbert and Deeb, surely the writing was on the wall for Anthony and it was finely over. In the end it doesn't matter what I think or say, all that matters is the truth.

BKL67 · Jun 13, 2020

As time went by and the craziness connected to this case got worse, I started to think back to that journalist that had tracked down Mr. Rice, I knew how to contact Mr. Rice, I had been very vocal in my displeasure in her actions but now as the end of the craziness looked no where insight, I started think maybe she was on to something maybe contacting the family could produce positive results and finally put this to an end. I really thought about it but I didn't want to be a hypocrite, then, as the mind usually works I started thinking ways around ways around this morale contradiction and I even discussed it with people, my thinking becoming what about the sisters. they are immediate family, they could raise the issue of unserved justice just like their parents and they were minors at the time of the murders and first trials, they didn't have any choice or say, they had to obey their parents. I wondered what they thought now, were they comfortable with how things played out over the years, if not did they understand they were in the best position as anyone to do something about it, I finally decided I shouldn't try to contact them, if they wanted to talk or ask questions, they definitely know where they can find me and I would be more than willing to do insure any of their inquires were addressed properly. Now I know most of you are wondering Brian you're doing all this rambling but what does this has to do with the liberal media and your attitude towards it. Simply put but not in less than a 1000 words is now seeing how things are and how things are still not resolved and how information and opportunities are disappearing I'm not sure my decision not to contact the any members of the Rice family was correct. And now, not sure of getting into how the media played a role in getting us to where we are today is the right choice, this time I want to error on the other side, sharing that information and truth is the most important consideration, although it might ruffle some feathers.

BKL67 · Jun 13, 2020

The history and final fate of the Lake Waco Murders hinges on one word; exoneration. The United States of America has he best judicial system in the world but it’s not perfect. As I like to say, and often do, is; we do not live in a perfect world if we did we wouldn’t have crime, sorry if I made you gag. And not being perfect mistakes are made including wrongly convicting innocent people. When this is the case those people should be exonerated, the issue then whom bears the responsibility for the cost, which is never cheap, for the process to clear these peoples’ good names. This issue has always decided by political divide. A wide majority of Conservatives believe if an accused as gone to court and found guilty, the State as met the burden of proof and that is all that is required of them and are not obligated to any recourse. If the convicted or parties representing the convicted want to over turn a conviction they are responsible for whatever expenses accrue. Liberals on the other hand, also by a wide majority, believe the State show be held responsible for the expenses especially if the convicted is exonerated. Conservatives rebuttal; if a proper trial was conducted and defended was found guilty they should not have to pay to to convict some one twice and by chance if a mistake was made the state can make retribution. Liberals will point out statistics clearly show financial standing plays a large part in the outcome of trials, people of lower incomes get convicted at a much higher rate than those that can afford better legal representation and if these people couldn’t afford better representation before they were convicted how could hey afford it after being locked up and if they have to wait until after they are exonerated before receiving any compensation, not receiving any even after providing sufficient cause for a new trial is the proverbial putting the cart before the horse, the State should be responsible for. compensation so the defended has access to funds when they need them most before the proceeding granted second trial. American has had a long standing tradition, well maybe better put as practice where law students provide legal aid to help those wrongly convicted for free. This as always been a good comprise or solution, the students get real hands on experience in their desired profession and the convicted get much needed legal assistance free of charge, I think everyone can see how all parties benefit with this. Professors have been known to give extra credit for students that take on these cases, again a win win. And if or when they get to the point where a professional or licensed attorney is needed one is found to take over the case, ith most of the ground work being done by the students before limits the hours and cost for the lawyer that takes on he case. As crime rates started to soar and with it more mistakes these free legal aid students and their professors became more organized. 1988, as I wrote in an earlier post New York, confirmed by their Supreme Court, is the first state to allow the use of DNA evidence in criminal trials and as I also stated slowly other states started to follow suit, by slow I mean by 2000 only 13 states had started to allow use of DNA evidence in criminal trials, maybe surprisingly Texas was one of the first to follow New York and again a divide along political ideologies developed on the same issue, whom bears the cost because testing DNA evidence was even more expensive than your usual run of the mill exoneration. Then in 1990 two things happened that would have long lasting ramifications on the Lake Waco Murders case.

GarAndMo39 · Jun 13, 2020

Hi @BKL67 !
Just checking in really quickly- I really appreciate your response to my post yesterday. I'm not concerned about debating with you or delving deep into the case. I've re-read your blog, and I find you to be fair, open to what others say, and respectful. I'm truly looking forward to more discussions with you.
I saw you are logged in, so wanted to say hi. I don't think our beliefs are incompatible by any means!
Hoping to catch up more on your posts tonight, and am also skimming through the Stowers book.
Thanks for your reply and I'll talk with you soon.

1982 Lake Waco Murders

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