1982 Lake Waco Murders

This case is technically "solved"; however, many questions remain (not the least of which is: was an innocent men executed?). I was living in Waco for several years; left a couple of months before this happened. I knew Vic Feazell casually- he was having trysts w/ my room mate. My impression of him was/is *smarmy*- not just because he was married & screwing around, but because he literally came across that way- just exuded ego, anything for attention, nasty personality in general. Also, the media makes this case sound like an aberration in Waco, and, honestly, it wasn't. I sobered up in 1980; in early 1981 an acquaintance from the program & her boyfriend went to Koehne Park to try to score some weed; the boyfriend was shot and killed. It wasn't at all unusual for people to be shot, stabbed, etc. in Waco- I worked in medicine, and not a weekend went by without shootings & stabbings coming into the E.R. Anyway, will comment more later; hope to hear others' opinions!
<snip>
The 1982 Lake Waco Murders refers to the deaths of three teenagers (two females, one male) near Lake Waco in Waco, Texas, in July 1982. The police investigation and criminal trials that followed the murders lasted for more than a decade and resulted in the execution of one man, David Wayne Spence, as well as life prison sentences for two other men allegedly involved in the crime, Anthony and Gilbert Melendez. A fourth suspect, Muneer Mohammad Deeb, was eventually let out after spending several years in prison.
<snip>
On July 13, 1982, two fishermen discovered the bodies of Jill Montgomery, 17, Raylene Rice, 17, and Kenneth Franks, 18, in Speegleville Park, near Lake Waco. Franks' body was found propped against a tree, with sunglasses over his eyes. All three victims had been repeatedly stabbed, and both of the women's throats had been slashed. There was also evidence that the women had been sexually assaulted.[1] <snip>
The investigation was initially headed by Lieutenant Marvin Horton of the Waco police department, with assistance from Detective Ramon Salinas and Patrolman Mike Nicoletti. Truman Simons, who was with the Waco police department at the time and had been one of the first respondents on the scene of the crime, also assisted the investigation in an informal capacity.

Initially, the investigation revealed a number of different possible suspects, including James Russell Bishop [2] and Terry Harper, local residents who had been tied to the area at the time of the crime. However, both men were found to have credible alibis (Harper's was later proven false when Spence's attorneys investigated it), and in September of that year, the investigation began to stall and was marked as "suspended." Simons, who had taken a significant personal interest in the case, requested that he be given permission to continue investigating the case, which he was subsequently granted.

<snip>The case languished for nearly a year, until the work of Simons and others had produced enough evidence to again arrest Deeb and three alleged accomplices in the plot.[4] Deeb had had a life insurance policy for one employee at his convenience store who bore a striking resemblance to Jill Montgomery. Simons hypothesized that Deeb had hired David Wayne Spence to murder her, and that Spence and two friends, Anthony and Gilbert Melendez, had seen the victims and mistaken Montgomery for the target. They speculated that the other two victims had been murdered because they were witnesses.[5]
<snip>
Deeb, Spence, and the Melendez brothers were all indicted late in 1983. District Attorney Vic Feazell, whose office had been instrumental in continuing to pursue new evidence in the case, would manage the prosecution against the accused.[6] Spence and both Melendez brothers were, at the time, already serving prison sentences for various crimes.[7]

The evidence against the men largely consisted of testimony provided by other inmates, who claimed that the defendants had admitted to their involvement in the killings in private discussions, as well as confessions made by Anthony and Gilbert Melendez. Also considered was the confession Deeb had made to the two young women about his involvement in the killings, as well as the life insurance policy he had taken out for his employee. Bite marks on the victims were also presented as evidence of Spence’s involvement.

The trials began in May, with testimony from dental specialists supplementing the evidence that had been provided by the prison witnesses. In June, Anthony Melendez pleaded guilty to the crimes and was sentenced to life imprisonment.[8] Spence’s case was badly damaged by Melendez’ confession, which played a key role in his eventual conviction in July 1984. Unlike Melendez, Spence was sentenced to death for his involvement in the killings.[8]

<snip>
In 1986, true-crime writer Carlton Stowers published his account of the murders and police investigation surrounding the Lake Waco murders, Careless Whispers. The book focused heavily on Truman Simons’ involvement in producing the evidence which led to the convictions.
<snip>
Controversy
Following the convictions of Spence and Deeb, some began to question the substance of the evidence on which the convictions had been based and the methods through which it had been obtained. Forensic odontologist Homer Campbell was proven to have made false assessments at around the same time, and when a blind panel examined the alleged bite marks and a mold of Spence's teeth, three said that the marks were not even bite marks, and the other two matched them to a Kansas housewife.[citation needed] Three of the seven people who said Spence confessed later stated that Simons had offered them privileges in order to secure their testimony and had fed them info on what to say.[citation needed] Spence's lawyers also discovered an alternate suspect in Terry Harper, a local thug with a history of knife-related offenses. Six witnesses testified to seeing Harper and his friends in the park on the night of the murder, and others claimed that he had boasted of committing the murders (some even said that he did this even before the crime was made public).[citation needed] Also, one of the victims, Kenneth Franks, was later found to have been an associate of Harper's in the drug trade.[citation needed] When Harper was interviewed by Spence's lawyers, he claimed that he was at home watching Dynasty; records showed that Dynasty did not air that night.[citation needed] Brian Pardo, a wealthy Texas businessman, met Spence a few months prior to his execution and, on becoming convinced of his innocence, launched a campaign to delay his death sentence so that a new trial could be commenced. His efforts were unsuccessful, but they brought attention to the case following Spence’s execution.

Bob Herbert wrote a series of articles for The New York Times in 1997, with headlines such as “The Wrong Man” and “The Impossible Crime,” in which he claimed that the case had been “cobbled […] together from the fabricated and often preposterous testimony of inmates who were granted all manner of favors in return.” [12]

1982 Lake Waco murders - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GarAndMo39]

And, for what it's worth, I agree completely that the Rice family shouldn't have been bothered by reporters. Harassing victims is vile.

 

[GarAndMo39]

Hi once more @BKL67 !
A couple thoughts & observations- first, you have me chomping at the bit waiting to find out what happened in 1990! I know I'm not caught up, but spill, bro!!
More random stuff- Kenneth Frank^s father has always puzzled me. Why was he at the park so early? Why was he reluctant to allow his son's room to be searched? Something about him seems hinky. Do you think. any of his hesitations are due to his being gay? After all, homophobia was rampant in the 70s and 80s, especially in the south.
That pastor Robert guy bugs me, too. His interest in young men plus drugs, not to mention being murdered. Not sure how he fits into this, or how much, but curious all the same.
Now my mind's drawing blanks, but I'll probably remember more right after I post this. ( I'm far from a linear thinker!
Be back soon...

 

[BKL67]

Hello @GarAndMo39, just a few thoughts on your most recent inquires and then I'll get back to the 1990 connection. Mr. Franks' behavior is hard to answer for, one thing I think could have contributed to his sometimes erratic behavior was he was a heavy drinker, maybe an alcoholic, and I have been told of his regular drug use, so maybe the mixture of grief and alcohol and/or other substances made him unpredictable. Then there is the simple possibility that isn't uncommon but still hard to understand; some people after suffering a loss like this can't accept and don't react well to being at least a person of interest if not more and their lives being pried into when they are the victims but this is regular procedure to first look at the people closest to the murdered victims and work out from there. What people that act like Mr. Franks did fail to understand is when they act like this the more attention and prying they will get and the cycle of tension between law enforcement and noncooperation of said love one snowballs. So I can't explain why he would not allow the police to search the residence. As with most things with this case there are differing views on exactly why Mr. Franks' was in the park so early. During and around the the of the trials he told people that he got a call that alerted him there was problem. One journalist, can't recall his name but I believe his article is still easy to find on the internet, the title is something like "Remembering The Crime 30 Years Later", anyway in his article he claims Mr. Franks called him late at night, intoxicated telling him his son was missing. This journalist claims it was the night the kids went missing but some of the other details in this article are off, it is possible he is confusing the night the kids did not return home and the night they were discovered which was the following day. But that really doesn't make sense because the journalist states Mr. Franks said his son was missing and Kenneth was missing only one night and Mr. Franks was informed of the discovery of the bodies a couple hours after the discovery, so making a call later that night to say his son was missing doesn't add up. What Mr. Franks originally told the police on the morning of July 14th was he woke up around 2:00 a.m. and noticed Kenneth had not returned, angered by this because Kenneth was suppose to be home by midnight and he had summer school in the morning and couldn't afford to miss anymore time, Mr. Franks couldn't get back to sleep. Knowing Kenneth frequented Koehne Park than was only 5 minutes from where they lived, Mr. Franks decided to get up and ride down to the park to see if he could find Kenneth. Arriving at the park Mr. Franks saw Raylene's car, he recognized it as such by the Waxahachie High School stickers on the back window and decided to leave a note on the window shield. Back home, still unable to sleep and questioning himself about the wisdom of leaving a note on the car expressing his unhappiness Mr. Franks came to the realization that Kenneth would be made well of his father's displeasure when he did get home and decided to ride back out to Koehne Park and remove the note, doing so he then drove on to Midway Park where he found the abandoned and vehicle and law enforcement was contacted by a trucker Mr. Franks talked to over his cb radio. So that was his story, I know so many questions, but we'll have to delve into later if I don't I'll never get back to 1990.
Regarding the attitude of homosexuality at the time, yes I believe that could have been a reason Mr. Franks didn't like the police prying into his life and personal affairs. One thing that stands out in the police reports is the frequent mention of people connected to the homosexual community, after the alleged drug activities this is the most common thread in the reports. Honestly when I started looking into this this case and going into to it asking if it didn't happen the way we have been told and the convicted were innocent what were the other possible scenarios. And by going by what was in the police reports a connection between drugs and the homosexual community, as many mentioned in the reports were apparently part of, and with the attitudes about homosexuality and the belief they (homosexuals) would have felt safer staying and dealing in their own community, topped my list as mostly likely other scenarios. Mr. Franks was gay and apparently a drug user. Reverend Robert Frueh was gay, a known drug dealer and lived on the same street as the Franks, their back yards only a few houses apart, and I haven't even gotten into James "Blinky" Lucas and Ralph Finstad(?) yet. And yes Reverend Robert Frueh was a strange one, his was another one of the leads the WACO PD failed to follow up during their original investigation, he was seen at Koehne Park the night of the murders and already had a sketchy criminal history, and would talk to him until November 1982 at which time Frueh lawyered up. A couple other things about this; the girl that originally gave this tip the police in July and wasn't contacted by anyone from the Waco PD after her initial interview until November was so distraught over this she would later contact Jill Montgomery's family, the aunt was nice enough to send me copies of the letters this girl sent. This witness would killer herself years later, I talked to one of this ladie's daughters and she expressed to me , strongly, her mother's suicide had nothing to do with the murders, apparently she had some problems including drugs which would in the end be the cause of her death; overdose on pills. I think people fail to see or understand the full scope of the damaged lives or lives damaged surrounding or connected to this case and many still suffering and dealing with it 38 years later. With Rev. Frueh it is not only his strange behavior but the shadows that still remain over his murder about a decade later. There is no record of any court proceeding adjudicating this case even though the police arrested some one and he confessed to the crime, giving ample details of the situation and the murders. Again, a simple reason the subject could have been a minor and handled in the juvenile system but what we do know from the highly redacted reports is he was at least 16 because he was driving around Texas making drug runs for the Reverend and at that age, and the brutality of the crime, he stabbed Frueh multiple times, he would have had to have done a little time in the adult system., but then Robert Frueh's own well known criminal activities but have saved his killer from any harsher consequences. And another possibility I would throw out there if this murderer and drug runner was young and his identity kept unknown law enforcement could have used him for their own purposes. Not trying to give a plug to my blog but this is discussed at depth there, along with input and insights from some one that knew Reverend Frueh before he moved to Waco, this person attending the church where Frueh was the pastor prior to Waco and also the highly redacted reports on the investigation into the murder of Reverend Robert Frueh that I was able to obtain through my FOIA request, Waco PD wouldn't release much but what they did is interesting. I guess I will get into all that here and some point and time. And now after a little break, well it is Sunday so it might linger, I will finally get back to 1990

 

[BKL67]

On to 1990, as anyone that reads any of my ramblings anywhere from here, my blog or any other true crime site that allowed me, I am all about the connections and with a case that has been raging for 38 years some of those connections go way back, long before they had anything to do with the case and most people don't realize or understand these connections again because they are not widely reported and when most finally do hear about it they go "I didn't know that" and perceptions change. In this case some of these connections probably went back even further than I am going but 1990 being the start of the most turbulent and direction changing decade of the Lake Waco Murders case it is fitting and logical to start there.

In 1990 the controversial and New York best seller "Hit Men" was published authored by New York journalist Fredic Dannen, the subject matter the; shadier side of the music recording business. Chief among the sins of the heads of these powerful recording companies was stealing or illegally withholding money and infringing on copyright laws worth millions that rightfully belonged to African American artist and performers and with the subject of reparations being paid to African Americans for past wrongs, mainly slavery, starting to gain national attention since Democratic presidential hopeful Reverend Jesse Jackson made it part of his platform in 1988, "Hit Men" became seen in some circles as showing another example of how the African Americans had been cheated out of the American dream by the American system and Dannen hailed as the new champion in the fight for fairness. Among the people praising Mr. Dannen and his book for exposing these racist practices was fellow New York journalist Bob Herbert, these issues being near and dear to his heart. Herbert long known for his public and published views on race in America, racism, racial injustice and social inequality had only received his degree in journalism in 1988 but had been in the business since the mid 70's. He had been drafted into the military during the Vietnam War and received training in communications which he was later able to parlay and put to go use for spreading his thoughts and views across the country. In the future, 2000 to be exact he would become a founding member along with others that shared his views of the liberal think tank group Demos. Among the founding board members was at the time little known outside of Chicago or those waging the war against racial inequality Illinois State Senator Barack Obama. This group was formed in response to the growing number of Conservative Republican think tanks and their domination of in both ratings and volume of Nation Public Radio. Demos' stated purpose was to bring awareness to their issues, push for like minded groups to take more active public roles in getting their message out, they would aid and assist these groups anyway they could including the substantial financial resources the members of Demos had been able to pool together, at the beginning about ten million, and overall effect the social and justice change they believed this country needed. To achieve those goals an intricate tentacle was to get these views out in the public by going to media outlets that were either more favorable to these views or at least allow some of these still for most part controversial views to be aired. Liberal activist going to media outlets whom shared these views or were more agreeable with them would be what was starting to be referred to as the Liberal media. Whom better to help spearhead and open doors to these media outlets than the member with a strong back ground in both communications and journalism and even stronger ties to these media outlets; Bob Herbert. Demos had a rapid rise, in 2001, although there had been other rallies and conferences but much smaller by other similar groups the First National Reparations Convention was held in the city of Founding board member Obama, 7 years later he would run, top the the Democratic ticket and win the presidency of the United States of America. The power and influence of Demos cannot be understated, from their organized and funded rallies and protest, their get out the vote campaign and their fight against voter I.D. requirements has changed this country dramatically in the last 20 years. The reason I don't like to get into all this is because unfortunately it does get political and though I know most people would hope this night be the end of any more political rigamarole, actually the second occurrence of 1990 is purely political, in that year Democrat Ann Richards won the election for Governor of Texas.

Being governor Ann Richards would bring sweeping changes to Texas and one of the most important, staying in tune with her fellow Democrats, was the issue of justice reform in the State most highly criticized by the left as corrupt, racist ,unfair and putting people to death. The biggest move Governor Richards was able to enact was the institute the Texas Lottery, she would buy the first Lottery ticket in 1992. As had other states that had lotteries Richards plan was for the proceeds of this huge money making scheme to go to schools, including state run universities and states that received state funding, all sounds good. And as some of the other few state that had both lotteries and allowed DNA evidence in criminal tries had done, Governor Richards allowed some of these funds to go to the organized law students working exoneration cases, this would become the University of Texas Innocence Project, the Democrats had finally found a way to make the state cover at least some of the burden of expenses to help exonerate those wrongfully convicted. As Governor Richards' Texas was selling their first lottery tickets in 1992, two New York lawyers, Barry Scheck who would be director and Peter Neufeld; both later to become part of O.J. Simpson's legal dream team, were founding the Innocence Project whose stated purpose was to exonerate wrongly convicted individuals purely through the use of DNA evidence. Just for the record, I was a little lazy and didn't feel like going to their home page to get the exact numbers, so I got the ones that follow from the less than reliable Wikipedia, I think their numbers should be close if not totally accurate if not some one would definitely be crying about it From 1992 when the project began through 2019, they receive about 3000 request a year, over the 28 years that would roughly be about or over 85,000 and out of those they have been able to exonerate 189 individuals, 22 of those were on death row. That is a dismal success rate of 2 or 3 percent. Dr. Edward Blake widely considered the leading expert on DNA evidence, and where the evidence of this case was sent, has a much better success rate but far fewer cases only working on little more than a hundred, around 120-125, a few more or less either way and even though he has a much better rate it is still under 50%, it's somewhere around 40%. This shows DNA evidence is not the fix all some try to make it out to be. As the early 90's moved along, drastic changes were occurring with the case, Muneer Deeb was granted a re-trial, Gilbert Melendez refused to testify unless he was given guarantees on his parole, they could not be given, Deeb walks away a free man and the recantations of many that had testified against David Wayne Spence, including both Melendez brothers, start to matriculate, The whole time David Spence sits alone on death row for the Lake Waco Murders. Next would enter the man that would start bringing these varied pieces, resources and connections together.

 

[BKL67]

In 1996 as part of his out reach ministries businessman Brian Pardo was at the Huntsville Correctional Institution,while there he made an unique request to the warden, Pardo wanted to meet the most infamous criminal from his hometown; Waco. The warden consented to the request with a warning; don't believe a word he says, he is the worst of the worst, he is the most dangerous inmate here. That was a rather caustic characterization considering Huntsville housed Texas' death row and America's most used execution chamber. The warden ended his warning, probably trying to make an overture to Mr. Pardo's strong Christian convictions; David Wayne Spence doesn't have a soul. Apparently the warning fell on death ears after his meeting with David Spence, Mr. Pardo came away convinced of David's innocence. Not only was he convinced of David Spence's innocence, Mr. Pardo was willing to use his own amble resources to help Spence regain his freedom. Mr. Pardo already had a team of lawyers working for his assorted business interest, he would put them to work immediately on David Spence's case. There was a problem, none of the lawyers that worked for Mr. Pardo were experienced in these kind of cases, exonerations and especially for an inmate on death row, this just wasn't in their wheel house. they advised Mr. Pardo if he was serious he needed to find a lawyer that knew how to handle these kind of cases and knew how to get things done and done quick because Spence's date of execution had already been set and it was only a few months away. Pardo's group went for the best of the best, Barry Scheck and his Innocence Project in New York. Mr. Scheck was contacted and made aware of the urgency of the situation, Mr. Scheck told them to send whatever files or information they had and he would take look. Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project declined to help. The exact reason is up for debate, it could have been because the Innocence Project already had so many cases on their hands and David Spence's execution date already so near, only a months away, they realized they won't or didn't have the time needed to properly handle the case. Another possibility is; it is the policy of the Innocence Project not to take cases were the convicted originally pleaded guilty, they understand the nearly insurmountable obstacle that presents even with favorable DNA evidence and although David Spence had never pleaded guilty two of his accomplices had, the Melendez brothers, and not only had they plead guilty they had testified against Spence, that's the double whammy. Barry Scheck knowing the bind Pardo and his team were in didn't want to leave them high and dry, so he gave them the name of another New York lawyer that handled these kind of cases; Joel Swartz. Pardo's group contacted Swartz, he agreed to join the crusade and shortly he was off to Texas.

 

[BKL67]

I have to admit I still get confused with whom was lawyer for whom and when and whom worked for whom and what they actually did, the attorneys that worked this case at some point rotated just as much as the attorneys for the Mansonites during the Tate-Labianca trials. When Brian Pardo joined the fray in 1996, David Spence was already represented by attorneys from one of the financially strapped innocence projects/exoneration groups, Spence's defense being headed by Raoul Schonemann and Rob Owen aided by an army of other lawyers, interns, law students and volunteers, all and all sounds like a formidable group or team, finances being their one weakness. So why didn't Pardo just give this legal team the financial assistance they needed? He was willing to spend his money and was doing so getting his own lawyer and investigators. Wouldn't it have made since to just back the lawyers that had been working the case since 1991 as the Schonemann led team had been. Honestly I don't know when some of the lawyers went this rotating door of legal representation, you see their names and have no idea what they did. From the Appellate Courts' decisions and finding you can see the attorney's of record and with that we know David Spence's original attorneys Russell Hunt and Hayes Fuller stayed on the case through Spence's 1990 appeal, Schonemann and company becoming attorneys of record in 1991. And again a lot of the legal mumbo jumbo is too confusing and I don't want to mislead anyone getting something wrong and stating it as fact when it is not. I stick to reading the courts' decisions and findings. Now having said that you can't totally research a case without looking at what happens behind the scenes and try to understand that no matter how confusing and in doing so there are a couple things I have seen reported that don't make sense to me and again I am probably wrong but there are things I have read out there on two issues that don't make sense. One deals with Habeas Corpus and the other the DNA evidence. I think most people, well at least those that follow true crime and capital punishment cases, understand Writ of Habeas Corpus. Basically this is, or should I say it is my understanding from all I've read on the subject but I still could be wrong, the initial appeal made by most of those convicted of a capital crime. The reason this is usually the first appeal is because it is a very simple writ, the Appellant, that would be the party making the appeal, questions the right of the state to hold (incarcerate) them. It's this very simplicity which is why this is usually the first appeal made because there is a time limit as to how long you have to file an appeal after conviction, famous Supreme Court case I can't recall at the moment, it either 60 or 90 days after sentencing and once you file that initial appeal under that dead line, it opens the door for future or further appeals not beholden to those dead lines. As the number of crimes and capital cases rose, the courts were overwhelmed and cases started to backlog and even these time sensitive writs could take years before they were considered by the Appellate Courts. Attorney's not wanting their clients to just sit there in prison rotting away any longer than they had to and using the time between when they were required to file that initial appeal and the time when that appeal finally made it into a courtroom they started adding the issues they were planning to appeal to that original simple writ, kind of like killing two birds with one stone, if they had to wait years to be heard, once they finally were in a courtroom why not raise as many issues as you can because it might be years before get get another chance and this has become common practice. Now what this has to do with this case is I often read that Raoul Schonemann helped David Spence file his Writ of Habeas Corpus, that doesn't make sense Schonemann didn't start representing Spence until 1991, I'm definitely not Albert Einstein but I'm pretty sure my math is correct on this one when I say 1991 is way more than 60 or 90 days, the dead line to file that initial appeal, from when Spence was sentenced. Can one you file Writ of Habeas Corpus more than once I don't know? And as I always do we have to look at wrote the details of these reports or articles, obviously it's journalist, not more Brian media bashing. Again, another one of my pet peeves with this case is questioning the choice of words used by the author of those words, especially when we have many literary types chiming in and using their artistic license at liberal will. So it is possible when we see the term Habeas Corpus used the journalist could be using it as a cover-all word for appeals, again I don't know but see how the choice of your words can change the factual meaning. Anyway I know and anyone that wants to take a look can find David Spence's original attorney did file an appeal under the required dead line after sentencing, I would believe that was the Writ of Habeas Corpus and by the time it made it into a courtroom he had added a couple issues he wanted to argue. This initial appeal was finally reviewed by the Appellate Court in 1987 and they made their decisions in 1988. Now there was an issue with one of the issues Hunt and Spence were trying to argue and this might have something to do with a later Writ of Habeas Corpus, but the documentation on that is not as readily available, it would be confusing and I don't know what I'm doing, so let me just move on to the second issue i read about often and have questions, it's a tad more simple.

Again I don't know, unfortunately I have to say that a lot in this post, when Texas first allowed DNA evidence to be used in a criminal case, I know it was after the first case to do so in New York in 1988 but that would be something easy to find. I believe it has to be at least by the end of 1992, the reason being 1992 was the year attorney David Chapman, who was one of the lawyers handling the Muneer Deeb retrial for the state. turned over the files to Max Courtney the DNA expert the defense had hired. If the defense had hired a DNA expert it fathoms that they were planning to use this evidence as part of their defense. So the question become, well at least in my mind why did they what so long. From the time the physical evidence was collected at the crime scene the night of July 14th 1982 it was taken to the Dallas Forensic Institute were it stay until it was finally sent to the DNA lab run by Dr. Edward Blake in the early 2000s, I believe 2001. With a name like Dallas Forensic Institute they could handle all things forensic but DNA was something new and depending on when Texas allowed the use of this evidence this lab might not have been up with all the new procedures and techniques or have the necessary tools and equipment to test these new sciences. But if that was the case why not send it to a more updated and adequate lab sooner like the one in California? It would be like someone asking me; Hey Brian can you do some brain surgery on me and I answer no I don't know how to but if you wait around maybe a few years I might learn and then I might be able to help you. Crazy doesn't make sense. David Spence was on death row he didn't have all the time in the world. Why would the defense allow the evidence to just sit in a lab that couldn't run the necessary test, if this was the case. Again I don't know and can't understand. Maybe it was the cost and if this was the issue it would bring me back to when Brian Pardo finally got involved which wouldn't be until a few years later, instead of spending his money forming his own team why didn't he just finance the team that had already been working on the case. Anyway at least this gets me back to Brian Pardo and the connections.

 

[GarAndMo39]

Just another quick note @BKL67 - I'm really sick and not able to get to a doctor for pain meds, so I'm kind of fuzzy and feeling very raw. With that in mind, I have no desire to wade into politics, and I don't see how Ann Richards, Bob Herbert, etc. Could have messed up this case by being against racism and the status quo in Texas or anywhere else. I very well could be mistaken about where this is going- if so, I apologize. Regardless, with all sincere respect, I don't debate politics, and I stand strongly against racism and sexism . Sorry I don't feel up to writing more, I will catch up when I'm able to function. Again, my sincere apologies if I'm not understanding where. this is leading. Sending you good thoughts, and I look forward to your follow up posts...

......

 

[GarAndMo39]

Oh, also, I found a snippit of the record company stuff on You Tube (I think), so I'll watch it as soon as my head quits trying to explode from this migraine...
Thanks for your patience, @BKL67
P.S. I'll also try to find my Molly Ivins books in order to get her perspective on Ann Richards (I adored her- so sad that she lost the breast cancer battle)

 

[BKL67]

@GarAndMo39, sorry to hear of your present state of health, please don't let why ramblings add to the migraine. To ease everyone's pain I will wrap this up, hopefully in a few paragraphs, I don't like leaving loose ends dangling, this case as enough. And this is why I don't like getting into this part of things, people walk away with wrong impressions. I don't believe I ever stated nor do I believe Ann Richards nor Bob Harbert messed up this case in anyway, The reason for going down this rabbit hole was to explain how the media has had a part in circulating the falsehoods many people today take as the truth and yes Bob Herbert, intentionally or not had a huge role in that. How many articles since Herbert wrote his pieces in 1997 do you see mention Herbert's articles? There are many problems with that, which I will get to. Also I don't think most people understand how Herbert got involved in the first place, the connections. With Ann Richards I wasn't implying she did anything to harm this case one way or the other, the point I was trying to get across was that she made funds available to these innocence projects. After Hunt and Fuller stepped away as David Spence's attorneys it was the Innocence project that took over and they relied on these funds, which where I was headed in my last post with my questions about the DNA and testing. Which now I will wrap up.
By the time Brian Pardo and then the New York lawyer Barry Scheck had recommended got involved in 1996 Spence's case was in crisis mode, a date for David's execution had already been set for later that years and all the efforts of his lawyers up to that time had produced little results. And this is where the questions about the DNA come into play. The DNA evidence in this case hadn't been tested, well obviously that needed to be done, the question why they waited so long because at this late stage in the game I'm not sure if they would have had enough time to get the results. And the importance of Ann Richards and the funds she provided, now Spence's defense were planning to use those funds but Richards was no longer Governor she had been defeated by Republican George W. Bush in the 1994 election and he pulled those funds leaving Spence's high and dry. Their response to this was to try to win the battle of public opinion, surely the people would see the injustice and travesty about to play out; Texas was about to kill a man even before all the evidence could be presented, the DNA. It was during this planned blitz that either Swartz the lawyer from New York or another investigator from New York Brian Pardo hired, I have seen reports that say one and other reports that say the other. Whomever it was, they suggested they had a journalist friend in New York they thought might help, that was Fred Dannen and that's how Fred Dannen became involved. When Fred Dannen was first contacted in 1997 he expressed he would like to but he was busy at the time wrapping up his latest novel he asked the Pardo group to send him whatever info on the case they could and he would come to Texas as soon as he could. Things in Texas weren't going well for the Spence defense, they had been able to get a temporary stay pushing Spence;s execution date back from late summer of 1996 to December of 1996 and once more from that December date until Aprils 1997 but they were running out of options, hence the attempted media blitz and call to Dannen in 1997. They were unable to do more, the DNA never got tested and David Wayne Spence was executed that April. Fred Dannen did not make it to Texas until after the execution but the battle wasn't over and Dannen saw an opportunity, this case would make a great book he could prove the state of Texas had killed an innocent man, this would definitely be a best seller. While Dannen talked with the people in Texas that had been part of David Spence's defense it became apparent he and Spence's led attorney Schonemann had become interested in another case, maybe connected maybe not, but mentioned in the files at different times but not in in great detail. This was the murder of Juanita White the mother of David Spence. There were striking similarities in how the two cases where handled both be investigated and tried by the same duo of Truman Simons and Vic Feazell and using the sane shady and/or shady tactics and two African Americans without the resources to afford better legal representation had been convicted of Juanita White's murder. Spence was gone and there was nothing they could do about that Dannen would expose the corrupt good ole boy system in Texas in his book but Washington and Williams could still be saved and by proving they had been wronged that would give credence to the belief that David Wayne Spence had been treated the same way. Fred Dannen was interested in writing his book becoming more of an author than a journalist at this time, so he wanted to return to New York so he could start setting that in motion, which he did getting an advance from a publishing company but he was still on board and believed, what had failed to gain the necessary results up to that time, the media blitz was a good idea, when he did return to New York he had another journalist friend he knew he could turn to with a story like this, that would be no other than Bob Herbert.
Bob Herbert is a well respected journalist and rightfully so, he is well known for his views and for fighting injustice, social inequality and for the under privileged. What gets overlooked at least in this case is his articles were op-ed pieces, opinion columns and there is nothing wrong with that but that is not and shouldn't be confused with investigative reporting like Michael Hall's piece in Texas Monthly. In the later Hall took the time to read and study the files available to him, in his article he states did did so for a year before he wrote his story. Bob Herbert did not do this and he never tries to say he did, he didn't go to Texas he didn't dig deep into the files, as he clearly displays in his two articles on the Lake Waco Murders he is relying on "his sources" for the information he is putting forth and although he doesn't exact name those sources it obvious where he is getting his information, he mentions Dannen and Schonemann. This is my opinion but going by what is in Herbert's articles I would doubt Schonemann and Herbert directly talked by the time Herbert wrote the articles. There are things that are misleading and are falsehoods, something you didn't see from Schonemann during his whole connection with the case, with Fred Dannen it's a whole different story. And this is the thing Dannen went to Herbert because he knew Bob Herbert was a nationally known and well respected journalist and voice and has you have seen with this case when Bob Herbert says something people take it as the indisputable truth and again as you have seen in this case other journalist repeat it. Unfortunately there are many things that aren't and again as I said earlier some are misleading, maybe maybe just opinions that you expect in an opinion piece but some are straight out out true. In the spirit on trying to wrap this up, I will only point on one that comes to mind and choosing this one because I am familiar with the documentation that proves it is a falsehood. In Herbert's article "The Impossible Crime" he writes, Truman Simons arrested Muneer Deeb against the wishes of his superiors. This is false as both the police reports and the affidavit requesting the arrest warrant for Deeb clearly show. The Chief of police, Chief Scott, Captain Hernandez the police department legal advisor Richard Carter and Assistant D.A. Brad Cates were all in the meeting when it was agreed upon by all parties there to ask for the warrant, the legal parties Carter and Cates writing or typing up the affidavit explaining the how and whys the decision was made to ask for the arrest warrant and singing it. Now this may seem like a little thing but remember the part of the narrative Dannen and others would try to weave was Simons was just this rouge cop doing his own thing without any restraint or without department approval. We see this in Herbert's articles and he mentions members of Waco PD and others that felt that way; D.A. Reyna, Lt. Marvin Horton, Detective Ramon Salinas. Those guys would end up being some of Truman Simons biggest distractors. Keep in mind it was Reyna that Vic Feazell defeated in 1982 to become D.A., it was Lt Horton that allowed the case to be suspended that led Simons to go over his head and take over the case and it was Salinas that was the lead investigator in the very flawed and suspended case that Simons took over, kept the case open, pointed out the mistakes of the original investigators and was able to get justice for the loved ones of the murdered teens. You don't think there is any bias in these men that failed in this task?

 

[BKL67]

Bob Herbert probably wasn't aware of the falsehood and misleading things he put in his articles but he did put his name on it knowing applying his name carried weight and added legitimacy. Like it or not and I'm not trying to say Bob Herbert is a bad journalist or bad guy but he was the first one to publish articles that would contain the falsehoods so many people read about and believe today because other journalist to their ques from Bob Herbert's articles.
And one final note before I wrap this up. When Brian Pardo was the face of the cause to exonerate David Wayne Spence he was open and honest he was out there talking to the press let everyone know what he was doing, that's how we know about Barry Scheck and being turned down by his Innocence Project, the hiring of Joel Swartz and how Fred Dannen became involvedand although I disagreed with him as to Spence's innocence his openness and honesty needs should be commended, once he walked away and Fred Dannen and Bernadette Feazell took over as the leaders of the crusade this tactic changed. They new they were going to create a false narrative but to do so they have to control the dissemination of information and attack and quiet opposing views Now I don't need to read articles or blogs or listen to podcast to know this, I know this personally. When I started my blog after Texas Monthly deleted my posts and closed the article to further comments after I posted the response Vic Fezeall's lawyer sent them proving the claim Michael Hall wrote that Vic Feazell didn't wish to respond was false and asking how they expected to find the truth by not telling the truth. Bernadette Feazell tried to get Jill Montgomery's aunt from talking to me, this this aunt wisely used her own mind, Bernadette went on the attack trying to convince people I was either Vic Feazell, Truman Simons or working for them and people shouldn't read or listen to what I say. Later she would tell Christine Juhl she shouldn't talk to me. So I am well aware of the efforts and deceitful ways Fred and Bernadette and I'm not alone. I wish I could get Jill's aunt to come to this site and let people hear her story and all the family has gone through and had to put up with all this time, again it doesn't matter what I say or think but people should be aware and understand what the families that lost their love ones have had to go through. And I would add, I wish Michael Hall would come out and let the pubic know, like he did with his well received articles, what he knows about Bernadette Feazell and his feelings now but people don't like to admit their mistakes. This wraps up my thoughts how the media has had a part in spreading the false narrative that is so popularly believed today.

GarAndMo39 get well soon and hope to hear from you again soon as well.

 

[BKL67]

@GarAndMo39, there were a couple other questions you asked earlier; one being why did Fred Dannen take off to Mexico, well I guess he would be the only one that could give us the reason but I don't expect he will. Apparently he didn't even inform his up to that time his fellow spinster Bernadette Feazell he was taking off. But this is what is known. The last we here from Fred Dannen was in either 2015 or 2016, sorry I can't narrow that down more at the moment, I can go back and look it up if need be. At this time he made the audacious claim, remind you he was still pushing the Tab Harper committed the murders fabrication, that he had found not the 40 year van Tab was using at the time of the murders apparently the van had disappeared but he had found the equally aged carpet that was in said van and this carpet matched the fibers in the DNA samples, an earth shaking discovery or claim. Not calling anyone a crackhead but I wonder how much crack one would have to smoke before that story stopped sounding suspicious. Well I wasn't the only one to find it suspicious, people working for the State's Attorney General's office also thought this sounded a little strange. Fred Dannen had legally and properly followed the procedure that is required for the chain of custody of evidence but taking custody of that evidence doesn't allow you to do whatever you want, if you take into custody DNA evidence to get tested you send it to get tested, if your finished with the testing you return it to the proper authorities, you don't ride around Texas and do who knows what with the evidence and depending what you did with the evidence while it was in your possession could constitute a crime. The State's A.G.'s office decided to dig into this a little bit. Fred Dannen might have already been gone by this time, the investigators from the A.G.'s office found some one that had been working with Dannen on the case, I think he was just the driver or something, helping the New Yorker Dannen make his way around Big Bad Texas, there are some humorous tales of Dannen's lack of driving skills when he tried to drive on his own in Texas. Anyway, this associate of Fred Dannen revealed that somehow the envelopes containing the DNA samples had come open and spilled in the back seat of the car then scooped up and put back in the envelopes. This contaminated this DNA and this admission and development led the A.G.'s office to put out a statement that it would question any DNA or results of any test run on any DNA Fred Dannen had in his possession. This pretty much killed any chance that any of the evidence collected up to that time would now be able to provide any answers. That would be the end of Fred Dannen's involvement in the case. And the book he was planning to write a lot of people are still waiting for that.


It was about this same time, I think a few months after Anthony Melendez changed legal counsel and this new representation reported they couldn't find any of the records or files on the case, apparently they had disappeared. Now I'm not stating Fred Dannen took them, actually I have doubts about that, loading up over 50 boxes of files and heading down to Mexico is a little hard to believe. At first his partner in crime Bernadette Feazell came to his defense claiming Dannen had returned everything he had taken before he left, that would imply she knew when he left. But obviously now the Tab Harper battleship was finally sinking and sinking fast and in the cut throat kingdom when the kingdom starts to collapse, in the cut throat dens you can find them eating their own. Bernadette started going after Fred over him not returning the tapes of her ex-Husband that she wanted for her own purposes, apparently not realizing she was now contradicting her earlier statement that Dannen had returned everything before he left. And I would repeat something I mentioned in an earlier post Fred Dannen did not return the personal items he had taken from Rhonda Evans.

I know over the decades my views, especially when it comes to Fred Dannen and Bernadette Feazell, have become very slanted so I leave it to others to make their own decisions and draw their own conclusions.

GarAndMo39 you also had mentioned the near hero worship status is given in the book Careless Whispers, I don't believe that was a question but I would like to end on an issue where are thoughts and feelings are more agreeable. I don't have much to say on it but yes Truman Simons gets what would seem more than a fair share of the focus but the reason for that is Simons was Stowers main source, Stowers was actually allowing Truman to tell his side of the story. Of coarse there can be and definitely are in this case with this approach, I would guide you to the last page where Stowers states the murders or case have been solved and there's no need for any one to ask or look any further, that was a warning right there that everybody should start asking questions and looking for answers. So we should take the book for what it is, for people like me that lived outside of Texas it introduced us to this troubling and intriguing case, although still very sad and tragic it is a great story. It did win the Edgar Allan Poe award for best true crime novel that's what made me pick it up, me being from Maryland and Poe living, dying, laid to rest there and being my favorite writer I had to pick it up. So there are many problems with the book and many people that were interviewed for the book will tell you that. The one thing the book does give us a glimpse into and after reading the book and then reading the police reports you will start to see and understand is that Simons was right on in some of his evaluations of peoples personalities, especially some of the investigators working the case originally. I would use for an example the psychics, well the one psychic the other girl didn't consider herself a psychic she put it as getting visions occasionally. This issue has been framed in a way to question Truman Simons' reliance or faith in using this controversial medium. I don't have a view either way on that really but what the book does show us and then you realize when you see it in the report is the attitude officers in the Waco PD had about this issue and how they handled information they didn't partially didn't want to deal with, Ramon Salinas is the one that receives the most attention in this regard in the book and maybe that is because he was the lead investigator but you do see it in the reports and even has Simons' is pointing out Salinas' flaws he also mentions his strengths which you can also see in the reports. The calls from these two psychics are not mentioned in the reports just like Gerald "Gene" Deal's calls though he states and testified he talked directly to Salinas once and left two other calls but Salinas never returned his calls, you clearly see Salinas didn't include information in his reports for whatever reason, it looks like information he didn't like or didn't fit into the direction of his investigation he didn't make note of. But as is pointed out in the book as Stowers and Simons put it Ramon Salinas was like a bull dog when he did get on a case and he got on to something, again you see this in the reports, the leads he did follow up on he did exhaust thoroughly, there could be no doubt whatever conclusions he came to with these leads his decision was solid, concrete, beyond reproach. That's one of the reasons why the whole Tab Harper is the one that committed the murders doesn't make sense, Salinas more than exhausted that lead, after he had exhausted one time he went back to make sure he exhausted it again. So that's my take away from the book, Truman gets to tell his side of the story and glorify himself pointing out the mistake of others while not admitting to any of his own. So that's that. GarAndMo39 I hope today finds you feeling better, until next time.

 

[GarAndMo39]

It did win the Edgar Allan Poe award for best true crime novel that's what made me pick it up, me being from Maryland and Poe living, dying, laid to rest there and being my favorite writer I had to pick it up.

SAME!!!!! LOVE Poe!!! @BKL67 , please don't let my comments/opinions pull you away from this thread- I'm still exploring the case, and your input is invaluable!!! We may disagree, but that makes things interesting...
Peace!
P.S. over half way through Stowers' book, questions & comments to follow. Also, found an interesting legal case relating to this last night; will copy & paste link after I have my therapy phone call...

 

[GarAndMo39]

@BKL67 please check out Jane Ellen Wakefield in missing persons 1975; I think you might be interested, and I made almost all the posts- know many players & the case well/ Thanks!

 

[GarAndMo39]

FindLaw's Court of Appeals of Texas case and opinions.

FindLaw's searchable database of Court of Appeals of Texas decisions since

caselaw.findlaw.com

Appellate case involving Simons, Feazell, Butler, & Campbell

 

[BKL67]

@GarAndMo39, I was unaware the defamation of character civil suit had been overturned, see I can still learn new stuff all the time and regularly do. Thank you for the share.

 

[GarAndMo39]

Hey @BKL67 !
Again, I'm just tossing something out, but I was wondering what your thoughts are on the bite "expert". I know bite marks were used as evidence in Bundy's trial (which was before the Waco trials- like you didn't know that), but there was a LOT more evidence in Bundy's case. This Campbell (hope I got his name right) guy sounded like a hot mess. I also noted that the pathologist didn't identify bite marks- if I'm remembering correctly. It's too bad there wasn't more evidence in the Waco cases. When reading Stowers' book last night, I was taken aback by the Waco P.D. releasing Raylene's car to her father so quickly (seemed like they never impounded it at all)- I know Mr. Franks had been in it (he obviously didn't know much about dealing with crime scenes, but I suppose many folks don't). Still, it seems like they should've processed it & checked for prints, blood, etc.
Also, and this is just my opinion, I lost almost all respect for Scheck & Neufield after they (strong wording warning) sold out-IMO- by getting on O.J. Simpson's defense team and trying to say the DNA was contaminated, etc. It pissed me off in a huge way, since IMO Simpson was obviously guilty, but they were willing to take the money, I suppose to help support their Innocence Project. (Henry Lee has also disappointed me by becoming a "hired gun"). That trial was such a fiasco- it burns me up just thinking about it, but I had to get that out of my system (sorry). I'm also more than a bit shocked that the DNA was turned over to Dannen- stupid move, IMO. Dannen has little respect from me; hell, I was threatened seriously more than once in Waco after I quit drugs & some big time dealers I knew got busted, but I didn't run across the border to drink Virgin margaritas Anyway- I know I have lots more to address, but I'm blanking out at the moment...
Looking forward to your feedback, as always!

 

[GarAndMo39]

Oh, just for the record, I knew Bob Fortune- he lived in the same apartment complex as me for awhile. Didn't know him well, but we talked several times, and he seemed like a good guy, and ethical (I was an EMT, among other medical jobs, so I had/have some experience in dealing with cops- also took over a year of law classes, for what it's worth). It's kind of cool when I recognize someone from the book/case.

 

[GarAndMo39]

, Bernadette went on the attack trying to convince people I was either Vic Feazell, Truman Simons or working for them and people shouldn't read or listen to what I say. Later she would tell Christine Juhl she shouldn't talk to me. So I am well aware of the efforts and deceitful ways Fred and Bernadette and I'm not alone. I wish I could get Jill's aunt to come to this site and let people hear her story and all the family has gone through and had to put up with all this time, again it doesn't matter what I say or think but people should be aware and understand what the families that lost their love ones have had to go through. And I would add, I wish Michael Hall would come out and let the pubic know, like he did with his well received articles, what he knows about Bernadette Feazell and his feelings now but people don't like to admit their mistakes.

I noticed B.F. is/was constantly trying to convince folks that you were V.F. and/or T.S. I was never convinced, At all. Ridiculous!

 

[BKL67]

@GarAndMo39, again thank you for the responses, all great stuff. I will start with just my little opinion on O.J. to get that out of the way. Yes that was a travesty of justice but our Justice system is geared towards protecting the accused and I can understand that especially in capital cases, the prosecution has to meet the burden of proof all the defense as to do is plant the seed of doubt in the mind of one juror. That's what makes David Spence's conviction so distinguished he was found guilty my two different juries. But again that is just my opinion.

On the bite mark evidence, I never had faith in bite mark evidence even before this case and yes it has been used successfully in a number of cases. The reason I've always had problems with it is simply this anytime you are trying to get accurate imagery of some component of a subjects; body you need that subject to be as still as possible; x-rays, m.r.i., etc., when some one is violently getting attacked, assaulted and/or struggling for their lives I doubt if they are being still making any accurate reading impossible. I guess that would leave some to question something like stab wounds but even with that I believe it a ball park figure so at least a trained professional would know which objects could be eliminated. Again all this is just my opinion. GarAndMo39 you are correct about the M.E. not identifing the marks, and if I remember correctly I have to go back over her testimony but there are a few files I have lost or misplaced somehow, she didn't even make note of them when she performed the autopsy. It wasn't until Simons and Baier talked to Lisa Kader on September 11th and Simons went back and looked at the crime scene photos and autopsy that noticed there was no mention of the marks in the autopsy. He went to Dr, Gilliland, sorry I am probably spelling that wrong but that's how it's coming to me now, with crime scene photos in hand, this would create problems later down the road. At that time , when Simon brought her the pictures she identified the marks as bug bites, it wasn't until Ned Bulter via the verification from Dr, Campbell that Gilliland finally identify them as bite marks. Now here is the problem, which of course came to light during the, according to Gilliland's testimony the reason she first identified the marks as bug bites because she only could see a half oval not a full oval you would expect if they were teeth. Just to clarify she was talking about the mark on Jill's right shoulder/shoulder blade, what she saw would have been the bottom teeth, I guess the top teeth would have been on the back side of the shoulder and were not as viable. That alone would bring in question the bite mark evidence and the accuracy of the molds. But that's what get's lost, especially if people listen to Bernadette Feazell, the bite mark evidence was questioned by the defense but even the defenses expert stated although the evidence couldn't prove Spence made the marks he couldn't disclude him either, pretty much making the evidence a wash, it was up to the jury to decide which is the way it is suppose to be. The Appellate Court has ruled on this and in their findings that's exactly what they say, the bite mark evidence was questionable, it was questioned by the defense and the jury decided, the Appellate Court doesn't replace the jury, they only determine if a error occurred, the jury heard both sides and made a decision no error had occurred.

 

[BKL67]

And GarAndMo39 this is what I usually ask people when this subject comes up. Let's say some how Spence and the Melendez brothers were granted a new trial, even now. Of course the prosecution would change up their strategy to some degree. Remember during David Spence's two trial none of the living victims of his violent behavior, including his penchant for violently biting, testified during the guilt phase of the trials, Lisa Kader testified during the penalty phase. Christine Juhl didn't testify until Deeb's re-trial and Cindy Quick/Click never testified, David attacking her on the night of July 27th. There would have to be adjustments in the testimony, Lisa Kader could only testify during the penalty phase because she was claiming rape, which hadn't been adjudicated. Being the only girl testifying to David's violent behavior there was no other was to get her testimony in. If she was only claiming an encounter and not an alleged crime she could only testify in the guilt phase if there was corroborating evidence, even if that corroborating evidence is circumstantial, to meet that requirement the prosecution would need to produce at least another witness that could testify to this violent behavior, they would have two Christine and Cindy. So my question is; what do you think would have more of an impact on a jury, remind you in the guilt phase, doctors or experts debating the veracity of bite mark evidence or three girls getting on the stand and describing in uncomfortable detail the violence David Wayne Spence unleashed upon them, including viciously biting them?