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

 

[BKL67]

For most part the things I have mentioned and believe point towards their guilt, well at least David Spence's, were not brought up in court, yes the doctors stated David Spence was the worst of the worst and Lisa Kader told her story but again that was in the penalty phase. And what I believe was one of the most important pieces of information the police received was that that they got from Josie Scionti revealing what would later be determined the actual location of the murders, none of the jurors ever heard anything about this, the defense having her testimony suppressed. So just going by what the jury was allowed to hear and I would leave out the questionable science of bite mark evidence and the jailbird testimony other than the inmate that did the artwork on the bandanna Spence requested and wore around the jail like some badge of honor, honestly we are not left with much. Now I would still allow the controversial and extremely flawed testimony of the Melendez brothers that in and of itself was enough to bury them Spence and the brothers, I will get into depth on that in a moment. The one witness that stands above all others and was the most believable was none other than Dorothy Miles, the lady David Spence considered to be his second mother. Yes there was Regina Rosenbaum that testified that David told her and a few of her friends he had raped two girls out at the lake, this admission from David happening at the end of July. This would match the statements of some of the inmates that claimed David had told them he had raped the two girls, some of the inmates even going as far as saying Spence told them he had raped the girls but didn't do the killing some one else had done that. Then we have David's parole officer stating when he did a on site check up at the apartment David and Christine had just moved into which was around July 20, the new apartment was the Northwood apartment Gayle Kelly had occupied for two nights and left, Christine and David moving in July 10th, Deal, the parole officer, noted that David and Christine got into an argument over something he wasn't sure about, then Christine Juhl said I could tell about the two girls. Deal added David could get this real intense look at times, during this argument David got that look and shared down Christine making her back down and shut up. There is one other person that testified that I would mention, this being Doris Tucker, there are two conflicting stories of what happened on the day in question so I don't know, I will just share what information is available on this and let you decide. Doris Tucker was the lady that called in one of those tips to the Crime Stoppers hotline after the case was suspended and the Waco PD never followed up. Ms. Tucker was a regular customer of the Rain bow Drive-In and knew all the people from that store that ave been connected to this case, her sister lived close by and whenever she visited her sister she would stop in. On one of this visit, supposedly during the Labor Day weekend, she witnessed Muneer Deeb and Christine Juhl get into an argument. Deeb was working and behind the counter, Christine came in asking Deeb about some money he owed David Spence, Deeb became angry over this and told Christine to leave the store or he would call the police, Christine responding go ahead when the police come what I can tell them will put you and David away for life. Now Ms. Tucker never says she heard anything about the murders, just from what she knew the only thing that popped up in her mind that could put Deeb and David away for life was the murders. I would say this shows Doris Tucker wasn't trying to fabricate the story or embellish the details, she reported what she honestly believed she heard. Of Christine had a different version. First I would have to add before Christine ever admitted to any argument between her and Deeb, she had stated from the time she left Waco after she got married to one of Deeb's friends on August 18th she hadn't returned until she was called by Truman Simons and returned to Waco the next morning September 15th, it wasn't after she was informed they had this tip that she admitted to being back in Waco at that time, claiming she returned to Waco to help a friend get a headlight so her car could pass inspection. Then Christine admitted to the argument her version being she had stopped by the store earlier that day when Karim was working to borrow $10 so her friend could buy the headlight, for some reason the girls couldn't get the headlight so Christine returned to the store to give back the $10 but now Deeb was working and when Christine came in she says Deeb started giving her a hard time and being rude to her and she didn't know why and then getting into an argument because she didn't understand why, she became upset and left. Christine is a little sketchy on the calling the police thing at times says she doesn't recall that happening other times says if it did happen all she knew about that could have gotten Deeb and David put away was their drug dealing with the kids and others times she says this is exctly what she was referring to when she made the statement to Deeb. Keep in mind Christine has also stated in the past she didn't know Deeb was dealing drugs with the kids and she was unaware David had any dealings with the kids. So that is all the information we have on that, you decide whom do believe.

And now getting back to Dorothy Miles, I believe there is no questions about her intentions or her honesty when it comes to her testimony, she truly cared about David, was concern and knew in the end she had to do the right thing even though it saddened her and left her heartbroken. The one issue some people might have or point to is, Christine believe one of the girls David had brought over to have sex with was one of Ms. Miles' daughters. When Christine got the chance she went after this daughter in response Ms. Miles wouldn't allow Christine in her house, so there was some animosity between the two. And the weekend after the murders was David's 25th birthday, Sunday July 18th and David decided to spend that weekend at the Miles residence, leaving Christine home alone. When David did return to the apartment that is when the fight broke out between Christine and David that caused her to leave David for good, again you can make of all this as you wish I'm just putting all the information out there.

 

[BKL67]

As with most of the testimony the State presented in David Spence's first trial, Dorothy Miles' testimony was circumstantial. She testified the weekend after the murders, she wasn't sure of the dates but she remembered that David's birthday that weekend because one morning while he was there he David asked her would if she would cook breakfast for his birthday if he went to the store and bought the necessary items, Ms. Miles did in fact cook this breakfast, David Spence's birthday was Sunday July 18th. While David was at Ms.Miles' house that weekend noticed something was wrong with David he was acting very paranoid, going to the window and peeking out every time he heard a car go by. Ms. Miles added she noticed David, always a heavy drinker was drinking even more now and this would be how his was every time he would come over after that. Sensing something was wrong Ms. Miles asked David what was wrong and he stated he thinks he had done something bad. Ms. Miles asked David what did he think he did but David didn't want to talk about it, so Ms. Miles dropped it. David Spence started hanging around the Miles residence more often that summer, especially after Christine Juhl left him around July 20th. Also living with Ms. Miles at the time were two of her three daughters, although neither daughter testified Ms. Miles stated one or both daughters were presented for some of the conversations she had with David during this time. Again Ms. Miles did not recall exact dates by testified these conversations took place from that first weekend into August. With each visit David made more troubling statements telling Ms. Miles that he had cut some one that he might have killed some one. Again Ms. Miles tried to question David Spence about this, one asking him; David wouldn't you know if you killed some one? But David wouldn't reply and wouldn't want to talk about it and just sat on the floor drinking his beer. not saying anything just sitting there like he was thinking about something or his mind was preoccupied. Now the defense made an issue of Ms. Miles not knowing the exact dates and that David had cut someone, the Pack boy in September and asked if Ms. Miles knew that Christine Juhl had left David when he made some of these statements and was very upset over Christine leaving. Ms. Miles agreed she was was made aware Christine had left David and that he was very upset. On redirect Vic Feazell asked Ms. Miles if she knew about David being arrested in September, again referring to the Pack incident, and Ms. Miles replied she did know about that. Vic followed up asking her did see David during that week when he was arrested, Ms. Miles said she hadn't seen David the week leading up to arrest. The defense asked for a sidebar and tried to explain to the judge that when they questioning Ms. Miles about when David said he cut some one they weren't necessarily referring to Pack, the State response was it wasn't their job to keep straight other possible crimes the defendant might have committed, they were there to prosecute one case, the murder of Kenneth Franks, if the defense wanted to introduce any other crimes their client had committed they were free to do so, of course the defense didn't want that and that was pretty much the end of Dorothy Miles testimony.

 

[BKL67]

Just a little update: Not too long ago I posted about how Gayle Kelly had told me that David Spence and Bobby Brem had gotten into some kind of altercation but would never give me any details and how I tried to ask Bobby Brem about it but he would never reply. Well, I was talking to Jill Montgomery's aunt earlier in the week and she has talked to Bobby Brem about this and he said he didn't know David Spence or the Melendez brothers. She also recently talked to another person close to this group of friends and case, this individual said she didn't remember Bobby and David having a fight. Why would Gayle Kelly lie about this? Well this is how this case goes and has always gone, you ask one question, get told something that never really gives you the answer to the question you originally asked and you walk away with about a dozen more questions that probably will never get answered.

 

[BKL67]

July 13, 2020, a pitiful anniversary, 38 years later and still counting. I could just reiterate the multitude of questions that remain but we see where that has gotten us for more than a quarter of a century. Maybe it’s too complex, maybe we’re not focused enough but the answers have to be out there somewhere. So let me focus on some issues and questions I feel would provide many answers. I understand many will disagree with my thinking on this and I’m always open to debate and differing opinions but to me when you put everything together there is one clear conclusion even though it is hidden behind the lies, less than stellar police work and obstructions put forth to deflect from the truth. There were other people involved at least in moving the bodies of the victims. So in that vein a few simple questions.

1) Does moving the bodies of murder victims constitute the criminal offense accessory after the
fact?
2) What is the statue of limitations for an accessory after the fact charge in the state of Texas,
when the fact is a triple homicide?
3) When Clifford Oliver’s car was first discovered at Midway Park on the morning of July 14,
1982 Waco PD was able to lift fingerprints from that vehicle. Because Clifford Oliver lied at the
time and didn’t mention he had been with David Spence and at Koehne Park the night of the
murders, he wouldn’t admit to this until Josie Scionti told the police this in December 1982 or
Christine Juhl told the police David and Clifford were together that night during her Interview
in the Spring of 1983, Lt. Horton and the Waco PD had no reason to connect Clifford’s car
with Koehne Park the night of July 13, 1982 when they released it the following morning and
when Horton interviewed Clifford a couple days later. By the time Clifford admitted the truth
Waco PD was no longer working the case. So did anyone go back and check the fingerprints
lifted on July 14th to see if they matched either David Spence, Anthony Melendez or Gilbert
Melendez. Remind you Gilbert’s original answer during both trials when he was asked about
what car he was in he said he thought it was a Pontiac, Clifford’s car was a Pontiac, he would
later correct himself both times. Also Christine Juhl states she saw David in Clifford’s car
earlier that evening and both she and Muneer Deeb have stated David’s car wasn’t in running
order that night. And keep in mind a silver Pontiac was seen at Koehne Park the night of the
murders, I know that’s a little detail that rarely gets mentioned. If David Spence’s or the
Melendez brothers’ prints are on Clifford’s car that would prove they were together in Clifford’s
car well before the timeline they have provided.

3) The same question should be asked about the fingerprints found on Raylene Rice’s car,
again since Clifford Oliver lied about his activities during that time period there was no
connection. But now we know he was lying were his fingerprints and those of the guys with
him, Todd Frazier, John Arnett Jr. and Cal Frazier ever taken and checked against those found
on Raylene’s car?

4) Whatever happened to Clifford’s car, Todd’s truck and I would throw in the Gutierrez’ twins;
James and Terry, car. Clifford tried to report his car stolen but ir was found and the scheme
he had worked up with the Gutierrez twins was revealed. Clifford and Terry Gutierrez then
took off for California. When the police tried to talk to the Gutierrez brothers, remember the
police had been told there was bad blood between the brothers and Kenneth Franks over the
car. Terry had already taken off with Clifford and James told the police the car had been in
an accident and they had gotten rid of it. Waco PD were never able to confirm the accident,
no report of such incident and had not located the car by the time the investigation of the Lake
Waco Murders was suspended. So what happened to all these vehicles?

5) Hell where did everybody go and what do they have to say about things? Clifford Oliver
stayed out of Texas until after Anthony Melendez, the last of the convicted, passed away in
2017. Jess “Todd” Childers apparently goes by another name now. John Arnett Jr won’t talk
and when his family does now they are usually lying. Cal Frazier I have no idea it seems after
he found out the police were interested in talking to Clifford Oliver about the murders Cal just
seemed to disappear. Again remind you Clifford Oliver missed his first scheduled interview,
the reason he gave was that he went over to Cal’s to talk to him about that night to see if he
(Clifford) had forgotten anything. So wouldn’t it be interesting to hear what these guys have to
say now when they are confronted with information that didn’t come up in any of the court
proceedings?

6) We hear a lot about the DNA evidence and the problems that one would except when the
evidence gets passed around like the collection plate at your local church. If test were ever
run, which I believe the lab in California was the only place where test were successfully run,
then there will be DNA profiles, those profiles never change, all you need to do is collect new
samples to compare against those profiles. And since, apparently, the test run found no
matches with the samples provided shouldn’t DNA samples be collected from individuals that
didn’t provide them back then? That would include Clifford Oliver, Todd Childers, John Arnett
Jr., Cal Frazier, James and Terry Gutierrez.

7) If moving bodies of victims does constitute an offense of accessory after the fact and the
statue of limitations hasn’t expired for that offense in the state of Texas, should the state of
Texas reopen the case to review? Do we have substantial incriminating material, although
circumstantial for just cause?

8) Does anyone care to answer any of these questions?

 

[tlorik]

Hi BKL67!! I live about 90 miles from Waco and used to go there once a month for meetings with work. 1982 was long before then but I'm slightly familiar with the area and know who Vic Feazell is. I'm definitely interested in your posts but have lots of reading to catch up and want to see the blog as well. I feel quite sure i'll have questions - I always do - but it may take me a day or so to get all the reading done!

 

[Mel70]

Being "Southern Baptist" I am surprised to learn that there is so much crime in Waco. Considering it is home to "Baylor University". The biggest Southern Baptist college in the country. I had several friends who went there.

 

[Mel70]

July 13, 2020, a pitiful anniversary, 38 years later and still counting. I could just reiterate the multitude of questions that remain but we see where that has gotten us for more than a quarter of a century. Maybe it’s too complex, maybe we’re not focused enough but the answers have to be out there somewhere. So let me focus on some issues and questions I feel would provide many answers. I understand many will disagree with my thinking on this and I’m always open to debate and differing opinions but to me when you put everything together there is one clear conclusion even though it is hidden behind the lies, less than stellar police work and obstructions put forth to deflect from the truth. There were other people involved at least in moving the bodies of the victims. So in that vein a few simple questions.

1) Does moving the bodies of murder victims constitute the criminal offense accessory after the
fact?
2) What is the statue of limitations for an accessory after the fact charge in the state of Texas,
when the fact is a triple homicide?
3) When Clifford Oliver’s car was first discovered at Midway Park on the morning of July 14,
1982 Waco PD was able to lift fingerprints from that vehicle. Because Clifford Oliver lied at the
time and didn’t mention he had been with David Spence and at Koehne Park the night of the
murders, he wouldn’t admit to this until Josie Scionti told the police this in December 1982 or
Christine Juhl told the police David and Clifford were together that night during her Interview
in the Spring of 1983, Lt. Horton and the Waco PD had no reason to connect Clifford’s car
with Koehne Park the night of July 13, 1982 when they released it the following morning and
when Horton interviewed Clifford a couple days later. By the time Clifford admitted the truth
Waco PD was no longer working the case. So did anyone go back and check the fingerprints
lifted on July 14th to see if they matched either David Spence, Anthony Melendez or Gilbert
Melendez. Remind you Gilbert’s original answer during both trials when he was asked about
what car he was in he said he thought it was a Pontiac, Clifford’s car was a Pontiac, he would
later correct himself both times. Also Christine Juhl states she saw David in Clifford’s car
earlier that evening and both she and Muneer Deeb have stated David’s car wasn’t in running
order that night. And keep in mind a silver Pontiac was seen at Koehne Park the night of the
murders, I know that’s a little detail that rarely gets mentioned. If David Spence’s or the
Melendez brothers’ prints are on Clifford’s car that would prove they were together in Clifford’s
car well before the timeline they have provided.

3) The same question should be asked about the fingerprints found on Raylene Rice’s car,
again since Clifford Oliver lied about his activities during that time period there was no
connection. But now we know he was lying were his fingerprints and those of the guys with
him, Todd Frazier, John Arnett Jr. and Cal Frazier ever taken and checked against those found
on Raylene’s car?

4) Whatever happened to Clifford’s car, Todd’s truck and I would throw in the Gutierrez’ twins;
James and Terry, car. Clifford tried to report his car stolen but ir was found and the scheme
he had worked up with the Gutierrez twins was revealed. Clifford and Terry Gutierrez then
took off for California. When the police tried to talk to the Gutierrez brothers, remember the
police had been told there was bad blood between the brothers and Kenneth Franks over the
car. Terry had already taken off with Clifford and James told the police the car had been in
an accident and they had gotten rid of it. Waco PD were never able to confirm the accident,
no report of such incident and had not located the car by the time the investigation of the Lake
Waco Murders was suspended. So what happened to all these vehicles?

5) Hell where did everybody go and what do they have to say about things? Clifford Oliver
stayed out of Texas until after Anthony Melendez, the last of the convicted, passed away in
2017. Jess “Todd” Childers apparently goes by another name now. John Arnett Jr won’t talk
and when his family does now they are usually lying. Cal Frazier I have no idea it seems after
he found out the police were interested in talking to Clifford Oliver about the murders Cal just
seemed to disappear. Again remind you Clifford Oliver missed his first scheduled interview,
the reason he gave was that he went over to Cal’s to talk to him about that night to see if he
(Clifford) had forgotten anything. So wouldn’t it be interesting to hear what these guys have to
say now when they are confronted with information that didn’t come up in any of the court
proceedings?

6) We hear a lot about the DNA evidence and the problems that one would except when the
evidence gets passed around like the collection plate at your local church. If test were ever
run, which I believe the lab in California was the only place where test were successfully run,
then there will be DNA profiles, those profiles never change, all you need to do is collect new
samples to compare against those profiles. And since, apparently, the test run found no
matches with the samples provided shouldn’t DNA samples be collected from individuals that
didn’t provide them back then? That would include Clifford Oliver, Todd Childers, John Arnett
Jr., Cal Frazier, James and Terry Gutierrez.

7) If moving bodies of victims does constitute an offense of accessory after the fact and the
statue of limitations hasn’t expired for that offense in the state of Texas, should the state of
Texas reopen the case to review? Do we have substantial incriminating material, although
circumstantial for just cause?

8) Does anyone care to answer any of these questions?

Wow. Great points and questions.

 

[Mel70]

View attachment 7186

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

Yeah Vic Feazell is scummy. He did represent "Henry Lee Lucas" at one point. But said had enough of his lies. He does give the air of arrogance and full of . There is much more to his story believe me.

 

[BKL67]

39th anniversary of the Lake Waco Murders and still so many questions!!!

 

[Mel70]

It is so sad. I have to wonder if it will ever be settled in any manner. I look at the fact that I had just turned 12 a month before. Ridiculous.

 

[leeknew]

My sister Kelly was best friends with Raylene when we lived in Waxahachie. The picture of Raylene in the book Careless Whispers, Raylene was wearing my sisters Q102 radio t-shirt. I remember Raylene taking my other sister and I to school. We thought we were so cool being able to ride with Kelly & Raylene. lol. On an odd note, Marvin Horton was my Dad's neighbor close to Mart TX when this happened and my sister Kelly was devastated when it happened. We had not been gone from Waxahachie too long when it happened and I don't believe my sister Kelly ever recovered from the loss. Kelly passed away in 2006 in a car accident, but until the day she died, she kept pic's of Raylene and her 2 children knew all about her. It affected Kelly terribly and we have never forgotten her.

 

[Kimster]

My sister Kelly was best friends with Raylene when we lived in Waxahachie. The picture of Raylene in the book Careless Whispers, Raylene was wearing my sisters Q102 radio t-shirt. I remember Raylene taking my other sister and I to school. We thought we were so cool being able to ride with Kelly & Raylene. lol. On an odd note, Marvin Horton was my Dad's neighbor close to Mart TX when this happened and my sister Kelly was devastated when it happened. We had not been gone from Waxahachie too long when it happened and I don't believe my sister Kelly ever recovered from the loss. Kelly passed away in 2006 in a car accident, but until the day she died, she kept pic's of Raylene and her 2 children knew all about her. It affected Kelly terribly and we have never forgotten her.

Thank you for sharing your sister and her devotion to Raylene's memory! What a special friend.

 

[leeknew]

Thank you for sharing your sister and her devotion to Raylene's memory! What a special friend.

We tried for many years to sit with Mr. Horton and try to get a better idea for what happened and nothing. Of course he was the one that stopped the investigation so soon after it happened. My sister made sure to let him get 2 ears full of her opinion of him. And that is putting it extremely nicely

 

[Kimster]

We tried for many years to sit with Mr. Horton and try to get a better idea for what happened and nothing. Of course he was the one that stopped the investigation so soon after it happened. My sister made sure to let him get 2 ears full of her opinion of him. And that is putting it extremely nicely

Is there much evidence that there is anyone actively working on the case in law-enforcement?

 

[BKL67]

Is there much evidence that there is anyone actively working on the case in law-enforcement?

No one in law enforcement is working the case, offically the case is closed.

 

[BKL67]

We tried for many years to sit with Mr. Horton and try to get a better idea for what happened and nothing. Of course he was the one that stopped the investigation so soon after it happened. My sister made sure to let him get 2 ears full of her opinion of him. And that is putting it extremely nicely

Lt. Horton was a less than stellar officer. Not only did he allow the investigation to be suspended prematurely, he didn't make sure the detectives working under him were following up leads and tips, which was his primary function. I believe the case would have turned out a lot differently had another officer been in charge, not saying Spence, Deeb and the Melendez brothers were not guilty, I believe they were.