THE MAN WHO STOLE HALLOWEEN - ANOTHER PASADENA STORY

He was called the “candy man” by his fellow inmates. He lived on death row in Texas for nearly ten years after being convicted of murdering his eight year old son. When his death was announced on the night of his execution outside the Walls Prison Unit in Huntsville, Texas, the crowd chanted “Trick or Treat”.

On Halloween night of 1974, in Pasadena, Texas, Ronald Clark O’Bryan distributed five Pixie Stix candies to five children, including his son and daughter, whom he had volunteered to take trick or treating.  Not long before that Halloween night, he had taken out insurance policies on both his children. He had also opened each of the Pixie Stix tubes, filled them with cyanide before stapling the ends closed and giving them to the children.

Later that night, O’Bryan told his son Timothy, he could have one piece of candy before going to bed; then he sat beside Timothy and encouraged him to choose the Pixie Stix. Within minutes Timothy was ill and vomiting. He died shortly thereafter at a hospital emergency room.

The other children did not eat their poisoned treats, but media reports at the time indicated that there were some close calls. One of the boys had gone to sleep with the Pixie Stix in his hand. 

Another was trying to open his with a knife in the kitchen when his father interrupted him and insisted that he go to bed. It was also reported that, in the ambulance, on the way to the hospital, attendant David Malone was prepared to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation if Timothy had stopped breathing. Doctors later said that there was enough cyanide in Timothy’s mouth that it might also have killed Malone.

Execution night in Huntsville

O’Bryan never confessed to the crime. He maintained that a person at one of the houses he took the children to, gave them the poisoned candy. However, he could not identify the house or the street it was on, though they had only visited two streets. He eventually changed his recollection and identified a house after being pressed by investigators. But police learned that no one was home at that house on Halloween, as the man who lived there was working at the time, surrounded by 200 witnesses.

As his story began to fail, police learned of the new insurance policies and that O’Bryan had asked acquaintances about cyanide and where it might be purchased. A search of his house revealed a knife with traces of powdered candy and plastic on the blade. Pixie Stix containers were made of plastic and held powdered candy.

The jury took only 45 minutes to convict O’Bryan and 70 minutes to assess the death penalty. The musical group Siouxsie and the Banshees recorded a song, Candyman, on their album Tinderbox, about O’Bryan and his infamous deed. The song can be heard on YouTube.  

For several years, the murder caused parents to promote Halloween parties and avoid door-to-door trick-or-treating. Hospitals offered to x-ray the trick-or-treat candy, though it probably would not have caught the cyanide.

But in this case, as in most murder cases, the murderer knew his victims. It was not the random act of some Halloween Murderer, but that of an evil man who had been a sperm donor. He should never be called a parent or a father.

DEATH ROW AND THE MURDER OF TIMOTHY MERKA

Curtis Harris

Six times in the modern history of Texas, brothers have been convicted of crimes and executed. The first were the Noel brothers, executed in 1925, followed by the Robins brothers in 1926. It was ten years before the next set of brothers were introduced to ‘Old Sparky’ and they were the Browns, followed two years later by a second set of Brown’s in 1938. They were the last siblings to be executed by electrocution.

Danny Harris

The remaining two sets of brothers, who were put to death by lethal injection, received their sentences in the 1990’s. Interestingly, in both cases the crimes were committed in Brazos County, Texas. Jessie and Jose Gutierrez murdered a female clerk at a U-tote-em store during a robbery. Curtis and Danny Harris crime was even more gruesome.

The Harris brothers, along with co-defendants James Charles Manuel and Valarie Denise Rencher, beat a Good Samaritan to death who had stopped to assist them. Timothy Merka was an employee of Texas A&M University. He was flagged down by the murderers after their car stopped running. He tried for a half-hour to get their car started before they rewarded him by knocking him to the ground and beating him to death.

Danny Harris held Mr. Merka on the ground as he pled for his life. Curtis Harris beat him to death with a car jack as their accomplices apparently stood by and watched, although Rencher testified that she begged them to stop. Manuel was sentenced to 25 years for his part. Rencher became a witness against the Harris brothers and was not sentenced to prison.  The brothers received the death penalty and were executed in 1993 for the crime they committed in 1979. Curtis Harris is reported to be the youngest person to ever have arrived on death row.

A quick internet search to find what the other two defendants are up to these days revealed little. Manuel was reported to no longer be in prison. There is a female by the name of Valarie Denise Rencher who is reported to live in Brazos County and has been arrested for forgery, aggravated assault on a police officer and multiple traffic offenses since the execution of the Harris brothers.  

But the name we should remember is Timothy Merka, the Good Samaritan.

WAS IT A CRIME OR JUST A BEER JOINT SHOOTING?

Billy Joe Shaver is a song writer and singer whose work is legendary. His song writing marked the beginning of the ‘outlaw country’ music made famous by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash. His songs have been sung and recorded by Bob Dylan, The Allman Brothers, Carol Channing, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Tom Jones, and Elvis Presley. But this is just a story about a man in a Texas beer joint!

In 2007, Billy Joe and his wife had been out taking photos around central Texas for the cover of an album he was going to release. Like all good country song writers, he decided to stop for a beer, and Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in Lorena, Texas was just the spot. After ordering a beer, the story gets a little less clear, but whichever version you choose to believe, it sounds like a pretty average day in a Texas beer joint.

Billy Joe and a man named Billy Bryant Coker got in an argument. The result was that one invited the other outside and Coker suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his face. Charges of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm in a prohibited place were filed against our song writer.

The media loved it. One of Billy Joe’s lawyers was reported to have responded to a radio reporter’s question about how his client was doing after being charged by saying, “What more can they do to him? He’s already sentenced to life living in Waco.”

Famed criminal defense attorney Dick DeGuerin represented Billy Joe free of charge. When the case went to trial in 2010, friends of the song writer were there to support him. In addition to members of his band, Willie Nelson and Robert Duval attended the trial.

Billy Joe and his attorney, Dick Degueren

Outside the courtroom just before the trial began, Billy Joe told a reporter, “I’m very sorry about this incident. Hopefully, things will work out where we become friends enough so that he gives me back my bullet.”

He continued with his blunt talk once he was on the witness stand. After he testified that he was intimidated by the much younger and larger Coker, the prosecutor asked him if he couldn’t have just left the bar. His response was that of a true redneck Texan when he told her, “to leave the bar just because he was intimidated would have been chicken-shit.” And when she suggested that he may have been jealous because Coker was talking to his wife, Billy Joe said, “I get more women than a passenger train can haul. I’m not jealous.”

Whatever caused the dispute, at some point, Billy Joe says that Coker asked him to go outside. He testified, according to the Austin American-Statesman, that “Next he (Coker) headed for the door. And being a John Wayne type of person, I went ahead and got to the door, too.” He said that once outside, his antagonist pulled a pistol, as did he, but that his was the better aim. The pistol that Billy Joe says Coker drew was never found.

When asked in a Rolling Stone magazine interview about what happened outside the beer joint that day, he responded, “Actually, that song "Wacko from Waco" pretty much tells it. He fired on me before I fired on him. That never even came up in the trial. But you can go back and listen in the script and tell it, because there's people inside, every one of them thought it was firecrackers. You need more than one shot, and I only shot once, just a little old .22 and that was it.  He had some other kind of gun. I don't know what it was, but he shot at me three times, and I thought, "Well I better do something."

Billy Joe Shaver was found not guilty of the charges and continues to write great music and to perform shows, primarily in Texas. The song, Wacko from Waco, was written and recorded by Billy Joe and his friend, Willie Nelson. You can hear the song on YouTube by clicking on this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii-4teVplZ8

It was a bar room shooting that was determined by a jury not to be a crime. In other words, it was just another day in a local Texas beer joint where John Wayne still lives.

A MOST DESPICABLE CRIMINAL SEEKS REDEMPTIOIN

Those who chronicle the commission of crimes and deeds of criminals rarely mention this ruthless criminal, yet he stands out as possibly the most vile of them all. It may be that historians tend to be generous to those misfits who seek redemption. Even after attempting to spread misery and gloom around the world, he is often given a pass by serious crime writers.

He targeted an entire city although he never even live there.  And he did it, simply because he hated the tradition of those who did. Some have speculated that he had mental problems, having been quoted as saying "his head wasn’t screwed on quite right.” Others attributed his evil deed to physical possibilities, suggesting perhaps his shoes were too tight. But in the end, the best conclusion was that his heart was just too small. Whatever the underlying causes for his criminal behavior, he donned the garb and appearance of one of the community’s most revered characters on a night reserved for family cheer to commit crimes throughout the city in a single night.

He was called the Grinch and he stole Christmas from "Whoville," or at least he thought he had. He took all the presents from every home, all the decorations, and the food for the Christmas Day feast. But to his surprise, the citizens awoke the next morning and celebrated Christmas. They didn't need all the commercial accompaniments. Instead they began singing Christmas carols, and enjoying the special day despite the Grinch's efforts to ruin the holiday.

The vicious criminal suddenly realized that he may have been wrong about Christmas. As he said himself, upon seeing the citizens celebrate even in the shadows of his dastardly deed; “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas....perhaps....means a little more.” So he returned the loot, sought to be forgiven, and served up the Christmas roast himself.

If you would like to read the entire account of this horrific crime, the poem can be viewed at this website. http://xmasfun.com/stories/Grinch/Text.asp
 MERRY CHRISTMAS. ENJOY THE WEEK!
DON’T LET THE GRINCH STEAL YOUR HAPPY SEASON!!

A Weird Key West Crime

Having just returned from a few days in the balmy weather of the Florida Keys, I couldn’t resist a story befitting the small but eclectic community of Key West. It is a great place to visit, especially when the weather turns wet and chilly in Texas. Enough vacation reminiscence; this is not a travel blog!

The Count - Carl Tanzler

Carl Tanzler was born in Germany. He later moved to Zyphyrhills, Florida with his wife and two daughters. Leaving his family behind, he eventually became a resident of Key West, Florida, where he was known as Count Karl von Cosel. He was a man who embellished his accomplishments and education, claiming to have completed several university degrees, having previously served as the captain of a submarine and that he was an inventor. In reality, he was simply a civilian x-ray technician with questionable credentials for that occupation, who worked at the U.S. Marine Hospital in Key West, Florida.

In 1930, 20 year old Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos met Tanzler when she came to the hospital with her mother. Elena was soon diagnosed with tuberculosis, which was, at that time, a likely death sentence. Tanzler became obsessed with Elena, making proposals of marriage and attempting to win her affection. His proposals were rejected. Tanzler did convince Elena and her family that he could treat her illness with a variety of medicines, x-rays and electrical equipment. His treatment, however, was not performed at the hospital, where he would likely have been found out, but at the Hoyos home. Elena succumbed to the disease a year later.

This could have ended the story of a beautiful young woman dying and an older man’s obsessive love for her going unfulfilled, but that was not to be. Two years after her death, Tanzler, in the dark of night, stole Elena’s corpse from the mausoleum where her family had laid the body to rest. He took her remains to his home where he began repairing the decomposing Elena. He used plaster-of-paris, wax soaked silk rags, strands of Elena’s hair that had been cut by her mother and given to Tanzler shortly after her death, wires, and glass eyes. He also bought and dressed the corpse in fine jewelry and clothing. Copius amounts of perfume, disinfectant and preserving agents were also used to cover the odor and slow the process of decomposition.

Soon other residents began questioning the “Count’s” excessive purchases of perfume and women’s clothing. A paper boy reported seeing him, through the window of his house, dancing with a large doll. Rumors began to circulate that he had stolen the body of his love. Elena’s sister confronted Tanzler about the stories and he was arrested for grave robbing, desecrating a corpse and destroying a grave. Surprisingly, he was found mentally competent to stand trial.

 A trial was held amid much publicity, but charges against Tanzler were eventually dropped due to a problem with the statute of limitations. You see, he kept the body at his home for seven years.

After the trial, Elena’s corpse was placed on display at the Dean-Lopez Funeral Home in Key West where it was reported that more than 6,800 people viewed the abused body. With all the public attention, Tanzler was reported to have later charged 25 cents for tourists to view his home.

As with all morbid, twisted, and garish crimes, many myths have surfaced about the events surrounding Tanzler’s love affair with the dead body of Elena. A short YouTube clip claims even more disgusting details. That video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT1g0U0o4n4.

Tanzler eventually moved back to the town in Florida where his ex-wife lived. He wrote an autobiography in 1947, is reported to have been granted U.S. citizenship in 1950 and died in 1952.

Ken Anderson, Crook, Judge, or District Attorney?

Williamson County, Texas has always been proud of its “tough on crime” reputation. There are anecdotal stories of undercover drug agents from Austin, in neighboring Travis County, making sure they set up drug buys just inside Williamson County so that the dealers could be charged in the much tougher environment of the Williamson County judicial system.

Ken Anderson (left) was the face of that Williamson County system for many years. He served as District Attorney for 16 years and as a District Court Judge from 2002 until his recent resignation and conviction for Criminal Contempt of Court. Depending on who you ask, he was either “upstanding citizen, prosecutor of the year, and local Sunday School teacher,” or he was a man whose sense of values didn’t include the word “justice.” In either scenario, he is now a convicted criminal.

Michael Morton was a young husband and father who lived in Williamson County when his wife was brutally murdered. The highly regarded, but incompetent investigator, Sheriff Jim Boutwell, decided that Morton murdered his wife, even though no physical evidence existed to suggest that theory. He and Anderson, who was then District Attorney, made a case against Morton, ignoring and concealing a few facts they learned along the way.

Anderson apparently didn’t think it was important to let Morton and his lawyers know that his dead wife’s credit card was used in San Antonio after she was murdered or that Williamson County sheriff’s investigator, Don Wood, had been told there was a witness who could identify the woman who used it.  Also concealed was the fact that witnesses in the neighborhood told investigators of a suspicious green van seen behind the Morton home on the day of the murder.

He also concealed details of a conversation Wood had with the mother of the dead woman. She called Wood and told him that her grandson witnessed the murder and said that his father, Michael Morton, was not there when it happened. The child had also described other details of the murder scene which indisputably indicated he witnessed the murder, but ace investigator Wood apparently never followed up. Even more importantly, Ken Anderson (above right) hid this evidence from Morton, who was convicted of murdering his wife. Morton went to prison and Ken Anderson became a judge.

After 25 years in prison, the last five of which he fought John Bradley, the man who replaced Ken Anderson as D.A., for the right to test DNA evidence, Michael Morton (left) was cleared of all charges. Lost forever was the ability to see his son grow into a man. He went into prison a young man full of dreams. After 25 years, he came out unbent.

Anderson was recently convicted of contempt of court for having hidden the evidence and then lying about it. But his deeds are more repulsive than that. The real killer of Michael Morton’s wife also murdered an Austin woman after Mrs. Morton's death, a crime he couldn’t have committed if he had been arrested for the previous crime. That murder went unsolved until Morton’s defense team connected the two. The real murderer also committed other crimes in the 25 years before he was exposed. Nearly as catastrophic was that a young child grew to adulthood believing his father, Michael Morton, had murdered his mother. All these tragedies are piled at the feet of Ken Anderson.

 He served five days of a ten day sentence for his criminal act. Anderson’s no longer a judge and can’t practice law. Many question what that says about Texas justice. Before his professional demise, groups were calling for his resignation, even starting a yard sign campaign as depicted in the photo above. During the nearly 30 years after he committed the crime, he continued to enjoy all the family freedoms his victim, Michael Morton, was denied. He also continued to practice his brand of justice in Williamson County, Texas.

I've published a novel, Cheating Justice, in which I describe some of the reasons I believe our criminal justice system sometimes goes awry. The Michael Morton case is one of several such injustices in Texas that inspired me to write the novel. Our law enforcement professionals are usually heroic, but it is important that we not ignore the short-comings of those who soil the profession.
 

Galveston, Working Girls, and Gambling

Galveston has a long-held reputation as an “open” city. In fact, during the 1920’s, it was sometimes referred to as the ‘Free State of Galveston’ or the ‘Republic of Galveston Island’. Post Office Street was known as the 'red light district' and one report claims that there were 55 houses of prostitution, employing 900 prostitutes during this time.

A popular myth is that as one drives into Galveston on Broadway, the statute pointing toward Post Office Street is directing visitors to the famed brothel area. However, it was in reality, constructed to honor the heroes of the Texas Revolution. The statute points toward the San Jacinto Battle Ground, across the Bay, where Santa Ana was defeated.  

As prohibition was implemented, Galveston became a mecca for speak-easy operations which complimented its open gambling and prostitution.  The cities’ business and political leaders welcomed this “off the books” economy. Some reports indicate that prostitution operations might gross $15,000 to $20,000 a week. Embracing these illegal activities didn’t stop after prohibition. In 1947, newly elected mayor Herbie ‘Thanks a Million’ Cartwright was quoted as saying, “If God couldn’t stop prostitution, why should I?”

Ruth Kempner, described in her 2008 obituary as “the influential matriarch of one of the Island’s oldest and most distinguished families” ran for mayor in 1960. Kempner stood before reporters in the ‘red light district’ with one of the madams, ‘Big Tit Marie’, at her side and said, “But for the grace of God, I would be in one of your houses. I believe people in your profession have a place, and have always had a place, in our civilization, and I'll do everything in the world I can to protect you." She won the election and became Galveston’s first female mayor.

As much an influence on Galveston’s history as any other was a pair of brothers who emigrated from Sicily in the 1890’s. Sam and Rose Macio became the undisputed leaders in providing vice activities to Galveston and the entire Galveston County area. Recognizing the opportunities that came with prohibition, they ran bootleg operations, gambling houses and prostitution enterprises. Even today, many Galvestonians possess a romanticized view of the two brothers, especially Sam, who was said to be a personable and persuasive character. In 1937 he was charged with narcotics trafficking but the charges didn’t stick.

Sam Macio was a friend to political and business leaders on the Island, many of whom were most likely also customers of his diverse enterprises. The Macios’ famed Balinese Room featured dancing and casino gambling, with entertainment from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and the Marx Brothers.

In addition to the statements by mayoral candidates, other political leaders have been just as open about their approach to the vice activity on the Island. One county sheriff is reported to have responded to a question while testifying before the Texas Legislature. When asked why the Balinese Room’s casino was allowed to remain open, he responded that he wasn’t a member of the club, so he couldn’t go in. Presumably he didn’t know what went on behind the membership only doors.

Not to be upstaged, even the Catholic Church has weighed in on Galveston's prostitution operations. Christopher E. Byrne, the Bishop of Galveston from 1918 until 1950, was quoted as having once said about the red light district, "We segregate mental and physical diseases. Let us do the same for moral sickness, for soul sickness...As long as man has free will some of us will fall into impurity."

Galveston society and its political structure, unlike that in most other parts of the 'Bible Belt South,' have always shown indifference, if not support, for the vices operating within its domain. Other Southern communities often publicly condemn, while privately indulging in the forbidden activities of prostitution, gambling and the fruit of the vine. No more available in Galveston  than in other communities, the difference is that while those other communities deny its existence with ‘a wink and a nod,’ Galveston has been more likely to say ‘so what?’

If you enjoy these short stories, please check out my writing at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Larry+Watts&search-alias=books&text=Larry+Watts&sort=relevancerank

 
 

Billie Sol Estes

He was pursued by Texas Ranger Clint Peoples during a murder investigation. After Estes was convicted of fraud and sent to prison, Peoples befriended him and convinced him to testify before a grand jury regarding the murder. The testimony was noteworthy because Billie Sol told the grand jury that Lyndon Johnson had ordered the murder of Henry Marshall, a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector.

It was a bizarre murder case in which the victim was shot five times with his own rifle and had a head injury caused by blunt trauma. In spite of that evidence, a Texas justice of the peace ruled the death a suicide and the county sheriff concurred. In 1985 a state district court judge finally ruled the case a homicide, although no one was ever charged with the murder.

Estes may not have committed the murder, but he was a con-man extraordinaire. His financial schemes were so complicated that it is difficult to follow the trail of deception. Before he was exposed, he was chosen by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of America's 10 outstanding young men in 1953. After the scandal broke, he was featured on the cover of Time magazine and in a not so flattering article.  

He was involved in the anhydrous ammonia business, or at least in non-existent ammonia tanks which were fraudulently mortgaged. He was also engaged in the illegal transfer of cotton allotments from farmers whose land had been foreclosed. First convicted in 1963 and sentenced to 24 years in prison; that conviction was eventually overturned. He was then convicted for a second set of offenses and served four more years in prison.

Estes could have been a carnival barker or a used car salesman, but instead he became one of the most accomplished flimflam artists in American history. He made donations to politicians and was friends with a man who would become president. Billie Sol was a bible-thumping Church of Christ preacher who held barbeques for governors and senators.

But most of all, he was a self-absorbed egotist. After serving his prison terms, he never stopped inventing bizarre murder plots involving President Johnson. From the federal inspector to President Kennedy, Estes eventually accused Johnson of ordering eight murders.  Many believed he created these sensational stories to promote a book he wrote as well as one written by his daughter. I would like to recommend more reading for those who are interested, but even the titles of the two books written by Estes and his daughter suggest only more self-promotion.

He never attended college, but amassed a fortune, conning politicians, bankers, and the government, with his smooth talk and enthusiastic personality. Billie Sol Estes died in May this year at home in Granbury, Texas. There will be others like him; but there’ll never be another Billie Sol Estes.

 

 

A DESPICABLE TRAITOR

Sometimes there is a character whose actions surpass such descriptive terms as criminal, thug or desperado. The subject of this story is one of those. He turned war into profit by stealing and selling American military supplies on the black market, fraudulently marketed products as something they were not, and, finally colluded with the Germans to bomb and kill American soldiers.

He ran a crime syndicate called M & M Enterprises and was renowned in some countries, even being named the mayor of Palermo, Italy. He saw World War II as simply a way to make money and showed no conscience in the manner in which he set up “deals” to do so.

Regarding his profiteering, he was quoted on the matter, “In a democracy, the government is the people. We’re the people aren’t we? So we might just as well keep the money and eliminate the middleman. Frankly, I’d like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private industry.”

He was eventually prosecuted, but used the illegal profits from his criminal enterprise to hire the best lawyers and obtain an acquittal. In fact, it was written about the trial that decent people everywhere were affronted by his actions, until he opened his books publicly and revealed the massive profit he’d made, after which his stock had never been higher.

Who was this amoral representation of humanity? Why his name was Milo Mindbender. He was a figment of the imagination of writer Joseph Heller in his black comedy novel Catch 22. Some believe, however, that the character was modeled after Henry Ford or Prescott Bush, both of whom dealt with Hitler’s Germany from the 1930’s until well after the war was in full swing.

It’s an interesting work of fiction, or for those who prefer a movie, the 1970 adaptation by the same title is worth watching. Jon Voight played the villainous Mindbender in the movie and he was cast with other recognizable names such as Alan Arkin, Art Garfunkel, Bob Newhart, Martin Sheen, Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, and Paula Prentiss.

I enjoy writing about the real crimes, criminals, and cops who chase them, and I enjoyed this little diversion from reality. Leave a comment (anonymous comments will not be posted) and tell us at what point in the story you recognized the villain as a fictional character in Catch 22.

Thanks,

Larry