Battalion/Page 5A
December 6, 1982
local/state
iWife says Chagra
rranged murder
Madrigal Dinner brings
much music, merriment
M
United Press International
|AN ANTONIO — A weep-
Elizabeth Chagra saici the
■razing insight gained
rugh eight weeks of cour-
rfrm testimony has prompted
to believe her original suspi-
is were correct — her hus-
|d arranged the assassination
i federal judge.
!n her testimony Friday, Mrs.
gra said that a month after
gejohn H. Wood was gun-
I down in San Antonio, her
band, Jimmy, gave her a
fcase stuffed with cash and
her to deliver it “for the
Hge’s death.”
Vlrs. Chagra said: “As I look
on it now, rny original sus-
ons might have been right.
■ he's the father of my chil-
i,and I chose to believe what
old me.”
Mrs. Chagra, 28, testified in
own defense, hoping to per-
le the jury that she believed
B the package of money she
vered to the Jockey Club
H in Las Vegas had nothing
owith Wood’s slaying in May
9.
oto by
)
[he is on trial for conspiracy
a*#*ind obstruction of justice in
David W pod' s death. Chagra, now in
Bison for drug smuggling, will
> ■tied for murder later.
|Mrs. Chagra said she had
> Minely delivered gambling
debts for her husband before,
but in this case she said she
panicked.
“I did not want to go,” she
said.
She said her apprehension
was relaxed when Chagra put
his arms around her and said:
“You know I’m just playing.
This is another debt.”
Mrs. Chagra, accompanied by
a friend, said she made no effort
at secrecy but parked directly in
front of the Jockey Club and
went to a room upstairs, where
she left the briefcase with a
young girl.
She could not say whether the
girl was Teresa Starr, who testi
fied earlier she picked up a
package of money in Las Vegas
for her stepfather Charles Har-
relson, who is on trial as the hit
man in Wood’s death.
Harrelson denies that he con
tracted with Chagra to kill
Wood. He testified earlier that
his friend Pete Kay extorted
$200,000 from Chagra by claim
ing he had arranged for Harrel
son to kill the judge.
It was not unusual for her
husband to make threats, Mrs.
Chagra said. He once claimed to
have killed a man who testified
against Chagra at his drug
smuggling trial, she said.
Chagra also threatened
Wood’s life on learning the
Texas drug smuggling trial
would be conducted in Wood’s
court, she said. Wood was nick
named “Maximum John” for
the harsh sentences he doled out
in drug trials.
Wood was shot to death out
side his San Antonio apartment
May 29, 1979 — the day Chagra
originally had been scheduled
for trial. Chagra denied any in
volvement in the murder, Mrs.
Chagra said.
But in late June 1979, Chagra
took his wife aside and asked her
to deliver a briefcase that con
tained two fat manila envelopes.
He told her no one else could
run the errand for him.
“He said, ‘This is the money
for the judge’s death.’” she told
the jury. “That’s all he said.”
By the time she left the house,
Chagra convinced his wife he
only had been kidding, she said.
Her husband never repeated
his statement that the money
was a payoff for Wood’s death,
but when he continued to deny
involvement in the slaying, she
believed him, Mrs. Chagra said.
But Mrs. Chagra said she has
learned a great deal about her
husband’s activities in eight
weeks of testimony at her trial.
She has since written a letter
to Wood’s widow apologizing
for her role in the slaying and
asking forgiveness.
by Gary Barker
Battalion Staff
“Guests must enter the hall
with the spirit of Christmas,” the
court jester commanded MSC
Madrigal Dinner guests before
allowing them to enter the di
ning hall.
But even if guests entered
with the spirit of “bah, hum
bug,” the madrigal performers
were quick to change their
mood. The show and the meal
were delivered in a vibrant
Christmas mood that warmed
the hearts — and stomachs — of
the 300-plus people who
attended the performance
Saturday night.
The madrigal evening starts
in the market area, where guests
wait before being led into the
dining hall. In the market area,
guests are entertained by cos
tumed jugglers, magicians,
weavers, pottery makers and
minstrels — sort of a mini, mini-
Renaissance festival.
All the performers were quick
to invite bystanders to partici
pate in their activities. But the
activites stopped abruptly when
the court jester, clad in bright
green and the traditional jester’s
cap, announced that dinner was
about to be served.
“Guests must have clean
nails,” the jester commanded,
reading the rules of courtesy for
the evening.
“Guests must not stuff their
mouths ... Guests must never
leave bones on the table,” he
commanded in his best 17th cen
tury English.
The jester, played by Greg
Pattilio, served as master of cere
monies for the evening,
announcing each part of the
evening and leading guests into
the dining hall.
and cups of wassail for each
guest. Next came the boar’s
head carol and a mock boar’s
head — symbolic of the meal —
was carried out.
For those who hadn’t eaten all
day, the fanfare could get te
dious, but it was fun and the
food was served efficiently — an
impressive task considering the
number of guests.
bles m which several vocal parts
are combined so that each is in
dependent — were performed
mostly a cappella, with in
strumentals at the beginning
and end of each song.
Although the madrigals in
Guests were ushered to their
tables accompanied by trumpet
blasts and intrumental proces
sionals, Then the fanfare began.
After the Lord and Lady of
the hall were ushered in by 10
madrigal singers, they sang an
invocation and the meal began.
First came the wassail song,
After the guests had eaten,
the Christmas concert began.
The concert consisted of carols,
madrigals and short mono
logues telling the story of the
birth of Jesus and the reaction of
the shepherds.
The concert was the best part
of the show. The madrigals —
songs written for small ensem
cluded several solos by the sin
gers, the songs sizzled when the
entire group sang. The diffe
rent vocal parts were wonderful
ly integrated, evoking images of
grand castles and knights.
The dinners continue 1 hurs-
day, Friday and Saturday. Tick
ets are $10 and $11 and are on
sale at the Rudder box office.
mmmunity divided on issue
>on(!
left
School prayer on trial
NOW OPEN!
Petal Patch,loo
“Your Complete Florist”
2 Locations
United Press International
OKLAHOMA CITY —
s OHl stormed into the
< i itii Pirn ll ff troom after a hallway con-
p rm'hnnT Dn,;lt ‘ 0n with a Little AxC
tit's of board member with a
o the party loM.°^ ierce determination on.
If ace
me primarvim . „ , , ,
1 ; Mhey re at it again, she told
„ n jjMrican Civil Liberties Union
my Mantol^y Mike Salem/‘Theyjust
I | on i leave us alone,
r! l | U< ' iJplon said: “Hey, remember
i^TlFirst Amendment. That’s
lS , relea “' hat this is all about.”
mzance j 11 M’he confrontation between
listnct Attomr
i said a
lll()n ringer and frustration that is
g hom aspt|jlg explored in a federal
n account L n tria j thal resurnec i t his
,e conductii.il ning ^
investigartMjgU anf j Lucille McCord,
)r e m o ne ! I! 'ho each had two children in
jerural school located 60 miles
i Randall ast of Oklahoma City, filed a
y ptoliabl' |j|i n May iqgFthat sought to
nee August top religious activities at the
asn’t distort cto,,!.
when an wfMhe su jt a l S o seeks to over-
rded to tu In, a voluntary prayer law pas-
■r Richter, td by the Oklahoma Legisla-
ray told Rif-ore in 1980. Its sponsor, Rep.
had been ppi; >m Graves, R-Oklahoma
ell and the school board mem-
nymbolized 18 months of bit-
City, is representing the school
board in the suit.
The central argument in the
case — as U.S. District Judge
Ralph G. Thompson reminded
attorneys for both sides Friday
— is not whether prayer should
be permitted in the school, but
whether it is constitutional.
The McCords and the Bells
say it is not, but the board main
tains that religious groups must
be allowed to use the school or
their constitutional rights will be
denied.
Already a victim of the events
is the sense of kinship once pre
valent in the area and in the
school, which has about 650 stu
dents.
Area residents are mostly
laborers and farmers, rural peo
ple with rural ways. They gener
ally are conservative in politics
and religion — a position that
has forced some of them to
make hard choices.
Harold Watts, who has two
children in the school, apolo
gized when he testified Thurs
day for going to church “only
once a week.”
But he said he doesn’t like the
idea of religion in a public
school.
“There’s a place for praying
and a place for learning,” he
said, “and school isn’t the place
for praying.”
Shortly after Watts finished
his testimony, one of the defen
dants in the case stood in the hall
outside the courtroom, shaking
his head. “They (the plantiffs)
just don’t understand,” he said.
“We have to do this.”
McCord has taken her share
of abuse for her stance. Her sons
have suffered as well.
Robert McCord, 15, testified
Thursday that he had been cal
led a “devil worshiper” by his
friends for not attending the
weekly “sharing sessions” at the
school. Those sessions often in
cluded prayer.
A clinical psychologist said
Friday the McCord and Bell
children all have been trauma
tized emotionally by classmates’
criticism for not attending the
sessions.
Dr. R. Vernon Enlow also said
children attending the sessions
would suffer emotional distress
because of their controversial
behavior. “Both sides will lose,”
he said.
The trial is expected to end by
mid-week, but it is certain the
hard feelings will remain.
A minister attending the trial
noted an irony in the case: “Isn’t
it odd,” he said, “that prayer, an
act of love and supplication, has
created so much destruction?”
707 Shopping Village
Texas Ave.
College Station
696-6713
Post Oak Village
Harvey Rd - Hwy 30
College Station
764-0091
Tower Dining Room
NOW OPEN
TAW
First Annual Charity Bash
Wednesday night at 7:00
2 for 1 Bar Drinks ALL NIGHT LONG
$2.00 at the door—Proceeds go to
KTAW’s MYSTERY SANTA FUND ’82
IN WOODSTONE SHOPPING CENTER