Page 6/The Battalion/Monday, January 23, 1984
Accused killer reportedly
family man, churchgoer
United Press International
SHERMAN — A Dallas che-
nical salesman, charged with
capital murder in the Oct. 8,
1983, shooting deaths of four
nen including a deputy sheriff,
,vas described as a family man
md a practising Baptist whose
lobby was building ultralight
lircraft.
Lester Leroy Bower Jr., 36, a
ialesman for Thompson-
Hayward Chemical Co., was
irrested without incident Friday
light at his home in the Dallas
iuburb of Arlington, and was
icing held Sunday in Grayson
bounty jail in lieu of bonds total-
ng $400,000.
No motive in the slayings have
ieen established and authorities
Sunday refused to discuss the
ase.
Bower was charged in the
deaths of Grayson County De
puty Phillip Good, 29, former
Sherman policeman Ronald
Mayes, 37, Bob Tate, 51, a ranch
owner, and Jerry Brown, 51, a
paint contractor. Their bodies
were found in a makeshift han
gar on a ranch owned by Tate.
Good had been with the sheriffs
department only eight days
prior to his death.
Three of the victims were
flying enthusiasts and apparent
ly had gone to the ranch to meet
someone about the sale of an
ultralight, a motorized glider,
authorities said. At the time of
the discovery of the bodies, an
ultralight plane was reported
missing from the hangar.
Bower’s arrest capped an in
tense investigation led by county
authorities, FBI, the Texas De
partment of Public Safety, and
Arlington police.
Jerry Buckner, Bower’s
lawyer, said the accused was
building an ultralight in his gar
age when he was arrested.
He said Bower had answered
an advertisement for an ultra
light placed by one of the vic
tims.
“My client called that phone
number and the investigators
apparently traced back every
one who answered that ad,”
Buckner said.
Sheriff L.E. “Jack” Driscoll
told a news conference Saturday
his office was confident “we
have the right man” in the
slayings. He said officers col
lected some three to four dozen
items of evidence from Bower’s
home in addition to hair samples
taken from Bower.
But the sheriff refused to de
scribe the items.
He said telephone records of
the four victims played a key role
in the case and that Bower be
came a suspect early this month.
FBI officials said they were
looking into any violations of in
terstate commerce laws and pos
sible federal charges against
Bower.
Bower, married and father of
two daughters, was raised in
Tulsa, Okla., and worked in Fort
Collins, Colo., before being
transferred to the Dallas area in
July. He became a member of
the Fielder Road Baptist Church
in Arlington.
Buckner told the Dallas
Morning News, “He’s is a family
man, a church man. He’s not the
criminal type at all . He’s the
coach of his daughter’s soccer
team.
Gayle Baucum, a Baptist pas
tor and a relative of Bower’s
wife, said Bower laughed when
he first heard that authorities
wanted to question him.
“I remember when they first
talked to him, he kind of
laughed” Baucum sa4d. “He
never dreamed it would go this
far.”
Baucum said, “I don’t think
he’s guilty. I don’t believe it. I
won’t until it is proven and even
then. I’ll back him.”
The pastor said Bower and
his family aliened church Oct. 9,
the day after the slayings.
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HOURS: Mon-Fri 7a.m.-10p.m.
Sat. 9a.m.-6p.m.
Thursday Feb.23 8:00 pm
G. Rollie White Coliseum
Tickets $8.50, $8.00, $7.00
MSC Box Office
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General Sales Jan. 23
MSCTOW1VWAT.T,.
9 killed, 20 injured
in bus-truck collision
United Press International
KALISPELL, Mont. —
Nine people died and 20 were
injured in the firey crash of a
tanker truck and a bus car
rying a high school wrestling
team along an icy highway at
the edge of Glacier National
Park. Pathologists Sunday
tried to identify the victims.
Another accident Saturday
killed a University of Oregon
wrestler and injured eight
others, including the son of
author Ken Kesey, near
Pomeroy, Wash.
The truck driver told
police from his hospital bed
that the empty fuel truck “just
slipped away” from him and
jackknifed on U.S. highway 2.
The bus, carrying Whitefish
High School wrestlers and
others home from a wrestling
match in nearby Browning,
crashed head-on into the rig.
Officers said the accident in
the northwest section of the
state was the worst in Monta
na’s history.
Harold Belcher, 63, of Cut
Bank, Mont., driver of the
tanker truck, was being tre
ated for undetermined in
juries.
Corky Derby, Flathead
County Sheriffs’ Office
spokeswonjan, said both vehi
cles burst into flames on im
pact. The front of the bus was
reduced to ashes, officers at
the scene said.
Pathologists were trying to
identify the victims, and an in
quest was expected. In addi
tion to the bus driver, the fata
lities apparently included two
team coaches, the wife and son
of one of the coaches and two
cheerleaders.
None of the injured, who
were being treated at hospitals
in Whitefish and Kalispell,
was reported critically hurt.
The accident occurred ab
out 50 miles east of Kalispel.
At least five buses carrying
high school wrestling teams
were traveling Highway 2 at
the time after matches in near
by Browning.
In a tragically similar acci
dent, a member of the Univer
sity of Oregon wrestling team
was killed and eight othersin-
jured Saturday in thecrashof
a team van that went out of
control on an icy road near
Pomeroy, Wash., pitchedovet
a guard rail and down an
embankment.
Four of the injured, includ
ing the son ol author Ken
Kesey, were critically hurt in
the accident in a remote area
of southeastern Washington.
All were thrown from the
van, police said. They said the
van rolled 185 feet downs .
steep slope, conning to restH
against a barbed wire fence.
Lorenzo West, 20, of Pott-
land. Ore., was killed. Kesey,
of Pleasant Hill, Ore., sus- :
tained severe head injuries,
officers said.
The van was taking lOvar- . L
sity wrestlers and two assistant f :
coaches to a scheduled match
with Washington State Uni
versity in Pullman. It was i
driven by assistant coach Dean 1
Dixon, who suffered minoi i
injuries.
-Ji:!
Prof not running again
New members called
by CHRISTINE MALLON
Staff writer
Texas A&M professor Bruce
Robeck announced Friday he
will not seek re-election to the
College Station Independent
School Board in the April elec
tion.
Robeck has been a member of
the board for nine years and is
currently serving as president.
“Many people have urged me
to run again,” Robeck said.
“They have argued that my ex
perience would provide vital
continuity for the board. But I
believe the board must be re
freshed, from time to time, with
new members.”
Robeck also announced he
will not run for Congress as he
said he would last fall.
“I decided I would be begin
ning my campaign (for Con-
7 believe the board
must be refreshed,
from time to time,
with new members.’
— Bruce Robeck, CS
school board presi
dent.
gress) about two months too
late,” he said. “There wasn’t
Attend the 1984
Career Fair Banquet
Wednesday, February 1
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. MSC Ballroom
Reserve a seat with the cotnpezny of
your choice. Tickets are on sale this
week in the Blocker (AirA) foyer
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
really enough time to raisciili^
necessary f unds.” /Kj
Robeck, who has been pre| M
dent of the CSISD board siE®^
mid 1982, said he wants to#|:j}.
K
vote mote tune to his tamihr:
to his job as an associate prof6| r
sor ot poluu.d science at Teuj u
A&M. 01
th
Bi
Robeck said his decision m
to run again has nothingtoi
with the reported ruino;
around the community th
there is conflict betweent%
board and the superintendelf!
of the district. He also dewiF
Mi
20
tic
Pe
such a conflict exists.
73 aliens
detectec
in truck
United Press International
o,
RICHMOND — Authona
Sunday found 73 illegal afe
including “babies on up tod
men” crammed into the bad:
a rental truck stopped for
routine traffic viotation.
“They were wall-to-w
said the Texas DepartmenU
Public Safety trooper whosl«
ped the truck after he detecteii
speeding. I
Investigators reported noil
juries among those stuffedicj
the rear of the truck. I
Authorities said the 73afe|
padlocked inside the trucker®!
partment and three more rid®!
in the cab were arrested
taken to the Fort BendCoufl
jail in nearby Richmond.
Immigration and Natural®!
tion officials then took cusiO M
of the aliens and wereschedd
to transport them back lot
Mexican border, officials!