Texas A&M^^ ^ m V •
The Battalion
Vol. 82 No. 166 USPS 045360 6 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, June 23, 1987
onvicted murderer
)ack in Bryan court
:!»d
By Robert Morris
Staff Writer
the man sentenced to death by le-
H injection for the slaying of a
fexas A&M student was back in a
Bra’os County courtroom Friday af
ternoon for a hearing regarding the
“completeness” of a reconstructed
Bisc ript needed for his appeal,
■eff Emery was sentenced to die
by local jurors last year for the 1979
\ He and slaying of Texas A&M stu
dent LaShan Muhlinghaus in the
bedroom of her College Station
Hrtment.
I Harts of the original court report-
/ H notes were stolen last October
/ Hn an Austin storage room. State
, Hrict Judge Tom McDonald Jr.
aathorized a reconstructed tran-
/■pt to be sent to the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals.
Jnder state law, death sentences
are automatically sent to the criminal
appeals court for a decision. How
ever, defense attorneys on Friday re
peatedly asked McDonald to grant a
new trial because of the lost notes.
Emery’s attorneys, Keith Swim of
Bryan and Dennis McGill of Lub
bock, maintain that the original tran
script is an important and necessary
part of their appeal.
Swim referred to the document as
incomplete and questioned the clar
ity of the substitute transcript as “not
being a complete representation” of
previous hearings.
After the hearing, McGill said he
felt the transcripts were a necessary
part of Emery’s appeal.
“Every pretrial hearing in a capi
tal case is important,” he said.
The major portion of the hearing
centered on the testimony given by
Swim and McGill concerning the
clarity of the reconstructed docu
ment and their objections to its use
as a valid substitute for the original.
A March 24 hearing, in which the
defense says Brazos County Sheriff
Ronnie Miller testified, was specif
ically in question.
Assistant District Attorney E.
Hubbard Kennady III insisted that
the document was a good represen
tation of the events of the previous
hearing.
McDonald also said Miller had
been present only to discuss court
room security for Emery’s trial and
was never put on the witness stand.
And McDonald repeatedly said
the hearing was called to allow the
defense to present their objections
and that he was not able to call a new
trial.
All statements and objections
would be recorded and sent to the
criminal appeals court, McDonald
said, which will decide if there will be
a new trial.
neumonia claims life
dancer Fred Astaire
erfly
ilso.
itb
ladV'
OS ANGELES (AP) — Fred As-
t, who defined Hollywood el-
ice for 30 years dancing in top
and tails with Ginger Rogers and
:r stars, died of pneumonia Mon
in his wife’s arms. He was 88.
staire died at Century City Hos-
al at 4:25 a.m., his wife, Robyn,
Ifully told a jammed news confer-
I just got in bed with him and put
prms around him and he died in
Jarms, and that’s the way he
|ted it,” said Mrs. Astaire, the for-
racehorse jockey Robyn Smith,
Dm he married in 1980.
le died holding onto me,” she
fe had been admitted June 12
a cold that worsened to pneu-
Bnia.
Iresident Reagan hailed Astaire
■an American legend.”
Hred was, in every sense of the
ivjrd, a ‘superstar,’” Reagan said in
■bourne, Fla. “. . . the ultimate
Beer — the dancer who made it all
obk so easy.”
|l: ring Berlin, many of whose
olgs Astaire introduced, recalled
■ dancer as “one of my oldest
rjends.”
^He was an international star . . .
[purest talent I have ever worked
p,” Berlin said.
kstaire’s debonair style domi-
pd the Hollywood musical genre
tinning in the 1930s, when he
red in many song-and-dance
i with Ginger Rogers.
[“I don’t think there’s another one
te him,” said Rogers, who teamed
Iwith Astaire in “Flying Down to
'o in 1933 and followed with 10
ier musical hits. “He’ll always have
llove and admiration.”
lestimony
, ens trial
in Bryan
■The prosecution began present
ing its case Monday to open the trial
of David Michael Clark, a Bryan
feident who is one of four people
Hrged in the Feb. 19 double hom
icide of a Bryan couple.
■Tracy Penuel of Waco, a co-de
fendant in the case, testified on the
iial’s opening day.
■She will be cross-examined to-
da
Fellow song-and-dance man Gene
Kelly said: “Although we have lost
one of the greatest dancers who ever
lived, Fred Astaire will always be im
mortal and an inspiration to all
dancers who come after us.”
Astaire and Rogers captivated de
pression-era audiences, and the
magic continued with succeeding
partners, including Cyd Charisse,
Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland, Au
drey Hepburn.
Ballet choreographer George Bal
anchine once called him “the great
est dancer in the world,” and ballet
star Mikhail Baryshnikov praised his
“perfection.”
But Astaire played down his own
talent.
“I never thought a funny-looking
guy like me would be suitable for
“Although we have lost
one of the greatest danc
ers who ever lived, Fred
Astaire will always be im
mortal and an inspiration
to all dancers who come
after us. ”
— Gene Kelly
pictures,” Astaire once said, and a
studio executive once dismissed him
with the curt words: “Can’t act . . .
can’t sing . . . balding . . . can dance a
little.”
Born Frederick Austerlitz on May
10, 1899, to an Omaha, Neb., beer
salesman, he was enrolled by his
mother in dancing school. She took
him, with his older sister, Adele, to
New York for professional training
in 1906, and the youngsters soon
were touring vaudeville under their
new name, Astaire.
A Paramount executive who
viewed Astaire’s 1930 screen test dis
missed him, but RKO signed him
and loaned him to MGM for his de
but with Joan Crawford in the 1933
“Dancing Lady.”
After RKO’s “Flying Down to Rio”
with Rogers, the duo appeared in
such hits as “The Gay Divorcee,”
“Roberta,” “Top Hat,” “Follow the
Fleet,” “Swing Time,” “Shall We
Dance,” “Carefree” and “The Story
of Vernon and Irene Castle.”
The team parted in 1939 except
for a 1949 reunion in “The Barkleys
of Broadway.”
Astaire continued in a string of
successful musicals with various
dance partners, including “Holiday
Inn,” “Easter Parade,” “Royal Wed
ding,” “Daddy Long Legs,” “Funny
Face” and “Silk Stockings.”
His only Oscar, in 1949, was hon
orary but he won nine Emmys for
TV specials in the ’50s and ’60s.
Astaire’s first wife, New York so
cialite Phyllis Baker Potter, died of
cancer in 1954 after 21 years of mar
riage and two children — Fred Jr.,
born in 1936, and Ava, born in 1942.
The family also included Peter Hof-
fer, Phyllis Astaire’s son from a pre
vious marriage.
He remained vital and physically
active long into his 80s. He broke his
arm at 80 showing off on a skate
board for his grandchildren. On
June 28, 1980, he married the 35-
year-old Smith.
It’s A Breeze
Charles Jackson, 28, works on the drive shaft of
one of the massive fan units inside a cooling tower
Photo by Robert W. Rizzo
of the Physical Plant. Jackson is a contract millw
right from Alvin, Texas.
Helicopter crash kills 10
during military exercises
FORT HOOD (AP) — A military helicopter flying at
low altitude crashed in rugged terrain Monday during
training exercises, killing 10 people, authorities said.
One of the victims died at Darnall Army Community
Hospital about an hour after the crash at about 9:45
a.m., base spokesman Maj. George Creach said.
Reports on the number of victims have been revised,
base spokesman Jeanie Kitchens said, because of earlier
discrepancies when officials were not at the scene.
Most of the victims were apparently Army reservists,
Creach said. He said names of the dead were not re
leased pending notification of next-of-kin.
The UH-1 “Huey” helicopter belonged to the Army
Reserve’s 353rd Engineer Group, Creach said. But
most of those aboard were part of the 489th Engineer
Battalion based in Little Rock, Ark., part of the Okla
homa City-based 353rd Engineer Group, Creach said.
Investigators could not immediately determine the
cause of the crash, and there was no inclement weather
at the time, he said.
The aircraft was part of a military training exercise
called Starburst ’87, the Texas National Guard 49th Ar
mored Division’s annual two-week training exercise.
Kitchens said. About 18,000 people take part in the
exercise, Creach said.
The helicopter crashed in rugged terrain about two
miles from the western boundary of Fort Hood, which
is in Central Texas, authorities said.
“It’s a utility-type helicopter,” Creach said. “It’s
usually used to carry cargo. It usually has a crew of
three, and it can carry up to eight passengers.”
Investigators have been called in from Fort Rucker to
investigate the crash. Kitchens said.
“We don’t know the cause but the Army will investi
gate,” Army Capt. Mike Monnett said.
He said the helicopter was on an orientation flight
with a crew of at least three and was flying at low alti
tude.
“It is obvious there was a fire” involved in the crash,
said Monnett, adding he did not know when the blaze
erupted.
Creach said he did not know how many people a
Huey normally carries.
“It all depends on a number of things,” he said, “on
the air, the weather and stuff like that. But normally, it
has a crew of three, and eight passengers.”
I
either Brazos County District
■torney Bill Turner nor defense
ftorneys John Quinn and Robert
■rozco could comment on the case
■cause the trial has been placed
fider a gag order by Judge John
Haney of the 272nd District
lOurt.
■Beverly Benninghoff, 25, and
Hades Gears, 21, were found dead
■n the living room of their house at
|08 Foch in Bryan. Benninghoff
lad been shot five times and Gears
Had been shot twice.
f’rolice say the killings appear to
be drug-related.
I Clark, 27, was arrested Feb. 20,
with Mary Gober Copeland and
Gary Allen Penuel, also residents of
Brvan. Penuel was arrested in
Man h.
■No trial dates have been set for
the co-defendants.
Bryan Council votes to keep option
on landfill site near B-CS water wells
By Yvonne DeGraw
Staff Writer
Before allowing any of those
who packed its chambers to op
pose a proposed site for a new
city landfill, the Bryan City Coun
cil agreed to spend $59,472 to
keep a purchase option on the
site.
The 236-acre site, at the south
east corner of Old Spanish and
Sandy Point roads, would cost
$580,560 if the city decides to
purchase it.
LaDona Hudson, whose ranch
is on Old Spanish Road, orga
nized a citizen’s group to protest
the site. The group says a landfill
on this site would pollute the wa
ter supplies of Bryan, College
Station and Texas A&M.
Only after the council voted on
the agenda items with little or no
discussion, two representatives of
the group — Hudson and Dr.
Kirk Brown, A&M professor of
soil and crops sciences — were al
lowed to speak for a limited time.
The group attended the coun
cil’s workshop session at 4 p.m.,
but Hudson said they were not al
lowed to speak there.
Hudson made a formal objec
tion to not being allowed to speak
before the motion was passed.
“I assume we have already
spent $60,000 of the taxpayers’
money,” she said, “but I would
hope the council could reconsid
er.”
The group met first on Sunday
and listed four objections:
Brown, who has been called
to testify as a landfill siting expert
in New York, Illinois and Califor
nia, says the proposed landfill
would jeopardize the water sup
plies of both cities and A&M.
“Normally, I wouldn’t speak
up on a local issue,” he said. “You
Bryan’s wells are located about
3V2 miles to the east of the land.
Jack Cornish, manager of the
city’s solid waste division, has said
that the land has a layer of clay at
least 40 feet thick.
Clay is considered good protec
tion against seepage, but Brown
said clays are not impermeable.
Suction from the well pumps in
the area and holes in the clay
layer from abandoned wells
“Do people really want to drink water that has been
leached through garbage, especially their garbage?”
— Dr. Kirk Brown, A&M soil and crop sciences profes
sor
have to be more than 100 miles
from home to be an expert, but
this is the water my children will
drink.”
Brown displayed a map show
ing the plot of land the city is con
sidering and the major water
wells in the area. College Station
has three wells about one mile
east of the site. One well is within
one-quarter of a mile. There are
plans for a fourth well nearby.
Texas A&M gets its water from
three wells about one mile west of
the site.
would allow hazardous wastes
into the water supply, he said.
Brown said there is no limit
saying how far wells should be
from landfills. Georgia law says
landfills cannot be placed within
two miles of a city water well.
Although hazardous wastes are
supposed to be dumped in special
landfills regulated by the Envi
ronmental Protection Agency,
Brown said ordinary substances
like battery acid and antifreeze
can pollute the water supply.
“It’s estimated that each person
generates one gallon of hazard
ous waste per year,” he said, quot
ing a study by the New Jersey In
stitute of Technolgy.
The landfill would be hazard
ous even if it met state standards,
he said.
“Do people really want to drink
water that has been leached
through garbage, especially their
garbage?” he asked after the
meeting.
The group says the price, al
most $2,500 per acre, is too high.
Hudson claimed the cost will rise
to over $1 million “before the
first Coke can could be buried.”
Old Spanish Road is the old
est road in Texas and dates back
to the conquistadors, Hudson
said. She said she lives there be
cause of its historical significance.
The road leads to Bryan
Utility Lake, the only recreational
water facility in the area.
Hudson said this would put
dump trucks on the same narrow
road traveled by family campers.
Despite her frustration at the
vote, Hudson is determined to
fight city hall.
“In one day we got 400 signa
tures,” she said. “We will have
4,000 if necessary. We will have
40,000 if the citizens of Brazos
County realize their water is in
jeopardy.”
Lawmaker:
Clements
should be
impeached
AUSTIN (AP) — A member of
the Texas House of Representatives
said Monday he is studying the pos-
siblity of impeachment proceedings
against Gov. Bill Clements in the
wake of the Methodist bishops’ re
port on the Southern Methodist
University football scandal.
“I think that report that came out
from the bishops can’t be defended
by the governor,” Rep. Paul
Moreno, D-El Paso, said.
A report issued by four United
Methodist bishops said Clements, as
chairman of the SMU Board of Gov
ernors, knew improper payments
were being made to football players
and allowed them to continue even
though the school already was on
NCAA probation.
The bishops said Clements and
several other members of the board
of governors participated in an elab
orate scheme to keep Clements’ in
volvement a secret.
“It seems to me that a person of
that background does not belong in
the office of governor of the state of
Texas,” said Moreno, who first be
gan studying impeachment last
March when Clements admitted
knowing about the scandal.
Clements refused Monday a re
quest for an interview about the
SMU report.