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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1987)
Thursday, November 12,1987/The Battalion/Page 9 Couple gets charged with theft from corpses Pair would pose as mourners, police say FORT WORTH (AP) — A grand jury indicted former mortuary worker and his girlfriend Tuesday, charging that they traveled to fune ral homes in three states, posing as mourners to steal rings and other jewelry from corpses. The indictment named Bruce Ian Williams, 29, on three counts of theft from a corpse, and Christine Ward, 22, on two counts. Both of the suspects are from Abi lene. Police said the two traveled to al most a dozen funeral homes in Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma, signing Fictitious names to guest reg isters. While pretending to know the dead person, the pair would huddle over tne body, police said. They would then remove jewelry from the bodies and leave the fune ral home before anyone discovered that anything was missing. Both Williams and Ward face up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine on the felony charges, authori ties said. William B. Neely of suburban Hurst told police his wife, Mary Sue Neely, died July 16 and he and his daughters had put her wedding ring and diamond cluster rings on her fingers. Two days later, they noticed the rings were missing and notified po lice. Police said the family noticed a name that they did not recognize on the guest register at the Greenwood Funeral Home. On Sept. 26, widow Jan Sawyer told police that someone had stolen a gold wedding band from the body of her late husband, Joel Sawyer, while the body was at Harveson Cole Fu neral Home. Coleman Police Sgt. Bob Burleson said Williams was recognized as a former employee of a Fort Worth mortuary. Using personnel files from the mortuary, officers tracked the cou ple to a farm near Abilene where they were arrested. Williams is being held in the Calla han County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond on the theft charges and two forgery charges. Ward has been released on bond, police said. Officers say it is possible that valu able items may have been stolen from other funeral homes without relatives ever realizing that anything was missing. Prosecutor wonts to try teen os adult for officer’s slaying WAXAHACHIE (AP) — A prosecutor says she plans Thursday to try to get a 16-year-old Midlothian High School student certified to stand trial as an adult for the slaying of undercover police officer George Raffield. An Ellis County grand jury indicted 17-year-old Richard Goeglein on capital murder charges and rec ommended the 16-year-old boy and another youth, also 16, be charged in the killing. The grand jury took the action T uesday after hearing testimony from 19 wit nesses. The names of the 16-year-olds have been withheld because they are minors. Goeglein and one of the juveniles, the son of a vet eran Dallas police officer, were arrested hours after the slaying. A second boy is accused of aiding them by picking up Goeglein and the other juvenile near the field where Raffield, who police said was posing as a high school student, was killed. No other indictments or arrests are expected, Ellis County Attorney Mary Lou Shipley said. She said she will request at a hearing Thursday that one of the juve niles be tried as an adult. A grand jury in Texas does not have jurisdiction in juvenile cases, but state law provides that if grand jurors make a recommendation involving juveniles accused of serious offenses, the juveniles may be required to serve time in prison after they reach adulthood. In most juvenile cases, the harshest penalty available is to sentence the defendant to a youth detention center until he reaches age 18, when he must be freed. Raffield, 21, had been working undercover in a drug investigation at the high school when he was found Oct. 24 in a field south of Midlothian. He had been shot twice in the head, authorities said. Even if the juvenile is ordered to stand trial as an adult, he cannot be sentenced to death if he was under 17 when he committed a capital offense, according to Texas law. Goeglein was being held without bail in Ellis County Jail and did not attend Tuesday’s grand jury hearing. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison or death by lethal injection. The 16-year-old who police said was with Goeglein remains in custody at a juvenile detention center in Tarrant County. Officer relates experiences, thoughts in detective novel PASADENA (AP) — For nearly 10 years Stephen Sulik has patrolled the streets helping put criminals be hind bars, only to see them freed, he says, by a revolving-door justice sys tem. Instead of using vigilante justice to fight back, though, the jaded vet eran poured his frustrations into a true detective novel titled “Cold Kill” — writing about the true thoughts he was forced to leave out of hun dreds of routine police reports he has filed over the years. “The book is written for victims of crime,” Sulik said. “It shows an offi cer’s frustrations in court, which don’t always recognize victims’ rights.” The book contains several inci dents, witnessed by Sulik during his career, of courts victimizing crime victims through loopholes, light sen tences, early release of prisoners or lack of restitution, he said. The main character has his loyalty to law en forcement tested and grapples with a victim’s grief and rights. The protagonist, Roman Addi son, is a new member of the Hous ton police homicide unit who is as signed to a murder case that takes him to inner-city areas seldom seen by law-abiding citizens. The novel maintains a realistic fla vor by punctuating car chases, hi jackings and other police vignettes with local landmarks such as the Houston Ship Channel and with a careful eye for police procedure. However, Sulik said the victim- vindicating climax has a twist that would surprise even the most street- hardened beat cop. “The book is written for victims of crime. It shows an officer's frustrations in court, which don’t always recognize victims’ rights. ” — Stephen Sulik, Pasadena police officer and author “There’s no sense writing some thing if they (colleagues) already know what to expect,” Sulik said. Addison actually is a composite of several Houston and Pasedena offi cers and is only partly autobiogra phical, Sulik said. Like the muscular Sulik, a mem ber of the Pasadena department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team, Addison is an avowed non-smoker, health-food nut and body builder. Addison’s pet cat, however, gives him a touch of sensitivity designed to distance the character from the Dirty Harry mold from which justice is meted out with deadpan repartee and a .357-caliber Magnum. Tha character’s soft side also is a reflection of Sulik, who Pasadena Police Chief Lee Gilbert called the department’s poet laureate. Sulik, 32, has written free-style poetry since he was a high school ju nior and in 1982 a Houston com pany published a collection called, “In Search of Nature’s Hidden Se crets.” For Sulik, what started out as a classroom English project is now a soul-searching diversion from the te dium of police work. He has partici pated in several poetry seminars in the Houston area. But for “Cold Kill,” published in August by Quinlan Press of Boston, the soft-spoken Sulik needed some one to add zest to several police ex periences he often scribbled on nap kins and notebook paper. “I had to learn to organize a sce ne,” he said. “There’s no room for opinion or philosophy in a police re port.” He was introduced to Maggie Leach, a former Pasadena substitute English teacher, through a friend at the Pasadena Public Library. The two soon were feeding off each oth er’s ideas and expertise. “He’s real brief, and I’m wordy,” said Leach, 50, owner of a Pasadena typing and editing company. “But we’re both perfectionists.” Leach said that on her word proc essor she added window-dressing to the police yarns, anecdotes and plots Sulik spun while pacing in her office during the two years they spent on “Cold Kill.” “We worked from reports on scratch paper that sounded like they came from ‘Dragnet’: ‘Just the facts, ma’am,’ ” Leach said. Their working relationship wasn’t always amicable, Sulik admitted, be cause Leach sometimes took too many liberties with the facts. But after marathon writing and rewriting sessions, “Cold Kill” was published despite nearly 70 reject ions or non-responses from other companies. San Antonio's shoes shine brighter around Bexar County Courthouse (AP) — Robert Martinez’s secret to success is his rise and shine policy. Martinez, 20, shines shoes at the Bexar County Courthouse. For the past two years his stand, which is sit uated at the courthouse’s east en trance, has been just as much a part of the environment as judges’ benches, robes and gavels. “Well, it’s ajob,” he said. Martinez explained that many of his customers are attorneys he would rather see outside the courtroom than in it. “It’s a lot better than stealing, what can I say? he said. “A lot of people make fun of me, but I don’t really care.” Some of his clients can be real heels. They are not always willing to go that extra step and pay Martinez a decent tip for his labor. It is not uncommon for some to tip him as if they were living on shoestring budgets. “As long as I get my standard $1.75, I think I’m doing OK,” Marti nez said. He has learned not to ex pect normal Texas-sized tips in these tough economic times. It takes him a maximum of eight minutes to restore luster to even the most neglected shoes. And while some attorneys may be the last of the big time tippers, Martinez still puts all of his heart and energy into their shoeshines, stopping just short of touching their soles. “There aren’t that many places in town that will let you put up a shoe- shine stand,” he said. “You have to have permission." Martinez works at the courthouse as an independent contractor. He said business usually is steady with customers having to wait for that shine which just might make others want to follow in their footsteps. “Some days are good and some days are bad,” Martinez said. “But I’d say I do about 20 pairs a day. I guess I must do a good job because a lot of them come back.” He said he is asked to shine all types of shoes — including some made of lizard skin. Martinez also said women are becoming better cus tomers than they were when he first started shining shoes at the court house. Martinez sad he learned his trade from a family friend. \o^° OPPORTUNITY NEW STORE — NEW JOBS BRYAN — COLLEGE STATION fastest 9 rowin 9 retail auto parts chain, we offer unique opportunities for rapid p d n F3etl ! IV ? start ! n 9 salaries and excellent company benefits. - i positions include assistant store manager, parts sale managers, administrative spe cialist, sale personnel and cashiers. 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