Texas A&M
Battalion
WEATHER
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Vol. 89 No.20 USPS 045360 14 Pages
College Station, Texas
Thursday, September 28,1989
orak convicted; gets 40-year sentence
Tes
3y Kelly S. Brown
[)f The Battalion Staff
A 12-panel jury came back with a
lO-year prison sentence Wednesday
former Texas A&M student
tarry Louis Horak, who was con-
Licted on two felony counts of enter
ing his ex-fiance’s dorm room with
Ihe intent to murder her, and physi
cally assaulting her roommate.
District Attorney Bill Turner said
Jforak, 20, will have to serve at least
even-and-a-half years before being
Eligible for parole. A Hat one-fourth
If the sentence must be served be
fore parole is considered because a
lleadly weapon was involved in the
|ase.
The jury placed a 30-year price
lag on the charge of burglary of a
pabitation with the intent to commit
murder, while a 10 year prison term
las handed down for the aggra
vated assault charge. The sentences
Ivill run concurrently.
The two charges stem f rom inci-
llents occuring March 21 where, the
prosecution concluded, Horak went
his ex-fiance Trisha Sexton’s
lorm room heavily armed and
llressed like “Rambo” and had every
Intention of killing her. The verdict
pf guilty also w r as given to the charge
Ihat Horak assaulted Sexton’s room-
pate, Sandra Alcala.
Turner said the question really
came down to ‘What was going
through Horak’s mind that night
and morning?’ State exidence
showed ‘goodbye’ notes and a news
paper article found in Horak’s room
that might have displayed better
than anthing else the gruesome pos
sibility that the incident had been
well-planned.
Horak testified to the rapid events
that unwound that early Tuesday
morning, insisting murder was not
his intention. Rather, he said he
went to Sexton’s dorm room intend
ing to make her listen to him. He
said he then planned to kill himself
in front of her.
When he entered Sexton’s room
around 3 a.m., Horak said he had
two rifles strapped to his body, a
knife in a sheath, 134 rounds of am
munition, pieces of cloth and rope.
He said he took off his trenchcoat,
turned on the lights, leaned over to
Sexton’s bed and told her to get up.
Alcala awoke and saw Horak
standing with a rifle (a .30-06-caliber
Remington Model 78 hunting rifle);
she jumped up and grabbed the bar
rel. Shots were fired. Sexton arose
and tried to disarm Horak. The
three struggled throughout the
room and the woman’s hands were
burned several times because they
had been on the barrel when the gun
was fired.
After the rifle was knocked to the
floor sometime during the commo-
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Photo by Jay Janner
Harry Louis Horak is led to his cell after being convicted of
burglary of a habitation with intent to murder.
tion, Horak said he grabbed his
.223-caliber Ruger “Mini 14.” The
struggle continued and Sexton man
aged to tug the gun away from him,
as Alcala grabbed him from behind
and gauged his eyes.
Horak was pushed into the closet
with Alcala, who ended up sitting on
top of him until help came.
The commanding officer of their
outfit (Squadron 14) helped Alcala
out of the closet. They then opened
exas A&M students to be swapped
ith Germans in exchange program
iy Todd Connelley
A 1)1 The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M University and Georg
August University in Gottingen,
[Vest Germany, will “swap” students
lext year in a joint effort to increase
lultural awareness.
Ten students from A&M will be
[hosen to bring the distinct flavor of
Texas to the Rhineland, while 10
Itudents from Germany will experi-
tnce Brazos County firsthand, as
lartofan MSG Jordan Institute for
International Awareness program.
When in Gottingen, students will
Itay with a host family and experi-
Ince college life' in Germany. Be
cause the trip is strictly cultural, no
class enrollment is required.
However, Dr. Stephen P. Biles, di
rector of the institute, said students
will be given the opportunity to at
tend classes if they wish.
“In Germany, if you want to at
tend a class, you just go,” Biles said.
“It’s a lot more relaxed over there.”
Once students get to Georg Au
gust University, they will discover
that college life is quite different
from that at A&M, Biles said.
“There are no residence halls, no
student unions and the populace is
very heterogenous,” he said.
The 300-year-old university is
rich in German history and boasts
many prestigious alumni, such as
noted German scientist Max Plank,
he said.
The last time German students
came to A&M, in February 1988,
they made some interesting obser
vations of the culture, Biles said.
“They commented on our lack of
trees and flat landscape,” he said.
“They were very impressed with
how friendly and hospitable Ameri
can families are.
“It was amazing to them how dif
ferent the families they stayed with
were from a stereotypical TV fam-
ily.”
The trip is being sponsored by the
Student Exchange Program, a spe
cial committee of the Jordan Insti
tute.
David McGough, director of the
Student Exchange Program, said
students will be responsible only for
travel expenses to and from Got
tingen, as well as other incidental ex
penses, which are estimated at be
tween $ 1,000 and $ 1,250.
Fluency in the German language
is not a prerequisite, but students se
lected are encouraged to take a Ger
man language course in Spring
1990, he said.
Applications are available in the
MSG Jordan Institute office in 223G
of the MSG Browsing Library and
are due Oct. 9.
rand Canyon crash leaves 10 sightseers dead
TUSAYAN, Ariz. (AP) — A sightseeing plane
naking its final approach for landing veered into
iwooded hill near the Grand Canyon Airport on
Wednesday, killing 10 people and injuring the
other 11 people aboard, eight critically.
The aircraft’s wings were sheared off by tall
Ponderosa pines but some passengers survived
because the fuselage of the de Havilland DHC-6
Twin Otter remained largely intact, said Coco
nino County Sherif f Joe Richards. The two crew
nembers were killed, he said.
National Park Service Ranger Paul Crawford,
|who was among the first to reach the wreckage,
paid some of the passengers were walking around
khen he arrived at the scene on a small ridge
about 300 yards east of a runway.
“They were shellshocked. They had that
(:mpty, dazed look,” he said.
The twin-engine Grand Canyon Airlines plane
was on its second flight of the day and making its
final approach to the airport when the accident
occurred, said Ronald L. Warren, the airline’s
vice president and general manager. He said it
was cleared for landing.
“Preliminary reports indicate the aircraft
touched down normally on the runway, became
airborne again, and veered to the east side of the
airport,” he said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswo
man Elly Brekke said the plane was about 1,500
feet down the 9,000-foot runway when it veered
to the right, then to the left and into an open
space where it descended into trees and crashed,
flipping over.
Warren said the plane had left the airport at 9
a.m. for the one-hour scenic flight, which covers
about 100 miles, and was on schedule for its arri
val when it crashed at about 9:55 a.m.
All 19 passengers were Americans, he said.
Several were from California and many were
from the East Coast. Two of the dead were Mod
esto, Calif., City Councilman John Sutton and his
wife, Donna, said Modesto Mayor Carol White-
side.
The airport is located about five miles south of
the Grand Canyon. Ten of the injured were
taken by ambulance, airplane and helicopter to
the Flagstaff Medical Center about 75 miles
away.
The injured suffered fractures, lacerations
and head wounds, said hospital spokeswoman
Ann Hartman-Kolacky. Eight were listed in crit
ical condition and two were stable. The 11th per
son wasn’t brought to the hospital, apparently be
cause the injuries weren’t that bad, she said.
Warren said the pilot was in his mid-40s and
had worked for the airline for 4'/a years.
T
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Second deck, 50-yard line, please
Senior Christina Gonzalez (left) and sophomore Amy Huggins
distribute tickets Wednesday morning for this week’s game
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
against Southern Mississippi using the new computerized ticket
terminals.
their entrance door wide open, en
closing Horak in the closet.
Alcala kept her body against the
door until Albert Jarrell, a senior
building contstruction major, ran in
the room and took over holding the
door until police arrived.
Higginbotham said that if Horak
had wanted to kill the W'oman he had
ample opportunity when he first
came into their room.
But instead, Higginbotham said,
he intended to wake up the women,
bind and gag them and “essentially
exert full control over them so he
could make Trisha listen to him,
then turn the gun on himself.”
The defense attorney said that
when Horak’s control-attempt
failed, he just sat in the closet crying,
“while he could have used the knife
he had against the women.”
Turner questioned why, if Horak
was just going to kill himself, he had
two rifles ancl 134 rounds of ammu
nition. Horak said he didn’t know.
“How many bullets does it take to
kill yourself Mr. Horak — 100? 50?
40?” Turner asked.
Horak said, “I don’t know.”
Turner asked if it was possible
that Horak had intended to come to
the women’s dorm room, bind and
gag them, tell them what he was
going to do to them, shoot them and
then maybe open fire on whatever
might be outside of the window in
the early hours on a college campus.
“You w'ere going to go out with a
bang, weren’t you?” Turner
quipped.
Horak said that was never his in
tention.
“I didn’t want to kill them or any
thing,” Horak said, fighting back
tears. “I just wanted to kill myself. I
feel pretty bad about it. It was a big
mistake and I’m sorry I did it.”
Higginbotham said Horak was de
pressed and tried to get help, but
never received it.
“You can tell from his demeanor,
the way he acts, looks and talks, that
Harry Louis Horak is a troubled
young man,” Higginbotham said.
“He yelled for help, but no one took
him seriously.”
Higginbotham said there were
many questions Horak might not
ever be able to answer.
“Why did he use two guns and so
much ammunition?” Higginbotham
said. “He doesn’t know, you don’t
know and no one probably ever
will.”
Higginbotham said to understand
Horak’s pattern of thinking, one
would have to look at Sexton and
Horak’s history.
The early part of their
relationship is a common tale among
See Horak/Page 10
Luce plans to fight
drugs, unemployment
if elected governor
By Mia B. Moody
Of The Battalion Staff
A Dallas lawyer seeking the Re
publican nomination for governor
said he has real solutions to drugj
education and unemployment prob
lems in Texas.
Tom Luce, speaking Wednesday
at Easterwood Airport, said, “Every
candidate for the 1990 election will
talk about the problems that exist in
Texas, but I wall talk about solu
tions.”
Luce said he believes these prob
lems are linked.
“For instance, if we improve the
education system, then 102,801 peo
ple will be better equipped to get
jobs,” Luce said. “Once people have
jobs and are more educated, then
they will probably be less likely to get
involved in the drug scene.”
Luce said he is ready to launch
what he calls “round two” on drugs
by implementing a system in which
people who do drugs also do time.
“I want to end the cycle that allows
500 prisoners to be released every
time 500 prisoners are sent to jail,”
Luce said. “I believe people who do
wrong should have to serve full sen
tences.”
Raising taxes is not the solution to
education reform, Luce said.
“The government has a habit of
adding programs without making
changes,” he said. “Instead, I believe
we need to work with what we al
ready have.”
Luce said he would improve the
education system by offering incen
tives that would make good teachers
want to continue teaching.
Tom Luce
“Based on contribution and per
formance, teachers would be given
raises,” he said. “I don’t believe the
career ladder, the system used now,
is successful because every teacher is
usually ranked excellent, which is
unlikely.”
Luce said he has shown he is will
ing to work for Texas by serving on
committees.
He served as chairman of the
committee which pushed for fund
ing for the Superconducting Super
Collider and on the committee
which pushed through the Legis
lature House Bill 72, the “no pass,
no play” education reform bill. In
addition. Luce is a member of the
Texas War on Drugs Committee.
Luce said he is working to pur-
suade American Airlines to build a
maintenance facility in Tarrant
County, which he said would pro
vide 5,000jobs.
Manillian demonstators
protest against Quayle
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Po
lice hurled tear gas Wednesday to
disperse 2,000 leftists demonstrating
against Vice President Dan Quayle
and American military bases here.
President Corazon Aquino accepted
a U.S. offer to discuss the bases’ fu
ture.
Quayle called the ambush-slayings
of two American civ ilians on Tues
day “cowardly murders” and said a
majority of Filipinos want the bases
to remain.
“Let me be direct: terrorists will
not drive Americans from the Phil
ippines,” he told U.S. troops and de
pendents at Clark Air Base and the
Subic Bay naval base, the largest of
the six American installations there.
Police fired tear gas after demon
strators refused to end an anti-base
rally near the presidential palace.
Riot police also drove back hundreds
of otners who tried to march to the
main gate at Clark during Quayle’s
appearance.
Police arrested 157 people for
joining anti-Quayle rallies in the cap
ital.
Opposition to the bases is increas
ing among Filipinos, who see the fa
cilities as an infringement on na
tional sovereignty.
Quayle met for about an hour
with Aquino early Wednesday and
gave her a letter from President
Bush suggesting talks begin in De
cember on allowing the bases to re
main after their lease expires in Sep
tember 1991.
Aquino's executive secretary, Cat-
alino Macaraig, said the government
had agreed to the talks anti would
give Quayle formal notice before he
leaves Thursday for Malaysia.
Any agreement on extending the
bases’ lease must be ratified by two-
thirds of the 23-member Senate,
where opposition to the bases is
strong.