Monday, March 22,1993
The Battalion
Page 5
Minister faces attempted murder trial
Wife never to recover from vegetative state after near strangling six years ago
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — The attack on a
prominent minister's wife was a
sensational tale of anonymous
racist threats, attempted murder,
bungled suicide, adultery and an
unlikely suspect: the minister
himself.
Now, six years later, the mys
tery may be solved starting Mon
day, when a trial gets under way
in San Antonio to decide if, in fact,
the Rev. Walker Railey savagely
choked Peggy Railey that warm
spring night.
Railey, 45, insists he did not.
Peggy Railey survived the as
sault, but only barely. At 43 she
remains in a vegetative state from
which she will never recover.
In 1987, the Rev. Walker Railey,
dynamic and socially conscious,
was the high-profile minister of
the 6,000-member First United
Methodist Church.
By all accounts, Peggy Railey
was a devoted wife and loving
mother in a solid and serene mar-
en came the letters. The first
called Railey "a nigger lover.”
The last of the unsigned, type
written letters was slipped under
a church door on Easter Sunday.
Railey had preached that day
wearing a bulletproof vest.
"On Easter Christ rose from the
dead,” it said. "And on this day
you are going down.”
Two nights later, Railey called
home from his car phone.
"Hi, Babe,” he said into an an
swering machine. "I'm calling you
from my mobile phone. Peg, it's
about, oh, I don't know, I don't
have a watch. It's somewhere be
tween 10:30 and 10:45. ...”
There was
no response.
"My concern
is that you're
safe," he con
tinued.
At that mo
ment, his wife
lay uncon
scious. She had
been choked
with a cord.
A phone computer would later
pinpoint Railey's call to 12:03 a.m.
on April 22,1987.
His wife near death, Railey in
terrupted his hospital room vigil
only to speak to authorities.
He told them he had been do
ing library research the night of
the attack at Southern Methodist
University.
Returning home about 12:40
a.m., he said, he drove into the
garage where he found his wife
writhing in convulsions.
Their son, Ryan, 5, and daugh
ter, Megan, 2, were safe inside the
house. He telephoned police and a
friend.
Soon after, the FBI concluded
the threatening letters were com
posed on a typewriter at Railey's
church.
On May 1, as police prepared
to question Railey about discrep
ancies in his story, he took an
overdose of tranquilizers.
He wrote in a note, "There is a
demon inside
my soul. It has
always been
there. ... My
demon has fi
nally gotten
the upper
hand.”
Railey
wouldn't talk
to investiga
tors. He entered a psychiatric hos
pital.
Then The Dallas Morning
News reported about a potential
witness in the case, Lucy Papillon.
Phone records showed Railey
phoned the Dallas psychologist
twice the night of Mrs. Railey's at
tack.
On July 29, Railey went before
a grand jury and invoked his right
against self-incrimination 43
times.
"He has made it absolutely
clear to the press and to the police
that he didn't do it,” said Doug
Mulder, his attorney.
But Papillon, 46, the daughter
of a former Methodist bishop, told
grand jurors that she and Railey
were lovers for a year and he had
visited her the night of Mrs. Rai
ley's attack.
Days after her testimony, Rai
ley gave up his church credentials
and soon after, with no charges
filed against him, left with Papil
lon for San Francisco.
In Dallas, Mrs. Railey's mother,
Billie Jo Nicolai, filed a civil law
suit accusing her son-in-law of
trying to kill her daughter.
Exactly one year after the at
tack, a judge ruled that Railey "in
tentionally, knowingly, malicious
ly and brutally attempted to stran
gle his wife.”
When he ordered Railey to pay
$16.5 million in damages, the cler
gyman sent word he was broke.
The next year, Railey gave up
custody of his children and tried
in vain to divorce Peggy, who
lives in a nursing home under her
parents' care.
He was indicted last year and
on Aug. 25, police converged on
Immanuel Presbyterian Church in
Los Angeles, where Railey
worked as a $70,000-a-year ad
ministrator.
He was returned to Texas and
freed on $25,000 bond.
Muzzled by a gag order, Prose
cutor Cecil Emerson says only that
he hopes to begin presenting his
case on Wednesday.
Railey's attorney did not return
telephone calls.
"He has made it
absolutely clear to the
press and to the police
that he didn't do it."
-Doug Mulder, attorney
The Texas A<5tM University
Student Publications Board
is accepting applications for
Editor, Aggieland
1994
The editor of the 1994 Aggieland yearbook will serve from
August 1993 through August 1994.
Qualifications for the position are:
Be a Texas A&.M student with a minimum 2.0 overall and major GPR
at the time of appointment and during the term of office;
Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on the
Aggieland or comparable college yearbook.
Have completed or be registered in JOUR 210 (Graphics) or equivalent.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to the
Student Publications Manager's office, room 230 Reed
McDonald Building. Deadline for submitting application: 5
p.m. Wednesday, March31, 1993. Applicants will be inter-
viewed during the Student Publications Board Meeting be
ginning at 3 p.m. Monday, April 5, 1993, in room 327 Reed
McDonald.
WELCOME BACK
L— ' ' :
Prices up after harsh winter slims cattle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LUBBOCK — A harsh winter nationwide
has resulted in slimmer cattle this year, but
trading numbers and prices are starting to hit
record highs as meatpackers struggle to meet
meat demands.
The 43,000 tagged heifers and steers penned
inside Lubbock Feedyard Inc. now are getting
fatter and ready for slaughter.
And feedlot owner Terry Crofoot hinted
that he made "extremely large" sales last Mon
day.
The Texas Cattle Feeders Association,
which monitors eastern New Mexico and
western Oklahoma as well as Texas, was more
specific: A record 64,883 cattle sold in the
TCFA area last Monday.
"We just have the cattle available,” said Jim
Gill, market director for the Amarillo-based or
ganization. "The cattle in Kansas have really
been hurt by the weather. Their trade hasn't
completely quit up there, but a lot of cattle
sold north of Amarillo are going to Kansas and
supplementing the cattle kill.”
Group attempts to reverse economic decline
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
--.mm.i'—... :..rU nl—-—
FREEPORT — ^A group trying
to revitalize the declining local
economy is turning the down
town area into a once-a-month
marketplace.
The Freeport Old River Market
Days, which is planned for the
second Saturday of each month
beginning May 8, is being pro
moted as way for local residents
to sell their goods.
"They can bring chickens or
vegetables they grew in their
backyards, cars, or anything they
would sell in a garage sale,” said
Sandra Barnett, executive director
of thje FreepoHr League, a non
profit organization formed to pro-
mote the cf'ity.
Similar markets have been suc
cessful in several cities in Texas.
Canton's "First Monday” market
has become well-known, drawing
sellers, and buyers, from several
states for the entire weekend be
fore the first M-onday of each
month.
Bay City, in Mathgorda Coun
ty, also has a market on the court
house square. Held the third Sat
urday of each month, it had only a
few participants when it opened
several years ago. Today, there
are more than 150 booths.
Perot
Continued from Page 1
by polling experts who said the questions
were leading and the results guaranteed to be
unreliable.
For example, Perot asked, "Should laws be
passed to eliminate all possibilities of special
interests giving huge sums of money to candi
dates?”
Reams of polling data suggest the public
would answer "Yes” to that and most of the
questions posed by Perot in the first of what he
promises will be a series similar programs.
Since winning an historic 19 percent of the
vote last year, Perot has promised to build an
unrivaled grassroots political organization to
pressure Washington and the states to enact
fiscal and political reforms.
He has traveled the country and aired tele
vision ads soliciting members for a $15 annual
fee. Looking for more recruits, Perot's people
will tabulate the ballots by congressional dis
trict and add the names to a mailing list that
already rivals those of the major political par
ties.
Perot was so concerned reaction to the pro
gram be favorable that he taped two versions
and aired the one given the best review at a
Texas screening. He spent more than $700,000
of his own money for the network time and
ballot distribution, aides said.
The broadcast comes at a time when Perot
is enjoying high favorability ratings with the
public. For example, 59 percent of those sur
veyed last week in a Time magazine-CNN poll
viewed Perot favorably and 56 percent
thought forming United We Stand America
t;
was a good idea. Although Perot says he
would "rather have major surgery without
anesthesia” than run for office again, 65 per
cent of the 800 adults polled said they expect
ed another Perot candidacy.
Another recent survey, however, suggested
that many Americans applaud Perot's agenda
but wouldn't want him as president.
This survey of 800 adults, taken March 9-11
by EDK Associates of New York, found just 18
percent wished Perot were president — rough
ly equal to his support in last year's election.
"They don't see him as someone who
should be in control, but they see him raising
their issues and as someone with the guts to
say things other politicians are unwilling to
say,” said EDK President Ethel Klein. "They
are happy to have this guy out there making
sure the people in power behave well."
AGGIES!
SUPER SPRING SAVINGS
ON
DOUBLE PRINTS
AS LOW AS
Good on developing
and printing 2 sets of
standard size 3“ prints or
a single set of 4"prints.
From 110, disc, 126 or
35mm color print film
C-41 process only.
12exp. $2.69
15 disc $3.39
24 exp. $3.99
36 exp. $5.99
The Texas A&M University
Student Publications Board
is accepting applications for
Editor, The Battalion
Fall 1993
The fall '93 editor will serve from August 16, 1993, through
December 10, 1993.
Qualifications for editor of The Battalion are:
Be a Texas A&M scudent with a minimum 2.0 overall and major GPR
at the time of appointment and during the term of office;
Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on
The battalion or comparable student newspaper,
OR
Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper,
OR
Have completed at least 12 hours journalism, including JOUR 203 and
303 (Media Writing I and II), JOUR 301 (Mass Comm Law) and JOUR
304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to the
Student Publications Manager's office, room 230 Reed
McDonald Building. Deadline for submitting application: 5
p.m. Wednesday, March 31, 1993. Applicants will be inter
viewed during the Student Publications Board Meeting be
ginning at 3 p.m. Friday, April 2, 1993, in room 327 Reed
McDonald.
^ Wanted: Enthusiastic, motivated leaders to serve the Class of’93 until 1998.
To act as liaisons between the Class of’93, The Association of Former Students,
and the University.
If you are interested in running, you must attend the informational meeting to be held
Tuesday, M.arcR 23 at 4:30 p.m.
in the
Clayton W. Williams Alumni Center
: ' '-yj! '• ; ■ t
For more information, contact Wynn Rosser ’90 at 845-7514