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Separatists go on trial defiantly
Jury selection resumes after McLaren’s removal
FILE PHOTO/the associated press
aratist Richard McLaren was ordered out of the room Monday
claiming the court had no jurisdiction over him.
ALPINE, Texas (AP) — Separatist
Richard McLaren remained defiant Mon
day as he went on trial for engaging au
thorities in an armed standoff, refusing to
participate in his own defense and bom
barding the judge with objections.
The leader of the Republic of Texas
movement was ordered out of the room
after protesting that the court had no ju
risdiction over him and repeatedly inter
rupting jury selection.
“The people of this country are fed up
with this crap. It’s lies, lies, lies,” said
McLaren, who believes that Texas was
never legally annexed by the United States
and remains an independent nation.
He said authorities are involved in a
conspiracy along with the people he’s ac
cused of plotting to kidnap and that his
case belongs before a federal court in
Washington, D.C.
“I’m sorry. I can’t proceed. We can’t pro
ceed. We have to object every five sec
onds,” McLaren told state District Judge
Kenneth DeHart before being removed
for the second time.
The judge had given McLaren several
warnings.
Robert Otto, McLaren’s chief lieutenant
and co-defendant, was also removed af
ter telling DeHart he would have to con
tinue with the “five-second objections”
and proceeding to do so.
“That’s fine,” Otto said as he was ush
ered out. “I’m not going to participate in
fraud and under the color of law.”
Both McLaren and Otto have court-ap
pointed attorneys who were in the court
room Monday, but they have decided to
represent themselves.
McLaren and Otto are charged with
engaging in organized criminal activity
for allegedly plotting to kidnap two
neighbors in the Davis Mountains Re
sort, a rural subdivision 175 miles south
east of El Paso.
The April 27 abduction, carried out by
McLaren’s Republic followers, sparked the
weeklong standoff with nearly 300 state
troopers and Texas Rangers who sealed
off the resort to wait out McLaren.
The siege ended May 3 when the group
agreed to lay down its weapons.
Two other group members will go on
trial in December on the same charges. All
could face five to 99 years or life in prison
and a $10,000 fine if convicted.
Jury selection continued Monday af
ternoon after the defendants’ removal.
District Attorney Albert Valadez asked
prospective jurors whether they had been
influenced by media coverage of the
standoff, which generated international
attention, or had any firsthand knowledge
of the siege.
He also told the jury pool that DeHart
would impose sentencing if the defen
dants are convicted and asked if it would
bother them that they wouldn’t decide
punishment.
WDL
iHESZEIBSE *
alibu Grand Prix’ killer talks
Kenneth Ray Ransom set to die Tuesday for grisly 1983 murder
f counts Ac
>r Re&eroofo
)) 268-22!
, ~ Jg HUNTSVILLE (AP) — Even one
oatj'C tmjl 0 f th e men convicted of participat-
'' ing in one of Houston’s worst single
EEQU|m.ass murders refers to the killing
UtMsccne as grisly.
“I know that people hate me,”
'/mage 5a K enne th Ray Ransom says. ”1 un
derstand that. I’ve had to deal with
that for the past 14 years. There’s
I nothing I can do about it.”
jfp, Ransom was set to die Tuesday
i night for what became known as
A the Malibu Grand Prix killings. An
‘option accomplice, RichardWilkerson, was
Film fit executed four years ago. A third par-
1 : c °'° ri r adqT tifipant, James Randall, is serving a
2 % SaSr;life prison sentence,
els) ' Single past W Ransom, now 34, was a20-year-
° * P " Void parolee the night of July 21,
-1000 Supe 1993 when he, Wilkerson and Ran-
Film Scait ^all walked into the Malibu Grand
|ix amusement center in south
west Houston just before closing.
They robbed the place of about
$1,300 and killed four young men
who worked there, stabbing each
0victim repeatedly.
lonochrome.Sf*® “Every time I drive by that loca-
700 dpi Maxfte' tipn, I think about what that scene
de DynamicW' like ” j.q Mosier, a former
^Houston homicide detective who
prked the case, said Monday. “In
at restroom, there was at least 2
inches of blood on that floor. It was
like they had a water leak. I’ll never
forget that. It’s the most blood I’d ever
seen at one location. It was awful.”
Medical examiners had difficul
ty determining if the victims also
had been shot because the bodies
had been stabbed so many times
and there was so much blood.
The victims were Anil Varughese,
18, night manager of the business
and a college pre-med student, and
three employees: Roddy Harris, 22,
and brothers Arnold Pequeno, 19,
andJoerenePequeno, IS.Varughese’s
body was found in an office. The
three others were in the rest room.
“I laid awake that next night
thinking about those people,”
Mosier said. “They put them in the
stalls in the rest room and took one
out each time and killed them. I
kept thinking about the people
waiting inside waiting their turn
and what horror it must have been.”
“I’m not going to lie and say I
don’t want to live,” Ransom, in his
first comments about the case,'said
last week from inside a cage at the
Texas death row visiting area. “Life
and freedom go hand in hand. So if
I have to die, I’m accepting it. I’m
not afraid of dying. The one thing I
say is that I’m afraid of what’s be
yond death. I don’t know if I’m go
ing to a better place or if I’m going
to be banished to hell.”
Ransom, who had previous
prison terms for burglary and auto
theft, described himself as a “video
freak” who accompanied Wilker
son and Randall to the arcade so
Wilkerson, who had been fired two
weeks earlier, could pick up his fi
nal paycheck.
“I didn’t have any idea they were
going to kill,” Ransom said. “Every-
“I know that people hate
me. I understand that. IVe
had to deal with it for the
past 14 years. There’s
nothing I can do about it.”
KENNETH RAY RANSOM
SET TO DIE TUESDAY FOR 1983
‘MALIBU GRAND PRIX’ MURDERS
thing is just — I want to say ‘surreal.’
“I’m definitely sorry. I’m not
sorry just for myself. I’m sorry for
Richard Wilkerson and James Ran
dall and their families and I’m def
initely sorry for the victims and
their families.”
Testimony at his trial, however,
showed Randall and Ransom took a
butcher knife from a dish drainer at
Ransom’s girlfriend’s house. The
knife, broken in two, was found lat
er near the murder scene. The girl
friend also described how the three
split up the money and how Ran
som was wearing a class ring and
watch police determined belonged
to Arnold Pequeno.
Ransom said he didn’t even count
the money he got, but bought a pair
of shoes and some jeans to replace
jeans that had been bloodied in the
massacre. He didn’t find out his share
was just over $300 until his trial.
“Three hundred dollars for four
lives,” he said. “That doesn’t even
come out to $100 for each victim.
That’s what hurts.”
“It’s pretty evident I’m going to
die,” Ransom added. “But I told my
lawyer from day one I wasn’t guilty
of capital murder. Maybe accessory
or aiding and abetting but not cap
ital murder.”
While insisting he did not do the
stabbings, Ransom blamed Wilker
son for forcing him to participate.
“Fear makes you do some stupid
things,” he said. “I know I held one
(victim) down while Richard threat
ened my life.
“I was offered a life sentence
from the first day to testify. I won’t
accept it and I didn’t accept it. I
might be wrong but I feel I’m right.
You’ve got to stand for something
or you’ll fall for anything. I stood
my ground. I lost.”
Give Us A Shout!
Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS), a
non-profit agency, can help you get out of debt.
Services are completely free and confidential.
We have an office at 3833 S. Texas in Bryan. To
make an appointment to talk to a counselor, call:
1-800-873-2227
Visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.cccsintl.org
Tuesday Nile: Beat the Clock
Time You Call is the Price You Pay!
(from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.)
On a Large t Topping Pizza
Tips are appreciated
College Station Bryan
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1100 Harvey Rd. 3414 East 29th St.
jetCiyers
) Condo
D E G H I K L
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Rock'I
OP R ST U
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Wednesday
November 5th
shadow canyon
one night only!
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W Isctaa Qctats avaeatta at Martaaad Mc^ii arty. Srttf aa a Oral caaaa tint sanra feasts.
An or a decada of racordiog and performing. JACKOPIERCE fsaa amicably decided to peri ways. From tt>eir early days
five years of headlining the Aggie Final. Texas A&M has bean one of the countries biggest support-
Jt 9 8 - 19 9 8
Brought to you by
<in>
• of JACKOPIERCE. Cary Pierce a
» decided to say tbanka to their fnenda, the Aggies. '
I EXPERIENCE A