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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1998)
Wednesday • June 17,1998 The Battalion TfiTE theDolpi ecomergj ^wnsgeiv andotfe 'er Wavw n incomplete history Is Texas anticipates execution, victim’s identity remains unknown hip, BORGETOWN, Texas (AP) — Her neighbors , lzen ever are a woman who died eight days after t0 |i S ‘991 h birthday and an infant who died on the ', evel j mf his birth. lui v In tiie archives ofTexas crime, she is known as “Or- 'lev — 80 name(1 because tiie pair of socks was l ; Only (lothing she was wearing when a motorist dri- gal( mg the frontage road bordering busy Interstate ; potted herbodyin a concrete culvert inWilliamson jntv on Halloween afternoon 1979. Almost five years later, a jury in San Angelo bo red infamous self-described serial killer Hen- Lucas, who said he strangled her, and sen- iced him to death. It is for her murder that . H, who now denies any role in her killing, ' eslexecution June 30. r ' Het notoriety, like her identity, is unknown to vis- pnceaijw Georgetown’s IOOF Cemetery, where peo- i bo i n when Texas became a republic in 1836 are riedsidr by side with Confederate soldiers from | is oo" T |Q\ il War and Spanish-American War veterans. ilansiwM e g ray granite tombstone simply says: flidentified Woman. 1979." A single-stemmed lusts to ie i s carved along the left side of the marker. [d ithasfle cemetery, still in use today, borders a golf 1 arse and a horse corral within sight of South- We :s tern University. Depending on the time of ter gravesite at the bottom of a slope is |ned by a large shade tree, hat is known is she was white, 5-feet-9, 158 |ds. She had hazel eyes, 10-inch-long brown ith a reddish tint and probably was between id 25 years of age. I An autopsy determined she had a hairline scar p her chin, she was wearing a silver abalone tn the middle finger of her right hand and ;had pierced ears. According to Dr. Roberto Bayardo, the Travis Tunty medical examiner in 1979, she was un- laven and, in his judgment, appeared to have i an unkempt person. She had no cavities in her teeth and no indica- tf any dental work. X-rays showed she never hed any broken bones. Her fingernails were covered with red polish, toenails were long. Detectives initially believed a piece of wood pip was in an eye. The pathologist concluded it fas a larvae egg. | Bayardo determined she died of manual stran- ylation. Her neck was extensively bruised. There fere scratches and bruises on her left lower back, Henry Lee Lucas By the Numbers Some numbers associated with Henry Lee Lucas, the confessed and then un-confessed serial killer who faces execution on June 30: 3,000 — Homicides discussed with Lucas by law enforcement officers, as estimat ed by Texas Rangers. 600 — Murders Lucas says he confessed to 360 — Murders officials say he confessed to 150 — Murders in which he was considered a suspect by Texas Rangers 62 — Age, as defined by Lucas 61 — Age, as defined by prison records 40 — States from which detectives questioned him about murders 26 — States Lucas listed in confession as places where he committed murders 23 — Age when he killed his mother in Michigan in 1960 17 — Number of attorneys he figures he's had since 1 983 arrest 17 — Age when he first went to prison, a three-year term in Virginia for burglary 13 — Years on death row 11 — Murder convictions 4 — Times he confessed to Orange Socks slaying 4 — Last grade he attended school 3 — Execution dates he has had 3 — Number of drugs used in lethal injection 1 — Death sentences 0 — His estimate of chances he will avoid execution indicating she had been dragged over a freeway guardrail and through the Johnson grass before she was dumped in the culvert 9.4 miles south of theWilliamson-Bell county line. She landed face down in the ditch where a slight trickle of water pooled, sprawled on her right side. Her legs, bearing evidence of insect bites, were crossed. One arm was folded beneath her, the other was extended. The pathologist’s examination showed she suffered from an infection known as chronic salpingitis, the result of gonorrhea. Two matchbooks were found at the scene: one with a Motel 6 logo, the other indicating it came from a Holiday Inn in Henryetta, Okla. The only other evidence was determined to be a makeshift sanitary napkin, which was labeled among the evidence as a bloody towel. In his confession, given beginning at 9:07 a.m. on June 22,1983, Lucas said he had picked her up Information courtesy of Associated Press as she hitchhiked in Oklahoma City, “the second exit off a turnpike.” “I think her name was Joanie or Judy—I don’t remember exactly,” he wrote. He told of eating at a truck stop with her, of having sex with her at a roadside park or picnic area and of failing to be satisfied. “I was drinking beer,” Lucas scrawled. “I don’t know if something was wrong with her or some thing was wrong with me. I killed her not long af ter that by strangling her with my hands.” He said he later undressed her and had un satisfying sex with her after she was dead. “I drug her out of my car somewhere on IH35 southbound toward San Antonio, and dropped her into a culvert,” Lucas wrote. “I remember an iron guard rail with carved iron, because I skinned my knee on it.” At 10:47 a.m. he signed the statement. “Henry Lee Lucas.” Family of slain woman campaign for extradition of suspect TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sheila Bel- lush had just put life jackets on her quadruplet toddlers for a swim in the backyard pool when someone broke into her home, shot her in the face and slashed her throat. The 2-year-old children were crawling, unharmed, through her blood on the kitchen floor when her 13-year-old daughter came home from school to find the body, police said after the Nov. 7, 1997, slaying in Sarasota, about 50 miles south of Tampa. On Tuesday, her husband took the case to Washington, D.C. He picketed outside the Mexican Em bassy, accusing the government of harboring the alleged triggerman who fled to Mexico and is chal lenging his extradition. “This man—as plain as the nose on my face — shot my wife in the face, cut her throat, in front of my ba bies, and fled to Mexico. And he needs to be extradited immediately,” Jamie Bellush told reporters after his brief protest in Washington. Bellush, 36, is urging a boycott of Mexican products until Jose Luis Del Toro, Jr. is brought back to Florida. Del Toro, 21, is challenging his extradition before the Mexican Supreme Court. He faces first-degree murder charges in Florida, but prosecutors have agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for his extradi tion. Mexico refuses to extradite prisoners facing the death penalty. Two other men were charged in Florida in connection with Mrs. Bellush’s slaying. Samuel Gonzales, 27, pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to com mit murder and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a 19- year-prison sentence. Daniel Rocha, who previously pleaded innocent to conspiracy to commit murder, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge last week after prosecutors said he re fused to cooperate. Rocha, 29, is a Texas golfing buddy of Mrs. Bellush’s ex-hus- band, Allen Blackthorne. Both live in San Antonio, Texas. After the charge against Rocha was upgraded, his lawyer released documents outlining an interview conducted with Gonzales after his arrest in Texas. In it, Gonzales told investigators Blackthorne was behind the con spiracy, saying he was angry over a custody dispute with Bellush over their two daughters. Blackthome’s lawyer, Roy Barrera, Jr. has said that Blackthorne was in San Antonio the day of the slaying and had nothing to do with it. No charges have been filed against him. Blackthorne and Bellush di vorced in 1988 and he gave up parental rights to his daughters, Stevie and Daryl, several months before the slaying. In Sarasota, investigators identi fied Del Toro as the triggerman short ly after Bellush, 35, was found dead. They said Del Toro left his finger prints on a clothes dryer in the Bel lush house. A car he is believed to have driven from Texas to Florida was recovered in Austin. Inside were a .45-caliber handgun and directions to Bellush’s street, authorities said. James Bellush adopted his wife’s two older daughters after the slaying and moved with the children to Sussex County, N.J., to be near his family. “The bottom line is, this guy should have been deported right away, after he was captured,” Bel lush told Fox TV in a live interview from Washington. Fitness Center (Treadmills, Stairmasters, Cycles, Circuit Training, Free Weights) Multi-Media Center (Computers, Printer, Fax, Copier) Ceiling Fans (in Every Bedroom) Microwave (And All New Appliances) Washer / Dryer (In Every Apartment) v,, j'ii ■ > yX ' . 17 Holleman Drive West Lo,| ege Station,Texas 77840 COLLEGIATE RESIDENCES Teb: (409) 696-571 I Fax: (409) 696-5661 Offices Hours Mon-Sat 10-6 Sunday 12-6 Check Vs Out on the World Wide Web: www.dmcmgmt.com An S.U.H. ~ Community l*evc!*»|*e<l by irirurstt-in Companies There’s STILL time to prepare For the August MOAT ... but you’ve got to sign up now. 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