The Best & Brightest Murdered

Hawkins, Texas, sits in the northeast corner of the state, about a hundred miles from Dallas, in Wood County. It covers 2.3 square miles and held 1,291 people. Its recorded history was one line: the post office was established in 1873. In October 1940 a former middleweight boxer named Bobby Manziel found a wildcat oil well just north of town and Hawkins became a boom town; by the 1980s a large Exxon refinery was the main employer.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He left school in the seventh grade. this part of the story is covered for now At 19 he married a 15-year-old girl; they had two children, divorced, and he abandoned them. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Later that year he kidnapped an 18-year-old Shackelford County secretary and drove her around three counties, robbing and sexually assaulting her. In 1979 he got another 15 years for aggravated sexual assault. details of the account remain covered until revealed He told the board he would live in Hawkins; Sheriff Frank White wrote asking them to send him back to West Texas instead. The board sent him to Hawkins. He worked for a storage tank company and was sacked for absenteeism, which should have put him back inside.

Gina Turner was 20, valedictorian of her school, Miss Hawkins High, studying at Tyler Junior College to be a nurse. Suzanne Harrison was 18, a cheerleader and National Honor Society member who worked at a pharmacy and wanted to teach. Brian Drew Boon was 19, captain of the football team, a Tyler Junior College student living on Lake Hawkins with his uncle. On 4 May 1986 Gina and Suzanne met at Suzanne's house and drove to Lake Hawkins to meet Brian. At 7.45 that evening Cliff and Denise Phillips were at the lake when a wild-haired, tattooed man pulled a gun and demanded money and sex; they talked their way free, saw him by a blue and white Ford Bronco and noted five digits of its plate. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it About three hours after the three failed to come home, Brian's brother found Brian's truck abandoned half a mile from the robbery scene.

On 5 May maintenance workers at Barnwell Mountain Park, about 30 miles from the lake, found Suzanne's body. She had been beaten, raped, sodomised and strangled with her own underwear. this part of the story is covered for now He was held on $100,000 bond. On 10 May two decomposing bodies were found in a ditch off a farm road near Ore City, about 15 miles from the lake: Gina Turner and Brian Boon. Both were shot in the head with a .38, and Gina had also been raped. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now He put her in her 1979 Datsun and made her start it, since he could not drive a stick. Fleeing helicopters, he wrecked the car, dragged her into woods behind a church, then into a box car in Big Sandy, where they hid a day without water in the July heat. When he opened the door for water a stray dog attacked him; she ran to a nearby house and the occupants called police. A manhunt of about 700 officers found him on 11 July in a vacant house. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Tim and Maynard Emerson heard two gunshots, a pause and a third, then a vehicle speed away. Debbie West handed over spent shells from her .38; ballistics could not be matched but the gun type did. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now It took 35 minutes to choose death. Gina's aunt called it not revenge but removal; Suzanne's aunt Glidia Lane said the family was starting to get well.

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Habeas petitions were denied twice in 1997 and again in 1998. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it