Judging Mother

Rui Ann Park was born in 1905 and spent most of her life in Van Buren, Arkansas, where she and her husband Hugh Park founded the Press Argus newspaper and became one of the wealthier families in Crawford County. She was a retired schoolteacher, a self-appointed town historian and a founder of the Van Buren Garden Club and the Crawford County Historical Association, and she claimed descent from Mayflower passengers and pioneer Arkansas families. The couple's first child, a girl, was born in 1932 and lived for one day; her gravestone reads Baby Girl Park. Their son Sam Hugh Park was born in 1942. this part of the story is covered for now Rui Ann decided within a month that the adoption had been a mistake, though she never said so to the child. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

Hugh and Rui Ann divorced in the late 1960s. this part of the story is covered for now Sam Hugh went to the University of Arkansas and then to law school, passed the bar at the first attempt and, with help from Senator William Fulbright, became an assistant United States prosecutor with an office in the federal courthouse at Fort Smith, before opening his own defence practice in Van Buren. He was widely regarded as the smartest man in the county, but his personal life was disorderly. details of the account remain covered until revealed He lived in one of his mother's rental houses directly across the street from her own home, which he called the Winter Palace. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

On May 16, 1981, Rui Ann, then 75, returned by bus from a trip to Cincinnati and spoke to Sam Hugh on the telephone about the PTL television show, a gospel trio and a film he had watched. That night she was in a guest room of the Winter Palace in her nightgown and pink robe, her hair in pin curls, when someone attacked her. She was struck on the left temple and then beaten at least ten times about the head with a heavy blunt instrument. this part of the story is covered for now She fell to the floor at the foot of the bed, was dragged by the ankles along the hallway into the den, and was left face down with a yellow quilt over her. She bled to death from a crushed skull.

Sam Hugh woke around eleven the next morning, hung over, and noticed that his mother's newspaper was still on her porch. He took his key, went in through the kitchen door and found her in the den. He telephoned the police at about half past one and was sitting in the front yard crying when they arrived. Sheriff Trellin Ball, assistant police chief Wayne Hicks and Arkansas State Police investigator Don Taylor came to the house at Fayetteville Road. The scene had already been walked over; blood was smeared on the refrigerator, her house shoes were on the kitchen floor, a blood trail led to the guest room and a handful of encyclopedias lay where she had knocked them from a shelf. Dark hairs were found clutched in her hand. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

Suspicion fell quickly on Sam Hugh. He had argued loudly with his mother, neighbours had called the police twice, he owed between $45,000 and $65,000 to two banks, he had written bad cheques, and several acquaintances said he had admitted killing her while drunk. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He began coughing blood around the turn of the year 1982 and died of liver failure in hospital on January 17, 1983, aged 40. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed Howard was overbearing and was having an affair with a divorced blonde named Judy. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now In June 1984 Howard telephoned Ron Fields to say that he had his wife on tape admitting the killing. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Rui Ann, she said, told her she should never have married Howard or had so many children and was getting what she deserved. this part of the story is covered for now She maintained that she had only started the attack and that Sam Hugh might have finished it, a claim the physical evidence did not support, and she compared her own crime with Howard's adultery. Howard had kept the recording for more than a year and a half before using it.

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 details of the account remain covered until revealed Ron Fields later said that without Howard's call the case would never have been solved and that people would still believe Sam Hugh had killed his mother. Anita Paddock wrote a book about the case, Blind Rage. The episode ends by noting that a doll made by Rui Ann Park, a circa 1900 black cloth granny doll, was being offered for sale on an antiques website.