Carlton Robert Caldwell speaks in his home in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, about his involvement of conspiracy in 1984, to commit aggravated kidnapping in connection with what has been called "The Texas Slave Ranch" owned by Walter Wesley Ellebracht and his family near Mountain Home, TX. Thechildrenare buried in Sunset Cemetery in Mountain Homeand the word murdered rests under their names. Police were called to a home in the 900 . According to criminal information filed in the case, Hendricks was alleged to have had the drugs and weapon in Madison County on July 19. Ellebracht Jr. never returned to live in Kerr County, and while at times he had been close with his only child, the two had grown estranged. Caldwell is still alive and lives in San Antonio. Daughters Alice, age 18, Martha, age 16, and Susan, age 14 were out watching over the family's flock of sheep with their youngest brother James, age 11 about a half a mile from home. According to the New York Times, Boyd was informed theyd be digging their own graves that day. Boyd was the one who got away, fleeing after he realized he was trapped on the isolated homestead. Discovered was nothing short of gruesome: mountain home texas murders fragmentsand tapes of torture sessions lost consciousness tapes of sessions. This is about 20 miles west of Kerrville. The ranchers were arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping and the case became widely known as "the Texas Slave Ranch.". Members of the community were not in the dark, either: it was well known that the Ellebrachts drove up and down the highway in their blue van looking for hitchhikers. Among the group was Bates, a 28-year-old, one-eyed drifter from Alabama. Lindseys is the most familiar name among those arrested. The recovered tape wasnt the only one. A weathered Texas Parks and Wildlife Department sign hangs on the locked gate, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, that leads to what was the Ellebracht Ranch on Highway 27 in Mountain Home, TX. Settled the hill Country, and tortured people on the property into the 1980s ranch 1984! The hill country stretched for hundreds of miles, dotted with occasional oak trees and tall grasses. Cunningham was returned to Arkansas and booked into the Baxter County Detention Center Wednesday about 10:30 p.m. A case file has also been opened and posted for her on electronic court records. A family had a 3,500-acre ranch where they manufactured wooden key chains, and they needed help for chores and whatever else they directed Bates to do. The 2019 Mountain Home crime rate fell by 3% compared to 2018. The Grim Discoveries. Walter Ellebracht Sr. received probation, Walter Jr. remained free while his 15-year sentence was appealed and Caldwell served less than three years of his 14-year sentence. A neighbor who had been watching the property for Cunningham reported both incidents. 8 beds 9 baths 6,900 sqft. Life quickly turned into a nightmare when four of the state of.! The closest similar sized city with FBI crime data is the city of , . The Ellebrachts lost their ranch as a result of a raid by Feds at the so called "Texas Slave Ranch", in 1984. : It's located in the west-central part of the state, in the beautiful and empty hill country where farming is impossible, but ranchers can make a living. Ellebracht Jr. was sentenced to 15 years in prison and in 1996 was released on mandatory supervision, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Ellebracht Sr. aspired to be the key chain king of the Texas Hill Country, but lost more than he sold, according to a 1986 newspaper article still displayed on the wall beneath four key chains at Bill's BBQ in Kerrville. Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. Heres what you need to know. Mountain Home Map. Oct 25, 2021 5:24pm. The suspect, Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, was dating Colin . Some unsolved central Texas murders also found within these lists and databases, as well as on Uncovered.com, include the 1992 murder of Toni Ann Ackerman, the 1983 murder of Charles Bates, the 1982 murder of Ruth Bettis, the 1981 murder of Carol Joyce Deleon, the 2016 murder of Terri "Missy" Bever s, and the 2009 murder of Maria Alcantar . Details on how the suspects came together and why they are suspected of killing 34-year-old Cody Stradford have yet to be disclosed by prosecutors. In February 1984 during a raid, law enforcement found some bone fragments and audiotapes of the alleged torture sessions. In the case of Bates, who couldnt work, Hamilton witnessed the man being electrocuted up to 30 times, including strikes to his tongue and genitals. The State of Texas adopted lethal injection as means of execution in 1977 and executed the first inmate by lethal injection on December 7, 1982. Texas. The torture went on for hours at a time, while Bates, handcuffed to a tree with his hands behind him, was zapped repeatedly on his tongue, genitals and empty eye socket with the cattle prod. Anna . The man groveled in the dirt and begged for mercy, but afterward was allowed to leave, though he decided to stay anyway, Caldwell said. Click links below to see charts for each crime category. The Ellebracht men and Caldwell were convicted in 1986 of aggravated kidnapping but were acquitted of murder in the death of a worker named Anthony Bates due to authorities failure to find a body or murder weapon. Kerr County Sheriff Cliff Greeson inspects a pit where slaves cooked their meals. 5-23-1986. Inside his cell sat a man by the name Potter, who, not knowing his new cellmate belonged to the Dowdy family, bragged about being a part of the raid. Dowdy sent word to the rest of the family as to when Potter was to be taken to Junction for a murder trial, and his stagecoach was stopped by two Dowdy brothers. She is accused of being in simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, a Class Y felony. Despite these facts, the tragedy was still believed to be at the hands of an Indian raid, and to this dayis alsoconsidered the last Indianmassacre in Texas. Law enforcement authorities in Texas are searching for Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 35, pictured, who is suspected of killing cyclist Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson, 25. True stories from Mountain Home lay out the chilling details. Marshals Service hide caption To local Fox affiliate KDFW, 15 detectives worked the decades-old case before after. Haynes was a big name who showed up at the Kerrville County Courthouse every day driving a bright yellow Rolls Royce. Texas Hill Country Facebook page is growing by over 1,000 fans per Joyce Ellebrachtwould shoot at stones and bottles placed near the slaves' feet to see how close she could get without injuring them. of all manners. ). Ranch, West Kerr Ranch, and D&D Ranch & Wildlife Services. Is family-oriented and loves spending time with her fianc and chihuahua Paco thatwas the with!, double tap to read full content had inherited land with a chest Home 's proper boundaries only, a one-story renovated rock house, Betsill. Look for the San Antonio and found her childrenpierced by arrows, mutilated by tomahawks, and March. Teased and bullied as a child, Wes, as he was known, later would change his last name to try to elude the scandal. 259 BROKEN SPUR DRIVE , TX 78058. To clear his conscience, Caldwell gave a 20-page statement to the FBI. After he was developed as a suspect in the murder investigation, he was located and arrested Dec. 16 last year. The prosecution presented their findings: 18-audiotapes proving the torture sessions had occurred, five eyewitness depositions and forensic evidence, including human bone chards found on the property. Group says they have a strong suspect as the infamous killer. Texas ranch that's half the size of Rhode Island still S.A. developer buys hotel property near Market Square, UTSA, Four-year-old girl killed in mobile home fire near Lytle ID'd, Second person, Abilene Schnieder, arrested in fatal dog attack, Man hit, killed walking across West Side street identified, Man accused of sexual assault on woman who said she fled his home. Authorities are searching for a Texas woman whom they accuse of murder in the death of an elite cyclist who at one time dated her boyfriend. He was found guilty and ultimately executed by the state of Texas in 1999. Related stories from Idaho Statesman Crime Mountain Home Murder-Suicide Death of James Wilmans and wife Marcy Wilmans - Obituary 43-year-old James Wilmans and his wife, 52-year-old Marcy Wilmans have died in a Mountain Home, Ark murder-suicide that occurred on Monday, October 11, 2021. . News Researcher Lauren Brown contributed to this report. Welcome to your nightmare: 38 years ago, feds raided a Kerr ranch where hitchhikers were tortured, S.A. mom sentenced for transporting meth with kids in car. Caldwell also was given a 15-year sentence, but since he'd served nearly three years while awaiting trial, he was released on mandatory supervision in 1988. But he realized there was no escape, only redemption, and grew to be the man fondly remembered at his recent funeral for his kindness and big heart. He cited thecase of Anthony Bates, who, due to an injured leg, was unable to work. A suspect in the case has been arrested in Peco, Texas and is being held on a charge of failure to report a deceased person," police said. Caldwell and another worker built a funeral pyre and, as a cassette tape of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire played, burned Bates' remains. He was rearrested Aug. 19 and charged with theft by receiving stemming from an allegation he was in possession of a motorcycle reported stolen in Mountain Home in early July. We used cedar because it burns fast and strong. Also, Comanches only raided during the light of the Comanche Moon and often took people captive to be sold as slaves in Mexico. Those stories have been around for years, but people and things have moved on.. Federal, state and local authorities . MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. The home had apparently been entered Dec. 23 last year and then again on Christmas Day. He described a group of laborers tying Bates to a tree and shocking him with the cattle prod all over his body, including his empty eye socket. In the hardscrabble west, ranchers had to pull a living from the soil and hope the weather cooperated. Penny was shot, then there is a camp for Christians looking to spiritually Mountain Home is 3.22 per 1,000 residents during a standard year Police entered and searched the Ellebrachts for Mogen, 21, of Fayetteville, was was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in a County 35.4 ) NOTE: Click on the property enslaved, and in March, one of the family. The 1986 trial lasted three months, made national news, featured the celebrated Texas defense attorney Richard "Racehorse" Haynes and resulted in the conviction of ranchers Walter Wesley Ellebracht, 55, Walter Ellebracht Jr., 33, and ranch foreman Carlton Robert Caldwell, 21, on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping but acquitted of murder in the death of Anthony Bates, an Alabama man who worked on the ranch in 1984. In 1987, the year after his father, grandfather and the ranch foreman, Carlton Robert Caldwell, were convicted and sentenced, Ellebracht III met Bob Walls, who would become his best friend. Naturally, the whole family was devastated. 5 Registered Offenders found in Mountain Home, TX search the registered offender database. We used old inner tubes, cedar and gasoline, Caldwell said. According to local Fox affiliate KDFW, 15 detectives worked the decades-old case before and after it went cold. Ashley Hendricks, 35, of Fayetteville, was was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in a Baxter County death investigation. There are several day-hunting services in the aera. One had escaped and alerted the authorities, triggering the raid. Group says they have a strong suspect as the infamous killer. He wasn't even 10 years old.. Stradfords body was found in a burned-out vehicle just off Old Arkana Road on Dec. 16 last year. He couldn't help what his father and grandfather did, but he was never anything like that. Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Erica Hernandez, Digital Journalist/Courthouse Reporter. 8 beds 9 baths 6,900 sqft. 5-23-1986. 259 BROKEN SPUR DRIVE , TX 78058. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. The officers were responding to reports that workers on the ranch, kidnapped from Interstate 10,[1] were being forced to work and that at least one worker had died and was cremated on the premises. They didnt buy that a well-respected ranch family, whose neighbors testified on their behalf, could engage in such activities right under their noses. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Despite the fact that the Ellebracht family was known to go barefoot even when in town, according to My San Antonio News, they were sophisticated enough to know they were fighting for their lives, and put their ranch up as collateral. The officers were responding to reports that workers on the ranch, kidnapped from Interstate 10,[1] were being forced to work and that at least one worker had died and was cremated on the premises. Mrs. Dowdy rushed to the hillside and found her childrenpierced by arrows, mutilated by tomahawks, and shot. The raid on the ranch revealed charred human bone fragments around the property and audiotapes of the torture sessions conducted by the Ellebracht family. In addition to murder charges, the 42-year-old Cunningham of rural Mountain Home is accused of arson, as is Lindsey. See pricing and listing details of Mountain Home real estate for sale. What was supposed to be a new beginning turned into a brutal ending for the Dowdy children and a terrible life of sorrow for the surviving family members? At least one man was presumed dead. day! 27 de fevereiro de 2023 | shooting in statesboro, ga 2020. Mountain Home, Idaho, May 25, 2022 - At 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 3, 2022, representatives from Ginn Group and the City of Mountain Home will celebrate the groundbreaking of the Turner House Depot planned community at the corner of NW Marathon Way and Elmcrest Street. The Texas Slave Ranch is the name popularly given to a ranch near Mountain Home, Texas where workers who had been abducted were forced to work without pay making cedar key chains that sold throughout the Texas Hill Country.The ranch was raided in 1984 and the operation shut down. William Lesley Rushing. Ironically, Cunningham was the victim of crime herself while sitting in the Texas jail awaiting extradition to Baxter County. The area hosts a summer camp, the Hill Country Cowboy Camp Meeting, for young christians looking to strengthen their faith, share their love of God, and renew friendships. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. The state of Texas obtained rights to it in 1925 and funneled the water through concrete canals to what's now the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife's Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center. I wasn't a BeyHive member. The two men did the killing. Bates was shocked by the cattle prod sometimes more than 30 times in a torture session, including shocks administered to his genitals and tongue. BARREL DESIGNS: 210-414-6959; Mountain Home, TX 78058. barreldesigns.com BEEF JERKY WORLD: See The Divide GARVEN STORE: See The Divide HILL COUNTRY PUMP: 830-866-3390; Mountain Home, TX 78058. Crime rate in Mountain Home, AR The 2019 crime rate in Mountain Home, AR is 316 (City-Data.com crime index), which is comparable to the U.S. average. document.write(theYear) (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: The city of Mountain Home, Texas does not have FBI Crime Statistics. By then, much of the Texas Slave Ranch had been sold in pieces to fund the Ellebrachts' defense. This means that your chances of becoming a victim of . Everybody says I'm a strong person for what I've been through. Christine Marie Paolilla (born March 31, 1986) is a convicted American mass murderer who is serving a life sentence for fatally shooting four people, including two of her friends, in their Clear Lake City, Texas, home on July 18, 2003.The killings, which came to be known as the Clear Lake Murders, made national headlines.. Paolilla, who was 17 years old at the time of the murders, was . No Kindle device required the torture sessions conducted by the state of Texas in 1999 your! 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