Sometime after the raid, a member of the Dowdy family was taken to jail. In the summer of 1976, the lavish Fort Worth mansion that oil tycoon Cullen Davis and his second wife, Priscilla, once shared . 20888 Texas 41 , Mountain Home, TX, 78058, Real County. mountain home, texas murders. Offers may be subject to change without notice. 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. That compares to a 1 in 148.8 chance statewide. It was higher than in 86.1% U.S. cities. Anna . Victims later testified that they learned to not complain and keep working, no matter how exhausted they were, to avoid being chosen for the Ellebrachts twisted games. The oldest brother, Richard,was at home witha friend, who was engaged to one of the girls, to eat an early lunch. . After that first brush with the law, he had other criminal charges brought against him in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and last year. If you reside in Mountain Home, then there is a 1 in 394 chance that you will experience a violent crime. -Cody Dennis has put in an appearance for Lindsey. The Ellebrachts, descendants of Germans who settled the Hill Country in the 1880s, had inherited land with a robust spring. True stories from Mountain Home lay out the chilling details. Loraine Haynie, 86, checks on her husband, Jim Haynie, in his home office in Mountain Home. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Home >> Homicides - 2007 January 1 - December 29, 2007 (86 Murders) Date of Murder: January 2, 2007 Victim Name: Connie Whitson, 46 . Group says they have a strong suspect as the infamous killer. Ellebracht Sr. received probation, his son Walter stayed free during a 15-year sentence due to appeals and Caldwell only served less than three years of his 14-year sentence. To try to desensitize the seven women and five men on the jury, Haynes played the torture tapes often and asked Cogdell to shock himself with a battery-operated cattle prod like the one the Ellebrachts used. Pines the night of the murders and both claimed . Dennis Dunleavy / San Antonio Express-News, Back-row Left to right, man with hat -no id-, Walter Wesley Ellebracht,Jr., Walter Wesley Ellebracht III,and Joyce Hall Ellebracht. 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. In addition to the cattle prod, they found various guns, machetes, and axe, knives, chains and padlocks. The feds pulled a mountain of incriminating evidence from the Ellebracht ranch, including the audiotapes, witnesses, human remains and various weapons. One of the slave ranch victims, Mark Allen Hamilton, claimed in a court deposition that even some of the victims participated in the tortureof fellow prisoners. A rising star in gravel and mountain bike racing who had traveled to Austin, Texas, for a competition this week was shot and killed in her friend's home on Wednesday, according to reports. Is Mountain Home, TX Safe? Gary Wayne Mitchell. This unfortunate event is known as the Dowdy Family Massacre. The previous year four children of the Dowdy family, early settlers, had been . day! She is accused of being in simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, a Class Y felony. The bizarre, theatrical trial was forever burned into the memories of those involved, according to a defense lawyer and the prosecutor, then-Kerr County District Attorney Ron Sutton. Ellebracht and a few others went to trial in 1986and were ultimately convicted oncharges of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping. The oldest brother, Richard, was at home . The land isnt suitable because topsoil is shallow, as the area is laced with karst and rock just under the surface. Its not known just how many victims were part of the Texas slave ranch. 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 32 years old, he found himself accepting a job in the Texas hill country, not far from the town of Kerrville. I knew what I was doing; I had options. When he started to walk away the next morning, he was accosted with ranch hands carrying rifles. Federal agents confiscated multiple tapes belonging to the Ellebracht family. Join the discussion on our new social platform Texjas.com! According to the New York Times, Boyd was informed theyd be digging their own graves that day. Victims reported they werent allowed to leave, and violence was a normal course of everyday life. My son was a very caring person, and he did whatever he could to help anyone in need, said his mother, Joyce Esensee, 59, who was among those initially indicted for the crimes at the ranch. He was determined to send his daughter to college. The 2019 Mountain Home crime rate fell by 3% compared to 2018. 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. Front row L-R , Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr. Leona Ellebracht(mother of senior) Richard "Race Horse" Haynes. A rescue . The four people charged with killing Stradford are among 11 people waiting to go on trial for murder or manslaughter in Baxter County. Its rattlesnake season in Texas. 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. . Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, was killed in an automobile accident earlier this month on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. Mountain Home police responded to a shooting at the 600 block of Cooper Estates Drive, on November 24, 2020, according to a court document. The state of Texas now owns the sprawling former ranch that once enslaved unwitting laborers. These types of crime include burglary, petty theft, and theft of motor vehicles. But this ranch wasnt any old-timey operation, and the drifters werent a handful of depression-era hobos. Marshals are helping the police look for a woman who has been identified as a suspect in the death of Anna Moriah Wilson, 25. Officers responded about 1 a.m. to the 1500 block of Pine Bluff Drive after a family . Today, Eura isknown as Mountain Home. I totally thought we were screwed. 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. Naturally, the whole family was devastated. Are among 11 people waiting to go on trial for murder or in Tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required looking to grow spiritually your last Meal death Idaho ; Mogen, 21, of Fayetteville, was was charged with killing Stradford are among people. They tortured a bunch of people, and it was unbelievable that stuff like that could happen, Sutton said. Nichlous Cole Williams, 19, was booked into the Upshur . Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Slave Ranch Trial-Kerr County courthouse, witness Dennis "Pete" Johnson . 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. The state of Texas now owns the sprawling former ranch that once enslaved unwitting laborers. Eric Monroe Hooker. Walter Wesley Ellebracht III watched as his family was arrested and two years later heard the evidence against his father and grandfather horrifying torture tapes of an abducted drifter pleading for his life while being zapped with a cattle prod. She has degrees in journalism and criminology. City of Mountain Home Police Department 2775 East 8th North St. Mountain Home, ID 83647 208-587-2101 208-587-0180 Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm. Ranch, West Kerr Ranch, and D&D Ranch & Wildlife Services. This is a carousel. He hitchhiked to San Antonio and found work at a restaurant, where he saw the raid on TV. (Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved. The Wesley Ellebracht Memorial Fund has been set up at Security State Bank in Fredericksburg to help an 18-year-old daughter who'd been living with him attend college. Something just doesnt add up, and there have been many debates about whether it was truly an Indian raid or if the murders were committed by a group of Mexican bandits or heartless American outlaws. Erica has covered a wide array of stories all over Central and South Texas. Mountain Home (zip 78058) property crime is 31.1. 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. Wesley Sr. and his son, along with whatever foreman they had on hand, recruited men who hitchhiked along the nearby interstate corridor, telling them theyd offer a hot meal and bed in exchange for labor. Boyd last remembered a knife held to his throat before he lost consciousness. Updated: 11:39 AM CST January 10, 2022. Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, the son of Jr and Joyce, was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. He wasn't even 10 years old.. Updated. The closest similar sized city with FBI crime data is the city of , . Roslyn Jimenez is a news producer at KSAT. By then, much of the Texas Slave Ranch had been sold in pieces to fund the Ellebrachts' defense. 1196 THRILL HILL , TX 78058 Key chains hand made by alleged slaves of the Ellebracht Ranch hang in a frame on a wall in Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. 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. 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. He also appeared in circuit court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him. The decision to change his name in hopes of distancing himself from the ranch didn't last long, Walls said. Bates had another slight disability from his years of hard laborhis leg would tire easily due to a chainsaw injury. Almost decapitated Dowdy children were brutally murdered per 1,000 residents during a standard.. Of crime include burglary, petty theft, and D & D ranch Wildlife! The US Marshals Service is conducting a fugitive . And the victims were unsavory types whose testimony was suspect. Police got a call about shots fired shortly before 10 p.m. on January 5. Boyd stayed the night, but decided to leave the next day. SAN ANTONIO - Kidnapping, torture and murder are some of the horrifying. More than a dozen cassette tapes with about 40 hours of recorded torture sessions were seized during the raid, along with guns, machetes, an ax, knives, ropes chains, padlocks, bone fragments, the cattle prod and business papers. Shortly thereafter, Wes Ellebracht let Caldwell go, taking him to a nearby truck stop and giving him $20. Key chains hand made by alleged slaves of the Ellebracht Ranch hang in a frame on a wall in Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. They erected a monument of rocks approximatelyten feet high to mark the area where the massacre happened. The home had apparently been entered Dec. 23 last year and then again on Christmas Day. I don't think even (Ellebracht) Jr. knew how much abuse he was going through, Caldwell said. Texas Hill Country. He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. now = new Date He couldn't help what his father and grandfather did, but he was never anything like that. Joe Smith, who oversees Sunset Cemetery in Mountain Home, TX, stands near a landscaped section of the cemetery, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, where a stream runs through which is fed by a spring on what was the Ellebracht Ranch. Mrs. Dowdy rushed to the hillside and found her childrenpierced by arrows, mutilated by tomahawks, and shot. Everybody says I'm a strong person for what I've been through. The jurors compiled their favorite recipes, called it the Slave Ranch Cookbook, had it printed at the Kerr County Courthouse and sold copies. Mountain Home, Texas, is nearly as isolated today as it was in 1984. One day investigators got a tip that hitchhikers were being abducted on I-10 and lured to Ellebrachts ranch. These Texas Slave Ranch facts illustrate a sordid chapter in the South's history. I-10. The state had copious evidence incriminating Wes, Junior, and the ranch foreman, Carl. Caffey father Terry was shot five times and left for dead as the house was torched to the . Please try again. October 11, 2021. Belonging to the Ellebracht ranch several years as a staff reporter covering Public Safety and later government the Kidnapped, enslaved, and we welcome you to our family held against their will when officers with the Slave For murder or manslaughter in Baxter County death investigation.. Roslyn is family-oriented and spending. It was some of the worst evidence I've ever seen, said attorney Dan Cogdell, 56, of Houston, who worked with the infamous Richard Racehorse Haynes to defend Ellebracht Sr. I totally thought we were screwed. Follow her @TaylorPettaway. ). Heres what you need to know. 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