Buried Memories (23 page)

The first thing he wanted to know was about Rose’s connection with Ray Bone.

“You had him in jail last week, didn’t you?” Andrews asked.

“Yes, for unlawfully carrying a weapon.”

“You knew at the time he was on parole for murder.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How come you let him out?”

“All the case I had said that he was unlawfully carrying a weapon.”

“Well, someone talked to Ray Bone a few minutes before they arrested Betty.”

“That’s correct. I told him to call me.”

“And did Ray Bone tell you what highway they were coming in on?”

“He sure did.”

“How come he done that?” E. Ray said, slipping into the vernacular that made him a favorite with many rural Texas juries. Some court reporters quoted him verbatim, while others tried to clean up his grammar for the official transcript.

E. Ray tried to establish that Betty knew of Bone’s calls, and that she understood police would be waiting for her on the highway, and regardless of having that information, she still didn’t run.

Rose retorted, “I don’t know what her destination would have been if she hadn’t been caught and arrested in Mansfield.”

Unable to dispute that, E. Ray asked his trademark question that he used on everyone who wasn’t an eyewitness. “You’re not telling me that you saw this woman kill anyone?”

“Absolutely not.”

Andrews let that response hang in the room as he excused Deputy Rose.

After hearing more witnesses, Andrews called Betty Beets and established that she was being held on a one-million-dollar bond. He said, “Before you was incarcerated in the Mansfield County Jail, where was you working at?”

Betty said, “The Cedar Club in Seven Points.” She testified that she worked as a barmaid, making only $150 to $200 a week, depending on tips, so she had no way to pay the bond. She also stated she had no relatives who could help.

“Is it your intention to enter a plea of not guilty?” E. Ray asked.

“I am not guilty. I haven’t killed anyone.”

“Did you know they were planning to pick you up for murder?”

“Yes, sir. As soon as Ray got to me, he told me.”

“You didn’t run, did you?”

“No, sir,” she said calmly.

“How come?”

“I had nothing to run from. I heard Ray tell Deputy Rose what highway we’d be on, and that we’d be in the red-and-white Silverado pickup.”

Bill Bandy now had his opportunity to delve into her past.

“You say you haven’t killed anyone, but have you shot anyone?”

Betty remained silent as Bandy held up a document for her to see. He said, “I have a copy of a 1972 indictment against you for intent to commit murder against Billy York Lane.”

“That charge was dropped to a misdemeanor.”

“Now we learn that Jimmy Don Beets had a considerable amount of insurance and you are the beneficiary,” Bandy said.

“I didn’t know a thing about any insurance until his family told me I was the beneficiary.”

“You got yourself appointed as administratrix of his estate.” Bandy showed her the “Proof of Death” document that she had also requested. “Is this your signature?”

Unable to deny her signature, Betty said, “Many papers were put in front of me that I signed without reading. I had no idea what they were.”

Bandy continued questioning her about the insurance, attempting to assert before Judge Holland that Jimmy Don’s insurance provided Betty’s motive for killing her husband. Then he shifted to the evidence.

“Assuming that the bodies of your two former husbands were found at your address, do you have any idea how they could have been buried out there having died two years apart?”

“No, I do not. I did not kill anyone. I was living there, but I’m not home all the time.”

“Isn’t it true that you were out planting flowers and vines in the wishing well right afterwards?”

“No.”

“But the neighbors saw you.”

“Then they’re mistaken. I planted them prior to August 6, 1983. I set them out every year.”

Betty testified that she didn’t know where either body had been found, and was surprised to know that Jimmy Don had been in the wishing well, and just as surprised that Wayne Barker was under the shed.

At the conclusion of the testimony, Bandy maintained that Mrs. Beets was not only guilty of murder, but in the case of Jimmy Don Beets, she had committed capital murder by maliciously killing him when she was the beneficiary of his insurance. He asked the court to deny her bond.

E. Ray Andrews insisted, “This just don’t all fit because this woman never ran off, even when she knew she was being sought for serious charges. She could have hooked ’em. So it’s a miscarriage of justice to keep her in jail.” He asked that she be granted a reasonable bond.

Judge Jack Holland listened patiently to both sides, then said, “The court, after hearing the evidence, finds that the proof is evident, and bond will be denied.”

Rick Rose and Michael O’Brien talked numerous times every day, sorting out information and strategizing how to learn more facts. Not being able to talk with Shirley Thompson Stegner became a major frustration.

“The poor kid doesn’t know what’s best for her,” O’Brien said. “As long as E. Ray’s her lawyer, he can shut her up so she can’t testify against her mother. It’s a clear conflict of interest to even pretend he’s representing Shirley.”

“But Shirley’s got to ask for another lawyer,” Rose said. “We can’t do that for her. Maybe we can convince one of her sisters to paint a clearer picture for her. She’s got to know that her mother will take her right down with her as long as E. Ray remains her attorney.”

Jamie Beets had seen how manipulative Betty could be, so the young man had realistic concerns that she could somehow get his father’s insurance to use for her lawyer’s fees. He went to his attorney, telling him that he worried about his father’s life insurance because it still held Betty’s name as the beneficiary. In order to protect Jamie’s interests, his attorney drew up a constructive trust on the insurance, placing it out of Betty’s hands until after the trial. Unless the court found Betty innocent, Jamie would be the sole heir.

E. Ray Andrews sat in his favorite bar in Seven Points, sipping his second drink, a double shot of Wild Turkey.

“Hey, E. Ray, you gonna get our girl off?” Another customer at a nearby table called to him.

“You can put money on it,” he said. Then laughing, he raised his glass and toasted the man. “I’ve got a real big surprise for y’all. Just be there at the trial and you’ll see.”

A large E. Ray following in Athens believed if he said his client was innocent, then his client was innocent. E. Ray’s admirers always packed his trials. He was ceaselessly cordial to the ladies, and even people who questioned his ethics, liked him.

One time, police arrested him for public intoxication, and the state bar temporarily revoked his license. He was sent to an “al-kee-hall” center, as he called it, to dry out. Soon after his return, he’d started tippling again.

As a kid, E. Ray was easily the smartest person in his class, but became known as a rebel even then. The nickname “Thin man” fit him perfectly because he only weighed 130 pounds at six-foot-two, although he had added another 30 since. Many friends back then were surprised he had survived adolescence, let alone that he had reached middle age.

Rick Rose thumbed through reports he received on the polygraph results. He noted Betty Beets had refused to take the test. Gerald Albright, who confided to the informant and broke the case wide open, had done well. He had answered all questions truthfully, according to the machine, even the one asking, “Do you believe Betty Beets killed Jimmy Don?” Gerald had answered with an emphatic, “Yes.”

Raymond Bone had trouble with honesty, which came as no surprise. According to the polygraph, when he drove his friend’s car containing the shotgun, he knew the gun was there. But he truthfully said that Betty never told him she had anything to do with Jimmy Don’s death, nor did he have any information that would solve the case.

Robby Branson eagerly took the lie detector test that revealed he had not shot Jimmy Don, nor was he present during the shooting. He again honestly told the investigators that he had helped his mother place Jimmy Don in the wishing well.

Two weeks after Betty Beets’s arrest, E. Ray Andrews wanted to know exactly how much evidence the State held against his client. He filed an examining trial in the court of Judge Venita Lucas, a magistrate from another precinct. The hearing would in no way benefit the State, for it was a hunting expedition for the defense.

At the opening of the proceedings, the first person Andrews wanted to interrogate was Michael O’Brien.

“At that time you talked to Betty in the jail, did you say you knew everything and you were going down to her yard and dig up bodies, bones, whatever?”

“No, I didn’t tell her that.”

“Did she tell you she wouldn’t stop you because you wouldn’t find anything?”

“No, she didn’t say that.”

“Are you positive?”

“Well, she didn’t say it in that way. I told her we had a search warrant to look for a body, and while we were there, we’d look for a second body. But I didn’t threaten her with a search warrant.”

“Well, you was the one who told her you had a warrant the judge had signed.”

“That’s correct.”

“Betty Beets didn’t tell you she killed anyone, did she?”

“No, she didn’t. She didn’t admit to any wrongdoing.”

“What killed Jimmy Don Beets?” Andrews asked.

“Gunshot wounds.”

“That’s what you’ve been told. You don’t know that for a fact.”

“I have a death report from the Southwest Institute in Dallas.”

Skirting around any presentation of factual evidence in the case, Andrews said, “Those forensic reports don’t tell you when these people were killed, when they were buried, or who buried them. Other than what you speculate and what someone’s told you, you don’t know anything about these alleged murders?”

O’Brien shrugged. “I have no personal knowledge, no, sir.”

He was excused and Bill Bandy brought in another witness for the prosecution, Phyllis Coleman. Bandy had Phyllis reiterate what Shirley had told her about the killings.

After walking her through all the information, Bandy asked, “Did that shock you?”

“Yes, sir. I didn’t believe it.”

Bandy passed the witness to Andrews.

Andrews asked, “Do you believe today that your mother killed Mr. Barker?”

“No.” Phyllis crossed her legs and shifted uneasily in her chair.

“Didn’t I ask you to come here voluntarily?”

“Yes. I asked for an attorney, but the investigators said I didn’t need one.” Her hands were clutched tightly in her lap until her knuckles turned white. “They said I would be charged with murder if I didn’t sign a statement that Rose wrote out. I told them that my sister Shirley was drunk when she told me all this.”

“I don’t mean to embarrass you, sweetheart,” E. Ray said in a fatherly tone, “but you’ve had some problems with drugs.”

“When I talked with Rose I was high on drugs. I couldn’t have written a statement. I was too confused and too upset about it. It’s hard for me to sit here right now, but I’m not under the influence.” Tears welled, then rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t know if I’ll ever stop using drugs.”

“So when you gave the statement, you were under the influence of drugs?”

“Yes, methamphetamine. Shooting it in my arm.”

“You didn’t see your sister or your mother kill anyone, did you?”

“No, sir. My mother never told me she ever killed anyone.”

“So the statement you gave wasn’t true?”

“Yes, I was very high. Very upset and crying. I couldn’t walk into my apartment. I didn’t know half of what I was saying. Rick Rose and everyone told me I’d get a conspiracy of murder if I didn’t sign the papers. I told them I didn’t know that Mama done any of this. It was all hearsay.” She buried her face in a Kleenex.

“Did Rose go easy with you, sweetheart?”

Phyllis raised her face to his. “No. When Rick Rose phoned me, he said, ”I know you were there. I know you saw everything.’ But I didn’t. I love my mother and I don’t believe she did this.”

Once he had finished with Phyllis, leaving her sobbing and physically drained, he called Faye Lane to the stand.

Faye appeared to have come from a different planet than some of the others testifying. She wore a conservative, printed cotton dress, and had no tattoos or dangling earrings. She testified that no one had told her of the murders, nor did she know of her siblings’ involvement. She knew none of the facts until the police dug up bodies in her mother’s yard.

However, at the grand jury hearing, Faye would flip-flop and say, “I knew that Shirley helped bury Wayne’s body. Shirley told Phyllis exactly where the bodies were. That’s why I’m having a hard time thinking. I love my mother and I love my sister Shirley. I just can’t believe they’d do that. And I don’t believe anything Phyllis tells me. She runs off her head so much, I just told her to go and leave me alone.”

A grand juror asked, “Can you mention any of your mother’s husbands that you liked?”