More information about Carmen Melinda Croan came in after I posted her story as Case of the Month for July. A reader emailed me copies of old newspaper articles found on a library fiche. The following is based on those newspaper articles. Most came from the Odessa American, a Freedom Newspaper. Suspected, indicted, and charged […]
Texas
Carmen Melinda Croan (Jan 16, 1963 – Aug 23, 1981)
Carmen Melinda Croan (Jan 16, 1963 – Aug 23, 1981) was murdered when she was just 18 years old. She doesn’t have a good web presence. The only information on the Odessa Crime Stoppers page is as follows: “It has been over 20 years since the brutal slaying of Carmen Croan. Her body was found on […]
Update Patty Vaughan
Patty Vaughan is missing since Christmas Eve 1996 but presumed dead. Now police are digging in Adkins, Wilson County, TX. Unfortunately nothing was found. From San Antonio News: “This is the one place Patty Vaughan‘s family says was never fully searched since she disappeared, her home. The Texas Rangers are in charge of the dig but we […]
Murder charges re Trey Noah dismissed
Murder charges re Trey Noah dismissed for Harber and Moore. From the Blanco County News: “Murder charges against Shelby Moore and Brandon Harber, who were arrested in April 2010 in the November 2009 death of Trey Noah, have been dismissed by Gillespie County District Attorney Bruce Curry. The dismissal occurred Monday, March 3, after an […]
#crimechat: Richard Lee Waggoner
The first #crimechat of 2013 is dedicated to a cold case with zero media attention: the shooting death of Richard Lee Waggoner. Imagine losing a family member to a murder that never got solved. Nobody to stand trial, nobody convicted for this crime. Nobody who can bring you any news. And then the silence … […]
Key evidence lost in Hank Skinner case
Key evidence is lost in the case of Hank Skinner so despite the fact that the state of Texas now backs further DNA testing, we still will not get all the answers we need. There are pictures of the jackets (see here) but the big blood- and sweat-stained tan jacket with snap buttons down the front found near […]
Los Tocayos Carlos
Los Tocayos Carlos … the namesake Carlos … The Guardian has an excellent article about a Texas capital punishment case involving a wrongful conviction, switched identities, an unsolved murder, evidence not tested for DNA, sloppy police procedures and an execution. “Carlos DeLuna was arrested, aged 20, on 4 February 1983 for the brutal murder of […]
Slow Movement Trey Noah Murder Trial
There is no way of knowing when the murder of Trey Noah will finally go to court. Brandon Harber and Shelby Moore were charged with Trey’s murder and will eventually be tried in Gillespie County, TX. However, “an initial confession from Moore was tossed out in a pre-trial hearing. The DA is appealing that decision. That […]
Update Murder Trial for Trey Noah
There isn’t going to be any movement in the murder trial for Trey Noah any time soon. Shelby Moore and Brandon Harber are charged with first-degree felony murder as well as tampering with physical evidence, a second-degree felony. They were both arrested in June 2010 and are now released on bond. From the Blanco News: […]
Execution date set for Skinner
According to the website of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Henry Skinner is set to be executed Nov. 9, 2011. In March of this year, the justices ruled that Skinner had the right to sue a Texas district attorney under a federal civil rights law for refusing to allow him access to evidence for […]