Grand jurors decline to indict Mayhew in '98 slaying of father

Five months after a Dallas civil court jury held Charles "Chuck" Mayhew Jr. liable in the slaying of his millionaire father in 1998, a Dallas County grand jury declined Friday to indict him.

Mr. Mayhew, who had been jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail since July, left the Lew Sterrett Justice Center expressing bitterness over his incarceration but elation at the grand jury's decision.

"I'm clear," the 50-year-old investor said. "They've never had evidence. I feel vindicated. I have been wrongly accused for five years."

His defense attorney, Peter Lesser, accused the Dallas County Sheriff's Department of an incompetent investigation into the death of former Sunnyvale Mayor Charles "Charlie" Mayhew Sr. He said the department ignored evidence that the fingerprints of the victim's grandson were found on the suspected murder weapon.

"There was a shocking absence of eyewitnesses, confession and physical evidence," Mr. Lesser said. "Usually, you have some of it. They had none of it."

Sgt. Don Peritz, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, said investigators were surprised by the grand jury's action. He defended the thoroughness of the investigation into the death of Mr. Mayhew.

"The guys worked very hard on this," Sgt. Peritz said. "We've done everything we can at this point, and until we obtain new information, we're going to suspend the case."

Under state law, one grand jury's decision not to indict does not prohibit a case from being presented to a subsequent grand jury.

First Assistant District Attorney Mike Carnes, whose office presented the Mayhew case to the grand jury, would not comment.

Steve Sumner, an attorney for Mr. Mayhew's sister, Amanda Dealey, said he hoped that the grand jury's decision would prompt people who might have additional information about the case to come forward.

Ms. Dealey, who was active in civic affairs in Dallas and now lives in Austin, said she, too, was shocked that her brother had not been indicted. Ms. Dealey filed the lawsuit that led a civil court jury in April to order Mr. Mayhew to pay $26 million for causing his father's death.

Ms. Dealey filed her lawsuit in 2000 after she became frustrated that her brother had not been charged in the murder of their father, who was found shot to death in bed inside his rural Sunnyvale home.

The elder Mr. Mayhew was a wealthy landholder and investor. At the time of his death, Mr. Mayhew was 81 and had been embroiled in a decade-long dispute with the town over a proposed residential development in which his son was a partner.

Evidence produced during the three-week civil trial showed that the son had a love-hate relationship with his father and had frequently threatened to kill the older man over business matters.

In the months leading up to his death, the elder Mr. Mayhew appeared to be reducing his son's portion of his multimillion-dollar estate, shifting more power over his financial affairs to his daughter, Ms. Dealey.

Mr. Mayhew has consistently professed his innocence of any involvement in his father's killing and accused his sister of suing him and trying to have him prosecuted for her own financial gain.

Mr. Mayhew has claimed that his father's death left him virtually broke. He lives in a trailer park on a lake near Longview.

Sheriff's detectives testified during the civil trial that they focused their investigation on Mr. Mayhew because of his relationship with his father and questions about his whereabouts on the night of the murder.

There was no physical evidence to connect Mr. Mayhew to the crime, but Ms. Dealey's attorneys found a neighbor to testify that he saw Mr. Mayhew driving away from his father's home about the time of his death.

One of the other pieces of evidence found by Ms. Dealey's attorneys was a series of recorded phone conversations from 1995 on which Chuck Mayhew could be heard threatening to kill his father.

The Sheriff's Department cited the new evidence presented on the tapes when it arrested Mr. Mayhew in July.

Mr. Lesser, the attorney appointed to defend Mr. Mayhew, said the Sheriff's Department did not learn until after it arrested his client that the only fingerprints found on the 12-gauge shotgun believed to be the murder weapon belonged to Chris Dealey, the son of Ms. Dealey.

Mr. Lesser called the fingerprint evidence an important sign that another man with an equal financial motive committed the murder.

Mr. Dealey, he said, had denied handling the shotgun and would have benefited greatly from the recent changes in his grandfather's will.

"One could say he had a good financial motive, and you don't inherit money from someone until they are dead," Mr. Lesser said.

The attorney said he laid out his accusations about the fingerprint in a letter he sent to the grand jury. He said he also sent transcripts of testimony about the fingerprints from two recent bond reduction hearings.

He hinted that Mr. Mayhew may file a lawsuit over his arrest and incarceration but declined to say who might be the target.

Ms. Dealey, who was previously married to Joe Dealey Jr., son of a former publisher of The Dallas Morning News, said it was ridiculous to suggest that her son could have had any role in his grandfather's slaying.

Her attorney, Mr. Sumner, described Mr. Lesser's attempt to shift suspicions toward Chris Dealey as "a rabbit trail" that would have backfired if the case had gone to a criminal trial.

"It's a disappointing day for our side," Mr. Sumner said. "And it's a disappointing day, in my opinion, for the criminal justice system."

Mr. Mayhew has claimed that his father's death left him virtually broke. He lives in a trailer park on a lake near Longview.

Well, it's back to the double-wide for Mr. Mayhew, I guess!

1 posted on 09/21/2002 3:56:18 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP

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