Great article, BraveMan! Thanks for posting it.
Moira, I hope this helps you to come to the conclusion that this was one lone man crying out in the wilderness.
I also knew Jim Mattox. I believe the “powers” made sure he lost the governor’s race to Ann Richards because of the Lucas hoax. He was a lot like Vic. He was a bull dog who wouldn’t back down and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. And he hated Ann Richards. When Ronnie Earl indicted Kay Bailey Hutchison Jim told me “That’s always Ann Richards’ first campaign volley. Have Ronnie Earl indict someone.” Earl dropped the charges about five minutes before the trial was to start.
So, it’s not just Waco. It’s the Texas State law enforcement agencies and the courts that are corrupt. Colonel Adams, the head of the state police who went after Vic should have been prosecuted and sent to jail. Instead he was given his golden retirement.
By the way, David Spence was executed for killing the three teens at Lake Waco. Feazell nailed him and the muslim who paid Spence to do it. He also nailed the two Hispanic friends who helped Spence. All with the help of Simons.
Simons got a call from a psychic in Hillsboro who told him in a dream saw two Hispanic boys at the murder scene and one of them was wearing combat boots with his pants legs over the top and an army shirt. Simons had been questioning these two brothers so he decided to go for it. He said a witness had seen them and told what one of them was wearing. One brother looked at the other and said “I knew someone saw us.” They turned witness against Spence.
I knew a pretty tough guy who went to school with Spence. He said he was always afraid of him. And all the blacks in the county jail were afraid of him. They said he was evil.
Later he found God and told Simons that God was going to set him free. Simons pointed out that God might set him free in the afterlife but he wasn’t getting out of that county jail.
I’ve lost touch with Deanna Fitzgerald over the years. I wish I knew how to get in touch with her.
I have to tell you, the Henry Lee Lucas thing (back in the day) was upsetting and disturbing from a Mid-West housewife (I only followed MSM coverage back then) perspective.
This guy was portrayed as worse than Manson, worse than Dahmer. They were portraying him as the biggest mass murderer in US history. So many murders and disappearances were suddenly solved/resolved by this guy’s confessions.
Personally always thought the Rangers were above malfeasance - how disappointing to hear they were all too eager to clear cases without thorough investigations.