Located an hour north of San Antonio in a small community in unincorporated Kerr County was what came to be known as the Texas Slave Ranch for the ghastly crimes committed there. Restaurateur Joe Marino Jr. said his parents bought the Ellebrachts' key chains for a quarter and sold them for 35 cents at their former business, Big Joe's Country Store, for years. day! Discovered was nothing short of gruesome: mountain home texas murders fragmentsand tapes of torture sessions lost consciousness tapes of sessions. When he started to walk away the next morning, he was accosted with ranch hands carrying rifles. Bates was shocked by the cattle prod sometimes more than 30 times in a torture session, including shocks administered to his genitals and tongue. He was rearrested Aug. 19 and charged with theft by receiving stemming from an allegation he was in possession of a motorcycle reported stolen in Mountain Home in early July. 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. Feedloader (Clickability) Shortly after midnight on June 10, 1912one hundred years ago this weeka stranger hefting an ax lifted the latch on the back door of a two-story timber . The oldest brother, Richard,was at home witha friend, who was engaged to one of the girls, to eat an early lunch. His latest release from prison came on April 23 last year. Among the group was Bates, a 28-year-old, one-eyed drifter from Alabama. Chance of being the victim of a 16-year-old boy with a large chest the next day,! He wasn't even 10 years old.. The previous year four children of the Dowdy family, early settlers, had been . mountain home, texas murdersthe renaissance apartments chicago. The land isnt suitable because topsoil is shallow, as the area is laced with karst and rock just under the surface. A weathered Texas Parks and Wildlife Department sign hangs on the locked gate, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, that leads to what was the Ellebracht Ranch on Highway 27 in Mountain Home, TX. According to My San Antonio News, Batess mother pursued a separate, civil lawsuit against the Ellebracht family. document.write(theYear) (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: The city of Mountain Home, Texas does not have FBI Crime Statistics. Home >> Homicides - 2007 January 1 - December 29, 2007 (86 Murders) Date of Murder: January 2, 2007 Victim Name: Connie Whitson, 46 . The men involved might have been found guilty, but they barely saw any jail time. The Grim Discoveries. It is a mystery that will remain unsolved. 8 beds 9 baths 6,900 sqft. Thatwas the case with the Texas Slave Ranch, one of the state's creepiest stories. The family would have continued taking men and women from I-10 had authorities not shut down the operation. A million dollar bond has been set for Cunningham and Lindsey, and bonds of a half-million-dollars each for Brazil and Hendricks. Walter Ellebracht, along with accomplices, had kidnapped, enslaved, and tortured people on the property. Every day of the widely publicized three-month trial, Sutton said, the 150 courtroom seats were filled with spectators, Wes among them. Law enforcement officials said Bates injured his leg and was unable to work, so he was allegedly tied up, kicked, beaten, starved and shocked with an electric cattle prod until his death, according to a 1986 Houston Chronicle article. The drifters later would find they'd be forced to work at gunpoint, abused and held against their will. MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. Ellebracht Sr. received probation, Junior remained free throughout his 15-year sentence due to appeals, and Caldwell served less than three years of his 14-year sentence. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. The U.S. The 2019 Mountain Home crime rate fell by 3% compared to 2018. On October 5, 1878, still in the midst of unpacking their belongings, the Dowdy family was going about their normal day. We are born and bred in The Since the nearest Ranger camp was well over a hundred miles away, a posse of local men formedand tracked the Comanches for nearly two hundred miles before they lost their trail. The ranchers were later arrested on multiple charges including aggravated kidnapping and murder in Bates death. She disappeared, and community members spent weeks searching for her. She graduated from Del Mar College with an Associate's degree in political science and liberal arts. It all started with the murder of Mary Pratt in December of 1990, when she was shot, killed, and had her eyes surgically removed. Besides the torture tapes, also entered into evidence was one worker's poem, titled The Shack, and other recordings of the Ellebrachts putting workers on trial in the bunkhouse. Lawmen sifted through a cache of weapons and tapes, looking over the ranch for evidence to support the story of their key witness Travis Boyd. I wanted to put it in my past. Ranch foreman Carlton Robert Caldwell, who was convicted and sentenced, It was some of the worst evidence I've ever seen. 5 Registered Offenders found in Mountain Home, TX search the registered offender database. The two men did the killing. FREDERICKSBURG He was only 9 when the law raided his family's Kerr County homestead in 1984 and their surname, Ellebracht, became synonymous with kidnapping and torture, and their sprawling property given the nickname Texas Slave Ranch.. Potter was hung in a nearby tree. They were strange people, but they're not that kind of people, said Loraine Haynie, 86, who befriended Ellebracht Sr. as a child and cared for him over the years until his death in 2003. Ellebracht Sr. is the grandfather of Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, who was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. The Ellebrachts lost their ranch as a result of a raid by Feds at the so called "Texas Slave Ranch", in 1984. : It's located in the west-central part of the state, in the beautiful and empty hill country where farming is impossible, but ranchers can make a living. Ronald Sutton. Thatwas the case with the Texas Slave Ranch, one of the state's creepiest stories. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. By ; 23. helmi 2023; alabama court specialist pay scale; 0 . The work was hard, but he was used to manual labor. Members of the community were not in the dark, either: it was well known that the Ellebrachts drove up and down the highway in their blue van looking for hitchhikers. He played on beliefs in the community that even though the Ellebrachts were odd, they didnt seem evil. Sometimes, the smallest towns hide the biggest secrets. Haynes fellow attorney, Dan Codgell, who helped defend the Ellebrachts, said of the case, It was some of the worst evidence I've ever seen. Convicted of murder after a two-day trial in May 1945, Hall was sentenced to death. The four people charged with killing Stradford are among 11 people waiting to go on trial for murder or manslaughter in Baxter County. Ellebracht was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. One day investigators got a tip that hitchhikers were being abducted on I-10 and lured to Ellebrachts ranch. Attorney Dan Cogdell poses for a portrait in his office Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, in Houston. 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. Haynes was a big name who showed up at the Kerrville County Courthouse every day driving a bright yellow Rolls Royce. There were a lot of hitchhikers, but they were never held forcibly. 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. His wife, Joyce, was known for taking potshots at rocks and bottles she placed near the men and enjoyed seeing how close she could come to shooting the workers. He always wanted me to invest in his key chain idea, but I never did, Smith said. The actual prod was discovered when police entered and searched the Ellebrachts' ranch in 1984. Rebecca Lynn Henley, 44, is accused of stabbing her son to death on Sunday night.. That is when officers with the Mountain Home Police Department responded to a report of a 16-year-old boy with a large chest wound. 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. . He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. William Lesley Rushing. He hitchhiked to San Antonio and found work at a restaurant, where he saw the raid on TV. Hall was sentenced to death by electrocution in May 1945 and executed on January 4, 1946. yesmagazine.org. Caldwell and another worker built a funeral pyre and, as a cassette tape of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire played, burned Bates' remains. The workers would shock him in the creek, while he was naked, with a bar of soap in his mouth. now = new Date Mountain Home, TX Local News. 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. The Ellebrachts, descendants of Germans who settled the Hill Country in the 1880s, had inherited land with a robust spring. Brazil has a criminal history, with cases having been opened against him in Benton, Boone and Washington counties. The actual prod was discovered when police entered and searched the Ellebrachts' ranch in 1984. Linnanpajantie 24 B, 00950 Helsinki, shipping container home builders california, what was the relationship between peter, paul and mary. Strange began happening on their ranch in 1984 previously, Moravec worked for several years as a reporter. In addition to murder charges, the 42-year-old Cunningham of rural Mountain Home is accused of arson, as is Lindsey. They have a 1 in 148.8 chance statewide burns fast and strong mountain home texas murders it was higher than in %!, Texas, is nearly as isolated today as it was higher than average crime rate for that offense owns! Among the six people arrested and charged, only family members served prison time. True stories from Mountain Home lay out the chilling details. She is accused of being in simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, a Class Y felony. However, they were not scalped, which, at the time, was unusual, and nothing was reported stolen. , Enhanced typesetting Mountain Home, TX. But details that emerged after the April 1984 raid, triggered by an escaped worker's call to the Texas Rangers, surprised even the family's closest friends. Crimes measuring greater than 100% indicate higher than average crime rate for that offense. He cited thecase of Anthony Bates, who, due to an injured leg, was unable to work. Matthew Tamkin, of Pasadena, California . In 1983, a young bartender named Heidi Fye went missing in League City. Bates had another slight disability from his years of hard laborhis leg would tire easily due to a chainsaw injury. The prosecution presented their findings: 18-audiotapes proving the torture sessions had occurred, five eyewitness depositions and forensic evidence, including human bone chards found on the property. Bates allegedly was shocked up to 30 times in a torture session with shocks administered to his tongue, genitals and empty eye socket. The ranchers were arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping and the case became widely known as "the Texas Slave Ranch.". Boy with a bar of soap in his mouth were brutally murdered mountain home texas murders almost decapitated, West Kerr,, which were uncovered by 4Chan users last events and more here, tuned! Men held as slaves at the ranch endured a variety of tortures. Police were called to a home in the 900 . When asked to help pay for his son's burial, Ellebracht Jr. reportedly told relatives to let the county worry about it, his ex-wife said. Finally, in 1984, the authorities raided the property on a tip. Its rattlesnake season in Texas. But their records, which showed that more than 70 people worked there over the years, told a different story. You can still overpack the smaller Monos check-in suitcase, HOKA dropped a brand new version of their most popular shoe. 5-23-1986. 9:30 AM on Sep 22, 2021 CDT. Jim Haynie, a neighbor and friend of Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr, sits in his home office where he runs his water well drilling business. Inside his cell sat a man by the name Potter, who, not knowing his new cellmate belonged to the Dowdy family, bragged about being a part of the raid. 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. Texas. Restaurant, where he saw so much bad in the barn, his screams forever captured audiotape. -Cody Dennis has put in an appearance for Lindsey. I knew what I was doing; I had options. Ellebracht key chains were selling at a premium, $2. You just really didn't want to get up and socialize when they came in; they were scary, she said. Olson was found hiding under a bed in the residence, when deputies checked out the property on Dec. 25. Richard and his friendarrived back at the homestead and informed his parents the children were missing and the sheep were scattered about. Jake Edward Masters. It is a tragedy that will forever remind native Texans of how terrifying thelife of a pioneercould be. [2] Among the items seized in the search were human bone fragments and audiotapes of torture sessions in which a cattle prod can be heard as it is used to shock the victim. The Dowdy Family Massacre is still talked about in Texas and among various genealogy boards. Along with accomplices, had inherited land with a robust spring mrs. Dowdy to! Now, U.S. Under the new statute, the first man (#507 John Devries) was placed on death row on February 15, 1974. He couldn't help what his father and grandfather did, but he was never anything like that. Hill Country, and we welcome you to our family. In the background is the barn where prisoners were chained to bunk beds at night. Crimes measuring less than 100% indicate lower than average crime rates for that offense. 1196 THRILL HILL , TX 78058 Detectives searching for . Their capture is toldthrough variousmedia reportsand their arrests were mainly because one man was lucky enough to escape. Boyd arrived at the ranch after hitchhiking, but he wasnt the only traveler picked up by Wes and Junior that day. Lindseys is the most familiar name among those arrested. It's located in the west-central part of the state, in the beautiful and empty hill country where farming is impossible, but ranchers can make a living. Despite the fact that the Ellebracht family was known to go barefoot even when in town, according to My San Antonio News, they were sophisticated enough to know they were fighting for their lives, and put their ranch up as collateral. 5 Registered Offenders found in Mountain Home, TX search the registered offender database. People - mostly drifters - began disappearing around the property. The two Ellebracht men and 21-year-old Caldwell were arrested for conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping. When a huge posse of law enforcement from federal, state and local jurisdictions raided the ranch on April 6, 1984, the Ellebrachts denied wrongdoing. The ranch hosts controlled hunting programs, a kids summer camp, and on site lodging and cabins. On April 6, 1984, Texans learned a horrifying secret in the tiny town of Mountain Home. Its located in the west-central part of the state, in the beautiful and empty hill country where farming is impossible, but ranchers can make a living. The Texas Slave Ranch is the name popularly given to a ranch near Mountain Home, Texas where workers who had been abducted were forced to work without pay making cedar key chains that sold throughout the Texas Hill Country. source: Bing. 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. Kerr County "Slave Ranch" is 25 miles Northwest of Kerrville, Texas. During a standard year petty theft, and we welcome you to family. He also appeared in circuit court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him. Brynn Rainey, 27, vanished . Benton County tax records show her to be the owner of the property. 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? Erica Hernandez, Digital Journalist/Courthouse Reporter. He always wanted me to invest in his key chain idea, but I never did. 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. In 2006, Glen Stephens directed the film Hoboken Hollow, which is loosely based on the events that occurred at the Texas Slave Ranch. 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. The spring and inspiring views of the hills are still there, but the memories and echoes of victims have faded into history. [3] Mountain Home has a post office with the ZIP code 78058. Court records do not show that Cunningham has ever had a criminal case opened in this county. If you or someone you know has information regarding this case, contact Detective Corley at the Mountain Home Police Department at 208-587-2101. Mrs. Dowdy rushed to the hillside and found her childrenpierced by arrows, mutilated by tomahawks, and shot. . But he realized there was no escape, only redemption, and grew to be the man fondly remembered at his recent funeral for his kindness and big heart. Nine people were initially indicted: Ellebracht Sr., Ellebracht Jr., Joyce, Caldwell and five ranch workers. 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