The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 20, 1983 Page: 1 of 28
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Mlcroplex Inc.
P. 0. Box
Dallas Tx
Grand Jury Indicts Four
In Kountze Woman's Murder
Four Silsbee men arrested in
the investigaion into the Dec.
17 shooting death of a Kountze
woman were indicted by the
Hardin County Grand Jury
Monday.
Each man was indicted on
charges of capital murder, and
remained in jail under $120,000
bond late Tuesday.
Indicted were Johnny Ross
Johnson, 49, P.O. Box 2200;
Robert Lyndon Streetman, 22,
St. Rt. 2, Box 435; David Ray
Kirkendall, 24, P.O. Box 1113;
Garry W. Holden, 21, P. O. Box
22Of).
The four men were also each
Christine Baker, 44, who was
killed by a single bullet wound
to the head.
The felony theft charges,
according to Sheriff Mike
Holzapfel, stem from stolen
merchandise found at the dead
woman's home which the four
men are alledged to have sold
to the victims husband.
Investigators also believe,
the sheriff said, that the men
believed they would find a large
amount of cash at the residence
because the husband paid for
the stolen items, which in-
cluded three wheelers and a
backhoe, in cash.
The Silsbee Bee
VOLUME 64 - NUMBER 50 SILSBEE, TEXAS 77656, THURSDAY, JANUARY 20,1983 20 PAGES IN 2 SECTIONS
indicted on a charge of felony Capital murder charges re-
theft. quire a jury trial, and if found
The capital murder indict- guilty the defendants could be
ments stem from the murder of sentenced to death.
Martha Courtney Named
Read-Turrentine Principal
Kipnapping, Rape, Burglary Are
Among Grand Jury Indictments
In an emergency meeting
Friday Silsbee School trustees
named Martha Courtney as
assistant principal at Read-Tur-
rentine School.
According to school admini-
stration office records, this is
Mrs. Courtney’s 22nd year of
teaching. She has taught 16
years in Silsbee schools, first at
the Middle School and the past
two years at the High School.
Prior to teaching in Silsbee
she taught four years at
Nacogdoches, two years at
Lufkin, and one year of college.
Mrs. Courtney is certified as
a professional superintendent,
professional principal, profes-
sional administrator, profes-
sional elementary school
teacher, and a professional high
school teacher. She received
her Masters and undergraduate
degrees from Stephen F. Aus-
tin University at Nacogdoches,
records say.
Mrs. Courtney is married
and has two children, Cindy
and Alan. Both are Silsbee
High School graduates.
School Board President Ray-
mond Tennison said, Mrs.
Courtney was chosen from
among eight “very fine" ap-
plicants. She replaces Bill Con-
way, whose resignation trus-
tees accepted “with regret”
Tuesday.
Trustees also promoted an
aide to special education teach-
er at Robinson Kindergarten.
Personnel Director S, A.
Wallace recommended Marie
Brim be transfered from an
aide position to special educa-
tion teacher. She has worked
for seven years with
the severely retarded as an
aide, Wallace said, and was
certified as a teacher in Decem-
ber.
City’s December Sales Tax
Check Totals *19,369
The state comptroller's office
sent Silsbee a check for $19,369
Jan. 13 as its share of the one
percent city sales tax collected
in December.
Silsbee’s payment is down
11.39 percent. Last year the
city received $21,859.
Kountze was sent $3,285 for
its first payment of the new
year. Last year Kountze re-
ceived $4,754. Its payment is
down 30.9 percent.
Sour Lake's payment was
down 1.57 percent. It received
$2,091 this year compared to
$2,125 last year.
The downward trend in sales
tax collections in Hardin Coun-
ty are a reflection of the trend
statewide, according to the
comptroller.
State Comptroller Bob Bul-
lock sent $32 million to nearly
1.000 Texas cities as their share
(See Tex Sec. 1, Page I)
PRESTON H. SMITH
Preston H. Smith
Named President
Of First National
Preston H. Smith of Beau-
mont was named president and
chief executive officer of First
National Bank of Silsbee at a
meeting of the directors held on
Jan. 17.
He replaces Nelson O. Long
Jr., who previously held the
position of president of First
National Bank since its organi-
zation in 1964.
Smith was formerly chief
financial officer and executive
assistant to the president of the
Aviation Office of America,
Inc., when it was organized in
Beaumont in 1965 until the firm
moved to Dallas in 1975.
A native Beaumonter, Smith
is a graduate of South Park
High School. After four years
in the Air Force he completed
his education at Lamar Univer-
sity where he graduated in
1957. After graduation he be-
came self-employed as a busi-
ness consultant in Beaumont,
and most recently has con-
tinued in that field.
Smith, who was meeting the
staff and familiarizing himself
with the new operation Tues-
day, said he is pleased with the
appointment and is looking
forward to working with the
people and business firms in the
Silsbee area. He and his wife,
Lucia, are presently residing in
Beaumont but plan to move to
Silsbee in the near future.
Man Charged With Robbery
Of Kountze Drive In Grocery
Sheriffs office reports say all
a would be thief ended up with
was sore hands following the
robbery of a Kountze con-
veience store Jan. 12.
According to reports, a man
wearing a brown jacket and
clear plastic rain cap entered
the Budgie’s store on U.S. 69
and Farm Road 418 about 9:30
p.m. and asked for a pack of
cigarettes. The clerk gave the
man the cigarettes and rang it
up on the cash register.
He gave the clerk a $10 bill,
then asked how much some
cigars cost pointing behind her.
As she turned to check on the
price of the cigars, reports say,
he put both hands into the open
cash drawer to grab the money.
The clerk spun around, saw
what was happening, and slam-
med the drawer hard on the
man's hands causing cuts.
The man hit the woman in
the face with his fist knocking
her to the floor, grabbed the
$60 in large bills, and fled.
Four minutes later, reports
say, Deputy Dale Freeman
spotted a person, who matched
the description 100 yards south
of the store.
Freeman and Chief Deputy
Ralph Osborne stopped the
man, and made an arrest. A
sheriffs office spokesperson
said the $60 was recovered.
The spokesperson said the
clerk later picked the suspect
from a polibe lineup, and that
he had cut hands.
Arrested was Joe L. Lee, 26,
of Dallas, on a charge of
robbery. Kountze Municipal
Judge Chuck Newsom set bond
on Lee at $10,000.
The spokesperson said that
although he has a Dallas
address, Lee has been staying
in Kountze with relatives for
several months, and added that
the man is on parole from the
Texas Department of Correc-
tions.
In other reports, the sheriff s
office is investigating the theft
of a $1,500 outside air compres-
sor.
The compressor, reports say,
was stolen Jan. 9 from a house
belonging to Thurl Lester
Watts on Gold Star Road in
Lumberton.
The thieves disconnected the
Kountze police and Con-
stables Bill Langston and Dale
Williford assisted in the inves-
tigation, according to reports.
Suspect In Nov. 23
Auto Theft Arrested
In Winfield, La.
A 1982 pickup truck was electricity at 1:25 a.m. and
reported stolen Jan. 12 from carried away the compressor,
the sales lot of a Silsbee auto Investigators believe at least
dealer. two people were involved be-
According to Silsbee police cause of footprints found at the
reports, a Toyota 4X4 pickup scene, reports say.
truck valued at $13,242 was Wilma Upchurch, of Kountze
reported driven away from Highway, Silsbee, reported
Caraway Motor Co. sometime D*®* her home was burglarized
during the day. Jan- 8 causing about $2,155 in
Reports say the pickup was l°s®-
left unlocked with the key in
the ignition.
Items stolen include a 19-inch
black and white television set,
In other reports, Police Chief *w° diamond rings, a 20 guage
Dennis Allen said the depart- Remington 870 pump shotgun,
ment received word Monday and a jewelry box.
that a suspect in the theft of 11,6 % Thicket Museum in
property and unauthorized use Saratoga was reported bur-
of a vehicle belonging to a glarized Jan. 14 causing about
Silsbee woman is in custody in *600 in loss. ,
Louisiana. Tee shirts and hats, along
Bertie Mae Gore of Norvell with change from the Coke
Road reported Nov. 23 that a machine, were stolen, and
number of items values at extensive damage was done to
$1,475 were stolen from her the Coke machine do^r.
residence and that her 1967 Investigators have suspects
in the case.
Margie Smith of Fred re-
ported that a storage locker she
las also
Dodge automobile
missing.
Sgt. Thomas McGraw invest
igated, Allen said, warrants was renting at O’Bannion’s Mini
were issued for two men, and Storage was broken into and a
the information w*a entered Pocket Fisherman, calculator,
into the police computer. cassette recorder, ahd three
Arrested on the warrants t#ckle boxes valued at $123
and being held in Winfield, La.. stolen Dec. 27.
Allen said, was Donny Traylof, & 19-year-old Silsbee man
32, address unknown. He is reported that another man
awaiting the completion of backed into his cai-while it was
extradition procedures, Allen P“*ed m the Baby Galvez
area. When he approached the
Police reported issuing a man to discuss the accident the
warrant Jan. 14 for the arrest mtn is to have drawn a
of a person, who is alledged to knife. Justice of the Peace
have written a $250 check to a Robert Ward issued a warrant
Silsbee man on an account that f«r the arrest of the knife
(See Suspect Sec. 1, Page I) wielding man, reports say.
The Hardin County Grand
Jury Monday handed down
indictments in a number of
major criminal cases reported
since the summer.
Among those investigations
in which true bills were issued
were an aggravated kidnapping
of a Silsbee ’teenager, and
alledged attempt to steal mari-
juana from the county jail, an
aggravated rape of a Silsbee
woman and the investigation
into the breakin at Kountze
City Hall.
Jim Man Keiffer, 35, address
unknown, was indicted on one
charge of aggravated kidnapp-
ing, .The indictment accuses
him of abducting a 17-year-old
Silsbee girl Nov. 25. '
According to sheriffs office
reports three teenage girls said
they were forced at gunpoint
into a pickup truck after the
vehicle they were driving ran
out of gas on Farm Road 92
north of Silsbee. He is alledged
to have driven them around
Hardin and Tyler counties for
about two hours before they
could escape.
Four people, including a
former Kountze police officer,
were indicted on charges stem-
ming from a Dec. 2 attempt to
steal marijuana from the
sheriffs office.
Indicted, each on a charge of
attempted bribery and burg-
lary of a building, were former
Kountze police officer Charles
Huey Holland, 33, address
unknown; Rhonda Lee Gorsha,
P.O. Box 1354, Kountze; Viva
Joy Nance, 22, P.O. Box 1114,
Kountze; and Gary Wayne
Denby, 31, P.O. Box 696,
Kountze.
Indicted on a charge of
aggravated rape was Johnny
Lee Johnson, 41, P.O. Box 192,
Dayton.
He is accused of the Nov. 21
rape of a Silsbee woman at
knife point. According to
sheriffs office reports a deputy
arrested a man after investigat-
ing a suspicious pickup truck
parked by the side of Hwy. 770
when a woman in the vehicle
told the deputy she was not
engaged in a sexual act of her
own free will.
Willie Earl Lacy, 21,. P.O.
Box 1442, Kountze, was indict-
ed on charges of felony escape
and burglary of a building.
Lacy is accused of the Dec. 22
burglary at the Kountze City
Hall in which a city garbage
truck was used as a battering
ram to knock out a section of a
wall and gain entrance to the
building. Lacy is also accused of
attempting to escape from the
sheriffs office following his
arrest.
Three people were indicted
on aggravated robbery charges
in the investigation into the
Sept. 3 beating and robbery of
a Lumberton man.
Indicted, each on a charge of
aggravated robbery, were
Johnny Leatherwood, 23, 1385
Grand Street, Beaumont; Sha-
ron Maynard age and address
unknown; and Sharon Dianne
Childs, age and address also
.unknown.
Joseph Nathan Lacy, 18,
P.O. Box 685, Kountze, was
indicted on a charge of burglary
of a habitation with intent to
commit rape. He is accused of
the Oct. 4 burglary of a
Kountze residence and at-
tempting to rape a 10-year-old
girl, according to investigators
reports in the District At-
torney’s office.
Kenneth M. Deronde, 18,
P.O. Box 776, Ingram, and
Gentry Clay Rigby, 22, 630
Payton, Beaumont, were each
indicted on charges of criminal
mischief. The charges stem
from the Nov. 15 overturning o:
a dumptruck belonging U
Harry Morris.
Lola M. Perkins, 44, Rt 5,
Box 47, Silsbee, was indictee n
a charge of criminal mischief.
She is accused of damaging the
interior of a house in Silsbee
belonging to Larry Adams of
Eureka, Kans., Nov. 10.,
Larry Hill, age unknown,
P.O. Box 667, Silsbee was
indicted on a charge of aggra-
vated assualt - threat with a
deadly weapon.
Elton E. Harris, age un-
known, P.O. Box 159, Sour
Lake was indicted on a charge
of attempted murder. He is
charged with firing a weapon
toward a three-year-old boy
Oct. 8, according to District
Attorney’s office files.
Charles Bradley Gore, age
unknown, Rt. 3, Box 1830,
Lufkin, was indicted on a
charge of aggravated assault -
threat with a deadly weapon.
He is charged with pulling a
knife on a Silsbee woman Dec.
5.
Calvin Finnels, age un-
known, 404 Merchant Street,
P.O. Box 251, Batson, were
each indicted on a charge of
burglary of a building. They are
accused of the Nov. 25 burglary
of a building belonging to
Walter Hughes.
Jeanette M. Burkhalter, 35,
P.O. Box 220, Hempstead, was
indicted on a charge of forgery.
Carlton L. Horne, 445, South
15th Street, Silsbee, was in-
dicted on a charge of theft.
Frank Morris, age unknown,
St. Rt. 1, Box 1444, Silsbee,
was indicted on a charge of
theft.
W.O. Jordan,-age unknown,
P.O. Box 549, Woodville, was
Sour Lake, was indicted on a# indicted on a charge of theft.
charge of theft.
Craig Jeffcoat, 21, Rt. 1, Box
457, Silsbee, was indicted on a
charge of delivery of mari-
juana.
George Bane Jr., age and
address unknown, was indicted
on a charge of theft.
Michael Kindle, 29, Box 134,
Batson, and Larry Leftrick, 28,
Mary Helen Salinas, Rt. 6,
Box 80B, Mission, was indicted
on a charge of theft.
Oscar J. Harrison, age un-
known, P.O. Box 7173, Beau-
mont was indicted on a charge
of theft.
David Arabie, 17, Rt. 2, Box
901, Kountze, and Joey Don
Whittington, 19, P.O. Box 742,
Kountze were each indicted on
a charge of theft. The charges
stem from the theft of a 20
horsepower outboard motor
stolen Nov. 1 from Vickie Gray
of Kountze.
Russell C. Bailey, 28, P.O.
Box 493, Daisetta, was indicted
on a charge of theft. He is
accused of the Dec. 11 theft of
tools belonging to Basil Tomlin-
son.
Marvin R. Carter, 17, Brit-
tonville Road, Silsbee, was
indicted on a charge of burglary
of a habitation. He is charged
with the burglary of a residence
belonging to Louise Cassidy
Nov. 1.
John D. Phillips, 19, address
unknown, was indicted on a
charge of unauthorized use of a
motor vehicle - repeat offender,
and burglary of a habitation -
repeat offender. The charges
stem from the unauthorized use
Dec. 1 of a vehicle belonging to
C.A. Lackey of Silsbee, and the
burglary of a habitation charge
stems from a breakin at the
residence of Thomas Shows
Nov. 30. The indictments say
the repeat offender status is
due to an Aug. 26 conviction on
a felony burglary charge in 88th
District Court.
Joseph Andrew Sasser, 19,
115 Britton, Silsbee was indict-
ed on a charge of theft,
stemming from the Nov. 16
theft of a guitar belonging to
Roy Benjamin Buckley.
Reindicted on charges of
theft because high .court .deci-
sions have mandated word
changes in certain indictments
was James Wallace, P.O. Box
8186, Lumberton. He is the
former manager of the Lum-
berton Municipal Utilities Dis-
trict, and was reindicted on
four counts of theft.
Herbert Glover, age and
address unknown was reindict-
ed on a charge of theft.
Herbert Laird, age and ad-
dress unknown, was reindicted
on a charge of theft.
Friday Meeting To Consider
Creation Of New District Court
County Judge Pete McKin-
ney said he is not opposed to
the creauon of a second District
Court exclusively for Hardin
County, but that he could not
vote to adopt a resolution
presented by county lawyers to
commissioners Friday because
it would name the new District
Judge “presiding judge” over
county court.
The designation as presiding
judge, McKinney said, would
give the District Judge the
power to assign the cases to be
heard by the County Judge.
Both Hardin and Tyler coun-
ties are served by the 88th
District Court, which lawyers
told commissioners is already
overloaded, and is facing an
increasing burden of civil and
criminal cases.
Under the resolution as pre-
sented by the lawyers, which
McKinney said would be pre-
sented to State Senator Roy
Blake and Representative Jer-
ry Clark for legislative action if
adopted by the commissioners,
the new Judicial District’s
jurisdiction would be concur-
rent with the jurisdiction of the
88th District Court in Hardin
County. The new court would
be known as Judicial District
88A. ,
McKinney said there would
be an initial cost to the county
in establishing the new court.
These costs would include
remodeling the county court-
room to meet specifications of a
District court, and the county
would be responsible for the
salaries of the court reporter
and secretary. The judge’s
salary would be paid by the
state.
McKinney said he would like
to see the resolution creating
the court contain a clause that
says, the commissioner's court
would establish the court when
it feels the county can fund it.
Commissioners have sched-
uled a meeting for 10 a.m.
Friday for action on the resolu-
tion.
New West Saratoga Field Well
Flows 113 Bbls Crude Per Day
By Charles Lewis
Flowing 113 barrels of crude
and 156,000 CF casinghead gas
per day, a new producer has
been finaled in the West
Saratoga Field by Gulf Oil
Corp. of Kilgore.
The location is in a 40-acre
lease in Hardin County's J.B.
Reaves Survey, two miles
north of Saratoga. Well’s desi-
gnation is the No. 10 Sam
Bashara.
With tubing pressure coming
in at 520 PSI, the well was
perforated to produce from an
interval 6,120 to 6,140 feet into
the hole. Total drilling depth
was 7,004 feet, and the pay
zone was entered at 6,120 feet.
***
Texaco Inc. of Liberty has
recorded a successful develop-
mental well in the Sour Lake
Field. It is the No. 764 T.T. Co.
Fee, showing potential for 75
barrels of oil per day on an open
choke.
Drillsite was in a 815-acre
lease in the S. Jackson Survey,
one mile north of Sour Lake, in
Hardin County.
The well was drilled to a total
1,075 foot bottom and is pro-
ducing from an interval of
perforations 980 to 1,012 feet
into the wellbore.
Location has been staked by
Vernon G. Baugh, Trustee of
Houston for a 2,500-foot de-
velopmental probe in Hardin
County’s Saratoga Dome Field,
half a mile east of Saratoga.
The well is designated as the
No. 1 Blk. 3, Gulf Fee No. 1.
Drillsite will be in a 3-acre lease
in the Mary E. Hopkins Sur-
Pumping at the rate of 8
barrels of oil per day, the No.
C-16 Hardin'County Oil Co. has
been completed in the Sour
Lake Field by Sour Lake-
based, W.L. Tipton.
Located one mile north of
Petitions Circulate For Liquor
Vote In Justice Precinct 1
Voters in Justice Precinct 1
may be given the opportunity
to decfcle whether a store in the
Pine Plaza Shopping Center
will have the right to once again
sell liquor.
Lorene Smith, owner of the
two Gourmet and Bottle Shop
Stores in Silsbee said Tuesday
they have begun gathering
signatures on a petition calling
for an election to allow “all
alcoholic beverages except mix-
ed drinks.”
“I would like to stress,” Mrs.
Smith said, “that if the proposal
fails the precinct would remain
the same, (wet). There would
be no effect on the (liquor)
stores already in Silsbee.” She
said an election would have to
be held under which the
wording would call for the
banning of alcoholic beverage
sales to dry up the precinct.
The petitioners' need 759
signatures of registered-eligi-
ble voters to call for an election.
Walker-Kurth To Close
Silsbee Store On Jan. 29
The Walker-Kurth Lumber
Company has decided to shut
down its Silsbee store Jan. 29.
The main store building at
the lumber firm was destroyed
by fire Dec. 23, and a company
spokesperson said at that time
there were plans to rebuild.
However store manager Bob
Ashley said there has been a
change of plans and the compa-
ny decided to close the opera-
tion down.
Ashley said the property will
be for sale.
Mrs. Smith said she has
received letters from the Alco-
holic Beverage Commission in
Austin that both her legal
counsel and the County Attor-
ney said indicate an election can
be called since the territory the
store sits on is in a new “legal
subdivision” because of redis-
tricting which went into effect
Jan. 1. The territory was in
Justice Precinct 2, but is now in
Justice Precinct 1. The election
would only effect the territory
annexed since Precinct 1 is
already wet, she said.
The Pine Plaza store was the
only liquor store within the city
limits that was dried up in the
first local option election in
September, and then allowed to
sell wine and beer only after
the second local option election
in November.
“We’re not trying to hurt
anybody," Mrs. Smith said,
“We’re just trying to be allow-
ed the same privilege as the
other (liquor) stores are allow-
Sour Lake, the well is in an
11-acre lease block of Hardin
County’s S. Jackson Survey.
It was drilled to a total depth
of 1,100 feet, after entering the
pay zone at 1,048 feet. It will
produce from a perforated
interval of 1,048 to 1,054 feet
into the wellbore.
***
Frio Exploration Co. of Cor-
pus Christi has filed for permit
to drill a 9,100-foot Wildcat,
eight miles south of Nome in
Jefferson County’s Walter C.
Teter Survey. The operator has
160-acres under lease.
**•
A strong pumping oiler has
been finaled in the South
Liberty Field by Gulf Oil Corp.
Designated as the No. 20 Leon
Mitchell, it indicated ability to
yield 147 barrels of oil per day
on a 20/64 choke. Flowing
tubing pressure stood at 140
PSI.
In addition to oil, the well
showed capacity to make 98,000
CF casinghead gas daily.
The location is in a 40
acre lease in the M.G. White
Survey, three miles south of
Liberty. Gulf took the hole to
7,400-ft. bottom and plugged
back to 6,850. The well will
produce from 6,769 to 6,776
feet into the .wellbore.
A
Also in the South Liber*#,
Field, Houston Oil and Miners^
has completed the No. 9 Turnip
“B”. The well pumped at tin
rate of 10 barrels of oil daily,
also making small volumes of
gas and water.
It is located in a 40-acre lealb
' in the M.G. White Survey
about three miles south of
Liberty. /
The well Will -produce from
three sets of perforations rang-
ing from 3,416 to 3,494 feet into
the hole. Total drilling depth
was not available.
*•*
Kilroy of Texas Inc. has filed
(Sm Oil Sue. 1, Pag* 8)
V.
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Read, R. L. The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 20, 1983, newspaper, January 20, 1983; Silsbee, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819830/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Silsbee Public Library.