East Texas

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

HENDERSON — “May God be with him.”

Those were the words of State District Judge Clay Gossett as Romeo Pinkerton, wearing an orange Rusk County inmate jumpsuit and chains, was led out of the Rusk County courtroom after pleading guilty to five counts of murder.

Pinkerton, 49, received five life sentences Monday for his admitted role in the slayings of five people abducted from a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore Sept. 23, 1983.

Pinkerton along with his cousin, Darnell Hartsfield, was charged in 2005 with the abductions and slayings of Mary Tyler, 37; Opie Ann Hughes, 39; Joey Johnson, 20; David Maxwell, 20; and Monte Landers, 19. Hartsfield is scheduled to stand trial some time next year.

Monday ended years of Pinkerton denying his involvement in what had become one of Texas’ most infamous unsolved mass murders. A case which has haunted investigators and left entire families with questions about who was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

As the sun set across the Rusk County Courthouse lawn, some family members talked with various members of the media.

“I can’t believe this has happened,” one family member said. “It seems like a dream.”

CLOSURE

For two decades the families have waited for justice, and during the past two weeks of trial held in New Boston, they have listened to testimony that at times had them in tears — some even leaving the courtroom.

Monday was no exception as victim impact statements were read, most in the audience had tears in their eyes as family members told Pinkerton how his acts had changed their lives.

“You’re not only a murder, you are a coward to let this continue all of these years,” Maxwell’s sister Kathy Hamilton said during the statements.

The plea agreement came suddenly after two weeks of ups and downs for both the prosecution and the defense.

Even family members said they had their doubts during the trial, saying they just didn’t know how the trial would turn out.

During testimony Friday, Judge Gossett recessed the jury unexpectedly before noon and family members were escorted to another courtroom where they talked to prosecutors.

Gossett said he was made aware late last week that the defense of Jeff Haas and David Griffith and the prosecution team of Texas Attorney General prosecutors Lisa Tanner and Laura Popps and Rusk County District Attorney Michael Jimerson were working on a plea agreement.

“Until he signed the papers we didn’t have a plea agreement,” Gossett said.

When asked why the media was excluded from the actual plea agreement signing, Gossett replied that he did not want to taint the jury in New Boston until he knew the deal was done.

“In case it fell through, I wanted to protect the sanctity of the jury,” he said.

The families sat crying and consoling one another after Pinkerton was led out of the courtroom and Gossett promised each family member that he or the justice system would not dishonor their loved ones.

For the prosecution and defense the outcome of the jury trial was in question and to those in the audience the case seemed to teeter from guilty to a possible acquittal.

CASE OF UNCERTANITY

Haas would say after Monday’s proceedings that the case had been like a high-stake poker game with both teams having their own difficulties to overcome.

For the defense it was damning testimony and a bloody napkin with Pinkerton’s DNA in possession of forensic scientists for 24 years. For the prosecution it was the lack of a chain of custody on the evidence, including the napkin.

“There are five dead people and it may have been a long time ago, but there are still five dead people,” Haas said. “We pleaded guilty to five offenses of murder with no affirmation of finding use of a deadly weapon.”

Tanner said the guilty plea in the case was huge.

“To have someone stand up and say ‘I was there and I was part of it’ is huge,” she said. “This case has always been about making the right person accountable and this plea does that.”

During the past two weeks, Tanner has cleared former suspect James Earl Mankins Jr., by questioning forensic scientists about DNA. The case against Mankins hinged on a torn fingernail. He was indicted on five counts of capital murder in the 1990s, but was subsequently cleared after DNA testing proved the nail was not his.

Tanner’s boss, Attorney General Gregg Abbott said in a prepared statement that his office will continue moving forward with its case against Hartsfield and that some measure of justice was served with Pinkerton’s plea.

“Romeo Pinkerton’s admission of guilt ends decades of uncertainty for the families of five innocent victims,” he said. “For far too long, justice has eluded these families.”

For one investigator on the scene where the bodies were found in rural Rusk County 24 years ago, Monday’s events were almost unbelievable.

“I just had to keep walking to keep from jumping up and down,” Rusk County District Attorney Investigator William Brown said. “I’m ecstatic. That’s a good word to describe how I am feeling and I am glad there is at least some closure for the families.”

Gossett said he had one more duty to perform.

RELEASING A JURY

Eight women and seven men were selected to hear the case in Bowie County during a lengthy jury selection process after the case was moved from Henderson. Gossett requested three alternates on the trial that was expected to last between four and six weeks.

The case was moved to the town about 120 miles northeast of Tyler due to extensive media coverage over the past two decades.

Each day during testimony the witnesses have been attentive and with their eyes, followed the conversations between witnesses and the attorneys.

They have heard scientists discuss the latest in DNA testing and how law enforcement admitted it performed poorly in 1983 by not securing a crime scene or the evidence.

They have sat and looked at diagrams of the KFC restaurant in Kilgore and photos of the five victims laying in an oil field and they learned that one victim had not tried to run away during the murders, but how she was sexually assaulted.

Gossett said that he was going to call each juror Monday night and talk with them and would travel to New Boston Tuesday to release them from their duty.

“We express our gratitude to the jurors and everyone in Bowie County for their hospitality,” he said.

Gossett said the plea was not unusual to occur in the middle of a trial.

“It isn’t unusual and we have to be prepared for anything,” he said. “Now we will try to get a grasp on everything. We still have another trial.”

Romeo Pinkerton's defense team, Jeff Haas (left) and David Griffith sit in the Rusk County Courthouse in Henderson, Texas on Monday, October 29, 2007, after Romeo Pinkerton pled guilty to five counts of murder.
((Staff Photo by Tom Turner))