East Texas

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

HENDERSON — Despite testifying he felt there was bias in his case, a request to recuse the judge in the Kentucky Fried Chicken murders was denied during a hearing Thursday in Rusk County.

Darnell Hartsfield had filed a motion with his attorney, Don Killingsworth, asking that State District Judge Clay Gossett be removed because he had been involved with his cousin’s capital murder trial, grand jury proceedings and his own aggravated perjury trial, all of which stem from the brutal murders of September 1983 when five people were abducted from a KFC restaurant in Kilgore and slain “execution style” in a rural Rusk County oil field.

Killed were David Maxwell, 20; Mary Tyler, 37; Opie Ann Hughes, 39; Joey Johnson, 20; and Monte Landers, 19. All but Landers worked at the restaurant about 25 miles east of Tyler and 115 miles east of Dallas. Landers was a friend of Maxwell and Johnson, and was visiting them as the restaurant was closing for the night.

“During my perjury trial I felt Judge Gossett leaned toward the State and let (Texas Attorney General Prosecutor Lisa Tanner) do what she wanted to do,” Hartsfield testified on the stand. “I don’t see how (Gossett) could be impartial.”

Tanner asked if Har-tsfield, who was clothed in a bright orange jumpsuit and sandals, had any evidence Gossett had been unfair.
“No I don’t have the court papers here, but he overruled all of my attorney in the perjury trial’s objections,” he said.

Hartsfield was found guilty in 2005 of perjury for lying to a grand jury that was hearing evidence in the KFC murders after DNA technology breathed new life into the case that set idle for years.

Tanner faced the bench and argued the motion should be denied.
“There’s absolutely no evidence other than this defendant’s own perceptions that the judge has shown any bias in this case,” she said.

After listening to Hartsfield and arguments by Killingsworth, visiting Angelina County Court-at-Law Judge Lisa Burkhalter sided with Tanner in denying the motion, which allows Gossett to continue in the role of the judge in the case.

No trial date for Hartsfield has been set. Prosecutors have asked it be moved from Henderson because of publicity in the high-profile case.

Gossett said he was attending a judicial conference later this month and planned to ask judges from the Dallas and San Antonio areas about moving the trial there, and about availability of courtroom space, likely in the fall.

Hartsfield’s cousin, Romeo Pinkerton, 49, of Tyler, pleaded guilty in October to his role in the slayings. In his plea, made in the midst of his capital murder trial that could have resulted in a death sentence, he accepted five life prison terms.

During opening statements of Pinkerton’s trial, prosecutors for the first time disclosed a third person was involved in the slayings, that DNA tests confirmed he had raped one of the female victims. The rape also had never been disclosed publicly.

In December, KFC Corp. reinstated a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of that third person. The restaurant company issued a similar reward after the slayings, but it never was claimed.

Pinkerton, a convicted burglar, had been to prison at least five times and had been out of prison just two days when the crime occurred.

DNA technology not available until recently showed Pinkerton’s blood was found on a napkin at the scene. Blood from Hartsfield, who was arrested for aggravated robbery three days after the slayings, was found on a box of cash register tapes.

If convicted, Hartsfield could face the death penalty.

A gag order issued by Gossett remains in effect and parties are not allowed to discuss the case outside of the courtroom.

Staff Writer Cindy Mallette contributed to this report.

Darnell Hartsfield in 2005 file photo
(Staff file photo)