Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: Billy Ray Minkley Jr., and Ross Earl Hellams Sentenced in 2015 TX Murder of 22-Year-Old Leah Martin

  1. #1
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875

    Billy Ray Minkley Jr., and Ross Earl Hellams Sentenced in 2015 TX Murder of 22-Year-Old Leah Martin


    Leah Donnice Martin, 22


    Billy Minkley, Jr.



    Ross Hellams



    3 Charged with Murder in Leah Martin Case

    Graham police say a third arrest has been made in connection with the murder of 23-year-old Leah Martin, and now three men are charged with capital murder.

    Graham Police Chief Tony Widner says 43-year-old Elton Carroll Blaire (E.C. Blair) has now been arrested for capital murder and for tampering with evidence to wit a human corpse.

    Police have set up crime scene tape around EC's Auto Shop.

    Graham police say after interviewing 42-year-old Billy Minkley Jr., who was arrested a few weeks ago and is accused of digging Martin's makeshift grave, they were given a reason to go back and search the auto shop a second time where they found evidence that they say led to Blaire's arrest.

    Police say Minkley also admitted to he and others being involved in a homicide in Fort Worth in 2014.

    Earlier this week we obtained the autopsy report for Leah Martin which indicates she was murdered.

    The Tarrant County autopsy report shows a plastic bag and plastic wrap were found over her head and around her neck, indicating she died by asphyxiation by means of homicidal violence.

    It also shows there was a rock found inside her mouth.

    The forensic anthropology exam indicated there was no identified trauma of the skull, or trauma to various other parts of her body.

    Martin, who was the mother of a 2-year-old, was last seen in Graham on May 29.

    Billy Minkley Jr., and 42-year-old Ross Hellams', who was in control of the land where Martin was found ten miles west of Graham, were previously arrested.

    Graham police say all of three are being formally charged with capital murder.being pursued by the Fort Worth Police Department.

    Martin was last seen in May of this year, with a formal investigation beginning on May 29, 2015.

    On August 5, 2015 investigators discovered her body buried on property under the control of Ross Hellams.

    An autopsy completed in Tarrant County revealed she died from asphyxiation by means of homicidal violence, after a plastic bag and plastic wrappings were discovered around her face and neck, and a rock was found inside her mouth.

    One of the three suspects charged in Martin's murder is also a suspect in a triple homicide in Fort Worth last year.

    Graham Police Chief Tony Widner says Minkley also admitted to involvement in the Fort Worth murders during his questioning.

    Fort Worth police say the bodies of three people shot to death were found on June 2, 2014.

    Ronney Jackson, Elizabeth Sessums (his common law wife), and David Adams, were found dead in Jackson and Sessum's home in west Fort Worth.

    Police believe Jackson and Sessums were the targets, and Adams just happened to be visiting at the time.

    Neighbors say they saw nothing suspicious, and did not hear any gunshots.

    Investigators apparently had no motive or suspects until the break that came with the Martin case.

    They say the couple were known drug users.

    Minkley has a lengthy criminal record in Wilbarger, Young and Tarrant counties, including drug charges.

    http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/...ah-martin-case
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Related:

    Graham murder suspect confesses to Fort Worth triple homicide, police say


    FORT WORTH - A 42-year-old man accused of killing and burying a woman in a clandestine grave near Graham has confessed to committing a triple homicide in Fort Worth last year, officials say.

    Billy Ray “Tank” Minkley Jr. has been in the Young County Jail in Graham, 80 miles northwest of Fort Worth, since his Aug. 19 arrest on warrants for tampering with evidence, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and possessing a prohibited weapon.

    He was initially accused of renting a backhoe and using it to bury the body of Leah Martin, a 22-year-old mother who vanished after driving to her workplace, an auto repair shop in Graham, on the night of May 29.

    On Tuesday, Graham police announced they will seek capital murder charges against Minkley and two other men — including the paternal grandfather of Martin’s child — in connection with the high-profile case. Graham police said that in addition to admitting his involvement in Martin’s slaying, Minkley confessed to a 2014 homicide in Fort Worth.

    Fort Worth homicide Sgt. Joe Loughman confirmed to theStar-Telegram that the 2014 case involved the fatal shooting of Ronney Jackson, Jackson’s common-law wife, Elizabeth Bernard Sessums, and a visiting friend, David Adams.

    The trio were found dead June 2, 2014 inside a house that Jackson and Sessums shared in the 200 block of Sunset Lane in west Fort Worth. Investigators believe they were slain on May 28, 2014, almost exactly a year before Martin vanished.

    Loughman said investigators obtained a capital warrant for Minkley’s arrest in the triple homicide, which was formally served Tuesday.

    According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Minkley used to live with Jackson and Sessums. The shootings allegedly occurred after he had gone over to their house to retrieve some of his property.

    An informant’s tip


    Fort Worth homicide Detective Kyle Sullivan had begun investigating Minkley as a possible suspect in late August after learning that an informant might have information on the case.

    Sullivan and Detective Tom O’Brien met with the informant the next day. The informant told the investigators that Minkley, a former friend who was jailed in Young County, used to live with Jackson and Sessums on

    Sunset and had allegedly had a property dispute with the couple.

    The informant told investigators that Minkley and his girlfriend left town shortly after the triple homicide.

    Sullivan and Detective M.D. Green met with Minkley’s girlfriend on Sept. 1.

    She told the detectives she and Minkley had gone to the house on Sunset to obtain some property they had been storing there. She said she stayed in the car while Minkely went inside.

    The girlfriend told investigators she soon heard what sounded like a car backfiring twice before Minkley emerged from the house. She told police Minkley told her that Ronney Jackson had pulled a gun on him so he shot Jackson.

    He told her he then shot an unknown man inside the house and later Sessums after she tried to call police, according to the affidavit.

    The girlfriend told investigators Minkley then told her to come inside the house, where she saw the three victims. She said she and Minkley then retrieved items from the house that belonged to them.

    Minkley also took Jackson and Sessums’ cellphones, as well as a laptop, from the home, the girlfriend told investigators.

    Loughman said it is still undecided whether the girlfriend will be charged in the case.

    “Our investigation into this offense is still ongoing,” he said. “That will be determined at a later date.”

    Sullivan also later interviewed Minkley’s father, who told the detective that his son had confessed to him in a Sept. 1 phone call from the Young County Jail that he had killed three people in self-defense.

    Minkley told his father that a man had pulled a gun on him but he was able to take the gun away and shoot the man. Minkley told his father he shot the other two people in the house after they began to grab at him, the affidavit states.

    The Young County case


    Arrest warrant affidavits show that investigators got their break in the Martin case after a man told them that Ross Earl Hellams had come to his home the day after Martin vanished, carrying a paper bag with clothing and a sawed-off shotgun.

    Hellams is an employee at the auto shop where Martin worked and was last seen alive, Graham police Chief Tony Widner said Tuesday.

    Hellams, who has been in the Young County Jail since Aug. 10, told the man he intended to throw the items away in a trash bin but the man persuaded Hellams to give him the gun so that a child would not accidentally find it. That man then gave the shotgun to police.

    When interviewed, Hellams claimed he had gotten the shotgun from Minkley.

    Authorities searched Hellams’ property off Farm Road 209 near Graham on Aug. 5, where they found a grave containing Martin’s remains.

    An autopsy by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office determined that Martin died from “homicidal violence with asphyxiation.”

    According to news reports, a plastic bag and plastic wrappings were discovered around Martin’s face and neck, and a rock inside her mouth.

    Minkley’s role


    Martin’s father, Billy Martin, had told investigators that his daughter had been receiving threatening phone calls from a blocked number before her disappearance in late May.

    Arrest warrant affidavits released in the case Tuesday show investigators had identified the woman who had been making those calls and learned that Hellams had paid her to do so.

    The woman told a Texas Ranger assisting in the investigation that Hellams had been at the auto shop around 9:30 p.m., the time surveillance cameras showed Martin pulling up to the business on the night she disappeared.

    She told the Ranger that Hellams and a second man, whom investigators later identified as Minkley, showed up at Hellams’ house early the next morning and that an excavator was on the property that weekend.

    Investigators determined that Minkley had rented a backhoe the morning after Martin went missing.

    Hellams and his wife told investigators that they had seen Minkley operating the backhoe near where Martin’s grave was later found.

    Hellams, 42, was also arrested last month for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and possessing a prohibited weapon.

    On Tuesday, Graham police said Hellams will also be charged with capital murder in the Martin case, as well as a third man, Elton Carroll Blair Jr., 43, of Graham.

    Blair, who was arrested Tuesday morning, is the owner of the auto shop where Martin worked and also the paternal grandfather of the dead woman’s 2-year-old daughter, Widner said.

    Blair and Hellams will also be charged with tampering with evidence (a human corpse), Graham police said.

    The affidavits state that Minkley confessed his involvement in Martin’s slaying and to burying her body. He also implicated Hellams and Blair in the slaying, the affidavits states.

    Though investigators had previously searched the auto shop, Widner said they were back at the location Tuesday morning, looking for additional evidence.

    Minkley has previous convictions for felony escape from Palo Pinto County and burglary of a building out of Wilbarger and Young counties. In Tarrant County, he has misdemeanor convictions for attempting to possess a controlled substance (methamphetamine) and theft of property, court records show.

    Families have some closure


    Joe Adams, David Adam’s brother, said his elderly parents and entire family are “overjoyed” by the arrest.

    “Especially my mom,” Joe Adams said. “She was hoping something would materialize before their deaths came — someone being held responsible for this act of violence.”

    Joe Adams said he hopes prosecutors seek the death penalty against Minkley.

    Donna Lott, Sessums’ sister, thanked Fort Worth police and Sullivan for their diligence on working her sister’s case.

    “We may never know his reason, but it’s good to be able to have some closure,” Lott said of Minkley’s arrest.

    That Minkley has confessed that he was involved in Martin’s slaying almost exactly a year after the triple homicide, only adds to the grief, she said.

    “I’m just upset that he had an opportunity where he killed someone else,” Lott said. “There’s no telling, he may have more bodies too.”

    http://www.star-telegram.com/news/lo...e36100101.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #3
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Blair's request to lower bonds seems like 'up-hill fight'

    By Casey Holder
    Graham Leader

    One of three men charged with the capital murder of Graford woman Leah Martin is seeking a bail reduction and has been granted a hearing in Young County District Court Friday morning, but it may be an uphill battle, according to one legal expert.

    Attorneys for Elton Carroll Blair Jr., known locally as E.C. Blair, filed documents requesting that his bonds be reduced. Blair was arrested and charged with Martin's murder on Sept. 22.

    The bond reduction hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at the Young County Courthouse in Graham.

    Blair is being detained at the Young County Detention Center and is charged with capital murder and tampering with evidence. His bonds total to $1.25 million. According to the Young County website, Blair's bond for capital murder is $1 million and his bond for tampering with evidence is $250,000.

    An amended motion for the hearing filed by Blair's attorneys, former District Judge Stephen Crawford and lawyer Jaclyn Sublett, argues that Blair's confinement is illegal because Blair's bonds “are excessive, oppressive and beyond the (defendant's) financial means.”

    The document states that one of Blair's bonds is “$250,000,00.00,” which appears to be an error, and requests that the court conduct an evidentiary hearing and reduce the amount of the two bonds to “reasonable amounts” so that Blair may have the opportunity to be released while he awaits trial.

    As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, an online petition to “keep Leah Martin's alleged murderer from getting a bond reduction” by a group called “Justice for Leah Martin” had garnered 1,564 of 2,000 signatures sought.

    According to Professor George Dix, who teaches criminal law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, the fact that a defendant simply cannot afford to pay the bond does not make it excessive. There is no requirement that a defendant be able to afford his bail, he said.

    “Getting bail reduced from one million seems like an up-hill fight,” Dix said.

    Additionally, the professor couldn't think of a situation where a court acknowledged that a public petition impacted its decision, but he did state that the safety of the community is a factor that is considered when a bond amount is set, and the community's perception of safety is also considered.

    Police allege that Blair, owner of the shop where Martin worked, and two other Graham men kidnapped and murdered Martin.

    She was last seen on May 29 in Graham. On Aug. 5, Graham police and Texas Rangers recovered Martin's remains from a grave near a residence about 10 miles west of Graham on FM 209.

    http://www.grahamleader.com/ci_28928...s-like-up-hill
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #4
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Leah Martin trial begins Monday in Breckenridge

    By Ashley Wheeler
    KFDX News

    GRAHAM - The trial in the case of Leah Martin starts Monday for one of the three men suspected in her death.

    It's been two years since the 22-year-old Graham woman was murdered. She was last seen in Graham Friday, May 29th of 2015, leaving her home for the grocery store.

    Her car was found the next morning outside of the auto shop where she worked, but it wasn't until August 6th that same year that her body was found 10 miles west of Graham.

    Days after wrapping up the crime scene, investigators made arrests and charged three men with capital murder.

    Billy Minkley, 42, was accused of digging her grave. Ross Hellams, 42, lived on the land where Leah's body was found. And 43-year-old Elton Caroll Blair, known as E.C., who owned the auto shop where Leah worked, and is also grandfather to Leah's daughter.

    E.C.'s trial starts Monday in Stephens County after Young County 90th District Judge Stephen Bristow approved a change of venue.

    Now, all Leah's family can do, is wait for the trial.

    "It's up and down. Sometimes it feels like it's just drawn on and on, but it's been pretty fast," said Leah's father, Billy Martin. "Just trying to put everything back together you know, stay strong. We've tried to pick up as best as we can."

    The family has said they're still waiting for justice which they could finally receive after two years.

    During Leah's funeral, her dad spoke about how lucky his family was that they were able to have closure for his daughter. And the trial will be the final piece.

    "I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. I mean, I could've asked for a better outcome, but a lot of people don't get to have any closure for a year or several years. So we were very fortunate that we came together like we did," Martin said.

    http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/...idge/813243458
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Co-conspirator of suspect on trial for murder in Breckenridge pleads guilty

    By Erica Garner
    Big Country Homepage

    BRECKENRIDGE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) - One of three men charged with the murder of young mother from Graham, Texas, pleaded guilty in Breckenridge Wednesday.

    Billy Minkley pleaded guilty to one count of Murder and has been sentenced to life in prison. He is now expected to testify during the trial of another suspect, E.C. Blair, which began in a Stephens County courtroom Monday.

    Minkley, Blair, and a 3rd suspect, Ross Hellams, were all arrested and charged with Capital Murder in connection to the death of Leah Martin, 23, who was last seen alive in May of 2015.

    Martin's remains were discovered a few months later in August on a property owned by Hellams, and during the subsequent investigation he, along with Minkley and Blair, who both worked at an auto repair shop with Martin, were arrested.

    Blair was arrested and charged with murder after a search warrant was executed at the body shop, and Minkley was arrested after he implicated himself and others in the crime during an interview with police.

    During Blair's murder trial, Minkely also confessed to committing a triple-homicide in Ft. Worth.

    The trial is expected to continue throughout the week, as the prosecution is still calling witnesses to give testimony.

    BigCountryHomepage, along with TexomasHomepage, will provide updates on this case as the trial continues. Check back for the latest information.

    http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/ne...ilty/815160045
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Codefendant testifies against alleged murderer

    By Landon McBride
    KFDX News

    Two years after the death of Leah Martin of Graham testimony today in the murder trial of E.C. Blair finally reveals how the young mother may have died.

    Blair, Billy Minkley, and Ross Hellams were all charged in Martin's death.

    Billy Minkley pleaded guilty to murder yesterday, in exchange for a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

    The day started with the prosecution getting the details of Minkley's relationship with the co-defendants, Hellams and Blair.

    Minkley said Blair called Martin and problem and that she was ruining his life. There were multiple occasions where the three met to discuss different ways of "taking her out".

    Minkley received a call from Hellams on the day of the murder and they went the auto shop Blair owned and they waited for Martin who was coming. There Minkley said he used a crowbar to kill Martin.

    He and Hellams put her body in Hellams car before leaving her in the woods near Hellams house.

    The next morning Minkley said he buried her by a trailer and then covered the grave with the contents of the trailer.

    Minkley said multiple times this was done for Blair and said that it would not have happened if it wasn't for him.

    Initially, Binkley lied to the police saying it was Hellams and Blair who killed Martin at the shop but eventually confessed as part of a plea deal in connection with three murders he is charged with in Fort Worth.

    In exchange for his testimony, the death penalty was taken off the table. The trial will continue tomorrow morning at 9.

    http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/...erer/816070201
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #7
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Minkley back on the stand in the E.C. Blair Trial

    By Isaiah Garcia
    KFDX News

    Confessed killer Billy Minkley was back on the stand in the E.C. Blair trial in Breckenridge this morning.

    Minkley pleaded guilty to three murders in fort worth in 2014 in exchange for a life sentence for the 2015 death of Leah martin in Graham.

    He said he killed Leah for Blair in Blair's auto shop in Graham.

    When Minkley finished testifying, prosecutors called Emmy Moon, who was Minkley's girlfriend when Leah vanished.

    During her testimony, she broke down in tears a few times. The time frames she gave for events for the most part match up with Minkley's timeline on the murder and burial of Leah Martin.

    Moon said she was suspicious when she found out Leah Martin was last seen at E.C. Blair's auto shop because she knew Minkley was there.

    She said she initially lied to police about his whereabouts on the night of the murder to give him an alibi, but later told the truth. Moon also said Minkley had always told her, he had nothing to do with Martin's murder.

    After Moon's testimony, Armonique Jefferson, cousin of the co-defendant Ross Hellams, took the stand. She said she made threatening calls to Leah Martin because Hellums asked and paid her to do it. Those calls caused some confusion for police during the investigation.

    Court wrapped up early today and will resume Monday morning at 9 am.

    http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/...rial/816789048
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #8
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    FRANCE
    Posts
    3,073
    DA presents recorded statements, phone conversations by murder defendant

    By Carla McKeown
    Breckenridge Texan

    BRECKENRIDGE - As Graham police investigator Lt. Jeff Smith continued his testimony in the Elton Carroll “E.C.” Blair murder trial Tuesday morning, Sept. 26, District Attorney Dee Peavy presented statements made by the defendant in police interviews and a jailhouse phone call with one of the other suspects.

    Blair is on trial for the 2015 murder of Leah Martin in Graham. The trial is being held the Stephens County Courthouse in Breckenridge on a change of venue.

    Smith described many of Blair’s statements in a June 24, 2015, interview at the Graham Police Department as suspicious and desperate. In the recorded interview, which was played in court Tuesday, Blair tells Smith that he felt pressured by a car salesperson to co-sign on a car loan for Martin. He had worked with the same salesperson on a deal for Krista Hellams, wife of co-defendant Ross Hellams. However, Blair said that he didn’t realize he was “co-buying” the car with Krista Hellams and that he thought he was just “co-signing.”

    “I wasn’t going to be pushed into it, like I was with Hellams,” Blair said on the video. “I could’ve stopped all of this that was going on without making her disappear. It wasn’t going to be good, but it had to come to that. It got real deep with the car.”

    Peavy stopped the video at that point and asked Smith what his impression of Blair was at that point in the interview. “He was feeling really desperate,” the investigator said.

    After the video of the interview was finished, Peavy moved on to a recording of a phone call between Blair and Ross Hellams when Hellams was in the Young County Jail and Blair was out on bail. Before playing the recording, Peavy confirmed with Smith that Hellams had first been arrested in August 2015 on a weapons charge. Then, on Sept. 22, 2015, Blair was arrested on capital murder charges; at the same time, Hellams was also charged with capital murder, as was co-defendant Billy Minkley Jr., who pleaded guilty to the charge of murder in a plea deal last week. In October 2015, a Young County grand jury indicted the three men, charging them with murder, rather than capital murder.

    At the time of the phone call, on Dec. 1, 2015, Blair had bonded out of jail, and Hellams was still in the Young County Jail. Tuesday morning, defense attorney David Wimberley pointed out that the phone call was made from Hellams to Blair.

    A short time into the phone call, Blair asks Hellams, “What in the **** have you done?”

    In the recording, Blair’s voice is strong and loud, and Hellams’ is lower and more difficult to hear. As it played in the courtroom, Peavy often stopped the recording to check with Smith to see what was being said.

    At one point, Hellams can be heard saying, “My mind is gone. I’m gonna kill myself.” Blair tells him, “You don’t want to do this.”

    “No one can walk away from this,” Hellams said.

    “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if you were up there or what,” Blair replies.

    Blair continues talking, telling Hellams that he hasn’t told anyone anything, specifically mentioning Smith. However, Peavy confirms with Smith that the phone call took place after Blair had talked with Smith several times.

    In one part of the conversation that Peavy indicated was concerning, Blair asked Hellams, “What did you tell them, so I’ll know what to do, Ross?”

    Throughout the phone call, Blair attempts to assure Hellams that he has talked to Hellams’ wife, Krista, and that he’s trying to convince her not to file for a divorce from Hellams. When Peavy turned back to Smith, she asked him about Krista’s relationship with Blair. Smith said Krista has a close relationship with Blair and had sent him “inappropriate” text messages.

    Additionally, he said that during police interviews, Krista had not mentioned that she had texted Blair on May 29, 2015, the night Leah Martin was killed. In that text, according to documents presented in court, Krista asked Blair if he was still at the shop – E.C.’s Auto Repair shop that Blair owned, where Leah worked and allegedly where she was killed – and asked him when Hellams would be going home.

    The text has been brought up several times in the trial because, according to police investigators, Blair never reported that Hellams might have been at the shop the night Leah disappeared and has denied knowing who might have been there. His failure to mention that piece of information has been presented as suspicious by the District Attorney.

    After the phone call was played for the jury, District Judge Stephen Bristow dismissed court at 11:30 a.m. due to a prior commitment he had that was arranged before the trial was moved from August to September. The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27.

    http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/...dant/818987462
    Last edited by Helen; 09-27-2017 at 05:21 AM. Reason: fixed source at top

  9. #9
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    PROSECUTION RESTS IN E.C. BLAIR MURDER TRIAL

    By Brittany Whitt
    Breckenridge American

    The Elton "E.C." Blair murder trial should come to an end sometime this week after the prosecution rested its case Monday afternoon.

    Ninetieth District Attorney Dee Peavy rested the state’s case Monday following the testimony of Jim Reeves, a former investigator with the Graham Police Department, concluding a process that began Sept. 19.

    Although the prosecution has wrapped up its case, the defense is expected to continue presenting witnesses through Tuesday.

    Blair nearly had his $1 million bond revoked following Monday’s testimony after several witness testified he had been in contact with them despite receiving a non-contact court order following his indictment.

    Peavy noted how the testimonies of various witnesses had changed since they previously spoke to police. One of those came from the defendant’s niece, Stacye Pinkston.

    “He’s thumbing his nose at the court that specifically told him not to be around these witnesses ... No contact means no contact,” Peavy said.

    Pinkston originally told investigators about a conversation she had with Blair regarding his wife’s alleged affair with a man in 2014. In her original statement she said Blair told her he could have the man “dealt with,” and that he said he had ways of doing it. Blair also said Ross Hellams, an alleged accomplice in the Leah Martin murder, would help him, but Monday Pinkston testified her conversation was between she and Lisa Blair, the defendant’s wife.

    Another witness, Mario Espinoza, also told investigators he spoke with Blair two weeks ago and that Blair was aware he was a witness in the trial. Espinoza said Blair also sought him out at an auto repair shop in Graham.

    Defense Attorney David Wimberley argued revoking Blair’s bond would dramatically impact the trial just days before the defense rests its case. Judge Stephen Bristow agreed, despite noticing some inconsistencies with witnesses, ruling he didn’t think revoking his bond this late in the trial would change matters. Bristow once again ordered Blair must not have contact with witnesses unless Wimberley is present.

    Robin McCauley, Martin’s cousin, was also called to the stand Monday. She said Blair and his wife Lisa are her godparents, and her father and Blair had been best friends since high school. She said family members close to the Martins had spearheaded a search effort and distributed fliers the day after Leah was reported missing. The headquarters at the Gateway Inn in Graham, which remained open until Leah’s body was found.

    Blair would stopped by there a few times, she said. In one instance, Blair, his son Aaron Blair (the father of Martin’s daughter), and Pinkston’s mother searched for Leah on country road near Graham. McCauley said when her mom and Aaron would get out of the vehicle, Blair asked her how many sexual partners Leah had had. She later asked him why he needed to know, he responded that he and Aaron were talking about it and he was just curious.

    She said Blair never seemed upset, but did have a nervous tic and was constantly running a red rag through his fingers.

    https://www.breckenridgeamerican.com...r-murder-trial
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #10
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    E.C. Blair found not guilty in murder of Leah Martin

    By a unanimous vote, the jury has declared E.C. Blair not guilty of the murder of Leah Martin.

    It took the jury nine hours to come to a decision.

    90th District Judge Stephen Bristow said if Blair is found not guilty, the trial will be over and Blair will be a free man.

    Ross Hellams and Billy Ray Minkley Jr. were also charged in the murder. Hellams is in the Young County jail pending his own trial. Minkley pleaded guilty to Martin’s murder in exchange for a life sentence and an offer of a plea deal in another case in which he has confessed to killing three people in Fort Worth.

    Martin worked at E.C.’s Auto Repair, which was owned by Blair, and she was reportedly having an affair with him.

    http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/...rtin/827739333
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •