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Thread: William Lewis Reece - Oklahoma Death Row

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    William Lewis Reece - Oklahoma Death Row






    Who is William Reece? Insight into a suspected serial killer

    By Lauren Talarico
    KHOU News

    At the prompting of William Reece, a suspected serial killer, investigators continue to dig for human remains in Brazoria County.

    Reece is a man who has spent half his life locked up for sexual assaults and kidnapping. While court records and police reports detail his crimes, what’s the story behind the Oklahoma native?

    Those are answers that true crime novelist Kathryn Casey shed light on.

    In what was a unique relationship between novelist and convict, Casey shared some of the many letters that Reece had written to her after a jailhouse interview in 2013.

    “I went into the prison and sat down to talk to Bill Reece, which was a fairly disturbing experience,” Casey said. “He is a very cold, very calculating—a very manipulative man. At the same time—at other times, he was laughing and he was charming and he was very much the psychopath.”

    Reece’s criminal past stretches back decades. In 1986, he kidnapped his first known victim at the side of an Oklahoma highway.

    “He had her perform sexual acts and he duct-taped her and zipped her up into a sleeping bag. She very wisely talked her way out of it,” Casey said. “The odd thing was that once he had done this to her, he talked to her about wanting to marry her.”

    That victim was able to escape and Reece was charged, but his crimes didn’t end there.

    “While he was under indictment on that case, he crawled in a window at another woman's home after seeing her at a bar and sexually assaulted her,” Casey said.

    Reece was sentenced to 25 years in prison but, according to Casey, because of a technicality flaw he only served 10 years and was released in 1996.

    Casey says Reece grew up in the country outside Oklahoma City and was part of a fairly well respected middle-class family. His mother, father and sister died during his most recent stint in prison.

    “At that point he had a sister and an ex-wife who were both living in the Houston area and Bill Reece relocated to Houston,” Casey said.

    A few months later, girls began to disappear. In April 1997, 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood vanished. Her body was later found in a Pasadena pond.

    Then months later, on July 15, Kelli Cox from Denton, Texas, disappeared. Authorities are currently digging for her possible remains in a private field in Brazoria County.

    Eleven days later, Tiffany Johnston disappeared from Oklahoma—her body was also found. After 18 years, there was a break in the case that connected Reece and he was charged with Johnston’s murder.

    “In the Johnson case, they did find semen, which is where they got the DNA,” Casey said.

    And then there’s Jessica Cain, the 17-year-old La Marque girl who vanished after attending a theater cast party with friends.

    In March of this year, Reece was spotted leading authorities around in a southeast Houston field, telling them where to dig for Cain’s remains. On March 18, remains were found; however, autopsy results are pending to determine if they’re Cain’s remains.

    Reece is currently in prison on a kidnapping conviction from 1997. That victim was able to escape. The question many people are asking: Why is Reece helping now?

    “My understanding is he does not want to go to Oklahoma where the case is a death penalty case and that he is cooperating now with Texas officials, maybe to forestall that,” Casey said.

    Authorities are staying tight lipped about why Reece is talking, but Casey believes it has nothing to do with remorse.

    “He is a cold-blooded calculated psychopath and whatever he's doing he's doing for Bill Reece,” she said.

    http://www.khou.com/news/crime/who-i...ller/112797820
    "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

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Remains found at dig site in search for Kelli Cox

    KHOU News

    BRAZORIA COUNTY, TEXAS - Human remains have been found at a Brazoria County dig site near Rosharon, according to the Texas Rangers. Searchers had been looking for Kelli Cox, a young mother from Denton who vanished back in 1997.

    Cox's family got a call late Monday afternoon about the remains, which were found on Friday.

    "I feel like maybe we are a step closer to getting answers, and I've said all along if she's gone I want to know," said Jan Bynum, Kelli Cox's mom. "If this is Kelly and she's gone, I want this whole journey to bring some sort of good to someone."

    Authorities say they are excavating a strip of land off Highway 288 South, approximately 700 yards long. They began using their hands and smaller tools after the remains were found.

    Reece is also the prime suspect in the 1997 disappearance of 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood. She was jogging in her neighborhood when she was abducted. Smither's body was later found in Pasadena.

    Reece was recently charged with the 1997 murder of Tiffany Johnson of Bethany, Oklahoma after DNA linked him to the case. She was murdered after being abducted from a car wash.

    Reece is currently serving a life sentence for aggravated kidnapping. The Oklahoma native moved to Houston in 1996 after being released from prison for rape.

    Reece is also the prime suspect in the 1997 disappearance of 12-year-old Laura Smither of Friendswood. She was jogging in her neighborhood when she was abducted. Smither's body was later found in Pasadena.

    Reece was recently charged with the 1997 murder of Tiffany Johnson of Bethany, Oklahoma after DNA linked him to the case. She was murdered after being abducted from a car wash.

    Reece is currently serving a life sentence for aggravated kidnapping. The Oklahoma native moved to Houston in 1996 after being released from prison for rape.

    http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/texas...-cox/121279218
    "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

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Bones of Texas college student missing 19 years confirmed through forensic analysis

    Bones found in a rural Texas field have been confirmed as belonging to a 20-year-old woman missing since 1997, police said Monday.

    Forensic dental analysis positively identified the remains discovered earlier this month with the help of a kidnapper believed to have abducted University of North Texas student Kelli Ann Cox from downtown Denton, officials with the Denton Police Department told KPRC-TV.

    The UNT Center for Human Identification and Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology and the Galveston County medical examiner’s office matched Cox’s dental records with the bones revealed by former truck driver William Reece, investigators said.

    Reece, 56, is currently serving 60 years in a conviction for the 1997 kidnapping a Houston-area woman who said she only escaped by jumping out of his truck. Prosecutors near Oklahoma City charged him last year with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the 1997 death of Tiffany Johnston, The Dallas Morning News reported.

    Investigators have linked him to Cox’s disappearance that same year and to that of 17-year-old Jessica Cain of Galveston. Detectives await results from forensic examinations of other remains found last month that are believed to belong to Cain.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crim...icle-1.2596413
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Jessica Cain


    Remains identified as Jessica Cain

    KHOU News

    HOUSTON - After nearly two decades of not knowing, Jessica Cain's family finally has answers.

    The remains found in a southeast Houston field last month were positively identified as Cain's Friday, the Harris County medical examiner confirmed.

    The La Marque teen was 17 years old when she vanished in 1997. She had attended a theater cast party with friends and her car was found abandoned on I-45 near Tiki Island. There was no sign of Jessica.

    Forensic experts used DNA to identify her.

    "It's closure. At least now they know what happened," said a relative who didn't want to be identified.

    “We are relieved at the news that Jessica has been found,” Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady said. “But while this news brings confirmation, it also brings new sorrow to Jessica’s family, friends and those in law enforcement who have mourned her loss. We ask that everyone be respectful of her family and friends’ need for privacy during this time of grieving.”

    Investigators zeroed in on the field on East Orem Dr. thanks to a tip from an inmate namedWilliam Reece. He was a person of interest in Cain's disappearance, but he was never charged.

    Reece also told them about another burial site in Brazoria County. Last week, searchers found the remains of Kelli Cox. She was a young mother who disappeared from Denton in 1997.

    Reece was always the prime suspect in the 1997 murder of 12-year-old Laura Smither from Friendswood. She was abducted while jogging in her neighborhood. Her body was found several days later in Pasadena.

    While Reece hasn't been charged in any of the Texas cases yet, he was recently charged with the 1997 murder of Tiffany Johnston from Bethany, Oklahoma. She was abducted from a car wash and killed. Reece's attorney Anthony Osso said he decided to cooperate in the Cain and Cox cases to avoid the death penalty for the Johnston case.

    Reece is currently serving a life sentence for sexual assault of another young Oklahoma woman.

    The suspected serial killer moved to Houston in 1996 after he was released from prison on another sexual assault case. The young women began to disappear a few months later.

    The agencies involved in the Cain search included the Texas Rangers, the FBI, the La Marque Police Department, the Friendswood Police Department, the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office. Both Texas Equusearch and the Lighthouse Charity Team devoted a large number of volunteer hours and resources to assist the search.

    http://www.khou.com/news/remains-fou...cain/135457749
    "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

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Police plan to charge serial killer in death of UNT student missing since 1997

    By Sarah Mervosh
    The Dallas Morning Star

    More than a month has passed since authorities discovered the remains of missing University of North Texas student Kelli Cox.

    A convicted rapist and kidnapper has confessed to her death, police said, and led authorities to her body.

    Yet no charges have been filed.

    That’s because officers investigating the cold case hope to speak with the man who killed her one more time before they charge him, Denton police said Thursday

    Police plan to talk to admitted murderer William Lewis Reece as early as next week and expect charges to come quickly after that. They hope to address “unanswered” questions in an interview with Reece, who recently began cooperating with authorities and revealed himself as a serial killer.

    “I don’t see any circumstance where we wouldn’t file charges,” said Denton police spokesman Shane Kizer.

    But Kizer said another interview could help address “what happened and why” in 1997, when Cox, a young mother, mysteriously disappeared after a class field trip to the Denton city jail.

    He said those answers could help ease the ache of Cox’s family, who provided police with a list of questions to ask.

    “A lot of it is not only being thorough in the investigation, but also doing a courtesy to the family as well,” Kizer said.

    Police are likely to also look for details from Reece that could determine whether to charge him with murder or capital murder.

    Under Texas law, only certain killings qualify as “capital” cases in which the death penalty may be applied. Those include cases in which the person commits murder in the course of attempting another crime, such as kidnapping or sexual assault.

    Reece, 56, has a history of both.

    He has now been tied to attacks on seven women in two states, including four who turned up dead.

    Reece’s attorney, Anthony Osso, said his client recently began cooperating with the hope of avoiding the death penalty. He said Reece would not face any death penalty cases in Texas.

    But Kizer said his department has not agreed to any deals that he’s aware of.

    Reece already has been charged with murder and kidnapping in Oklahoma, where authorities used DNA to tie him to a teenager’s death. It’s unclear whether he’ll face the death penalty in that case.

    He is also expected to be charged in the death of Jessica Cain, a Galveston-area teenager who also disappeared in 1997 and whose remains were recently found in a field in southeast Houston.

    http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2016...l-killer.html/
    Last edited by Helen; 05-05-2016 at 09:16 PM. Reason: Added author & media name
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Jessica Cain's family appalled by William Reece's request for military burial

    William Reece has several other requests in exchange for his help

    The family of a murdered Galveston County girl expressed outrage after learning a suspected killer wants to be buried in a veteran's cemetery. William Reece is suspected of murdering four girls and women in 1997. All cases remain unsolved until recently.

    "This is absolutely disgusting. Who in their right mind would bury a serial killer among American heroes?" Jessica Cain's family told KPRC.

    Channel 2 Investigates reported Tuesday that Reece's attorney said his client asked to be given a veteran's burial. Reece recently led investigators to the remains of Jessica Cain and Kelli Ann Cox. Cain disappeared from Galveston County in 1997, and Cox disappeared from Denton the same year.

    The request came during negotiations with Reece in exchange for information regarding the murders of Cain, Cox, Laura Smither and Tiffany Johnston. Reece's attorney, Anthony Osso, said his client is “willing to accept responsibility” for the killings.

    Reece has not yet been charged with any of the crimes as Osso and prosecutors continue negotiating a “global resolution” to all the cases. Osso said Texas authorities have agreed to take the death penalty “off the table” in exchange for information and guilty pleas.

    Osso said Oklahoma authorities have not yet agreed to this stipulation. Johnston was murdered in 1997 near Oklahoma City, and her body was found discarded near an interstate.

    “What I'm trying to do is get everybody on board for prosecuting these cases and resolving them quickly without the necessity of trial," Osso said on Tuesday.

    Osso said the plan would be to have Reece plead guilty to all the Texas cases, receive sentencing and then be sent to Oklahoma to face charges in the Johnston case. Osso said even without the death penalty, Reece will be given such lengthy sentences in each case he will die in prison.

    Osso said Reece wants to serve whatever sentences he is given in Oklahoma amongst the general prisoner population and to be given a job in prison. Osso said Reece is in poor health and wants to avoid spending his prison time on death row.

    Osso has been in a Texas prison since 1998 after being convicted of kidnapping Sandra Sapaugh from Webster in 1997. Sapaugh escaped Reece by jumping from his truck as he was driving down the interstate.

    http://fw.to/27m13pW

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    Undated photo of Kathy Dobry and her daughter, Tiffany Johnston


    Cases against accused killer William Reece at a standstill

    By Robert Arnold
    KPRC Houston News

    HOUSTON - The process to resolve several-decades-old murder cases hit a standstill over whether prosecutors in another state will seek the death penalty against the prime suspect. William Lewis Reece is suspected of killing several young girls and women in Texas and Oklahoma in the late 1990s.

    The only person Reece has been charged with murdering is Tiffany Johnston. The 19-year-old newlywed was murdered near Oklahoma City in 1997. However, it wasn’t until September of 2015 that Reece was charged with her murder. Johnston’s mother, Kathy Dobry, said she'll accept nothing less than the death penalty.

    “He took my daughter's life and his life needs to be taken too,” said Dobry. “In the Bible it says, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.'”

    Even though Oklahoma officials charged Reece, they allowed him to remain in Texas so he could help lead police to the bodies of Jessica Cain and Kelli Ann Cox. Cain disappeared from Galveston County in 1997 and Cox disappeared from Denton the same year.

    Those cases remain unsolved until Reece led detectives to Cain’s body in March and to Cox’s body in April. Reece is also the prime suspect in the murder of Laura Smither, who was also abducted and murdered in 1997.

    Reece has been in a Texas prison since 1998, when he was convicted of kidnapping Sandra Sapaugh in Webster. Sapaugh escaped Reece by jumping out of his truck.

    “I think this needs to be taken care of now. I think we've waited long enough,” said Dobry.

    Reece's attorney, Anthony Osso, said the plan was for his client to “accept responsibility” in these murders in exchange for not getting the death penalty and for serving his prison time in Oklahoma, where he still has family.

    “He didn't give his victims a chance to have their wishes heard, or anything. So why should he get what he wants?” said Dobry.

    Texas officials agreed to this, Oklahoma prosecutors have not. Osso said he was hoping this plan would see Reece charged and convicted of the Texas crimes without the necessity of lengthy trials. Then Reece would be sent to Oklahoma to answer for Johnston's murder.

    It has been nearly two months since Cox’s body was discovered and Oklahoma prosecutors have not yet definitively said whether they will seek the death penalty.

    “I believe this is what he deserves,” said Dobry. “This mom is not giving up on the death penalty.”

    Since Oklahoma prosecutors have not agreed to take the death penalty off the table, the Texas cases remain at a standstill. Reece remains in the Friendswood jail, where he has been since he was temporarily released from prison to help in the search for Cox and Cain.

    Officials with the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office have not yet returned Channel 2 Investigates calls for comment.

    Officials with the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office said they are working with Oklahoma prosecutors and left open the possibility of extraditing Reece to Oklahoma and filing the Texas cases at a later date.

    Osso said if that happens then it could be years before the Texas cases are resolved.

    http://www.click2houston.com/news/ca...t-a-standstill
    "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

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    Case against accused serial killer at a standstill over death penalty debate in Oklahoma

    By K. Querry
    KFOR News

    OKLAHOMA CITY – The case against an accused serial killer is at a standstill.

    William Reece is currently serving a 60 year prison sentence for kidnapping after he abducted 19-year-old Sandra Sapaugh. Fortunately, she was able to escape and call police.

    Recently, Reece has been linked to several unsolved murders across Texas and Oklahoma.

    According to KPRC
    , Kelli Cox disappeared on July 15, 1997 after touring the Denton jail with her criminology class. She phoned her boyfriend to pick her up from a payphone nearby, but was never heard from again.

    Nearly two decades later, Reece decided to lead investigators to Cox’s remains.

    Investigators in Oklahoma also decided to test Reece’s DNA against an unsolved murder that occurred around the same time in Bethany.

    On July 26, 1997, 19-year-old Tiffany Johnston was abducted from the Sunshine Car Wash in Bethany.

    The next day, her body was discovered in Canadian County.

    Cox and Johnston are two of five women who were kidnapped, murdered or disappeared in 1997 under similar circumstances.

    All five are believed to be linked to Reece.

    However, Reece has only been charged with Johnston’s murder.

    Oklahoma authorities allowed Texas to hold Reece in the Lone Star State so he could lead police to the victims’ bodies.

    Reece’s attorney says his client would admit to his role in the murders and would lead police to the bodies in exchange for not getting the death penalty.

    Texas officials agreed to the terms, but Oklahoma prosecutors have not.

    “He didn’t give his victims a chance to have their wishes heard, or anything. So why should he get what he wants?” Kathy Dobry, Johnston’s mother, told KPRC.

    Instead, Oklahoma officials have not decided whether or not to pursue the death penalty in this case.

    “He took my daughter’s life and his life needs to be taken too,” Dobry said. “In the Bible, it says, ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

    Reece moved to Houston in 1996 after serving time in Oklahoma for rape.

    http://kfor.com/2016/06/21/case-agai...e-in-oklahoma/
    "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

  9. #9
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    Accused serial killer William Reece to be tried for capital murder in Oklahoma

    By Harvey Rice and Dana Thompson
    The Houston Chronicle

    Accused serial killer William Reece will be transferred to Oklahoma to face capital-murder charges under an agreement made between that state and Galveston County before Reece led investigators to the remains of two of his alleged victims in the Houston area, a prosecutor said Friday.

    Oklahoma authorities had already charged Reece, 57, with capital murder when investigators in Galveston County began conversations with him that eventually led to the discovery of the bodies of two young women who disappeared 19 years ago, said Kevin Petroff, a first assistant district attorney in Galveston County.

    The agreement with Oklahoma "had allowed us from the beginning, rather than transport him to Oklahoma, to talk with him and his attorney in our investigation," Petroff said. "It was always agreed that we would transport him to Oklahoma to be tried on capital murder charges before we would file any cases."

    Reece's attorney, Anthony Osso, was not immediately available for comment Friday. But he previously told the Houston Chronicle that his client agreed to cooperate with authorities in hopes of negotiating plea agreements to avoid trials in Texas. Osso also had said that Reece hoped his cooperation would help him avoid the death penalty in Oklahoma.

    Petroff said decisions about bringing charges against Reece in Texas will be made shortly after he is extradited to Oklahoma. He said Oklahoma officials have not reached a decision on whether to seek the death penalty for Reece in the 1997 kidnapping, rape and strangulation of newlywed Tiffany Johnston.

    Rowland Scott, who is first assistant district attorney for Oklahoma County, said prosecutors would have to make a decision on whether to seek the death penalty before Reece's preliminary hearing, usually within 60 days of his transfer.

    "The defense has asked us to forego the death penalty and we have refused to give that assurance," Scott said.

    The convicted rapist and kidnapper led police to the remains of Jessica Cain and Kelli Cox, who vanished in Texas nearly 20 years ago. His attorney told the Houston Chronicle in May that Reece also admitted killing Laura Smither, a 12-year-old from Friendswood who vanished while jogging. The girl's body was found in Pasadena on April 20, 1997.

    In the Oklahoma case, Reece has been charged with kidnapping, raping and strangling Johnston. No charges have been filed in the Cain, Cox or Smither cases. He is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence in Huntsville for a separate kidnapping in 1997. On Thursday, the website for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had him listed as "temporary release."

    Smither's body was found in Pasadena in 1997. Cox, a 20-year-old University of North Texas student, went missing in Denton that same year. Her remains were found earlier this year in Brazoria County.

    Johnston was abducted from a car wash in Bethany, Okla., on July 26, 1997, and her body was found the next day. DNA testing linked Reece to her slaying.

    Cain, a Galveston teenager, disappeared on Aug. 17, 1997, in Clear Lake after attending a cast party for a high school musical at a local restaurant. Her truck was later found on the shoulder of I-45.

    http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...ce-8346799.php

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Slain girl's mother would like to meet with admitted serial killer

    In court, William Reece agreed to be returned to Okla., to face capital murder charges

    GALVESTON — Gay Smither acknowledges that "forgiveness is a journey," but she said that one day she'd like to sit down and look into the eyes of William Reece, the admitted serial killer linked to the death of her 12-year-old daughter Laura.

    "I don't know if he'll agree to that," Smither, 56, told reporters after a court hearing Wednesday. "I would like to share my faith and talk to him about his soul and the only path to redemption is to, really, come forward with the truth of his life if he has any hope of saving his soul. I'd like to share that with him."

    Smither made her comments after Reece, a convicted kidnapper and rapist, agreed during a court hearing Wednesday to be returned to Oklahoma to be tried for capital murder in the 1997 death of another young woman.

    Reece, who is serving a 60-year prison sentence in Texas for kidnapping, recently led police to the remains of Jessica Cain and Kelli Cox, who vanished in Texas in 1997. His attorney says he has admitted responsibility for their deaths and for the slaying of Laura Smither, who disappeared while jogging in her Friendswood neighborhood that same year. Her body was found two weeks later in Pasadena.

    Accompanied by her husband Bob outside the court hearing, Gay Smither said Wednesday she realized that a meeting with Reece would not be possible until after he had been convicted and sentenced in Laura Smither's death.

    "Forgiveness is a journey," she said, "but one day I would like mediation."

    Such a meeting would require the agreement of Reece and his attorney, according to Kevin Petroff, an assistant district attorney in Galveston County.

    http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/ba...in-8375896.php


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