bonnie harkey house

Bruce Harkey was convicted Tuesday of capital murder for a 2012 scheme to kill his 85-year-old stepmother, Bonnie Harkey, and her housekeeper, Karen Johnson. He dropped out of college and moved west, driving trucks in California and holding odd jobs before finding work in Nevada as an officer in the Reno Police Department in 1978. Finally, at two in the morning, after repeatedly calling Carls cellphone, Sheriff Brown reached Carl himself. Hed planned to smother Bonnie with a pillow at naptime and then sneak out, but when Karen spotted him as she answered the door, he panicked, tackling her in a bear hug and throwing her to the floor, where he suffocated her beneath his body weight. You get rid of that kid or Im going back to Waco, he claims she told Riley. Riley had his own way of doing things, recalled Winston Millican, a great-great-grandson of Edmund Risiens who maintains his own pecan orchards in San Saba. Were trying to figure out who Tommy Lee Jones plays in the movie, he quipped, if he doesnt play himself.. And now, new details uncovered by KXAN could have a major impact on the upcoming trial., Authorities said that the murder-for-hire scheme was hatched to gain control of the Harkey family estate and rooted in deep family secrets. Theyd take a mouthful of food and spit it out, or theyd talk about her, giggle all the time, act rude. He stayed for about two hours and cried, recalled Shawn Oliver, Clydenes son. He traced the winning nuts to a tree he dubbed the Mother Pecan, then began growing his own through novel pollination and grafting techniques, earning himself the nickname the Johnny Appleseed of pecans. His efforts made the trees commercially viable, and Risien became the nuts biggest booster, mailing samples to Queen Victoria and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Watching through a pair of binoculars, hed stare, for hours at a time, at the orchards that werent his. Authorities say Harkey had a deal to sell his stepmother's pecan ranch in San Saba County for more than $570,000, but couldn't agree with Johnson on how much to give Bonnie Harkey. Connie, who had married after college and moved to Fort Worth, adopted an eight-month-old in 1984, a baby that she and her husband named Carl Pressley. Im ninety-nine percent sure that Carl Pressleys involved., Deputies spent the next few hours trying to track down Carl and Lillian, requesting a DPS Silver Alert for Bonnie and a statewide search for Carls Mustang. 2012-2023, 2paragraphs Productions, LLC. The real story is of greed, corruption, love, hate, lies, and violence. Nobody else did that after the seventies., Perhaps it was Rileys work ethic and stature that first caught the attention of Bonnie Sawyer Compton. including 3 cats, a dog, a gecko and a pet snake. Theyre either dead or in jail., Even before her killing on March 25, it was clear Bonnie Harkey was slowing down. 1:20 Cold Justice Kelly Siegler Meets with . And when the jury read it out, his mouth dropped open and his shoulders dropped. While admitting to the kidnapping and murders, Pressley says he did it because his uncle, Bruce Harkey, paid him to do it. A change of venue brought the high-profile trial to Burnet County. San Saba County Sheriff Stephen Boyd, who attended the same church as Bonnie Harkey, said the verdict was just a relief for San Saba County in general.. One of Dwight's cousins moved to San Saba, attended The Father House, and went to the Christian Women's . Back in San Saba, meanwhile, Bonnie and Riley had become grandparents again. View the profiles of people named Bonnie Harkey. Her body was eventually discovered 200 miles east, in a rural area in Leon County. Tonight @DatelineNBC reports on the death of Bonnie Harkey, the matriarch of a prominent San Saba pecan farming family. The more we tried to convince her to get away from him, the more she would say it was not the Christian thing to do. But today, there are no Harkeys left on the farm. In exchange for a lighter sentence, Carl and Lillian agreed to testify against Bruce, and jurors also heard from two inmates, including one former Aryan Brotherhood member, who claimed that Bruce had tried to hire them from jail to kill both Carl and Spinks. Since pecans are pollinated only by the wind, excessive rainfall during spring bloom prevents pollination, as noted above, and poorly pollinated flowers produce small nuts that later abort. Bonnie, too, was grief-stricken. A century ago, the Harkey family learned how to make money grow on trees pecan trees. There was drought and sudden freeze and poor soil drainage. I want to stay here as long as I can.. His late father left the family estate in Bonnies control, but Bruce was set to inherit a large portion of the estate upon his stepmothers death. Those close to Bonnie say she was afraid of Bruce and other family members. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. To comfort her, the sheriff handed her a cup of water, and her lawyer whispered, You are making out better than anyone else in this, by far. She received 45 years. At least 1 dead, 5 injured in Massachusetts house party shooting, 2-year-old daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers player drowns after falling into pool, Tornado strikes Virginia coast, leaving behind trail of damage, AI-generated music growing exponentially, sparking debate. new . (Since Bruce was broke, Carl didnt see any of that money until August, when Spinks approved the sale of a large wheat field to a neighbor for $95,000; Carl accepted a check from Bruce for $7,500.) The two needed to get back immediately, the sheriff told him: Karen was dead and Bonnie was missing. He would go along and dig up an ant bed, and he would sprinkle them, and we would go to the next tree, Bruce recalled. During the interrogation, Price asked Carl a question. But when one of the owners couldnt get the blessing of his stepmothers guardian to sell it, authorities said, he decided to kill for it. There was no sign of a struggle, except for a broken fingernail on Karens right hand. Outdoorsy types can enjoy hunting, fishing, hiking, and swimming. But both those possibilities were excluded when the bloodhound, using a scent swab from her pillow, followed her trail down the driveway almost to the road, indicating shed likely left in a vehicle. Who owns the largest pecan orchard in the world? He started to warn me at least once a week, that if I ever tried to run , Bruce Harkeys federal detention order (contains profane, Travis County arrest report from 2003 (contains profane language). Dont tell anybody I had anything to do with it. Bruce gave him $100, with the promise of depositing $350 more in his bank account on Monday, once the deed was done. Bonnie says she lost just about everything in the blaze at the home . March 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? Bonnie doted on the strawberry-blond little boy, proudly displaying his photos on her mantel. An agent for Hollywood movie star Tommy Lee Jones made a tentative unsigned offer of $574,000 for the family-owned orchard back in May 2011, Burnet County District Attorney Sonny McAfee said. *With an incidental appearance by Tommy Lee Jones. Carl, looking pudgy and sporting a large horseshoe mustache, nervously bounced his legs, his feet shackled, as he sat in his orange-and-white jumpsuit. I drove to San Saba in late summer. Leave them blank to get signed up. As volunteers combed the property, chief deputy Bill Price returned to the sheriffs office to work the phones. After that, Price and Sergeant John Wilkerson moved Carl to the sally port of the jail, where they could use a patrol cars dash cam to record the interrogation. (Jennifer was never arrested, and John escaped public scrutiny when he died of a heart attack three months after the murders.) As I got out to read the inscription, the propertys owner, a mustachioed 74-year-old named Larry Hibler, rode up to me on an ATV. I didnt have a damn thing to do with harming that woman in any way, Bruce Harkey said in a phone call with KXAN. I dont feel guilty because Carls not a human being. (In one, Carl, around eight years old, sits next to Santa in a red cap, while Bonnie sits on Santas lap in a Christmas sweater.) Bruce was infuriated. The daughter of Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman and the late Beth Chapman told ET Thursday that she lost her home in a fire. Meanwhile, KXAN has found that it is not the first time Bruce Harkey has been accused of soliciting murder. We uncovered a 2003 case in which there is evidence he tried to have his ex-wife killed. KXAN located Harkeys ex-wife, whom we are identifying only as Kami. She has been in hiding with their child since before her marriage ended.. How many pounds of unshelled pecans make a pound of shelled pecans? They would laugh at her and criticize her food, her sister continued. An English cabinetmaker who was captivated by the wrinkly nuts, Risien offered a $5 prize to whoever brought him the finest specimens. Dateline NBC will air a report on the Harkey family on April 23 at 10pm. He had been playing video games in another room, he said through tears, and hadnt heard any commotion. Investigators focus on one of Bonnie's stepsons, Bruce Harkey, as the mastermind behind the plot to kill Bonnie Harkey. Was I enamored with or happy about Bonnie Harkey? House in Marcq-en-Barul, Hauts-de-France, France Contact. How much can you make off one pecan tree? Join Facebook to connect with Bonnie Harkey and others you may know. The co-worker and Bruces boss became so alarmed that they alerted the authorities, and a Texas Ranger and an ATF special agent began to record Bruces conversations. By the time they arrived, it was evening, and Carl told Bonnie that he wanted to show her a real nice fishing hole.. According to Carl, he approached another potential hit man about killing Bonnie and Spinks but found the $10,000 asking price too steep. It was Riley, a man with a long, bushy goatee and square head, who purchased the initial 113.9-acre tract for a farm in Harkeyville in 1885, and it was on this farm that his grandson and eventual heir, Olga Bryan Harkey, was born, in 1898. A portrait of Bonnie used in her obituary. The caretaker and Bonnie later came home., As a signal, Pressleys girlfriend rang the doorbell, knowing Johnson would answer, police said. But Bruce, now a convicted felon, had trouble finding work. . As for Carl, he was like a bad penny who kept turning up. Investigators say the motive behind Bruce Harkeys solicitation of Bonnie Harkeys murder was greed. Bruce, meanwhile, was shuttled back and forth a few times to live with his mother in Nevada (one move, when he was fourteen, was announced in theNews & Starwith the headline Bruce Goes West). Facebook gives people the power to. Search Begins for Missing Bonnie Harkey. After reconstructing Bonnies movements that morning, the search team was stumped. Despite these outbursts, she continued to write checks for him. First of all, I wouldnt hire Forrest Gump to commit murder, you know what Im saying? he told a deputy. Carl also had a temper, one so volatile that First Baptist Church barred him from the premises after he showed up at Bible study one Wednesday to demand money from Bonnie. Bonnie, who had been watching Eric, rushed him to the hospital, but by the time she got there, the baby was dead. But when Brown arrived at the house, hefound a puzzling scene. The marker stood in front of a metal storage building and across the way, a donkey grazed in front of a newly built house. (Bruce initially offered $500, but Carl, knowing his financial situation, offered to do it for $50 less. Betty Ann had provided a long pink dress for Bonnie to be buried in. . Her reading glasses were resting on the floor beside her head, and she was cool to the touch. Though the couple had a daughter and a son, they ended up separating, and Carl started dating Lillian King, with whom he had another daughter, in 2008. She, like the three hundred other assembled mourners, was still reeling from the shock of her friends violent end. (John by this time had settled outside Fort Worth and had three children of his own.) I dont want nothin to do with it. As a boy, Carl had suffered from ADHD and often butted heads with his mother; as a young man, hed developed a love for motorcycles and meth, which had worn his bottom teeth down to little yellow stubs. The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the familys history.April 24, 2015. View Details. Rileys wife, Joan, had recently walked out on him and their twoboys after a troubledmarriage, packingup her Ford stationwagon and hightailing it to the desert of Nevada. A contract was immediately drawn up. Harkey was arrested and charged with solicitation of murder.. His ex-wife, his eighth wife Kami, said Brucetried to have her killed, too. An autopsy would reveal that she had been hit over the head and drowned in the shallow water. When Bonnie Harkey, the 85-year-old matriarch of a prominent San Saba family, was brutally murdered in 2012, her death spelled the end of a legendary pecan dynasty. When Bonnie Harkey, the 85-year-old matriarch of a prominent San Saba family, was brutally murdered in 2012, her death spelled the end of a legendary pecan dynasty. When I arrived at the historical marker for Harkeyville, I stopped the car. The Harkey brothers lined up the lucrative deal to sell the orchard to the movie stars agent. He is the living epitome of evil.. Another time, when Bonnie refused to buy him a set of new tires, Carl blocked her car with his truck and refused to let her leave. Native pecan trees already dotted the property, including one that theSan Saba Newswould later proclaim to be among the most beautiful and symmetric pecan trees in the county, but O.B., as he was known, planted the familys first orchard in 1926, installing a grove of 1,200 trees and naming it the Home Place Orchard. Hed openly shared his travel plans to Fort Worth, he continued, because he was excited to go to the big city. This was all Harkey before, the whole area, he told me, stretching his hand out. One afternoon, he showed up at Oliver Pecan Company an hour before closing time to ask for a job. Find contact info for Bonnie Sharkey - phone number, address, email. He willed it to Connie, while the other two groves were to go to John and Bruce, so that all three kids would have their own orchards someday. I thought Bruce was my best friend. He and Lillian were out in Normangee, four hours east of San Saba, staying at a campground. Bruce claimed hed been framed in the federal case, but many around town distrusted him, suspecting something was amiss in the Harkey family. The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the familys history. This idea consumed him. 4:12 Cold Justice An Exclusive Look Into the Case of Steven Phelps. At her hearing, Lillian, her pale blond hair held back by a white scrunchie, sobbed uncontrollably. The newlyweds moved into an apartment in town; Bruce went to class and worked at a Texaco station. The Harkeys had that reputationthat there was always some trouble brewing after Riley died. When she and Riley were introduced, in early 1963, the tall, 36-year-old brunette was working as a telephone operator in Waco, a divorce trying to make ends meet. kxan.com 'Pecan Queen's' grandson gets life in prison for her death | KXAN.com We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. At least 1 dead, 5 injured in Massachusetts house party shooting, 2-year-old daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers player drowns after falling into pool, Tornado strikes Virginia coast, leaving behind trail of damage, AI-generated music growing exponentially, sparking debate. SAN SABA, Texas (KXAN) At 85, Bonnie Harkey was loved by her neighbors in San Saba County and affectionately known as the Pecan Queen because of the sprawling and fertile farm of nut-bearing trees that had been in her family for years. There was a payment made to Carl Pressley and of course there were some arrangements to be made that further payment would be made to Carl Pressley for killing Bonnie Harkey, said Wilkerson. I cant tell you how many hundreds of miles my grandfather and I walked in that Harkeyville Orchard, said Bruce recently. She never said anything about it, but I could tell by the way she acted.. A day earlier, San Saba residents had attended a funeral service for Karen; now they crowded into First Baptist for Bonnies. John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. Bonnie Harkey owned the pecan farm and had willed 94 acres of it to a grandson, Carl Wade Pressley. Now word around town was that hed begun to eye the Prichard Orchard. She had been hit in the head and then drowned, said McAfee. A local lawyer by the name of Dick Miller stepped in on Bonnies behalf, asking his law partner, Darrel Spinks, to get involved. House in Tourcoing, Hauts-de-France, France Contact. Pressley and his girlfriend, Lillian King, face charges in San Saba and Leon counties. Who is Bonnie Harkey? Taylor Prewitt is the newsletter editor for Texas Monthly. That summer the couple left San Saba and moved to Lubbock,where, like his siblings, Bruce enrolled at Texas Tech. Like Bruce, Carl had a rap sheet, which included charges for trespassing and domestic violencein 2005 hed allegedly tried to run over his stepfather with a tractorand he also had an eye for pecans: after realizing that a truckful of nuts could net him several thousand dollars, hed begun filching them from Bonnies barn. He considered the pecans a hobby, however; his primary interest was turkeys, which he bred by the thousands and shipped as far away as North Dakota and New Hampshire. House in Roubaix, Hauts-de-France, France Contact. In a good year, the three orchards brought in more than $100,000, so Bonnie remained comfortably in the house, paying longtime foreman Gaspar Carachero to maintain the farm. Connie N Harkey (1948 - 1991) Born April 19, 1948 Death January 1991 Summary Connie N Harkey was born on April 19, 1948, and died at age 42 years old in January 1991.

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