Brazil attempted to flee but was found hiding in weeds by tracking dogs from the Arkansas Department of Correction. Attorney Dan Cogdell poses for a portrait in his office Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, in Houston. Erica Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning journalist with15 years of experience in the broadcast news business. Our That is when officers with the Mountain Home Police Department responded to a report of a 16-year-old boy with a large chest . Business papers located on the scene revealed records verifying that dozens of men, and some women, had worked on the ranch over the years. Joe Smith, who oversees Sunset Cemetery in Mountain Home, TX, stands near a landscaped section of the cemetery, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, where a stream runs through which is fed by a spring on what was the Ellebracht Ranch. Enslaved unwitting laborers chance that you will experience a violent crime in Mountain Home news outlet so much in! The work was hard, but he was used to manual labor. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. N'T help what his father and grandfather did, but he wasnt only. Marshall Police report at approximately 11:37 a.m., receiving numerous 911 calls in reference to multiple shots being fired in the 700 block of Cross St. Curtis Kador Sr., of Marshall, died . One day investigators got a tip that hitchhikers were being abducted on I-10 and lured to Ellebrachts ranch. Their capture is toldthrough variousmedia reportsand their arrests were mainly because one man was lucky enough to escape. Bones found at the site were determined to be those of a young adult male. The oldest brother, Richard,was at home witha friend, who was engaged to one of the girls, to eat an early lunch. To local Fox affiliate KDFW, 15 detectives worked the decades-old case before after. Wes suffered from what happened up there, and he didn't deserve that, but Wes always tried to live down the past. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, In a faded photo on the wall of Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr, center, poses with his son Walter Wesley Ellebracht Jr., left, and Jr's wife Joyce Ellebracht, right. Walter Ellebracht, along with accomplices, had kidnapped, enslaved, and tortured people on the property. To try to desensitize the seven women and five men on the jury, Haynes played the torture tapes often and asked Cogdell to shock himself with a battery-operated cattle prod like the one the Ellebrachts used. Ellebracht Sr. received probation, Junior remained free throughout his 15-year sentence due to appeals, and Caldwell served less than three years of his 14-year sentence. document.write(theYear) Would you wear Dyson's new air-purifying headphones? I totally thought we were screwed. APD said on Wednesday, Jan. 5, at . Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, Slave Ranch Trial-Kerr County courthouse, L-R witness Dennis "Pete" Johnson and D.A. The Comanches normally made their way from Mexicothrough Texas during October, and when they killed someone during a raid, they would also scalp them. Members of the community were not in the dark, either: it was well known that the Ellebrachts drove up and down the highway in their blue van looking for hitchhikers. Mark Allen Hamilton, a former ranch foreman, testified about how the Ellebrachts liberally used the cattle prod for both discipline and torture. Caldwell, who now lives in a mobile home on San Antonio's South Side, said that after a fire destroyed the factory, workers chopped wood to be sold in San Antonio. Bob Walls sits on his pickup truck, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, thinking about his friend Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, who was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. I-10. Caldwell and another worker built a funeral pyre and, as a cassette tape of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire played, burned Bates' remains. A book was written about the ranch, The True Story of the Texas Slave Ranch How a Degenerate Ranching Family Got Away With Murder. Roslyn is family-oriented and loves spending time with her fianc and chihuahua Paco. In a faded photo on the wall of Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr, center left, poses with Joe Marino Sr who owned Big Joe's Country Store where key chains made by alleged slaves were sold. This was the craziest case I've ever had, but these were drifters, and they were seen as less entitled to the benefits than the rest of us are. Houston attorney Dan Cogdell, who worked with Richard Racehorse Haynes on the defense, He would talk about some of the arguments and fights, but that wasnt his life. This is about 20 miles west of Kerrville. Carlton Robert Caldwell speaks in his home in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, about his involvement of conspiracy in 1984, to commit aggravated kidnapping in connection with what has been called "The Texas Slave Ranch" owned by Walter Wesley Ellebracht and his family near Mountain Home, TX. He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. No information is available as to what brought Brazil to this area. now = new Date There were a lot of hitchhikers, but they were never held forcibly. The Texas Slave Ranch is the name popularly given to a ranch near Mountain Home, Texas where workers who had been abducted were forced to work without pay making cedar key chains that sold throughout the Texas Hill Country. He later was indicted, along with the Ellebrachts, for his role in Bates' torture and death. Wesley Sr. and his son, along with whatever foreman they had on hand, recruited men who hitchhiked along the nearby interstate corridor, telling them theyd offer a hot meal and bed in exchange for labor. Olson is alleged to have told deputies he had permission from Cunningham to be in the residence, and that he had made entry on Christmas Day only to take a nap.. The reality for many was imprisonment in a bunkhouse and torture with a cattle prod for the slightest mistake. Once they got to the ranch, Boyd decided to only stay the night. Mrs. Dowdy rushed to the hillside and found her childrenpierced by arrows, mutilated by tomahawks, and shot. 'Texas Slave Ranch' offspring made the best of life, Severe storms, damaging winds expected in S.A. area, NWS says, Massive pirate-themed San Antonio park delays opening date. Copyright 2023 Empire Media Group, Inc. Front Page Detectives is a registered trademark. Crimes measuring greater than 100% indicate higher than average crime rate for that offense. The Grim Discoveries. mountain home, texas murders. According to the New York Times, Boyd was informed theyd be digging their own graves that day. A Department of Public Safety trooper walks away from an area where a body reportedly was burned on the Ellebracht ranch. According to UPI.com, Hamilton stated he observed other victims being forced to use the cattle prod on each other. Caldwell was no longer needed, and in March, one of the Ellebrachts dropped him off at a truck stop with $20. Welcome to your nightmare: 38 years ago, feds raided a Kerr ranch where hitchhikers were tortured, S.A. mom sentenced for transporting meth with kids in car. Inside his cell sat a man by the name Potter, who, not knowing his new cellmate belonged to the Dowdy family, bragged about being a part of the raid. Boyd was chained to two other men, and was told ''we'd not be going home and we'd being digging our own graves before the day was out.''. A family had a 3,500-acre ranch where they manufactured wooden key chains, and they needed help for chores and whatever else they directed Bates to do. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. What was supposed to be a new beginning turned into a brutal ending for the Dowdy children and a terrible life of sorrow for the surviving family members? Hey, what's up? day! By then, much of the Texas Slave Ranch had been sold in pieces to fund the Ellebrachts' defense. His son, Junior, received 15 years in prison, but served less than 10 years. SAN ANTONIO - Kidnapping, torture and murder are some of the horrifying details that came from a ranch in the community of Mountain Home. The Texas Slave Ranch is the name popularly given to a ranch near Mountain Home, Texas where workers who had been abducted were forced to work without pay making cedar key chains that sold throughout the Texas Hill Country.The ranch was raided in 1984 and the operation shut down. On mountain home texas murders 30, 1961 in Kerr County in the 1880s, had been forever captured audiotape! They tortured a bunch of people, and it was unbelievable that stuff like that could happen, Sutton said. Key chains hand made by alleged slaves of the Ellebracht Ranch hang in a frame on a wall in Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Caldwell also was given a 15-year sentence, but since he'd served nearly three years while awaiting trial, he was released on mandatory supervision in 1988. The Ellebrachts, descendants of Germans who settled the Hill Country in the 1880s, had inherited land with a robust spring. | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Return Policy. To his throat before he lost consciousness leave the next day unable to work screams forever mountain home texas murders on. Ellebracht Sr is the grandfather of Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, who was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. Before he could exit the property, though, Ellebracht, his son and wife, and some ranch hands approached him, armed to the teeth. The charges were initially murder and aggravated kidnapping, but the defendants ended up with light sentences after being convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping. And the victims were unsavory types whose testimony was suspect. A male voice responds, "Tell Robert it feels good. Since the nearest Ranger camp was well over a hundred miles away, a posse of local men formedand tracked the Comanches for nearly two hundred miles before they lost their trail. Crimes measuring less than 100% indicate lower than average crime rates for that offense. Before joining the team, she was a producer and video editor at KIII-TV and a radio intern in Corpus Christi. 0 Comments Love SAN ANTONIO Kidnapping, torture and murder are some of the horrifying details that came from a ranch in the community of Mountain Home. Texas Hill Country Facebook page is growing by over 1,000 fans per | Courtesy: Baxter County Sheriff's Office Read Less For comparison, the national total crime rate is 2,489 incidents for every 100,000 people. Ellebracht III was arrested as a teen, when a group of friends stole beer from a convenience store and broke the window of a car, but was trying to get the record expunged, Walls said. But something strange began happening on their ranch in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Police entered and searched the Ellebrachts dropped him off at a restaurant, where he saw so much bad the. He hadn't seen his second daughter, Alexis Faith Bockemehl, 17, since infancy, but the two girls met at their father's memorial service. Ellebracht Sr. received probation, his son Walter stayed free during a 15-year sentence due to appeals and Caldwell only served less than three years of his 14-year sentence. Jim Haynie, a neighbor and friend of Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr, sits in his home office where he runs his water well drilling business. True stories from Mountain Home lay out the chilling details. UPDATE: Mother, daughter receive concurrent life sentences in 2012 Mountain City double murder; co-conspirator gets 25 years - PHOTOS/VIDEO Becky Campbell Author facebook Roslyn Jimenez is a news producer at KSAT. Daughters Alice, age 18, Martha, age 16, and Susan, age 14 were out watching over the family's flock of sheep with their youngest brother James, age 11 about a half a mile from home. Mountain Home, Texas, is nearly as isolated today as it was in 1984. Restaurateur Joe Marino Jr. said his parents bought the Ellebrachts' key chains for a quarter and sold them for 35 cents at their former business, Big Joe's Country Store, for years. The jury didnt fully believe the outlandish nature of the torture, despite hearing the audiotapes. It's located in the west-central part of the state, in the beautiful and empty hill country where farming is impossible, but ranchers can make a living. He has been locked up in the state prison system and the county jail. On the tape, voices can be heard begging someone named "Robert" to stop shocking them. Texas Slave Ranch - Horror In The Mountain Home : Texas Murders At The Ellebracht Family Ranch In 1984 - Kindle edition by Rouge, Ronan. Key chains hand made by alleged slaves of the Ellebracht Ranch hang in a frame on a wall in Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. But details that emerged after the April 1984 raid, triggered by an escaped worker's call to the Texas Rangers, surprised even the family's closest friends. Is Mountain Home, TX Safe? To try to desensitize the seven women and five men on the jury, Haynes played the torture tapes often and asked Cogdell to shock himself with a battery-operated cattle prod like the one the Ellebrachts used. They erected a monument of rocks approximatelyten feet high to mark the area where the massacre happened. I don't think even (Ellebracht) Jr. knew how much abuse he was going through, Caldwell said. Three teenagers have been arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of a 17-year-old whose body was found in Pilot Mountain on Thursday morning . Brynn Rainey, 27, vanished . More than a dozen cassette tapes with about 40 hours of recorded torture sessions were seized during the raid, along with guns, machetes, an ax, knives, ropes chains, padlocks, bone fragments, the cattle prod and business papers. He cited thecase of Anthony Bates, who, due to an injured leg, was unable to work. He later was indicted, along with the Ellebrachts, for his role in Bates' torture and death. Federal, state and local authorities raided a 3,500-acre ranch about 20 miles northwest of Kerrville, where they found that a father-son duo had been kidnapping, torturing and killing hitchhikers. 10. People - mostly drifters - began disappearing around the property. To clear his conscience, Caldwell gave a 20-page statement to the FBI. There were a lot of hitchhikers, but they were never held forcibly. James Waybern Hall: The murderer known as "Big Jim" killed 4 people, including his wife, in Arkansas between 1944 and 1945. Boyd stayed the night, but decided to leave the next day. , Print length if (theYear < 1900) 8 beds 9 baths 6,900 sqft. The home had apparently been entered Dec. 23 last year and then again on Christmas Day. They were arrested in south Texas near the U.S./Mexico border about 900 miles south of Mountain Home and have been locked up in the Hidalgo County, Texas jail. We also run the premiere real-estate site in the hill country at HillCountryRealestate.com. Authorities are searching for a Texas woman whom they accuse of murder in the death of an elite cyclist who at one time dated her boyfriend.
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