I tried to teach him right from wrong.. Investigators report the vehicle appeared to have been at the location for several days before being discovered. In 1990, the state bought 240 acres of the former ranch and the Ellebrachts' home, which has been used as temporary housing for the center's employees, including Bob Betsill, the research program director. The Ranch is an authentic 19th century ranch housing a variety of exotic animals. One of the slave ranch victims, Mark Allen Hamilton, claimed in a court deposition that even some of the victims participated in the tortureof fellow prisoners. The land isn't suitable because topsoil is shallow, as the area is laced with karst and rock just under the surface. Join the discussion on our new social platform Texjas.com! The decision to change his name in hopes of distancing himself from the ranch didn't last long, Walls said. Caldwell and another worker built a funeral pyre and, as a cassette tape of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire played, burned Bates' remains. At the time, the Mountain Home Police Department said it believed the situation could be a result of domestic violence involving an estranged husband., Did you miss any crime and court news from last month? 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. Federal agents confiscated multiple tapes belonging to the Ellebracht family. In an opening statement made . Ellebracht Sr. had big ideas, but was too lazy to implement them, said Joe Smith, 68, a pastor and retired builder who was a friend and maintains the small cemetery in Mountain Home where he is buried. James Waybern Hall: The murderer known as "Big Jim" killed 4 people, including his wife, in Arkansas between 1944 and 1945. Later a witness, Sheri Hamilton, said she saw a torture session involving 27-year-old Anthony Bates. A Department of Public Safety trooper walks away from an area where a body reportedly was burned on the Ellebracht ranch. Lawyers have begun to formally enter their appearance for the defendants. In the 1970s and 80s, the Ellebrachts recruited the men knowing they wouldnt be missed, and wouldnt be believed. The recovered tape wasnt the only one. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Cunningham appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and entered a not guilty plea to the charges against her, including capital murder. See who police are looking for in the Magic Valley. By John Peters jpeters@mtairynews.com. In the background is Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr. in front to the left is Walter Wesley Ellebracht Jr. in the middle is Richard "Race Horse" Haynes and to the left is Joyce Ellebracht. In the hardscrabble west, ranchers had to pull a living from the soil and hope the weather cooperated. By amerisourcebergen holiday schedule 2022 amerisourcebergen holiday schedule 2022 It was reported he was last seen at his parents residence in Mountain Home and later the same day in the Fayetteville area. William Lesley Rushing. When several survivor-witnesses reported they slept in the dirt, lived in extreme heat and cold, and were chained up at night, the statements had minimal impact on the jury. Always the dependable friend, Ellebracht III was praised by members of the overflow crowd at his funeral. She is scheduled to appear in Madison County Circuit Court in early March. Of the four people alleged to be involved in the murder, Hendricks is the only one not locked up. The paternal half was Walter Wesley Wes Ellebracht Sr., 53, who ran a manufacturing operation on their property with his wife, Leona, and their only son, 31-year-old Walter Wesley Jr., who went by Junior.. 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. Raid and trial [ edit] They rescued six people, but what else they discovered was nothing short of gruesome: bone fragmentsand tapes of torture sessions. Two of the four people charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Mountain Home man appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday. The charts below are detailed crime statistics for the city of , Texas. 19. Looking for a place to stay? They weren't slaves.. The men involved might have been found guilty, but they barely saw any jail time. Anyone with information on the case in encouraged to contact Detective M. Corley at (208) 587-2101. The atrocities reported by survivors of the slave ranch were numerous, yet Haynes pulled off another brilliant victory. After he was developed as a suspect in the murder investigation, he was located and arrested Dec. 16 last year. Lindsey is, by far, the best known locally of those charged with the Stradford murder. The actual prod was discovered when police entered and searched the Ellebrachts' ranch in 1984. Hall was sentenced to death by electrocution in May 1945 and executed on January 4, 1946. yesmagazine.org Convicted of murder after a two-day trial in May 1945, Hall was sentenced to death. On April 6, 1984, more than 30 federal, state and local lawmen raided a 3,500-acre (14km2) ranch near the Texas Hill Country town of Mountain Home. Her bond was lowered from $500,000 to $250,000 and she was released from jail Jan. 28. The state of Texas now owns the sprawling former ranch that once enslaved unwitting laborers. The land isnt suitable because topsoil is shallow, as the area is laced with karst and rock just under the surface. 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. We are born and bred in The He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Wes' eldest daughter, Elizabeth Toby Ellebracht, 18, who'd been living with him in Fredericksburg, has moved in with the couple since his death. In addition to charges stemming from Stradfords murder, Lindsey is also accused of stealing the BMW he was driving when arrested in Texas, which the victim says is worth about $18,000. To clear his conscience, Caldwell gave a 20-page statement to the FBI. You just really didn't want to get up and socialize when they came in; they were scary, she said. 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. Investigators said the witnesses, reported to have been minors, left the upper part of the house and went into the backyard, looked through windows in the walkout-type basement and observed Lindsey and Brazil hitting Stradford. Bones found at the site were determined to be those of a young adult male. The vehicle was described as having damage along the passengers side. Its 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. Sutton prosecuted Ellebracht Sr. and Jr. and Caldwell, and the workers became state witnesses in exchange for immunity from prosecution. But the guy was dead, and there was no bringing him back.. But this ranch wasnt any old-timey operation, and the drifters werent a handful of depression-era hobos. Family launches GoFundMe to help man shot during Fiesta in S.A. Man in critical condition after being shot twice in head in S.A. Ranch, West Kerr Ranch, and D&D Ranch & Wildlife Services. I knew what I was doing; I had options. We will be posting stories about this city such as history, news, special events and more here, stay tuned! Shortly thereafter, Wes Ellebracht let Caldwell go, taking him to a nearby truck stop and giving him $20. Besides the torture tapes, also entered into evidence was one worker's poem, titled The Shack, and other recordings of the Ellebrachts putting workers on trial in the bunkhouse. McFadden was the principle suspect in all three murders, but he was only charged with Suzanne's death. AUSTIN, Texas The Austin Police Department has identified the man killed in Austin's first homicide of 2022. 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. At 32 years old, he found himself accepting a job in the Texas hill country, not far from the town of Kerrville. His son, Junior, received 15 years in prison, but served less than 10 years. He would talk about some of the arguments and fights, but that wasn't his life, Walls said. He has been locked up in the local jail and the state prison system. Walter Ellebracht Sr. received probation, Walter Jr. remained free while his 15-year sentence was appealed and Caldwell served less than three years of his 14-year sentence. Brazil is accused of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, second-degree battery, violating parole and kidnapping. In one motion, Lucas asks that he be informed of the criminal history of witnesses and if any one set to testify in the case has received preferential treatment by prosecutors. Everyone knew the Ellebrachts drove a blue van and picked up hitchhikers to staff the key chain factory and do other work at the ranch. Mountain Home Police were investigating a stabbing death that involved a mother and son Sunday night. Head out to Y.O. He apparently bonded out of jail on the charge relating to the motorcycle theft and was free on that bond when Stradford was killed. Investigators say at one point during the beating, Lindsey demanded that Stradford give him his debit/ATM card, but that Stradford had replied there was only a few dollars in the account. mountain home texas murders. Updated: 11:39 AM CST January 10, 2022. The ranch was raided in 1984 and the operation shut down. The jurors compiled their favorite recipes, called it the Slave Ranch Cookbook, had it printed at the Kerr County Courthouse and sold copies. The film stars Jason Connery, C. Thomas Howell, Dennis Hopper, Greg Evigan, and Michael Madsen. She has degrees in journalism and criminology. In the 1989 settlement, she received 43.1 percent or 1,318 acres, then valued at $1.7 million and has since sold the property in pieces. Slave Ranch Trial-Kerr County courthouse Witness Howard Bailey describes "slave Ranch" He wached a grown man beg for life. FREDERICKSBURG He was only 9 when the law raided his family's Kerr County homestead in 1984 and their surname, Ellebracht, became synonymous with kidnapping and torture, and their sprawling. Jake Edward Masters. The two lured hitchhikers to the ranch with the promise of work and then forced them to stay without compensation or freedom by threatening them with death, news articles said. (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: The city of Mountain Home, Texas does not have FBI Crime Statistics. He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. Eva Ruth Moravec is a freelance reporter who writes about officer-involved shootings of unarmed individuals in Texas for a grant-funded series published in several Texas newspapers. The sparks came from an electric cattle prod used by the torturer. It is now being held by the Baxter County Sheriffs Office. mountain home texas murders. When asked to help pay for his son's burial, Ellebracht Jr. reportedly told relatives to let the county worry about it, his ex-wife said. Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_6) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/15.5 Safari/605.1.15, First United Methodist Church Mountain Home, Gardening in the Ozarks with Vicki Garner, Live in the Boat with Binks Guide Service. Copyright 2023 Empire Media Group, Inc. Front Page Detectives is a registered trademark. Hed take me on tours, and everybody was smoking, the sawdust was so deep. MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho The Mountain Home Police Department is investigating a suspicious death that police say may involve an estranged husband who was arrested in Texas. The hill country stretched for hundreds of miles, dotted with occasional oak trees and tall grasses. View 60 homes for sale in Mountain Home, TX at a median listing home price of $449,500. 2023 locality pay increase; aseprite normal map color wheel; FREE Case Evaluation. And the victims were unsavory types whose testimony was suspect. Updated at 4:10 p.m.: A Johnson County man pleaded guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder in a brutal 2012 double murder Tuesday, and the mother and daughter convicted of the crimes will. One worker, Anthony Bates, died after being tortured with the cattle prod. Located an hour north of San Antonio in a small community in unincorporated Kerr County was what came to be known as the Texas Slave Ranch for the ghastly crimes committed there. 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.