Brazil has had a number of mainly drug-related criminal cases opened on him in Benton and Washington Counties. He wasn't even 10 years old.. He was found guilty and ultimately executed by the state of Texas in 1999. 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. From left, Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr., Walter Wesley Ellebracht Jr., Leona Ellebracht, the young Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, attorney Richard Racehorse Haynes and Joyce Ellebracht are seen in 1986. Menu. Caldwell is still alive and lives in San Antonio. The cattle prod released up to 4,000 volts of electricity, according to an article by the online publication Ranker. I wanted to put it in my past. Ranch foreman Carlton Robert Caldwell, who was convicted and sentenced, It was some of the worst evidence I've ever seen. William Lesley Rushing. She is also currently pursuing her Masters degree in Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. Cunningham was in a blue Elantra. It was found Dec. 16 last year off Old Arkana Road south of Mountain Home. A burned body found in the vehicle was identified as Stradford's by the State Medical Examiner's Office. if (theYear < 1900) 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. Mountain Home, Texas is an unincorporated community in Kerr County. Caldwell went on to report in a 20-page confession to the FBI that after Bates died, weakened by weeks of regular torture sessions, he and another worker burned his body in a homemade funeral pyre while playing theJohnny Cashhit Ring of Fire. They deposited the few bones that didnt burn, along with the ashes, into two 55-gallon drums. Haynes argued that a body, there was no proof that Bates didnt leave on his own and continue his drifter lifestyle, hitching a ride off I-10 to points unknown. The men involved might have been found guilty, but they barely saw any jail time. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). It was also announced Monday that the death penalty will be sought for Lindsey and 42-year-old Allison Cunningham. The three victims, two adults and one teenager . $250 Million scam: Man steals millions from company to feed cows that didn't exist. Caldwell was no longer needed, and in March, one of the Ellebrachts dropped him off at a truck stop with $20. March 17, 2023 . Victims reported they werent allowed to leave, and violence was a normal course of everyday life. Group says they have a strong suspect as the infamous killer. Lindsey is alleged to have told investigators he was in a gang and frequently beat people up for money. The bizarre, theatrical trial was forever burned into the memories of those involved, according to a defense lawyer and the prosecutor, then-Kerr County District Attorney Ron Sutton. By amerisourcebergen holiday schedule 2022 amerisourcebergen holiday schedule 2022 Those stories have been around for years, but people and things have moved on.. She is charged with having simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms on July 19. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. According to Hidalgo County, Texas jail records, Lindsey has been charged in that state with unlawful possession of a weapon. The officers were responding to reports that workers on the ranch, kidnapped from Interstate 10,[1] were being forced to work and that at least one worker had died and was cremated on the premises. There are several day-hunting services within the area. 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. Mountain Home, Texas, is nearly as isolated today as it was in 1984. 2023 locality pay increase; aseprite normal map color wheel; FREE Case Evaluation. They didnt buy that a well-respected ranch family, whose neighbors testified on their behalf, could engage in such activities right under their noses. News Researcher Lauren Brown contributed to this report. Among the group was Bates, a 28-year-old, one-eyed drifter from Alabama. 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. A book was written about the ranch, The True Story of the Texas Slave Ranch How a Degenerate Ranching Family Got Away With Murder.[3]. According to the probable cause affidavit, during the incident, other people who were upstairs in the residence reported hearing a male asking for help and pleading for the beating to stop.. Once they got to the ranch, Boyd decided to only stay the night. The work was hard, but he was used to manual labor. Today, Eura is known as Mountain Home. Law enforcement officials said Bates injured his leg and was unable to work, so he was allegedly tied up, kicked, beaten, starved and shocked with an electric cattle prod until his death, according to a 1986 Houston Chronicle article. theYear=now.getYear() But was it the work of the Zodiac Killer? Always the dependable friend, Ellebracht III was praised by members of the overflow crowd at his funeral. She stated to investigators they then burned his body, put his ashes in a barrel, and dumped it into the river. day! The raid on the ranch revealed charred human bone fragments around the property and audiotapes of the torture sessions conducted by the Ellebracht family. On Feb. 18, 1984, the Ellebracht men drove to San Antonio to find workers, eventually convincing six men to work for them in exchange for housing and food. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. 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. * Date of Murder: February 22, 2007 Multiple Murder/ Suicide Victim Name: Rosa Morales-Carranza, 26 Perpetrator: Noureddine Elamrani, 30 His three children were with him when he was stopped by Reeves County sheriffs deputies. Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. Caldwell and another worker built a funeral pyre and, as a cassette tape of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire played, burned Bates' remains. It is now being held by the Baxter County Sheriffs Office. According to reports, the vehicle appeared to have been there for some time. Hed take me on tours, and everybody was smoking, the sawdust was so deep. 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.''. Ranch. According to ranch records, at least 75 people had been employed there at one time or another. James Waybern Hall: The murderer known as "Big Jim" killed 4 people, including his wife, in Arkansas between 1944 and 1945. Wes Sr. received probation. They were only found guilty of the organized crime charge. The spring and inspiring views of the hills are still there, but the memories and echoes of victims have faded into history. 259 BROKEN SPUR DRIVE , TX 78058. When he first arrived in January 1984, Caldwell watched in horror as the Ellebrachts used the cattle prod on a handcuffed man who had disrespected a family member. I tried to teach him right from wrong.. The latest South Texas Crime Stories segment relives the horrifying details of what was known as the Texas slave ranch. According to the New York Times, Boyd was informed theyd be digging their own graves that day. The Ellebracht family and their foreman,Carl Robert Caldwell, went to trial in 1984 accused of running a sadistic ranch where drifters met their end. Lawmen sifted through a cache of weapons and tapes, looking over the ranch for evidence to support the story of their key witness Travis Boyd. The two Ellebracht men and 21-year-old Caldwell were arrested for conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping. 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. Through the years, the 27-year-old Lindsey has been accused of possessing a defaced firearm, being a felon in possession of a weapon, residential burglary, theft of property, possession of contraband in the Baxter County Detention Center, theft by receiving and possessing drugs. The Hill Country Cowboy Camp Meeting is a camp for Christians looking to grow spiritually. But the Ellebrachts didnt produce cattle or, like many ranchers, offer their land for deer hunting. Boyd stayed the night, but decided to leave the next day. Authorities are investigating the deaths of three people in Azle Monday as a double murder-suicide, according to the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office. Not as Fiesta by the numbers: 2.5M people, 100K oysters and more, SAPD calls: Body in flooded creek; man dead after hit by train, San Antonio eyes stickers in fight against domestic violence, Man accused of strangling neighbor to death in apartment, SA's last Tuskegee Airman buried at Fort Sam. Join the discussion on our new social platform Texjas.com! Ironically, Cunningham was the victim of crime herself while sitting in the Texas jail awaiting extradition to Baxter County. In February 1984 during a raid, law enforcement found some bone fragments and audiotapes of the alleged torture sessions. The mans family had posted notices offering a reward for information on his whereabouts and reported not having had contact with him since Dec. 4. The sessions, which were often tape-recorded, weakened Bates, who died that February on the manure-covered floor of the bunkhouse. Lawyers have begun to formally enter their appearance for the defendants. The ranchers were arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping and the case became widely known as "the Texas Slave Ranch.". He said that he saw so much bad in the world that he wanted to look for the good. Bob Walls, speaking of Ellebracht III, his best friend. City Summary At the time, he was only charged with failure to report a death. Texas Slave Ranch - Horror In The Mountain Home : Texas Murders At The Ellebracht Family Ranch In 1984 - Kindle edition by Rouge, Ronan. He has been locked up in the local jail and the state prison system. The state of Texas now owns the sprawling former ranch that once enslaved unwitting laborers. In the case of Bates, who couldnt work, Hamilton witnessed the man being electrocuted up to 30 times, including strikes to his tongue and genitals. washington state missing child; oak island treasure update. Ranch for an experience you wont forget! 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. His latest release from prison came on April 23 last year. The torture went on for hours at a time, while Bates, handcuffed to a tree with his hands behind him, was zapped repeatedly on his tongue, genitals and empty eye socket with the cattle prod. We used old inner tubes, cedar and gasoline, 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 . He would die within months on a dirty floor in the barn, his screams forever captured on audiotape. He hitchhiked to San Antonio and found work at a restaurant, where he saw the raid on TV. Finally, in 1984, the authorities raided the property on a tip. The jurors compiled their favorite recipes, called it the Slave Ranch Cookbook, had it printed at the Kerr County Courthouse and sold copies. Getting workers was a breeze, and once theyd transported the hapless hitchhikers to the ranch, their new employees found it impossible to leave. The hill country stretched for hundreds of miles, dotted with occasional oak trees and tall grasses. See the latest Treasure Valley crime news in ourYouTube playlist: Investigators said the suspicious death appeared to be the result of domestic violence involving an estranged husband. 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. Three of those being charged list Mountain Home addresses, but the fourth is a resident of Siloam Springs in Northwest Arkansas. He always wanted me to invest in his key chain idea, but I never did. (Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved. Elon Musk? People - mostly drifters - began disappearing around the property. Shortly thereafter, the three men were forced at gunpoint to dig ditches, during which they were randomly shocked with cattle prods.

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