Murder Most Texan

by Bartee Haile

Texas has long boasted its iron fist of the law and strict treatment of its hardest criminals. Nevertheless, scoundrels, fiends and homicidal criminals inevitably slipped through the Lone Star justice system despite the best efforts of even the legendary Texas Rangers. From roadside murder to political assassinations, discover the seedy underbelly of Texas' murderous past. In 1877, Texas saw its first high-profile murder case with the slaying of a woman in Jefferson and the subsequent "Diamond Bessie" trial. Over a century later, state legislator Price Daniel Jr. was shot in cold blood by his wife at their home in Liberty. Texas true crime writer and historian Bartee Haile unburies this collection of sixteen coldblooded killings from Lone Star history and the dirty details that have shocked and bewildered Texans for decades.

Genres: True Crime

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2014

Reviews

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just in case recent events had not convinced you that Texas was a little on the strange side, here's a book of 16 cases, some from the early 1900s up to the 1990s or early 2000s. It's a quick read and the cases are varied and interesting. They include:

- the shooting of Maurice Barrymore (patriarch of *those* Barrymores) and a fellow actor Ben Porter by a drunken railroad detective. Barrymore survived, but Porter did not.

- Arthur Payne who had to attempt to kill his wife seven times before succeeding. She survived the gas being left on (with tightly shut windows) in her bedroom; eight morphine tablets dissolved in her glass of OJ; an attempt to roll the car into the lake (the gear slid back into park from neutral); a booby-trapped shotgun in the broom closet; an inept scheme to strand her on train tracks in front of a train (ran out of gas 500 feet from the crossing); and a heater above the bathtub that was removed before the plan was implemented. [I'm pretty sure if I was Mrs. Payne, I'd be running to the police by the 3rd try or so...she must have been a real ditz.] But lucky #7 was effective - her car was blown up while she was driving to go shopping.

- Phantom Slayer, a 1940s era serial killer who attacked couples in the Texarkana area and was never caught, although a Texas Ranger said there was a prime suspect, just not enough evidence to arrest him.

- a case of a suicide...where the guy shot himself five times - I'm not making that up. It actually happened in the early 60s. Well, at least they ruled it a suicide. A few folks think it might have been murder - what with some of the other evidence.

- a shooting at the state capitol in the early 1900s that the author points out a sad fact - as true then as now- there is no bulletproof safeguard against a madman on a mission.

[Brandon Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview and some interesting stories in this book. Weird guest stars as well like Georgia O Keefe and the Barrymore family, Drew's relatives.

The court cases are many times more interesting then the murders and they have at least one or two unsolved cases including The Town that Dreaded Sundown case.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

When an out of state reporter asked the foreman how the jury could declare a confessed murderer innocent, he replied, "The best answer is because this is Texas. We believe in Texas that a man has the right and the obligation to safeguard the honor of his home even if he must kill the person responsible."

- pg 33, on the killing of Albert Boyce Jr. by Bill Sneed

"Murder Most Texan" is a series of true-crime accounts of some of the more notorious murders that has occurred in Texas. The book is fairly short, and is sorted in chronological order, with each chapter dedicated to the players and the story of a murder within Texas.

Some can be fairly shocking, such as outright bribery of the jury during the trial of Jim Currie for the murder of Ben Porter, a friend of the stage actor Maurice Barrymore, or as in the example above, when the jury acquitted the murderer of a man during a bitter and bloody love triangle feud between the Sneed and Boyce families. One of the stories is actually somewhat humorous, of Arthur Payne's 7 attempts to kill his wife, Eva Payne.

A few of the stories are unsolved, like the Frome murders in the late 1930's near El Paso, or the Texarkana "Phantom Slayer". The details surrounding the death of Henry Marshall in Franklin, TX (around the area of Waco ) is also suspicious.

What may be the most interesting from this short book is not just the rather sensational true-crime stories within Texas, but also the brief glimpse into Texas history. James Allred, a former governor of Texas, is mentioned in a couple of the stories. Some of the stories feature Texans who were well-known at the time - Ward A. "Tex" Thornton, or the preacher J. Frank Norris. The well-to-do neighborhood of River Oaks in Houston is also mentioned a couple of times as well.

[Michael Shurtleff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't heard of Bartee Haile until I saw this book in the checkout at my local H-E-B. I was so hooked on his concise, well-paced style by the time I got to the register, I had to take a copy home with me. The selections are short and easy to read. They roll along like well-told campfire stories--except every one of them is true and unembellished. I'm going to be on the lookout for more from this author.

[Paula Corregan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book!

This book has sixteen chapters devoted to the details of killings which took place in the state of Texas. Some of the stories I was familiar with, while I had never heard of others. Whether you're a Texan or not, if you are interested in true crime, this is a must read. I highly recommend it.

[Brianna Ritter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just ok. These weren't "the most shocking murders in Texas history" as the back cover promised, but some of them were interesting. The author seemed more interested in providing entertaining anecdotes and opinion on the various people involved in each story, rather than a straightforward factual account, but some readers could prefer that. Just not for me.

[Lidia Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of Texan murder cases. Each case takes a few pages each and has a very concise but detailed summary. The book was well researched and added important facts without overloading with witness testimony.

[dianne beck · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s ok

It ok but not very enlightening. It reads more like the first paragraph of wiki about each crime. The only good part was when you learned what happened years later

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay compilation, but I could do without the author's editorializing and moralizing.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice brief short stories

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

—127–

16 different tales of Texas murders ( and one 5-shot suicide). Told with verve!

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not appreciate this particular brand of writing.
The feeble attempt at humor was off.

[Josephine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short quick history retelling 16 Infamous Texas Murder Cases. While it helped acquaint the reader to these cases, it was little more than a few page summery, including pictures. Additionally, these were all cases prior to the 1980's so it didn't include Mr. James Byrd Jr.'s murder. The book is a quick read.

[Richard Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great "popcorn" book. By that, I mean very easy to read in small bites and very entertaining. I enjoyed these stories and the down-to-earth manner of their telling. I'd definitely buy second and third collections if the author writes them.