Bloodville (38 page)

―As an aside, ladies and gentlemen, let me mention, too, that in the early stages of the Rice/Brown murder investigation, as many as fifty State Police officers, uniformed and plain-clothed, were assigned to the case. By comparison, when Decillano Montaño was murdered a mile from Budville in July, 1967, four months before the Rice/Brown killings, not a single State Police officer was assigned to the case. Sheriff Jack Elkins handled it alone. And when Eulogio Salazar was murdered up in Tierra Amarilla in January of 1968, six weeks after the Budville slayings, only seventeen State Police officers were assigned in one of the most high-profile cases in the history of the state. And yet we heard testimony that this case was handled like all other investigations. In fact this case received the full attention of about one fifth of the entire State Police department, and what was the result? You‘ve heard the saying, folks, ‗too many cooks spoil the soup,‘ well in this case, too many cops spoiled the case.

―For nearly two months after Mr. Bunting was released, nothing happened with the investigation and that's when it was decided that Mrs. Rice should undergo hypnosis and psychoanalysis to pull from the deepest recesses of her mind the true facts of the case. Such an unorthodox approach only muddied the water and accomplished absolutely nothing. Except for her mistakes and inconsistencies in identifying suspects, her many statements have not varied by five words over a period of sixteen months. Her presentation of the facts in this case is rote. When she is diverted from her memorized presentation, she becomes uncertain and forgetful. Her inability to positively identify the gun is an example.

―Then in February a year ago, Joe Cato, after being arrested for burglary, came forth and implicated Joe Peters a convicted thief and narcotics dealer, Dave Sipe, also a thief, and Billy Ray White. Cato, Peters and Sipe all agreed that Billy Ray actually did the foul deed, and the chase was on. Billy Ray ended up on the FBI‘s ten most wanted list. He was captured in Illinois last September and returned to New Mexico. In the six months since, the State Police have made no effort whatsoever to investigate Mr. White's alibi. You heard the District Attorney, Mr. Wilcoxson, object to two defense witnesses because he had not had an opportunity to interview them. The fact is he wasn't able to interview them in Albuquerque. He had six months to interview them in Missouri or Illinois and chose not to bother.

―The forces of New Mexico law enforcement simply rolled over and went to sleep after the FBI arrested Billy Ray White. There were other areas, other avenues, that might have been explored, but were not investigated. You heard FBI agent Madison testify that Bud Rice testified in a drug trial in Texas a short time before he was killed. Nothing indicates this avenue was pursued and I personally provided the authorities with additional information regarding that trial and some of people involved in it. Nobody, in this entire investigation, bothered to find out that Bud Rice carried a substantial insurance policy on his own life, and that he left a sizable estate, in both money and real property, to his wife. Any Dick Tracy crimestopper or junior GMan would ask the question.

―I've talked long enough, folks. This case is a travesty. It should never have been brought into a courtroom. The sad thing is that the man guilty of this crime will never be brought to justice. I thank you again for patience.‖

Frank Ziram faced the jury. ―Ladies and gentlemen, the matter now rests in your hands. In the hour or so that remains in the day, I suggest you retire and organize yourselves so that you can begin your deliberations promptly tomorrow morning. If any of you have questions regarding a point of law, tell the bailiff and he‘ll contact me. However, no testimony presented here will be repeated for you. Bailiff, please escort the jury to the jury room.‖

Seated at the defense table with John Cook, Pratt checked his watch fifty minutes later as the bailiff left the jury room, crossed the empty courtroom and knocked on the door of the judge‘s chamber. Ziram opened the door and didn‘t invite the bailiff inside.

―Yer honor,‖ the bailiff said, ―the jury wants to go ahead on deliberatin‘ for a while longer before they quit for the night. That be all right with you?‖

―How much longer?‖
―Another hour at the most, the foreman said to tell you.‖ ―They expect to reach verdict? Is that what you‘re suggesting?‖ ―I couldn‘t say, sir. He just asked for another hour.‖
―Tell them they can have it. I‘ll stay around. That all right with

you, Mr. Pratt?‖
―Yes sir, Judge. I‘ll be right here.‖
Ziram instructed the bailiff to inform Wilcoxson and he closed his

chamber door. Spectators seemed to sense that something was happening and by ones and twos they reentered the courtroom and took seats. Flossie Rice sat with the Cardiffs behind the prosecution table while Max Atkins stood at the courtroom door chewing gum and smoking a cigarette. No one spoke as the room filled. At five thirty, one hour and thirty-seven minutes after they left the courtroom, the bailiff knocked on Judge Ziram‘s door once more.

―Verdict, your honor.‖

 

―Round up the lawyers and get the defendant back up here. Court will resume in fifteen minutes.‖

Benches were jammed with spectators, shoulder to shoulder, and no standing room remained when the bailiff brought the jury into the courtroom. For so many people present, the room remained quiet; no one coughed or cleared his throat. No one whispered a speculation to his neighbor. The room seemed to hold its breath.

―I understand you‘ve reached a verdict. Is that correct, Mr. Forman?‖

Howard Coxie, a Negro man of middle age, stood up in the middle of the back row. ―That‘s right, Judge. We have.‖ He handed a folded piece of paper to a woman juror sitting in front of him and she passed it along to the bailiff who unceremoniously presented it to Frank Ziram.

The judge unfolded the paper. His facial expression gave nothing away. ―Mr. White, stand and face the jury.‖
Pratt and Billy Ray both stood.

The judge continued. ―Please say your verdict, Mr. Coxie.‖ ―We found him not guilty, Judge.‖
Wilcoxson slammed his fist on the prosecutor‘s table. ―I demand a

poll of the jury, your honor!‖

―Very well, Mr. Wilcoxson,‖ Judge Ziram said. ―Does any member of the jury wish to indicate to this court a vote other than that just expressed by the jury foreman, Mr. Coxie?‖

No jury member responded.

Then one obscure spectator in a far corner of the courtroom clapped his hands together. Another joined in. And another until there was a round of applause.

Judge Ziram banged his gavel. ―That‘ll do! I‘ll have order while this court is in session.‖ Order was restored. ―The court thanks you for your time, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Your work is done and you are excused. Mr. White, you are free to go.‖

Thus ended the case of the Budville murders. No one else was ever arrested or prosecuted.
ADDENDUM

After the verdict in the Billy Ray White trial was read, and Judge Ziram left the courtroom, Max Atkins jumped the rail, a long-bladed pocketknife in his hand. A crazed look in his eye, he kicked over a chair as he lunged at Parker Pratt. Arizona highway patrolman Clive Cardiff also leapt the rail and bar owner Joe Garcia barked his shins as he kicked open the gate in the railing. Cardiff grabbed Max by the collar and slammed him to the floor and Garcia stepped on the assailant‘s wrist and removed the knife from his hand before any damage could be done. No charges were filed. Don Wilcoxson refused. The Chief ADA claimed he hadn‘t witnessed any assault, and if an attack actually took place, Pratt probably had it coming.

Don Wilcoxson quit the District Attorney‘s office a year after Billy Ray White was acquitted. He entered private practice as a criminal defense lawyer. He died of emphysema in 1975.

Flossie Rice and Max Atkins were married in the summer of 1969. The day after the wedding before a Justice of the Peace in Grants, Flossie received a check in the mail from the New Mexico State Police in the amount of six hundred-thirty-six dollars.

Max Atkins couldn‘t stay out of trouble with the law. Over the next three years, area law enforcement agencies charged him with offenses ranging from drunk and disorderly to attempted murder for shooting at tourist cars on the Old Road in the summer of 1970. Flossie bailed Max out every time. Then, on a fall day in 1972, Max quarreled with an old man named Gus Rainey over the disposition of a steer. Max lost the argument when Rainey pulled his pistol and pumped six bullets into the younger man before Max cleared the holster with his own gun. A jury in Los Lunas convicted Rainey of involuntary manslaughter. The court sentenced the old man to four years of unsupervised probation.

Flossie Rice married for a fourth time a few years later. She closed the Trading Post and, along with her last husband, opened a bar called the Long Branch Saloon near Los Cerritos on the Old Road, west of Budville. She died quietly in the spring of 1994, more than a quarter century after the murders of Bud Rice and Blanche Brown.

Jack Elkins served out his second term as sheriff and quit the law enforcement business in 1971. For many years he owned and operated the Correo Trading Post on New Mexico Route 6, near Wild Horse Mesa, between Los Lunas and Budville. On Saturday, November 7, 1992, his dead body was found in the trading post. He‘d been shot to death. His killer was never identified or prosecuted.

Charles Scarberry never became chief of the New Mexico State Police. The day his picture appeared in the Albuquerque
Journal
, Chief Sam Black summoned the deputy chief into his office.

―Charlie,‖ the chief said, ―State Police officers is held to a higher standard than other cops. This picture reflects real bad on the department. Now, as you know, the captain‘s job out in the Gallup District has been open for goin‘ on two years. The only way you can stop me from transferrin‘‘ you out there is if you go ahead and retire. You understand me, Charlie?‖

Scarberry nodded silently and left Black‘s office. His retirement became effective on April 1, 1969.

Martín Vigil became chief when Sam Black retired in the fall of 1969. His first official act was the transfer of Freddy Finch to uniformed services, Gallup District. Vigil also transferred Morris Candelaria to Santa Fe. Candelaria became chief in 1982.

J. B. ―Doc‖ Spurlock went home to Roswell in March, 1969, and salvaged his marriage. Chaves County Sheriff Tom Lord hired him as chief investigator. Doc later served two terms as sheriff of Chaves County and two terms as undersheriff, before he retired to the family ranch on Eagle Creek. Doc‘s son—named Josiah after his great grandfather—became the first Spurlock in four generations to avoid law enforcement service altogether. Doc and Patsy celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in the summer of 1997.

John Cook received two payments of $250.00 each for his work on the Billy Ray White case. Cook had a heart attack and died unexpectedly in 1973.

Parker Pratt received a letter postmarked March 16, 1969, from the Jefferson Parish Prison, Gretna, LA.

 

Dear Mr. Pratt.

Just a few lines to let you know where I‘m at and to express my thanks again for everything. La. came to Albuquerque and got me by plane last Thursday night. I was taken before a magistrate the next morning and my bond was set at $15,000 for one count of armed robbery. I haven‘t heard anything about the other charges and haven‘t asked. They are supposed to appoint me an attorney next Friday. These people say they have a very tight case against me, but you know how that goes, I don‘t see how they could, being that I‘m innocent, but these people are as bad as N. M. about railroading— anyway I‘m working on making bond and if no other states file on me I should be out within the next couple of weeks. If I do it won‘t be long before I‘ll be back on my feet. I‘m sure you have heard this same statement before, and it probably sounds a little phony, but as soon as I‘m in a position I intend to slap some bread on you, because I couldn‘t forget the wonderful job you did defending me. I don‘t forget people who treat me like a human being and I‘ll take care of you when I‘m able.

Well I‘ll make it short I just wanted to let you know my whereabouts and the happenings on this end. Let me know any new‘s you happen run across on that savings and loan robbery charge back there.

Your Friend
Billy Ray White
P. S. By the way if its not to much trouble how about

seeing if you can get the New‘s clipping covering my trial especially the March 7th story of the verdict, and send it to me when you can.
At mid-November, 1970, Parker Pratt received the following:

Dear Mr. Pratt,
When I was extradited from New Mexico to Louisiana in March of 1969 following my acquittal on the murder charges, there was still an armed robbery charge pending. Would you please inquire discreetly as to whether the charge is still pending.

Should the charge still be open, what is the possibility of New Mexico extraditing me to try me on it? Has New Mexico lost jurisdiction? It appears to me that that is the case since they could have tried me on that charge while I was in their jurisdiction.

Any information from a discreet inquiry will be greatly appreciated. This is rather important to me.

Respectfully yours,
Billy Ray White
Louisiana State Prison
Angola, Louisiana 70712
PS Incidentally, I have by no means forgotten the

splendid job you did defending me. I have every intention of showing my appreciation as soon as I am able which I‘m hopeful will be in the near future.

Pratt responded:

 

Dear Billy Ray:

As best I could determine, the charge against you here in New Mexico is, in fact, still pending. However, I feel that the chance of New Mexico extraditing you is extremely slim. As you have already guessed, there might be some serious legal question as to whether they could extradite you after having had you in their grasp and allowing you to go to Louisiana. I will do a little more checking after the first of the year to determine if, in fact, the charge is still pending or if it has been dismissed.

Incidentally, I have been elected District Judge and will take office January 1, making it a little easier for me to determine this.