Inmate Steals Police Truck

Dumb criminals will try anything in order to escape from justice:

An East Texas inmate made a brief getaway after jumping behind the wheel of the police pickup truck that was transporting him. Authorities say David Lee Sprague was in the backseat of a Van Zandt County vehicle today when the detective who was driving stepped out of the truck to talk with someone.

That’s all the time Sprague apparently needed to hop into the front seat and speed away. Authorities caught up with the vehicle a short time later and returned Sprague to custody. The Tyler Morning Telegraph reports that the truck was equipped with multiple weapons, including an assault rifle.

Missing Rice Student May Have Wanted To Disappear

Matthew J. Wilson may not want to be found:

The abandoned car of a Rice University student who went missing in December has been found in California, cluttered with books and notes on how to assume a new identity.
The material was discovered mid-June in the car on a residential street in Berkeley, Calif., registered to Matthew J. Wilson, a 21-year-old computer science major from Haworth, Okla.

Other items in the car included a book on how to live cheaply in nearby San Francisco, a can of beans, rice and instant noodle soup. Frankel said he wasn’t going to speculate on what the items mean, but the car is no longer considered evidence.

Joe Horn Testifies Before Grand Jury

Do you think Mr. Horn will face criminal charges?

Horn maintains that he shot the men – two illegal immigrants police believe were part of an organized home burglary ring – in self defense.

But an autopsy report on the men indicated that they were shot in the back.



What if the burglars would have killed someone during their burglaries? Perhaps Mr. Horn saved a few lives.

Teen Mom Charged With Capital Murder In Infant's Death

How could anyone be so cruel and evil?

A 14-year-old Baytown girl has been charged with capital murder in the death of an infant found in a junior high bathroom toilet on April 2.

The teenaged mom was arrested at 8 a.m. Thursday. Baytown police say she showed no emotion and did not resist arrest. The eighth grader is being held in a Houston area juvenile detention center.

Mother Of Slain Children To Testify

Attention has now turned to the mother of the children murdered on Father's Day:

Jerilynn St. Cyr has been issued a subpoena to testify before a Harris County grand jury. While not a suspect in her kids’ murders, law enforcement sources said her various statements to police about Randy Jr. and Denim’s disappearances were “inconsistent” and they are seeking to get her comments on the record.

Father Of Slain Children Denies Committing Crime

Child murderer, Randy Sylvester, is in denial:

One day after leading authorities to the charred bodies of his two children, 27-year-old Randy Sylvester said Sunday night they were killed because he owed someone money.

He says he wasn't the one to kill the siblings, who were remembered Sunday night in an emotional vigil at the southeast Houston railroad tracks where they were found.

According to Sylvester, someone else killed his children yet he knew where their bodies were dumped.

Let's Give Thanks To The Innocence Project

Thanks to the Innocence Project, another innocent man has been cleared:

The Innocence Project on Friday asked a Texas court to toss out the convictions that sent an innocent man to prison for 25 years and keeps him on probation today.

DNA testing last year showed Steven Phillips was innocent of a 1982 sexual assault and burglary. In January, additional testing found that DNA evidence from the rape matched another man, Sidney Alvin Goodyear, who died in prison about a dozen years ago.

Phillips, who is on parole and lives in a halfway house as part of his probation, still has an extensive criminal record because he pleaded guilty to nine related sex crimes over fear that he would receive a life sentence if convicted, his lawyer said. Prosecutors now believe those sex crimes were also committed by Goodyear.

Father Of Missing Children Remains Primary Suspect

Let's hope they get to the truth soon:

As scores of volunteer searchers continued looking today for two Pasadena children who vanished on Sunday, police said they are searching for a wooden trunk and a suitcase that had been seen in the apartment of the youngsters' father.

Corbett said witnesses told police they saw Sylvester carrying the suitcase from the area of his apartment to his car Sunday afternoon at the Sandridge Apartment Homes, 4025 Burke. They said the wooden trunk that was in his apartment as late as noon Sunday was not there about 4:30 p.m.

No Amber Alert Issued For Missing Children

In order for an amber alert to be issued, there must be a reasonable belief that an abduction has occurred. No amber alert was issued in this case, you figure out the rest:

Investigators are continuing their search today, with help from the FBI, for two children who were last seen at a Pasadena apartment complex two days ago.

Police and others persisted through the night in the search for the 7-year-old boy and his 3-year-old sister, but no new leads were uncovered, a Pasadena police spokesman said.

The children's mother pleaded Monday for their return as police scoured the area around the Sandridge Apartment Homes, 4025 Burke Road, with search dogs and helicopters.

He Regrets His Decision

If he could do it all over again:

Joe Horn, the Pasadena man who shot and killed two burglars after they emerged from his neighbor's home last year, regrets that decision.

A Harris County grand jury has begun hearing evidence as it considers whether the 61-year-old retired grandfather should be indicted and face criminal charges, or be no-billed and have the case dismissed.