What had been his fathers hobby became Rileys livelihood. The animals died from smoke inhalation. San Saba County Sheriff Stephen Boyd, who attended the same church as Bonnie Harkey, said the verdict was just a relief for San Saba County in general.. It also uncovered a dark tale of family, greed, and hate. One time she wrote about sports. Though the couple had a daughter and a son, they ended up separating, and Carl started dating Lillian King, with whom he had another daughter, in 2008. Where was Bonnie? Nobody else did that after the seventies., Perhaps it was Rileys work ethic and stature that first caught the attention of Bonnie Sawyer Compton. . Top 3 Results for Bonnie Harkey. Then, in 2007, hed looked west, buying the 209-acre strip of farmland adjacent to Harkey Pecan Farms, where he grew wheat and grazed his horses. Bruce claimed hed been framed in the federal case, but many around town distrusted him, suspecting something was amiss in the Harkey family. Bonnie Harkey Profiles | Facebook Bruce Harkey convicted of murder-for-hire plot in pecan farming family One of those girls was Judi Bishop, one year older and from Goldthwaite, a town 22 miles north. What's the difference between praline pecan and butter pecan? Who is the biggest pecan growing family in the us? Bonnie Sharkey - Phone, Address, Public Records | PeopleFinders I do have family who want the property I live on and I have heard many times they want to get rid of me., Betty Ann stopped by the house twice a day and hired caregivers who could be with her around the clock. Humans lose their hearts, their souls, and their ability to act like anything other than monsters., In August I went to visit Carl at the Telford Unit, in New Boston. John and Bruce reached out, and after some negotiation through an intermediary, Jones put down a $541,822.50 offer on the orchard. Davis said Bruce Harkey a former Reno police officer and investigator for the Texas Attorney Generals Office often went out of town on the weekends so it was not unusual that he was away when the killings happened. Preview. Harkey was arrested and charged with solicitation of murder.. After a brief courtship, the two were married at Wacos Highland Baptist Church that April, one month after his divorce was finalized. Bruce Harkey is Bonnie Harkeys stepson. All I wanna do is get this cleared up and go home. He remains hopeful that his case will be overturned on appeal. Pressley and King have both pleaded guilty to murder charges and await sentencing, according to the San Saba County District Clerks office. If he was coming to worship and study, that was fine, but we didnt want that anger, explained Pastor Sam Crosby. How many pecan trees do you need to produce pecans. And when the jury read it out, his mouth dropped open and his shoulders dropped. Investigators focus on one of Bonnies stepsons, Bruce Harkey, as the mastermind behind the plot to kill Bonnie Harkey.April 24, 2015. The three got into Carls carhe insisted that Lillian drive because his license had been revokedand headed to the campground in Normangee, where a friend from his motorcycle club had loaned him an RV. The care of the orchard was very important to him, remembered Millicans wife, Kristen, who grew up across from one of Rileys groves. Betty Ann had provided a long pink dress for Bonnie to be buried in. I thought Bruce was my best friend. Bruce called me in the mornings, in the evenings, on the weekends. The newlyweds moved into an apartment in town; Bruce went to class and worked at a Texaco station. When she and Riley were introduced, in early 1963, the tall, 36-year-old brunette was working as a telephone operator in Waco, a divorce trying to make ends meet. King, 26, has confessed to murder for the death of Johnson and faces up to 45 years in prison. But when one of the owners couldnt get the blessing of his stepmothers guardian to sell it, authorities said, he decided to kill for it. The marker stood in front of a metal storage building and across the way, a donkey grazed in front of a newly built house. And now, new details uncovered by KXAN could have a major impact on the upcoming trial., Authorities said that the murder-for-hire scheme was hatched to gain control of the Harkey family estate and rooted in deep family secrets. When Bonnie Harkey, the 85-year-old matriarch of a prominent San Saba family, was brutally murdered in 2012, her death spelled the end of a legendary pecan dynasty. They ate out all the time, they got into online gaming, explained Wilkerson, who obtained Bruces bank records during his investigation. Carl then went to find Bonnie and asked if they could pray together in her bedroom. Harkey was, recalled family friend Donna Bush, "one of the sweetest ladies I ever knew." This idea consumed him. The Harkey brothers offered to give Bonnie Harkey $44,000, but her guardian thought she should receive $240,000, McAfee said. They would laugh at her and criticize her food, her sister continued. It didnt help that Bonnie was showing signs of dementia. Despite the chaos, Bonnie remained lucid about some things. Where do most of the u, s. pecans come from? Her reading glasses were resting on the floor beside her head, and she was cool to the touch. John Wilkerson, an investigator with the San Saba County Sheriffs Office.He asked me to forgive him, made comments about burning in hell for the actions that he did.. (Since Bruce was broke, Carl didnt see any of that money until August, when Spinks approved the sale of a large wheat field to a neighbor for $95,000; Carl accepted a check from Bruce for $7,500.) Their pecan farm became a multi-million dollar business. View Details. Top: The foyer where Karen Johnson was found dead. How many years does it take for a pecan tree to bear? It didnt matter that Carl had signed away his rightsBonnie still had a life estate in the property. . He considered the pecans a hobby, however; his primary interest was turkeys, which he bred by the thousands and shipped as far away as North Dakota and New Hampshire. Eventually the home would reach 4,872 square feet, many of its corners filled with family mementos: award ribbons and plaques for Rileys pecans and Bonnies pies; framed photos from the couples trips to the Bahamas and San Antonio; Bonnies collection of Desert Rose dishes; her still-life paintings of roses and yuccas; the Harkey family Bible, set on a lace doily in the sitting room, Bonnies looped cursive marking big life events inside. She was 85. He covered her lifeless body with fistfuls of leaves and mud. A portrait of Bonnie used in her obituary. Bruce Harkey, who had been taking care of the orchard, was fired sometime during 2011, McAfee said. A contract was immediately drawn up. But Bruce, now a convicted felon, had trouble finding work. I drove to San Saba in late summer. ), Bruce, Carl, and Lillian were sent away to separate county jails, where they remained until Bruces trial this past April. Bonnie Harkey owned the walnut farm and had given 94 acres of it to a grandson, Carl Wade Pressley. I guess with any big estate worth any value, if youve got a bunch of people involved, theres going to be fuss.. As a boy, Carl had suffered from ADHD and often butted heads with his mother; as a young man, hed developed a love for motorcycles and meth, which had worn his bottom teeth down to little yellow stubs. (The official cause of death was aspiration asphyxiation.) Bruce was Bonnies step-son. (Jennifer was never arrested, and John escaped public scrutiny when he died of a heart attack three months after the murders.) U.S. Highway 190 and Texas State Highway 16 intersect on the eastern side of town. That weekend turned out to be when the murders happened. Search Begins for Missing Bonnie Harkey Police recall that Karen Johnson's death seemed unusual when they arrived at the scene -- and they were very concerned that Bonnie Harkey, who had dementia and health issues, was missing from the home. We must not let death steal the memories of her joy in life! Pastor Crosby exhorted the crowd. San Saba offers something for everyone. During the interrogation, Price asked Carl a question. For Bruce, the following decades would turn into a blur of shifting relationships and jobs. It became the county seat in 1856. One thing theyd disagreed on was the day-to-day operations of the farm; Bruce wanted Spinks to pay him a salary to manage the orchards, but Spinks leased the property to Winston Millican. Wild pecan trees, Carya illinoinensis, haveflourished throughout the South for millennia, and thousands grow along the rivers of Central Texas; when the explorer lvar Nez Cabeza de Vaca was held captive by Indians on the Guadalupe in 1532, he christened it the river of nuts. But human cultivation of pecans in Texas began in San Saba in 1874, with the arrival of Edmund E. Risien. Bonnie Harkey woke up and ate breakfast, and then Karen, her caretakerwhod brought along her young son for the daydrove her to church in Bonnies gold Chevy Malibu. How long does it take for a pecan tree to fully mature? Bruce, upset about being left again, told a co-worker at the nursing home that he was contemplating Kamis murder. Though the civil side of Bonnies estate was still being hammered out, Carls legal wife, Melissa Pafford, and their two children were set to move into the Harkey house, and it appeared that the orchards would be divided among them and Johns heirs. Karens eleven-year-old son, who had found her and called 911, stood on the front porch clutching a cordless phone. Teenage flirtation gave way to sobering reality with an unexpected pregnancy, however, and the two were married in August 1969, on a Friday evening at the start of Bruces senior year. He knew the house well; since the early sixties, generations of San Sabans had attended the church suppers and cookouts hosted there by Bonnie Harkey, the familys matriarch. I do not take any medicine that would cause unsafe driving. Two hours later, a blubbering Carl finally admitted hed killed Bonnie and left her body in a creek near the RV. The Harkeys had that reputationthat there was always some trouble brewing after Riley died. Harkeyville is north of U.S. Highway 190 two miles west of San Saba in central San Saba County. Allen, I just got a phone call from my wife saying thatshejust got a phone call about you coming to arrest me, my brother, and her. Carl started crying at this point, Lillian later recalled. House in Tourcoing, Hauts-de-France, France Contact. To comfort her, the sheriff handed her a cup of water, and her lawyer whispered, You are making out better than anyone else in this, by far. She received 45 years. But he was bleeding her dry, said her niece Teresa Cook. Thats when hed settled on Carl. Alice in Wonder Land | San Saba News & Star Bruce, meanwhile, was shuttled back and forth a few times to live with his mother in Nevada (one move, when he was fourteen, was announced in theNews & Starwith the headline Bruce Goes West). new . The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the family's history. Wearing his thin, light-blue coveralls, Riley dispensed tips on everything from soil drainage and fertilization techniques to how many grazing sheep to allow in the groves and how to stave off pecan scab, a type of fungus that looks like a horticultural syphilis. Was I enamored with or happy about Bonnie Harkey? Rencontre avec Vincent Huguet (EDHEC Master 1998) co-fondateur et co-CEO de Malt. I think part of their attitude goes back to being a Harkey, said Teresa Cook, Bonnies niece. But Im the mayor of Harkeyville now, Hibler continued. How many years will a pecan tree produce? And I wont do that. Texas Monthly - Pecans, greed, & murder. Tonight | Facebook Bruce isdenying all allegations from prison although he does have a history of being accused of solicitation of murder. This was all Harkey before, the whole area, he told me, stretching his hand out. View 11 photos $759,263 4 Beds 5 Baths 1442 sqft. It's not clear if that agreement could be legally enforced. House District: 103 Senate District: 42 County District: Board Of Commissioners District 5 School Board District: School Board Dist 5. The Harkey family was well known in their small Texas town. An English cabinetmaker who was captivated by the wrinkly nuts, Risien offered a $5 prize to whoever brought him the finest specimens. The Johnsons and the Harkeys became great friends, going out to dinner and traveling to gospel concerts in Marble Falls and Burnet. But all she did was laugh. But her violent death in March shook the quiet Hill Country community about two hours northwest of Austin, both for its brutality and for the fact that members of her own family were charged in what authorities a far-reaching murder-for-hire scheme over the Harkey family fortune. He stayed for about two hours and cried, recalled Shawn Oliver, Clydenes son. Left: Bonnies bedroom, decorated with her paintings of flowers. 2012-2023, 2paragraphs Productions, LLC. When shed tell a story, hed interrupt and say, No, thats not the way it goes, recalled Bonnies sister. He traced the winning nuts to a tree he dubbed the Mother Pecan, then began growing his own through novel pollination and grafting techniques, earning himself the nickname the Johnny Appleseed of pecans. His efforts made the trees commercially viable, and Risien became the nuts biggest booster, mailing samples to Queen Victoria and Alfred Lord Tennyson. And although he was still driftingby 1994, when he switched jobs to become a nursing home administrator, he was on wife number sevenhe nevertheless held out hope that his father would hand over the farms operations. John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. I try to be careful when driving. He became the head of the San Saba County Pecan Growers Association, and around town, farmers sought him out for advice. It also uncovered a dark. In the days before the murders, hed proclaimed to everyone he encounteredat the San Saba Printing Company, at the Corner Caf, at J&Js Tractor Companythat he planned to spend the weekend at Johns house, in Fort Worth, playing golf. Riley had his own way of doing things, recalled Winston Millican, a great-great-grandson of Edmund Risiens who maintains his own pecan orchards in San Saba. He grew controlling in his marriage, abusing Kami verbally and then, after she gave birth to their daughter in 1998, physically. He genuinely thought he was fixin to get a not-guilty verdict, recalled Spinks, who was present. No detail in his orchards escaped him. Bonnie Harkey, 85 was reported missing on March 26, 2012, after the body of her housekeeper was found at the pecan matriarchs home. Bruce said he wanted me to get rid of her and take herhell put money in my bank account., According to Carl, Bruce had come to see him on Friday to propose a deal. Im gonna be out of town. (Bruce initially offered $500, but Carl, knowing his financial situation, offered to do it for $50 less. (In one, Carl, around eight years old, sits next to Santa in a red cap, while Bonnie sits on Santas lap in a Christmas sweater.) April 24, 2015. Bonnie, a staunch Baptist, persuaded Riley, a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, to attend San Sabas First Baptist Church with her, where Betty Ann and her husband, Craigan, also attended. I do drive slowly more times than I should because I would not want to hurt anyone. New twist in San Saba murder-for-hire He told me that the meth hed done the day of the murders, as well as Bruces manipulation, were responsible for his crimes. Bonnie, who had been watching Eric, rushed him to the hospital, but by the time she got there, the baby was dead. Who is Bonnie Harkey? Oops, this content can't be loadedbecause you're having connectivity problems, By Associated Press - Wednesday, April 30, 2014. He scowled as the judge read his sentence: life without parole. Carl had dropped out of high school after eleventh grade and gone to work in the oil fields around Midland; following his return, hed married a local woman named Melissa Pafford, in 2003, when he was 19. They set up a sting operation, in which an informant provided Bruce with an illegal silencer and federal agents then arrested him, charging him with possession of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. But then what happened? Soon a court had appointed Spinks as the permanent guardian of Bonnies estate and her longtime friend Betty Ann as the guardian of her person. Dog the Bounty Hunter's Daughter Suffers Devastating Loss But the marriage couldnt weather their sorrow, and by January they had divorced. Bonnie, who grew up in a farming family during the Depressionher father planted cotton, corn, and wheathad always longed for a grander life. They were mean, said close friend, Myrna Najar. They were so greedy.. But Bruce Harkey tells a different story. Karens son retreated to a spare bedroom to play, and Bonnie settled into her maroon recliner in front of the television with her beloved cat, Miss Kitty. Shelled walnuts are available in halves, chunks and halves of topping (native nut). Who is the biggest pecan producer in the world? Bonnies arrival, however, when Bruce was eleven, made the future uncertain. He expected that his father would hand over the day-to-day operations of the farm in the same way O.B. He gave the co-worker three gunstwo old Chinese military rifles and one semiautomatic .22asking him to obliterate the serial numbers; he also talked about rubbing poison on Kamis steering wheel. (He did. We didnt know he had stolen them, said Shawn Oliver. The orchards were in such horrible condition, because Bonnie and Connie didnt know how to run a farm or what to do with pecan trees, Jennifer told me. How much money can you make off a pecan tree? How much are pecans selling for in louisiana? According to local news station KXAN, "One Sunday, while Bonnie was at church, her grandson Carl. View the profiles of people named Bonnie Harkey. Read More. There was plenty of space for her to do so: the orchard closest to the house stretched almost to the river. There would also, of course, be the payout from the estate. I was in the backseat, and I leaned forward and said, So, do we call you Mom now or what? he said. Back in San Saba, meanwhile, Bonnie and Riley had become grandparents again. April 24, 2015. Who owns the Harkey pecan Farm? - Rattleinnaustin.com For almost three years after her death, the house remained exactly as Bonnie left it. But his father resisted any overtures, preferring to run the farm himself, with Bonnie at his side. Ill pay you. The way it looked, making sure it was well manicured. Yet while their life appeared to be in perfect order, Bonnie and Rileys marriage was not always a happy one. But he said theyd gone to the San Saba Rivera lie that caused Lillian to break down and spill the real details as soon as Price tried to cross-check the story. Theyd take a mouthful of food and spit it out, or theyd talk about her, giggle all the time, act rude. Connie N Harkey (1948 - 1991) Born April 19, 1948 Death January 1991 Summary Connie N Harkey was born on April 19, 1948, and died at age 42 years old in January 1991. Bonnie, her white puff of hair always freshly coiffed, was a fixture of San Sabas social scene, known for never missing a Sunday school class or a meeting of the garden club. As Price would later put it, Carl has not been accused of being very intelligent.). Autopsy reports indicate Bonnie Harkey may have been buried alive. Who else is involved in this?, Carl paused for a moment and looked down. After that, Price and Sergeant John Wilkerson moved Carl to the sally port of the jail, where they could use a patrol cars dash cam to record the interrogation. A DPS helicopter dispatched from Waco made slow circles overhead, scanning the ground with heat-imaging cameras. He willed it to Connie, while the other two groves were to go to John and Bruce, so that all three kids would have their own orchards someday. The sentencing hearings for Carl and Lillian took place a couple of weeks later at the San Saba County courthouse. John packed up in the fall of 1965 to attend Texas Tech University, in Lubbock; Connie enrolled there two years later after being named San Sabas homecoming queen. Family members have fought a long battle in court over who would inherit those lands after the death of Bonnie Harkey. Some of those secrets still haunt some of the people involved., Just outside of San Saba sits the small town of Harkeyville, named for the Harkey family and its generations of pecan farming. At least 1 dead, 5 injured in Massachusetts house party shooting, 2-year-old daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers player drowns after falling into pool, Tornado strikes Virginia coast, leaving behind trail of damage, AI-generated music growing exponentially, sparking debate. Whether Bonnie was the instigator or not, it is true that those years were unstable for Bruce. March 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? Investigators focus on one of Bonnie's stepsons, Bruce Harkey, as the mastermind behind the plot to kill Bonnie Harkey. (Many think Jones was less interested in pecans than in the excellent water rights that come with the property.) A devout reader ofBetter Homes and Gardensshe stored all her back issues neatly in the laundry roomBonnie also put her stamp on the house, turning a closet into a bathroom, adding on an extra bedroom, and building a sunporch that could comfortably seat up to 27 people.
