In September 2011, Bonnie was diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which the doctor explained could take her life at any moment. A change of venue brought the high-profile trial to Burnet County.
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. The Harkey family was well known in their small Texas town. He would say stuff like, Well, they just need to die so that I can have the farm, recalled Kami. In San Saba 237 years later, March 25 dawned as an unremarkable Sunday. Were trying to figure out who Tommy Lee Jones plays in the movie, he quipped, if he doesnt play himself.. I met Bonnie Harkey when our cars 'bumped into each other' at the Print Shop. It's not clear if that agreement could be legally enforced. Left: Bonnies bedroom, decorated with her paintings of flowers. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Thats when hed settled on Carl. Her ex-husband, a traveling salesman, had left her for another woman, and Bonnie had moved from Ocee to the city with their daughter, fourteen-year-old Connie. Read More. Where was Bonnie? I know things are crazy right now, but I might have some information about where Bonnie Harkey is, the friend told the dispatcher. He and Lillian were out in Normangee, four hours east of San Saba, staying at a campground. Her body was eventually discovered 200 miles east, in a rural area in Leon County. There was a payment made to Carl Pressley and of course there were some arrangements to be made that further payment would be made to Carl Pressley for killing Bonnie Harkey, said Wilkerson. The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the familys history.April 24, 2015. I cant tell you how many hundreds of miles my grandfather and I walked in that Harkeyville Orchard, said Bruce recently. While his grandmother was still alive, Pressley sold the rights to his share for about $70,000 to Bruce Harkey and his brother, the district attorney said. Bruce isdenying all allegations from prison although he does have a history of being accused of solicitation of murder. The two needed to get back immediately, the sheriff told him: Karen was dead and Bonnie was missing. (He did.
Texas Monthly - Pecans, greed, & murder. Tonight | Facebook But all she did was laugh. I want to stay here as long as I can.. If you want to enjoy the unmistakable flavor of chocolates but don't like candy, praline nuts are an excellent option. That question would be answered 27 hours later and 178 miles away in Leon County, when several Texas Rangers, sheriffs deputies, and cadaver dogs found Bonnies body in a creek bed near an RV campground in Normangee. After a brief courtship, the two were married at Wacos Highland Baptist Church that April, one month after his divorce was finalized. He paused, then gave a heavy sigh. When the 85-year-old matriarch of a prominent pecan-farming clan in San Saba was murdered, her death shook the townand exposed how obsession and greed can fell a family from within What had happened to Karen? 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. Hed openly shared his travel plans to Fort Worth, he continued, because he was excited to go to the big city. Whether Bonnie was the instigator or not, it is true that those years were unstable for Bruce. Show more listings Save search Because of that, Bonnie did pretty much everything she could to alienate me. He was convinced she had caused Erics death. He called KXAN from behind bars in the Taylor County jail, where he awaits trial. April 24, 2015 Authorities say Harkey had a deal to sell his stepmother's pecan ranch in San Saba County for more than $570,000, but couldn't agree with Johnson on how much to give Bonnie Harkey. Before the Great Depression shuttered most of the town, the racehorses and mules bred by Riley were known to attract crowds of spectators from all over Texas. There was testimony during the trial that Bruce Harkey told Pressley to kill everybody at Bonnie Harkeys house, McAfee said. Read our feature on the case from January. Bonnie says she lost just about everything in the blaze at the home . Bruce and Judi were devastated. When Bonnie and Karen got home, he texted Lillian, who was to come back and ring the doorbell, serving as a distraction while he tiptoed into Bonnies bedroom. March 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? View 11 photos $759,263 4 Beds 5 Baths 1442 sqft. Is there a shortage of pecans in the united states? How much are pecans selling for in louisiana? I made my way down U.S. 190, passing Harkey Pecan Farms and its rows of trees. The Harkeys were one of the first families to settle the area, before pecans were an industry. And when the jury read it out, his mouth dropped open and his shoulders dropped. The gravestone for Bruces firstborn, Eric Harkey, in the San Saba City Cemetery. 2023 National City and Regional Magazine Awards Finalists Announced, Texas Monthly Receives a Nod From the American Bar Association, HBO Max Releases Official Trailer for Love & Death, Step Aside, Perrys: This 30-Ounce Smoked Pork Chop Is Ready to Take the Crown, Willie Nelsons Son Lukas on Ancient Texts, Pearl Jam, and I Never Cared for You, Love and Death in Silicon Prairie, Part I: Candy Montgomerys Affair, I Biked the I-35 Hell Route From Austin to San Antonio So You Dont Have To, Texas-Style Pulled Pork Is Embarrassing, The Astrodomes Decline From Eighth Wonder to Eighth Blunder of the World, 15 Treasure-Filled Spots to Antique in Small-town Texas, Mosquito Hawks Are Flitting All Over Texas, Matthew McConaughey Is Monetizing His Whole Vibe, Love and Death in Silicon Prairie, Part II: The Killing of Betty Gore. (The official cause of death was aspiration asphyxiation.) Just after eight-thirty in the evening, a call came in. One of Bruce Harkeys attorneys, Richard Davis, said their testimony was not credible, and he said no evidence linked Bruce Harkey to the killings. How much is a full grown pecan tree worth? Prosecutors accused him of engineering the plot after Bonnie Harkeys guardian refused to go along with his plans to sell the Harkey Pecan Farm for $574,000, allegedly to an agent for actor Tommy Lee Jones, who was born in San Saba, about 100 miles northwest of Austin. Karens eleven-year-old son, who had found her and called 911, stood on the front porch clutching a cordless phone. He would choke her, pull her hair, and eventually even hold a gun to her head, threatening to kill her for a perceived slight such as not having dinner on the table by six oclock. Meanwhile, KXAN has found that it is not the first time Bruce Harkey has been accused of soliciting murder. We uncovered a 2003 case in which there is evidence he tried to have his ex-wife killed. KXAN located Harkeys ex-wife, whom we are identifying only as Kami. She has been in hiding with their child since before her marriage ended.. Whether the causewas resentment or desperation, Bruces life began to unspool soon afterward. The marker stood in front of a metal storage building and across the way, a donkey grazed in front of a newly built house. So, Bruce Harkey asked Pressley to kill everybody at the house, McAfee said. 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. Since pecans are pollinated only by the wind, excessive rainfall during spring bloom prevents pollination, as noted above, and poorly pollinated flowers produce small nuts that later abort. This was all Harkey before, the whole area, he told me, stretching his hand out. Who owns the largest pecan orchard in the world? In an interview, Harkey said he is innocent and that his nephew is a liar. There was no sign of a struggle, except for a broken fingernail on Karens right hand. Every time I went, she said, Please do not let them take my home away from me, Betty Ann, recalled her friend. The co-worker and Bruces boss became so alarmed that they alerted the authorities, and a Texas Ranger and an ATF special agent began to record Bruces conversations. He sat right on that chair by the door and talked about it one day for a long time, about how he had it all fixed and there wouldnt be any problems, Oliver told me recently. It didnt help that Bonnie was showing signs of dementia. How is it, if Im the mastermind, that I established an alibi before I planned the crime? said Bruce. Bonnie Heakins Harkey is on Facebook. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Family members have fought a long battle in court over who would inherit those lands after the death of Bonnie Harkey. Surgical assistant in periodontal practice. There were weevils and caterpillars and webworms. I guess with any big estate worth any value, if youve got a bunch of people involved, theres going to be fuss.. For almost three years after her death, the house remained exactly as Bonnie left it. He was released in December 2007, and after a brief stint in an Austin halfway house,Bruce returned to San Saba for good. He often criticized her. He said he would kill me and they would never implicate him, Kami told KXAN. It was very true. It was almost more than Bruce could bear. Bonnie Chapman, the 24-year-old daughter of Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman is going through another unbearable family tragedy.. Less than five years after the death of her mother and Dog's . During the interrogation, Price asked Carl a question. For almost three years after her death, the house remained exactly as Bonnie left it. A DPS helicopter dispatched from Waco made slow circles overhead, scanning the ground with heat-imaging cameras. (Farming is gambling, and I didnt think that was the most prudent thing to do with an eighty-four-year-olds money, when she might need it for hospital care, Spinks said. 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.
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