Using outside resources, such as newspaper accounts, law enforcement reports, and public data on criminal records, the Violence Policy Center was able to obtain additional information on 11 of the 5,314 arrests reported by the DPS�10 for murder or attempted murder and one for aggravated kidnapping.
Murder
Murder – Kirby, Texas
- On April 20, 2001, a fight broke out between graveyard shift employees of two food distribution companies. As the fight was ending, concealed handgun license holder Farhad George, 29, realized that his younger brother had been slashed in the face with a knife. The attacker was identified by someone in the crowd as Victor Casanova. George reached for his 40 caliber Glock pistol and began approaching the Chevy Camaro that Casanova and Glen Grantham had just gotten into. Grantham was shot in the chest and died in the driver’s seat. Casanova ran for several hundred yards before the pursuing George shot him twice. He died four days later. During the trial, the defense claimed that George was trying to bring Casanova in on a citizen’s arrest and that Grantham was killed inadvertently. George was found guilty of murder in February 2002 and sentenced to a 30-year prison term.
Attempted Murder of a Police Officer – Houston, Texas
- On April 8, 2001, a friend of concealed handgun license holder Alberto Ruiz Fabila, 37, and another man were arguing outside a nightclub at closing time. Houston Police Department Officer D.A. Gamboa was working an extra job at the club and attempted to intervene. Fabila pulled a 45 caliber pistol from his waistband and pointed it at the officer. When Officer Gamboa grabbed the gun, Fabila fired once striking the officer’s hand and then fled on foot. Fabila was caught by Officer Gamboa a few blocks away. The officer was then taken to the hospital for the injuries. In February 2002, Fabila was found guilty of aggravated assault on a public servant and sentenced to six years in prison.
Capital Murder – Austin, Texas
- On October 21, 2000, cab driver and concealed handgun license holder Wayne Franklin Lambert, Jr. was driving home two passengers, Lance Hughes and Kevin MacDonald. During the drive, Lambert pulled over and at some point shot both passengers with his stainless steel Para-Ordance 45 caliber pistol. Hughes, shot three times in the back, died at the scene, while MacDonald died in surgery hours later. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Lambert told one passerby at the scene that the two men had tried to rob him, he then told two other passersby that the two men had tried to jump him, and he told a cab driver who later appeared at the scene that the two men had tried to flee his cab without paying the fare. At a press conference six weeks after his arrest, Lambert told reporters that he shot the “rich kids” in self-defense, that they were drunk, possibly drugged, attackers. According to the Austin American-Statesman, before he went into surgery, MacDonald stated that although Lambert and Hughes had argued, Hughes didn’t try and hit Lambert. MacDonald claimed that Lambert was offended by something they had said, challenged them to a fight, and threatened to call the police to accuse the two passengers of trying to rob him. On April 9, 2001, Lambert died in jail while awaiting trial.
Murder – Del Rio, Texas
- Concealed handgun license holder Patrick Glenn Bordelon was arrested and charged with the June 29, 1999, attempted murder of 16-year-old Ivan Misael Mendez Sepulveda. Sepulveda claimed that he was rounding up his dogs in the river when he was shot in the back three times, but Bordelon claimed that a Mexican man was standing on the American side of the river, outside his (Bordelon’s) chain-link fence and that “he knew his intentions.” At the trial Bordelon stated that the youth was clearly trespassing and testified that “I certainly didn’t have a sign outside that said, ‘Free tacos.'” In December 2001, Bordelon was cleared of the attempted murder charge but the jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, saying that Bordelon shot Sepulveda in the back and the ankle with two blasts of a shotgun, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Bordelon was sentenced to three and one-half years in jail.
Additionally, in May 2002, Bordelon pled guilty to shooting and killing a Mexican youth in November 1999. Bordelon was charged with murder for shooting 16-year-old Luis Armando Chavez Vaquera. He plead down to manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years in prison. According to Chavez Vaquera’s friends, they crossed the Rio Grande to burglarize Bordelon’s home. Before they could break in, Bordelon arrived home, got a gun, and began shooting. According to the San Antonio Express-News, even after he pled guilty, Bordelon claimed, “I did not shoot anyone, and that’s all I’ve got to say.” Under terms of the plea agreement, Bordelon’s seven-year manslaughter term will run concurrent with the aggravated assault conviction. He will be eligible for parole in three and a half years.
Murder/Suicide – Houston, Texas
- On August 23, 1998, concealed handgun license holder Gene Hanson shot and killed his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, Tim Twain Gooch, and then himself. According to the Houston Chronicle, a neighbor reported that Hanson staked out his ex-girlfriend’s home around 11:30 a.m. Another neighbor reported that about five hours later Hanson pulled his car behind his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend as their car pulled into the driveway. Hanson reportedly got out of his car, said a few words, and then opened fire. He did not shoot his ex-girlfriend, but killed Gooch and then himself. Both Gooch and Hanson died in the woman’s driveway. According to the Houston Police Department, Hanson had been harassing his girlfriend the month before the shooting.
Murder – Richardson, Texas
- On April 1, 1999, concealed handgun license holder Randy Phil Allen II was arrested and charged with the 1988 murder of Alan Wayne Brunken. According to the Dallas Morning News, police believe that Allen and Brunken met for the first time the evening of February 28, 1988, at White Rock Lake, and the two men then went to Brunken’s home. There, Brunken was shot with a handgun and stabbed several times, allegedly by Allen. The police believe that overtones of the crime suggest it was sexual in nature. Brunken’s body was discovered on March 2, 1988, after he failed to show up for work.
Murder – Dallas, Texas
- On June 5, 1998, concealed handgun license holder Jack Reynolds was charged with murder after he shot and killed his next-door neighbor, Julian Rioz. The Dallas Police reported that Rioz and several other people were at a party at Reynolds’ home when a fight broke out over a woman. Police said Reynolds retrieved his handgun from his pocket and as Rioz was walking home shot his pistol in the air. Rioz taunted the man and told him if he was going to shoot him he should come closer and do it. Reynolds crossed the yard and at point-blank range shot his neighbor once in the chest. According to the Dallas Police Department, Reynolds had spent his pension check on beer and drugs for the party, and was drunk at the time of the shooting. Witnesses related that Reynolds was known for shooting his weapon into the air for no reason. At the time of the trial, Reynolds told the jury that he was too drunk and drugged to remember what happened. Reynolds was convicted of murder in January 1999 and sentenced to 10 years probation.
Attempted Murder – Midlothian, Texas
- On July 9, 1997, the Midlothian Police Department arrested concealed handgun license holder Stephen Ray Harrelson for attempted murder. According to an article in Midlothian Today, Harrelson allegedly entered his estranged wife’s home and forced her into a back room. There, he allegedly stuck a pistol to her head. The woman alerted her children in front of the home and they were able to summon the police by calling 911. A struggle broke out and the woman was able to get Harrelson to leave. A police pursuit of Harrelson�who still had his gun�ensued. According to police, when Harrelson was located he threatened to kill himself. He eventually laid down his handgun and surrendered. Harrelson was sentenced to 10 years probation.
Murder – Pinehurst, Texas
- On May 19, 1997, concealed handgun license holder Daniel Meehan of Pinehurst, Texas, was arrested for the shooting death of Selma Pieruccini, who had been living with him. According to reports in the Orange Leader, Pieruccini was found dead in her home from a 9mm gunshot wound. According to the Beaumont Enterprise, Meehan originally reported the shooting as a suicide, but autopsy reports showed Pieruccini had been shot in the back from a range of less than two feet. Meehan had reportedly consumed approximately 16 beers the night of the murder. Meehan was convicted of murder in February 1998 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Attempted Capital Murder – Houston, Texas
- On May 15, 1996, concealed handgun license holder Francisco Santos-Rojo was arrested for attempted capital murder in connection with the robbery-slaying of diamond broker Janos Szuc in Szuc’s southwest Houston office on January 24, 1996. Houston police report that Santos-Rojo allegedly paid off a cleaning woman for security access into Szuc’s office building and waited outside in a getaway car during the incident. According to the Houston Chronicle, brothers Alberto and Reinaldo Dennes allegedly shot and wounded a security guard in Szuc’s building with a 9mm pistol fitted with a silencer, shot and killed Szuc, and then stole $3.6 million in diamonds from Szuc’s office safe before driving off with Santos-Rojo. The Dennes brothers were arrested and charged with capital murder in late February 1996, and Santos-Rojo was arrested in May. According to the Texas DPS, Santos-Rojo was indicted for capital murder, his charge was subsequently reduced, he was convicted of robbery, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Kidnapping
Aggravated Kidnapping – Seguin, Texas
- On April 28, 1997, concealed handgun license holder Diane James was arrested by Seguin, Texas, police in the aggravated kidnapping of a young woman. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Diane James and her husband, David, abducted a San Antonio woman in her 30s off the street as she walked home. According to police reports, the woman was assaulted with a stun gun, pulled into the James’ van, and then taken to their home, where she was kept naked and in chains. The woman reportedly told police that David James told her she was going to be “trained” as a sex slave. The woman escaped the next morning and ran to a neighbor’s home. David James – armed with a Colt AR-15 assault rifle -followed the woman to the neighbor’s home. When the police arrived at the scene a shootout ensued in which David James was killed. Diane James was convicted of aggravated kidnapping on November 21, 1997, and was sentenced to 15 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Penitentiary.
