Queen of the County, Part 2 - NBC News But Carl was inconsolable, the days events washing over him with sudden, horrifying clarity. KXAN News - Carl Presley was sentenced to life in prison | Facebook Luxury Houses for Sale in Roncq, Hauts De France, France Walnuts intended for retail sale can be removed from their shells and baked before packing and shipping. The grisly crime shocked the rural community of Harkeyville named for the pecan-farming family in San Saba County, about 100 miles northwest of Austin. A search team, which included volunteers on ATVs, local firefighters, sheriffs deputies, and a bloodhound named J.J. from the nearby state prison, soon fanned out across the property. Hed planned to smother Bonnie with a pillow at naptime and then sneak out, but when Karen spotted him as she answered the door, he panicked, tackling her in a bear hug and throwing her to the floor, where he suffocated her beneath his body weight. They were blowing through that money. With about $20,000 left, and almost no other income to speak of, Bruce had grown nervous. I do drive slowly more times than I should because I would not want to hurt anyone. The sentencing hearings for Carl and Lillian took place a couple of weeks later at the San Saba County courthouse. The home that sits amidst a 300-acre pecan farm, alongside actor Tommy Lee Jones' colossal cattle ranch property. A portrait of Bonnie used in her obituary. One of Dwight's cousins moved to San Saba, attended The Father House, and went to the Christian Women's . The fourteen-day-old infant was buried in the city cemetery the next day; two of Bruces wedding ushers were among the pallbearers, and Riley helped Bruce pick out the gray granite headstone. The boys misbehavior got to be so unpalatable to Bonnies relatives that they stopped coming out to San Saba for holiday dinners. The care of the orchard was very important to him, remembered Millicans wife, Kristen, who grew up across from one of Rileys groves. Bruce began to spend more time with his nephew Carl, who was now 24. If he was coming to worship and study, that was fine, but we didnt want that anger, explained Pastor Sam Crosby. You get rid of that kid or Im going back to Waco, he claims she told Riley. Who is Sherlocks Sponsor Alfredo on Elementary? 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. But as an ensuing investigation would soon reveal, her death represented the final, sordid unraveling of one of the oldest lineages in Central Texasthe story of a family tree rotted through by the destructive forces of obsession, greed, and hate. When the caretaker came to the door, Pressley sneaked up behind her, killed her and then kidnapped his grandmother. Pressley was in police custody hours later, confessing to the crimes., He did say he was sorry repeatedly, said Sgt. According to local news station KXAN, "One Sunday, while Bonnie was at church, her grandson Carl. According to local news station KXAN, One Sunday, while Bonnie was at church, her grandson Carl Pressley broke into her home and waited for his grandmother to return. I made my way down U.S. 190, passing Harkey Pecan Farms and its rows of trees. Bonnie is related to Rodney Alan Harkey and Claire Woodslayer Heakins as well as 3 additional people. Is there a shortage of pecans in the united states? Why are pecans more expensive than almonds? But he dont care about anybody but himself.. Search Begins for Missing Bonnie Harkey. [The doctor] had given us explicit instructions not to feed this baby and put him down with nobody around. (Bonnies niece Teresa contests this view. The Harkeys had that reputationthat there was always some trouble brewing after Riley died. Bonnie Harkey owned the pecan farm and had willed 94 acres of it to a grandson, Carl Wade Pressley. He was just incessant. As Price would later put it, Carl has not been accused of being very intelligent.). The marker stood in front of a metal storage building and across the way, a donkey grazed in front of a newly built house. Carl, looking pudgy and sporting a large horseshoe mustache, nervously bounced his legs, his feet shackled, as he sat in his orange-and-white jumpsuit. Lillian Kings mother, who knew that her daughter and Carl had been out at the Harkey house that afternoon, had asked a friend to contact the sheriff when she learned that Karen was dead. 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. Bruce could con you into doing anything he wanted you to do, he said mournfully in his prison whites. With rights to the Prichard Orchard secured, the Harkey brothers now set their sights on a potential buyer: their reclusive yet high-profile neighbor Tommy Lee Jones. Queen of the County, Part 5 - NBC News Bonnie Sharkey - Phone, Address, Public Records | PeopleFinders In an interview, Harkey said he is innocent and that his nephew is a liar. Read our feature on the case from January. But Im the mayor of Harkeyville now, Hibler continued. I still have the scar where my brother kicked me. I was in the backseat, and I leaned forward and said, So, do we call you Mom now or what? he said. The Harkey family was well known in their small Texas town. 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. I met Bonnie Harkey when our cars 'bumped into each other' at the Print Shop. Over the years, he had started to wonder whether Eric might have lived if Bonnie hadnt been the one watching him. But Bruce, now a convicted felon, had trouble finding work. He told me, Im the brokest millionaire in San Saba County, because he had the property he couldnt touch., Bruces financial problems were real: he had filed for bankruptcy in 1998 to discharge $176,256 worth of debts, and he owed more than $100,000 in back child support to Kami. Bonnie, too, was grief-stricken. Where was Bonnie? Search Begins for Missing Bonnie Harkey - Oxygen Official Site Jun 1986 - Dec 200115 years 7 months. The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the family's history. Bonnie Harkey Profiles | Facebook If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Karens eleven-year-old son, who had found her and called 911, stood on the front porch clutching a cordless phone. Family members have fought a long battle in court over who would inherit those lands after the death of Bonnie Harkey. (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.) One afternoon, he showed up at Oliver Pecan Company an hour before closing time to ask for a job. The Harkey brothers founded Harkeyville, which in its heyday would boast a general store, a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop, a baseball diamond, a millinery, and a racetrack. Investigators say the motive behind Bruce Harkeys solicitation of Bonnie Harkeys murder was greed. No detail in his orchards escaped him. A Tree Is Known By Its Fruit - Texas Monthly 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. Rileys wife, Joan, had recently walked out on him and their twoboys after a troubledmarriage, packingup her Ford stationwagon and hightailing it to the desert of Nevada. By this time he and Jennifer had moved to his grandfathers house in town, and to anyone who would listen, he complained loudly about Millicans work, finding fault with everything from the way he trimmed branches to how he irrigated. Harkey was, recalled family friend Donna Bush, one of the sweetest ladies I ever knew.. Theres an epic tale of greed and betrayal in the heart of Texas. . Taylor Prewitt is the newsletter editor for Texas Monthly. Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. 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. The paramedics who arrived five minutes later quickly determined she was dead. But then things went suddenly and terribly awry: on April 15, as Bruce sat in English class, the baby stopped breathing. 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. Bonnie doted on the strawberry-blond little boy, proudly displaying his photos on her mantel. Was I enamored with or happy about Bonnie Harkey? What had been his fathers hobby became Rileys livelihood. Read More. Who owns the largest pecan orchard in the world? Who else is involved in this?, Carl paused for a moment and looked down. Like Bruce, Carl had a rap sheet, which included charges for trespassing and domestic violencein 2005 hed allegedly tried to run over his stepfather with a tractorand he also had an eye for pecans: after realizing that a truckful of nuts could net him several thousand dollars, hed begun filching them from Bonnies barn. Bruce and Judi were devastated. Who is the biggest pecan producer in the world? Tonight @DatelineNBC reports on the death of Bonnie Harkey, the matriarch of a prominent San Saba pecan farming family. Riley trained his sonshe told them that as Harkeys they were special.. Local columnist Lindy Lieban Schulz voiced the collective unease. Who owns the Harkey pecan Farm? - Rattleinnaustin.com But both those possibilities were excluded when the bloodhound, using a scent swab from her pillow, followed her trail down the driveway almost to the road, indicating shed likely left in a vehicle. But she was now 85 and increasingly frail; it was common knowledge that she was suffering from dementia and required the attention of a caretaker. They were separated immediately for questioning, and it wasnt long before Carl admitted that they had taken Bonnie for a drive in his car. At the trial, held in Burnet, Bonnies relatives and a handful of San Sabans watched as Bruce sat coolly through the proceedings, convinced there was nothing hed be found guilty of. 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. During a good year, the Harkey Pecan Farm outside San Saba, the self-proclaimed Pecan Capital of the World, can produce about $100,000 worth of pecans. The natives, who make up most of Louisiana's crop, don't fare so well, selling between 40 and 60 cents per pound. If Riley represented security, Bonnie, for her part, embodied the kind of feminine presence that was missing from the Harkey household. Bonnie Harkey - Address & Phone Number | Whitepages The matriarch of the family, Bonnie Harkey aka The Pecan Queen, was murdered. Shortly thereafter, I went to see him at the Byrd Unit, in Huntsville. There was plenty of space for her to do so: the orchard closest to the house stretched almost to the river. We must not let death steal the memories of her joy in life! Pastor Crosby exhorted the crowd. He grew controlling in his marriage, abusing Kami verbally and then, after she gave birth to their daughter in 1998, physically. He would say stuff like, Well, they just need to die so that I can have the farm, recalled Kami. Also known as Bonnie Manus | Bonnie Harkey. 4:12 Cold Justice An Exclusive Look Into the Case of Steven Phelps. Professional coffee lover. The best result we found for your search is Bonnie Heakins Harkey age 60s in Charlotte, NC in the Sardis Woods neighborhood. On days when Millican was in the groves, Bruce would park his silver F-150 in a neighboring field and scrutinize from afar. But those who knew Bonnie best say members of her family just couldnt wait for her to die. (Many think Jones was less interested in pecans than in the excellent water rights that come with the property.) View 19 photos $1,262,694 The question reverberated across living rooms, cafes, and hair salons around San Saba. could tell that Brucewhose given name was Bruce Wayne, after the superherohad the keenest interest in farming. What's the average lifespan of a pecan tree? When he returned to San Saba for high school, Bruce moved in with his grandparents in town rather than live with Riley and Bonnie. He sped down U.S. 190 in his white truck, passing neatly tended rows of pecan trees and the cattle auction barn, then crossed the San Saba River and rumbled down the caliche road to the two-story house. At her hearing, Lillian, her pale blond hair held back by a white scrunchie, sobbed uncontrollably. Bonnie let the baby die because he was a threat to her, because he was the firstborn male heir to Harkey Farms, he told me. Davis said he plans to appeal the verdict. When I arrived at the historical marker for Harkeyville, I stopped the car. There are no secrets around here, and if there is a secret, someone will make up a story to fill in the gaps, explained Boyd. How many acres do you need for a pecan orchard? and his only child, 32-year-old Riley, together with Rileys two sonsten-year-old John and five-year-old Bruceplanted another 1,500 trees, in a grove that came to be known as the Harkeyville Orchard. Bonnies bedroom, decorated with her paintings of flowers. Queen of the County, Part 4 - NBC News 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. 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. April 24, 2015. View Details. If you asked him what time it was, hed tell you how to build a watch, said Steve Boyd, a former Texas Ranger who succeeded Allen Brown as sheriff in 2013. On April 1, 1970, a month before her due date, Judi gave birth to the next Harkey: a seven-pound, two-ounce boy named Eric. The Harkeys had long been one of San Sabas most prominent families, and their property sat next door to a stretch of pastureland owned by another notable native son, the actor Tommy Lee Jones. 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. No longer a single mother, Bonnie found herself joining clubs, making friends, and sliding into the comfortable life she had always wanted. As investigators search for Bonnie Harkey, they learn more about her troubled relationship with her 28 year old grandson, Carl Pressley. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Press ESC to cancel. Bonnie Harkey owned the walnut farm and had given 94 acres of it to a grandson, Carl Wade Pressley. Top: The foyer where Karen Johnson was found dead. House in Marcq-en-Barul, Hauts-de-France, France Contact. kxan.com 'Pecan Queen's' grandson gets life in prison for her death | KXAN.com Season 10 Episode 10 - Videos 1:13 Preview Texas Double Murder Was "Epic Tale Of Greed" 1:46 Preview In one anecdote he liked to tell, she made her feelings clear one afternoon when the family was in her new desert rose Thunderbird. Entre communaut active de 450 000 Malters en Europe, leve de fonds . Bruce and John, however, with their inheritance in sight, had already begun some wrangling over the property. How much can you make off one pecan tree? April 24, 2015. Bonnie Harkey had left 94 acres in her will to Pressley, who then sold that interest to Bruce Harkey and his brother for about $70,000, prosecutor Sonny McAfee said. What are the top 5 pecans producing states? Lived To 94 Bonnie Sharkey. What are the 12 general lab safety rules. Certified twitter advocate. 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. 10,853 followers. Though he appeared physically diminished since his sentencing, his self-regard was intact. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. Second of all, if I thought somebody needed killing that bad, I would take care of it myself., Investigators, however, had reasons to be suspicious. It was Riley, a man with a long, bushy goatee and square head, who purchased the initial 113.9-acre tract for a farm in Harkeyville in 1885, and it was on this farm that his grandson and eventual heir, Olga Bryan Harkey, was born, in 1898. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. Despite these outbursts, she continued to write checks for him. She is a white female registered to vote in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. Some possessions were salvaged . She never responded. According to Bruce, Bonnie issued an ultimatum shortly thereafter. Despite the chaos, Bonnie remained lucid about some things. BURNET, Texas (AP) - A Central Texas man faces life in prison for plotting the death of his stepmother so he could sell her lucrative pecan farm and make hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bruce Harkey convicted in murder-for-hire plot over family pecan farm The jury took one hour to find him guilty. Bruce seethed. And several years later, when their son planted 2,000 acres of walnuts in Australia, the Stahmanns became the world's largest walnut producing family. At Bonnies invitation, the young family stayed out on the farm for several days as they got the hang of new parenthood. It also uncovered a dark. Bonnie Harkey - Office Administrator - Zaxis Contracting - LinkedIn FULL EPISODE: Queen of the County So, Bruce Harkey asked Pressley to kill everybody at the house, McAfee said. 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. Texas Double Murder Was "Epic Tale Of Greed" - Oxygen Official Site We didnt know he had stolen them, said Shawn Oliver. Bonnie Heakins Harkey - Facebook And I wont do that. (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. A DPS helicopter dispatched from Waco made slow circles overhead, scanning the ground with heat-imaging cameras. I think part of their attitude goes back to being a Harkey, said Teresa Cook, Bonnies niece.

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