Bad Boy From Rosebud (56 page)

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Authors: Gary M. Lavergne

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #General, #Law, #True Crime, #Murder, #test

BOOK: Bad Boy From Rosebud
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Page 195
often accompanied police on raids and stakeouts. Within more stringent guidelines that exist today, Bill does the same; it is part of his makeup.
Mike, Parnell, and Bill: no novelist could have crafted a more unique trio. "[They] are the spiritual descendants of an unforgiving school of frontier lawmen," wrote Gary Cartwright.
2
Indeed, like Larry McMurtry characters, they have a well-defined sense of right and wrong; for The Boys, there is seldom a gray area. Those who know them wonder if they would not have been happier if they had been born 100 years ago, when the frontierabsent silly rules, regulations and bureaucracymeant real freedom to pursue criminals, and what was wrong did not have to be defined by statute.
Parnell is the older of the McNamara boys. He is equally comfortable showing a menacing face of stone, a piercing and terrifying glare, or a disarming, engaging smile. He tells stories with a deep, rich Central Texas drawl as well as any
raconteur
. Many of the tales are of himself and his younger brother, Mike. Every cell in his body is Texan. And he is fearless.
Mike says less than Parnell, and is more direct and selective with his words. His demeanor hides an inner strength but betrays an intensely thoughtful and analytical approach to challenges. When engaged in deep conversation, he narrows his mouth and eyes, and tilts his head forward. He watches and listens carefully to every micro-tremor of what he hears. He is patientvery patient. Every cell in his body is Texan. And he, too, is fearless.
The McNamara Boys both graduated from Baylor University as Marketing and Business Majors. Neither claims to be overly academic. "You don't catch a horse thief by pecking on a computer," Mike once said.
3
When asked to remember their Baylor matriculation, Parnell is likely to flash a face-wrinkling smile and launch into the story of Mike's initiation into the Taurus Society, a revealing tale about how tough Mike McNamara really is, and the extent to which he can take whatever is dished outeven from Parnell. During the fall semester of 1966, Parnell served as the pledge captain of the Taurus Society, a precursor to fraternities. At that time, Mike was one of the pledges. "Hazing was pretty bad in those days," said Parnell. First, the pledges were taken on a "short walk" of about thirty miles. After arriving at their destination, they were stripped down and chained together. Then, they were taken to a riverbank where "horns'' made of sticks and branches were duct taped to their heads. As the pledges stood in various stages of dress, resplendent with their
 
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horns, thick molasses was poured over them. The molasses served as an adhesive for an uneven coating of cornflakes. Whatever pride the pledges might have had left vanished after they were "rallied," which meant they were dragged about the area by their horns. To be admitted to the Taurus Society, members of a pledge class had to demonstrate their resourcefulness.
At about 3:00
A.M.
, Mike and fourteen other boys were chained to a tree and left, with a small saw blade to get themselves out.
One of the pledges managed to get loose. He grabbed a sweatshirt, forced it over his legs like a pair of pants, and headed to the nearest farmhouse. The startled occupants nearly shot the poor boy before they called Sheriff Brady Pamplin, who arrived to free the boys, wrap them in blankets, and put them in the back of his pickup truck. In Marlin, the Sheriff stopped at a restaurant to get the boys donuts and coffee. As Mike and his fellow pledges sat in the back of the truck, throngs of Sunday worshippers stared, walked and drove by. Finally, the boys got to shower at Marlin High School, where they called friends at Baylor to bring clothes. When Sheriff Pamplin asked Mike and the other boys if they knew who their tormentors were, Mike replied, "Sure, one of them was my brother. He organized it." Mike had demonstrated that he could "take it." Now, it was Parnell's turn.
The next day T. P. McNamara called Parnell over and said, "You need to call the Sheriff. Last night he found some boys all beat up." The front page of the
Marlin Daily Democrat
carried a large article quoting Pamplin as saying, "I have never seen a nicer bunch of boys that looked so bad in all my life." The problem for Parnell was that a dean at Baylor saw the article, contacted Sheriff Pamplin, and indicated that the fraternity involved would be thrown off the campus. Parnell met with Brady Pamplin. "Sheriff, please don't tell him who it is," asked Parnell. Pamplin picked up the phone, called the dean, and quietly but firmly told him that the matter was closed.
The November 7, 1966, issue of the
Marlin Daily Democrat
ran a front page story entitled "Chained: Fifteen Baylor Students Rescued." In a haunting twist of history, on the same page, the article to the immediate left was entitled, "McDuff Goes on Trial, Death Penalty Sought."
4
At 6' 5" Bill Johnston is as formidable as any lawman or criminal who ever walked into a courthouse. And yet, his physical features are almost boyish. He is a tough man with intellectual power, equally com-
 
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fortable in a business suit arguing the law, or in western garb holding a shotgun tracking horse thieves. He is a deeply spiritual, excitable intellectual. He does not curse, and will doggedly avoid quoting someone else who does. Bill's view of prosecution is simple: "Prosecution is not a politically-correct business. It is a cold-blooded business." On another occasion he said: "Weak prosecution is the plague of law enforcement." Bill's good friend, Secret Service Agent Robert Blossman, said, "Bill believes in looking not just at the particular crime, but the individualwho he is, what he's capable of doing." Critics have hammered Bill for believing that it is important to look at what a suspect is
capable
of doing, and although it bothers him, he takes it, because Bill Johnston has no patience with the timid. From his office in Waco, where Theodore Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena'' quote is framed and sits on a window ledge, Bill Johnston takes chances. And so, graphing his career produces a Rooseveltian, irregular line of spectacular winsand losses. Bill Johnston will never "take his place with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Every cell in his body is Texan. And he is fearless.
None of The Boys wears a watch. They have an infuriating irreverence for time. That they will be late is an accepted expectation of those who know and deal with them. Their families, extraordinary in their own right, long ago accepted the frequency and ease with which Mike and Parnell spend days and nights in vehicles tracking suspects and fugitives. That includes Bill, who feels that if he asks the McNamaras to spend nights on cases, he should be there too. And The Boys have spent many nights in cars, trucks, and especially a huge, white Suburban they call "Bigfoot."
On March 6, 1992, at the Miller Family Steakhouse, Mike and Parnell told Bill the story of Kenneth Allen McDuff. Bill remembered the Broomstick Murders; his father was an Assistant D.A. in the neighboring county, and he recalled hearing him talk about McDuff. As the lunch progressed, the three managed to work each other up. But there was little they could do; evidence that McDuff had violated a federal law was necessary before Bill or the United States Marshal's Service could get involved. Someone like Kenneth Allen McDuff, however, seldom decides to violate only state laws. Since McDuff was an ex-con who frequented places like the Cut, and they were all convinced he had something to do with Melissa's abduction, then establishing a drug connection, or the possession of a firearm would be enough to trigger federal involvement. Parnell had a
 
Page 198
discussion about the developments with his supervisor, Cliff Hoffman, who readily accepted the argument that McDuff needed to be tracked down immediately. Before the end of the afternoon, Bill had his warrant.
5
Image not available.
The Boys: Deputy U. S. Marshal Mike McNamara, Assistant U. S. Attorney Bill
Johnston, and Deputy U. S. Marshal Parnell McNamara, in front of the
four-wheel drive Suburban "Big Foot."
Author's Collection.
II
Before the dust from towing McDuff's car from the truck parking lot of the New Road Inn could settle, McLennan County deputies and investigators canvassed the New Road Inn's guests for any clues to what could have gone on in the parking lot the night Melissa was abducted. Richard Stroup came across Richard Bannister, who identified McDuff as the man he saw near the Thunderbird that night. But, when he was shown a picture of Melissa's Buick, he could not confirm that it was the car McDuff used to push the Thunderbird.
6
The abduction of Melissa Northrup brought about a sense of ur-
 
Page 199
gency in the Waco area. Like Austin's reaction to the disappearance of Colleen Reed, friends and family spread out, handing out fliers and asking questions. McDuff's other victims had no such advocates, except for Regenia Moore, whose mother, Barbara Carpenter, courageously searched for her daughterbut she was alone in her determined search. Out in West Texas, Brenda Thompson's family wondered why she quit calling home, but no one from that family lived in the Waco area, and there is no record of her family reporting her missing. Valencia Joshua's family did not know she had been in the Waco area, much less that she was a missing person or a possible victim of a serial killer. The observation that law enforcement did not connect the string of murders until "good" girls became victims is correct. As a criticism, however, it is not entirely fair. It is not common for accountants and convenience store clerks with jobs and families to get into the cars of strangers. Melissa and Colleen left behind evidence of stable lives, like purses, driver's licenses, cars, homes, and people who knew better than to believe that they just ran off. These victims' families organized themselves, and provided useful information to law enforcement officers. For example, Bethany Sneed, Melissa's sister-in-law, and her husband Kirk, grabbed a stack of fliers and visited Waco business establishments. Soon, thousands of the mint green posters with Melissa's picture papered Waco. At one convenience store on University Park Drive, Bethany and Kirk met a man who said, "I don't know that woman, but I know the store. A man asked me to rob it." They had encountered Louis, a resident of Sabine Hall, and the young man McDuff had, on numerous occasions, invited to rob the Quik Pak.
Louis and all other Sabine Hall residents were afraid of McDuff. "He had seen McDuff beat the crap out of some people," remembered McLennan County District Attorney Mike Freeman, who later developed a close working relationship with Louis. Within days, the FBI had pictures of Kenneth McDuff to show Louis,
7
but FBI agents were not the only officers interested in him.
After lunch with the McNamaras, Bill arrived at the Sheriff's Office with FBI Agent Freddie Vela. From there, a deputy called the District Attorney's office to see if any movement had been made to indict McDuff. The answer was "no"; there just wasn't enough there. "I can't fault them for that," remembered Bill. At the time, the only thing linking McDuff to Melissa's abduction was the discovery of his Thunderbird near, not at, the scene. Bill asked around the office and came across a deputy who
 
Page 200
knew of a girl who worked at a bailbondsman office across the street. The deputy said she knew McDuff. She was brought over, and within two minutes she said that her boyfriend, Louis, "runs with Big Mac. He does dope with Big Mac." An adrenaline rush went through Bill: "Where is he? I'd really like to talk to him."
8
At that moment, Louis was fishing down on the Brazos River. The Sheriff's Office sent a deputy to get him. Bill headed for his office, looking for a Drug Enforcement agent to assist in the interrogation. He found Jay Eubanks.
The McLennan County deputy brought Louis to Bill's office on the Baylor campus. Bill and Eubanks thoroughly questioned him about his and McDuff's involvement in drugs. Louis described an LSD tab he had purchased from McDuff. Eubanks was able to determine that Louis knew what he was talking about; he had described shapes and designsblotter paper with a silver palm treematching known merchandise reaching Waco from Austin. He also accurately described the effects of the drug as "copping tracers" or catching hands. Within minutes, Eubanks drafted a complaint Bill took before a federal magistrate. Bill took out a pad and wrote out a warrant. "Kenneth Allen McDuff unlawfully, knowingly, and intentionally did distribute lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), a Schedule I Controlled Substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841 (a) (1). Bill had a federal warrant for the arrest of Kenneth Allen McDuff. McDuff was now a federal fugitive. Within days, the federal grand jury returned a sealed indictment.
9
The investigators already involved in the case had reason to believe McDuff possessed gunsat least on some occasions. Bill Johnston alerted the ATE The agent who initiated the investigation was a young, very energetic officer named Jeff Brzozowski. Jeff interviewed Louis, who stated that he saw McDuff with a small caliber pistol in the parking lot of Sabine Hall. To the best of his recollection, he had seen the weapon in August or September of the previous year. Two days later, Jeff presented an affidavit and secured a search warrant to look through McDuff's Thunderbird. Now, the ATF wanted McDuff.
10

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