Bad Boy From Rosebud (68 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 251
Another aspect of Kenneth McDuff's past that caused an investigation was the corporation formed to market him as a victim wrongly accused and convicted of murder. On April 7, 1992, federal agents interviewed Gary and Gloria Jackson, lawyers for Justice for McDuff, Inc. Gary Jackson also indicated that he had been representing McDuff since October of 1976. According to a report by the federal agent who conducted the interview, the couple were very certain about Kenneth's innocence and that there was no way he could have committed the crimes for which he was accused. The officer characterized both Jacksons as defensive and hostile throughout the entire interview. The report continued that the Jacksons believed in a conspiracy between the judiciary and various law enforcement agencies, an unholy alliance determined to frame Kenneth for crimes he did not commit. Gloria's last telephone conversation with Kenneth was on February 1, 1992; Gary last spoke to him on February 28, 1992, the day before McDuff kidnapped and killed Melissa Northrup. Gloria readily admitted to recent conversations with Addie. Both believed that McDuff was deadasserting that he was very close to his mother and she had not heard from him.
The Jacksons agreed to contact law enforcement agencies if they ever heard from Kenneth. They also agreed to advise him to turn himself in. But, according to the federal officer's report, Gary Jackson also indicated that he would not be surprised to find out that Kenneth was being held somewhere by officers against his will; he might have even been killed by them. The interviewer noted that Gary Jackson voiced an intention to file a
Writ of Habeas Corpus
to get McDuff out of jail.
15
(That is an interesting anticipated legal maneuver for someone believed to be dead.)
 
Page 252
Image not available.
Texas Ranger John Aycock tracked
down many leads during the hunt
for Kenneth McDuff. He was also
a major investigator in the Lonnie
McDuff murder in January, 1986.
Author's Collection.
Image not available.
The Red October was used by the U. S. Marshal's Service to track down McDuff.
It is equipped with state-of-the-art communications and surveillance equipment.
Author's Collection.
 
Page 253
Image not available.
Described as one of the
most talented investigators
on the McDuff Task Force,
Mike Carnevale was battling
cancer during the investigation.
Courtesy Dan Stoltz.
III
In addition to the ATF warrant, the U.S. Marshals, through the tenacity of Larry Doreck, were able to make another connection between McDuff and the illegal possession of a gun. On April 4, 1992, they visited one of McDuff's sisters. In her statement she indicated that on two different occasions McDuff had taken one of her pistols, a 38-caliber Smith and Wesson Revolver. McDuff claimed that he needed the weapon to kill Larry, the man who murdered Lonnie. The sister's boyfriend had his own guns in the same home. Wisely, he took them away and hid them at his parent's house.
Everyone who knew him knew Kenneth was violent whenever he took drugs. His sister's seventeen-year-old son verified his mother's story of Kenneth taking the gun. In an ATF affidavit, the young man confirmed that his uncle had taken the nickel-plated revolver, placed it in his belt, and left the home. In doing so, Kenneth violated the Gun Control Act of 1969, which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. (It also
 
Page 254
applies to persons on state or federal probation.) By April 14, the ATF had another arrest warrant.
16
Additionally, on April 14, Larry Doreck, the Deputized U.S. Marshal, contacted Tim and informed him that the Marshals intended to contact several of McDuff's known associates. At first, Doreck wanted Tim to accompany the group to Bloom's, but after Doreck asked Tim how to best approach Hank, Tim suggested that he go to the motel alone, and then bring Hank to the sheriff's office. Since Tim had already taken a statement from Hank and managed to communicate successfully with him, they decided to let Tim go alone.
At Bloom's, Tim knocked on the door of room 12. Hank answered the door and immediately became fidgety and nervous. Tim asked him to step outside so that they could talk in the parking lot. At that point, Tim did not know whether Hank should be suspected of being an active participant or a passive observer to what McDuff had done. Thus, he did not really know how to treat him or what questions to ask. Tim reminded Hank about that part of his April 8 statement referring to McDuff taking a girl from a convenience store. An already nervous Hank bristled when Tim got to the point. "If he didn't explain it to you in detail, then you saw it happen!" As Tim spoke, Hank began to shift his stance; his eyes began to move back and forth, never looking directly at the investigator zeroing in on him. In order to keep him still, Tim placed his hands on Hank's shoulder. "Look at me Hank! Listen to me Hank!" But Hank looked away. "Hank, I want you to talk to me."
"He hurt somebody real bad," Hank said as he shifted. Tim recalled that it was as if Hank was there to see itagain.
"You need to tell me about it before something else happens," insisted Tim as he kept trying to keep Hank still. The truth was pushing him around the parking lot. "Talk to me! Hank, listen to me and tell me what happened."
"I don't know and I can't tell you," pleaded Hank.
When Tim was convinced that that was as far as Hank Worley was going to go, he asked Hank to accompany him to the sheriff's office. He agreed to go and was interviewed by five members of the marshal's service. He did not add significantly to what he told Tim in the parking lot.
16
On the way back to Bloom's, Tim calmly and patiently told Hank that, "sooner or later you are going to have to tell us everything."
That was not nearly enough for The Boys. They knew Hank was
 
Page 255
holding out. For the next few days whenever they were in the area, Mike navigated Bigfoot into the parking lot of Bloom's Motel and parked it in a position Hank could not ignore. Sometimes they just sat until they could see a light go on inside room 12 and an occupant take a peek through the window. When that happened, The Boys tipped their hats and moved on. They did it every night they were in the Belton areaover and over again.
The Boys became Hank Worley's
Tell-Tale Heart
. They talked to him and mercilessly reminded him about the man he was holding out on. As Bill has said, ''Making someone feel guilty for what they have done is not coercion." And indeed, guilt became Hank's worse enemy; it festered each time Hank looked outside and saw three men in a huge, white Suburban.
On one evening in April, after a hard spring rain, Mike drove Bigfoot around the back of Bloom's Motel where Hank and a few other residents appeared to be barbecuing something. (Mike took a second take because he thought it looked suspiciously like a rat.) Bigfoot motored right through the thick mud that would have bogged down most other vehicles, leaving huge ruts in the sticky slosh. Somehow, it made The Boys seem more unstoppable. They got out of Bigfoot and stood, staring at Hank and the friends around the pit. Hank's daughter stood near the door of their room. Finally, Hank walked over to Bigfoot and asked, "What do ya'll want? I told ya'll everything."
As with Edgar Allen Poe's character, for Hank, "above all was the sense of hearing acute." Mike saw that, and he knew what to dohe became "the beating of [a] hideous heart."
"Hank, look at your daughter and picture her screaming. Picture her with a broomstick across her throat. Hank, can you hear the screams? I can hear them. Can you hear the screams, Hank? Can you hear her say 'Daddy help me! Help me!' I can hear her Hank. Can you?"
"Stop! Stop! You've got the right man! You've got the right man! I told you, you've got the right man. Just go and leave me alone!" Hank screamed as he placed his hands on his ears and looked over to his daughter, as if to make sure there was no broomstick across her throat.
"I know a lot, Hank. I know a whole lot more than you think. I know everything," Mike said.
The men walked Hank over to Bigfoot where Mike showed him pictures of Colleen Reed and Melissa Northrup. Silently, Hank looked at
 
Page 256
the pictures and shook. But he regained his composure enough to give The Boys (along with Larry Doreck) the impression that that was as far as they were going to getat least that night.
18
That was all right. There would be other nights, and all they had to do to go back to Bloom's was put more gas in Bigfoot.
Hank was terrified of McDuff and of the trouble he had gotten himself into. But like Roy Dale Green in 1966, Hank Worley wanted to run around with what he thought was an impressive individualsomeone like Kenneth Allen McDuff, a big, ex-con murderer with a car and money. Most officers associated with the McDuff murder cases believe that Hank got himself into a horrible situation and he could not back out. That is possible, but not likely. For example, during his investigation, Tim Steglich found out about an incident that occurred long before Hank helped McDuff abduct Colleen. Reportedly, Hank discovered that his daughter had gotten into a car with McDuff and drove off. Hank was so incensed that he went over to his ex-wife's home and threatened to kill anyone who ever let her do that again. "You have to wonder what he knew or suspected before that," said Tim.
One also has to wonder how many times someone like McDuff had to talk about killing before it would occur to Hank that just maybe there was something to all of the boasting. Especially since Hank knew McDuff to be extremely dangerous. Even those in the subculture knew McDuff to be "dangerous and crazy." Billy, Harrison, the One-eyed Jack, Chester the Molester, One-Arm, T-Bone, Linda, Holly, Sandy, the whores on the Cut, any number of thieves, rapists, drug dealers and murderers, and even some of McDuff's own family, all knew him to be a violent predator. Why not Hank Worley? Until, as he asserted, it was too late. If, indeed, Hank Worley was neither a predator nor a true accomplice, then he surely suffered from heartbreaking stupidity.
19
Or, maybe, Hank Worley knew what he was doing. At least Hank had enough common sense to fear for the safety of his family. If, indeed, guilt plagued him, it might have been because he placed very innocent members of his own family in grave danger. He had to tell his sister, Diane, who at one time took him into her home, that "if Big Mac comes up to the house you tell him where I'm at and you call this man immediately, 'cause he might hurt you." Then he handed her Mike McNamara's card.
20
McDuff's friends never ceased to amaze the investigators. While in-
 
Page 257
terrogating Billy, Dan Stoltz and Mike Carnevale got frustrated at his unwillingness to cooperate. While Carnevale kept Billy's attention, Dan took a smooth rock off the desk and asked Billy to look at it carefully. Billy gazed at the rock as Dan moved it in a circular motion. "Billy, this is a special rock. It makes people feel real relaxed and comfortable. See?" Dan then touched Billy's forehead with the rock. Billy slumped into his seat and said, "Haaaaaaaaaa!" He then shared with the investigators the intimacies of prison life with McDuff.
21
By April 19, Hank was at a breaking point. He called Diane and began to cry. "I am not going to see you again," he said. Then he called his brother-in-law, Jerry, and asked him to come over to Bloom's. Diane, Bess and Jerry got there at about 2:15
P.M.
As Bess and Diane sat near the barbecue pit behind Bloom's, Jerry and Hank walked out into the fields and played horseshoes.
Hank asked Jerry if he had ever heard about a missing girl from Austin. Jerry answered that he had seen the story several times on television. Then Hank rambled, almost incoherently, about how he could not get any rest. He mentioned how the marshals kept talking to him. Hank said, "They are trying to pin it on me." When Jerry asked Hank if he did it, Hank said no. "McDuff did it," he added. Hank also denied raping the girl. He did not have to do such a thing, he insisted, because there was "too much free stuff out there." He added, ''I'm scared but I've got to tell somebody." But he was afraid that if he said anything, he would be killed. According to his statement and sworn testimony, Jerry told Hank to turn himself in, ask for police protection, and tell everything he knew. The whole conversation lasted about fifteen to twenty minutes.
22
The next day, Monday, April 20, 1992, Hank reported to work. His boss walked over to him and wanted to talk. Over the weekend, Parnell McNamara had a conversation with the boss and suggested strongly that he help convince Hank to tell everything he knew about McDuff. It worked.
23
Hank returned to Bloom's after work, and as usual, drank a few beers. He had only one quarter to make a single call from Bloom's pay phone. He decided to call his sister, Diane.
Between 4:00 and 4:30
P.M.
, Diane was cooking supper when the phone rang. Hank asked his sister if she could do him a favor. She said she would if she could. He asked her to get a pencil and paper to take a

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