Read Online Bad Boy From Rosebud by Gary M. Lavergne - Free Book Online

yield any incriminating evidence, but Lonnie was arrested anyway for "fraudulently and illegally concealing a weapon used for murder." Jo Ann's statement apparently served as the probable cause for his arrest. Pending a hearing, the Justice of the Peace set his bond at $10,000. Shortly after daylight, Constable R. J. Brannon and Rosebud City Marshal Terry Fletcher returned to the residence and found charred remains of clothing in Lonnie's driveway. Metal studs, common to western style shirts, were mixed with the ashes of burnt cloth. 2
The Falls County Justice of the Peace for the precinct including Rosebud held a preliminary hearing at the Rosebud City Hall to determine if Lonnie should be held for willingly aiding his brother's escape and destroying evidence. He set Lonnie's bond at $10,000. City Marshal Fletcher testified that the burned clothes were not in the driveway of Lonnie's house when he first was there at 2:30 A.M. , but they were there when he

 

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returned at 5:50 A.M. He also established that kerosene was used to ignite the clothes.
A Waco attorney named Godfrey Sullivan represented Lonnie at the hearing. Sullivan, a spectacled, distinguished looking attorney with "salt and pepper hair" had a reputation for "talking a juror's language." It is likely, though, that no lawyer could have overcome the image the McDuff boys (and their mother) had in Falls County, especially in Rosebud.
While the brutality of the Broomstick Murders shocked most Rosebud residents, most were not surprised that Kenneth was involved in something so hideous. In hindsight, many saw that Kenneth had been building up to more serious "adult" crimes. He was capable of anything, thought Ellen Roberts. Others thought that if Lonnie had known Kenneth to be a murderer and assisted him in the destruction of evidence, it was yet another example of a pattern of behavior both men had exhibited all their lives: Kenneth could do no wrong. 3 It did not take long for Addie to demonstrate "predictable" behavior as well. J. A., as usual, said little. During Lonnie's hearing before the Justice of the Peace, he sat on a folding chair and leaned against a wall.
The entire McDuff family gathered around Lonnie and Godfrey Sullivan at a cafeteria-style folding table for the hearing. The only surprise came when Lonnie's twelve-year-old sister took the stand. The terrified little girl contradicted statements given by Kenneth's datethat they had visited Lonnie's house before going to a movie in Temple. The little sister testified that she had been at Lonnie's house on Saturday and Sunday and had not seen a gun at any time. When asked directly if she saw Kenneth at the home at all, she cried out that she had not and that "Kenneth had not done all those things." 4
Near the end of the hearing, Brady Pamplin and an investigator for the Tarrant County D.A. named Harry Beason approached the Justice of the Peace and quoted Lonnie as saying, "If my feet ever hit the ground again, I'll leave this country." The J.P. doubled the bond at $20,000. 5
Had the Texas Tower tragedy not dominated the news in August 1966, the Broomstick Murders would have gained even more national attention. The first news reports focused on Roy Dale Green. Newspaper photos showed him pointing to a hole in the ground near his garage in Marlin where Kenneth buried, then retrieved, Lonnie's pistol. The media had been given unusual access to Roy Dale. He signed his statement, which amounted to a full confession, in the presence of newsmen. Before the

 

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throng, Roy Dale blurted out, "My God, I've got to tell somebody about it. I can't sleep. I can't think. I can't do nothing. I don't think people will ever understand. You've got to understand the circumstances. But I don't think anybody ever will." When informed that the body of Louise Sullivan had been located, Roy Dale collapsed in the arms of Tarrant County Chief Deputy Earl Brown. 6
In contrast, in the Tarrant County Jail, Kenneth