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from someone who worked there. I’d been working for a maintenance company in the office for a while.
    â€œI loaded the heavy box in my pickup truck to take it out of town to break into it. I went out on a county road and broke into the box.
    â€œAfter taking the money, I left it there and was chased part of the way back to Wichita Falls by someone who saw me,” Laughlin explained.
    Williams walked to the witness stand and leaned closer to his client. Looking Laughlin in the eye, Williams asked, “Did you tell Harry Harrison that you killed Miss Gibbs?”
    â€œNo!” Laughlin said loudly. “In fact, Harrison was so nervous that day in the jail that I tried to calm him down by reading scriptures to him.”
    â€œDanny, how did you know facts about Gibbs’s murder?” Williams asked.
    â€œI knew police information about the crime by reading reports one day in a captain’s office. I was left there for about a half hour when he was out.
    â€œI bragged to friends about knowing details of her death, to look like I knew something. When I talked about the killing and said I might have been in that field at one time with my dog, people acted interested. I just kept talking,” Laughlin explained.
    â€œDid you ever say you killed Toni Gibbs?” Williams asked.
    â€œNot one time,” Laughlin replied. “Not one time did I ever imply I was the killer. I never admitted nothing.”
    Williams had one final question for his client. After a dramatic pause, Williams asked, “Danny, tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury—did you kill Toni Gibbs?”
    â€œNo, I did not. I had nothing to do with it,” Laughlin said emphatically.
    After final arguments were presented from both prosecutors and the defense, the case was turned over to the jury for deliberations. It was a difficult case with very differing opinions. Argumentative shouts could be heard from the jury room. At times even muffled sobs rose from behind the closed door. As time continued to pass, prosecutors became increasingly uneasy and defense attorneys more certain that their client would be found not guilty.
    The jury finally emerged from the confined quarters, some with tear-streaked faces, others with wearied looks. They had worked for fourteen hours over a two-day period to reach a decision. But they were hopelessly deadlocked eleven to one for acquittal. Judge Douthitt declared a mistrial and Laughlin left the courthouse with his attorneys.
    Although he was not found innocent of the vicious murder of Toni Gibbs, Laughlin saw the hung jury as a victory.
    â€œI thank the Man right here,” Laughlin said, smiling, pointing at the Bible he had carried into the courtroom each day of the trial. “If they let me, I imagine I would give people some hugs. Anyway, I’d like to thank the jury.”
    Laughlin’s attorney blasted the State’s witnesses. “They never made a case until they scrounged up the jailhouse witnesses,” Williams told reporters outside the courtroom. “Would you make any important decision in your life based on what those gentlemen told you?”
    District Attorney Barry Macha was not only disappointed, but furious with the outcome. Convinced that he had prosecuted the right man, he pledged to retry Laughlin for Gibbs’s murder. Local law enforcement agreed, virtually shutting down any further investigation of Gibbs’s killing. Their tunnel vision saw only one man responsible for the brutal killing—Danny Laughlin.

Chapter Eight
    May 6, 1986
    Â 
    Tina Kimbrew chased after her black toy poodle as he slipped past her at the door and made a break for the street. Still dressed in her nightgown, the cute, slim, twenty-one-year-old had been sleeping late after her night shift as waitress and bartender at Baron’s Lounge at the Sheraton Hotel.
    â€œCome here, Nicole!” Tina said sternly to the feisty pup. She grabbed the quick-footed