The Odessa American
Odessa, Texas
Thursday, September 11, 1969
pg 1

Slain Sherman Girl Is Found

Sherman, Tex., (AP) - Searchers on horseback discovered the mutilated body of Donna Golish, 7, of Sherman, shortly
before noon today in a wooded area northwest of  Sherman.
R. B. Clinton of the Grayson County Sheriff's Department, discovered the body, as the FBI, sheriff's deputies, and city
police continued their investigation into the girl's death.
The first-grader disappeared Wednesday about noon when she left an elementary school with her lunch.  She was seen going across the street either to a park or home to eat. The body was three-quarters of a mile from the school.
Hundreds of volunteers and officers, along with a helicopter from Perrin Air Force Base, searched for the girl.
She is the daughter of Capt. and Mrs. Fred Golish of Perrin AFB.
The body was found northeast from the school, while her home is to the northwest.
Police said the body was badly battered, with numerous buries, scratches and lacerations. One leg was broken.


Pampa Daily News
Pampa, Texas
Sunday, September 14, 1969
pg 1

Marked Similarities Between Two Deaths

Sherman, Tex. (UPI) - There were marked similarities between the wanton killing of a 7-year-old Sherman girl and
a 13-year-old Dallas boy but investigators refused Saturday to speculate upon the chance of a connection.
Chief sheriff's deputy Oscar Lyons of Grayson County even denied that officers trying to catch the killer of Donna
Marie Golish had discussed a connection between the two killings.
"Nothing has turned up yet but we are still looking," Lyons said. "We don't have any clues."
Dallas police trying to catch the killer of Robert Lawson apparently were in the same situation. A suspect was
released Friday after a polygraph lie detector test.
There were these similarities in the cases:
- Both children were run down by automobiles. Robert was on his bicycle and Donna Marie was on her way home at
noon Wednesday from first grade at an elementary school. Robert was killed last Sunday.
- The bodies of both children were moved from where they were hit and hidden in weeds some distance away.
- Both bodies were found face down. Donna Marie's body was partly dressed. Robert's clothes were torn.
Grayson County Sheriff  Woody Blanton speculated that "the person that picked the girl up definitely has sex
in his mind."
"This girl escaped from her abductor and was run over by the car." Blanton said. "I do not know where she was
run over but it was not at the scene where her body was found."
An autopsy performed in Dallas showed Donna Marie had not been sexually molested. The autopsy did show fractures
of wrist and skull and internal ruptures Blanton said could have been caused by a car running over her "one or more
times."
Police Friday found four pennies placed in a square exactly where the boy's head was lying when the body was
found in a rain soaked field.
"The pennies had to be placed there Thursday," a Dallas policeman said. "The driver of the car apparently is
superstitious and returned to the area to place them there."
"The same automobile was seen three times in the area within two days." Patrolman Robert Thompson said. "The
driver's conscience is working on him."
The body of Donna Marie, in a closed, specially made coffin, was at Dannell & Sons Funeral Home in  Sherman.
The funeral will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Trinity United Presbyterian Church.
Donna Marie's father is an  Air Force captain.
Robert was buried Friday.
His mother, a divorcee, works in the credit department of a Dallas hotel.


The Waxahachie Daily Light
Waxahachie, Texas
Monday, September 15, 1969
pg 1

Hunt Fails To Find Dress Of Slain Sherman Girl

Sherman, Tex. (UPS) - A search to find the missing dress and undergarments worn by 7-year-old Donna Mari Golish, who
was abducted and killed last week, ended unsuccessfully Sunday, officials said.
"We found a few things we thought might be beneficial but after checking them we couldn't connect them with the
young lady," Grayson County Sheriff Woody Blanton said Sunday.
The girl was returning home from school at noon Wednesday when she was apparently abducted, partly undressed and
run down by an automobile. Authorities said her missing brown-and-white checked dress and undergarments could supply them with much-needed clues.

Apparently Killed Elsewhere
"We don't  know where she was killed," Blanton said. "We are of the opinion she was not killed where the body was found.
I think this was pretty well established by the lack of evidence at the scene. "We have a couple of people that we're
checking out but nothing that we could really call a lead," he said.
In Dallas police still trying to find the killer of Robert Lawson, 13, also have no definite clues in their case.
Young Lawson was riding his bicycle home from a fishing trip a week ago Sunday when he was run down by a car. His
body was moved from where he was hit and hidden in weeds some distance away.

Not Sexually Molested
Blanton said the person who picked up Donna "definitely had sex in his mind." But an autopsy showed the girl was not
sexually molested.
"This girl escaped from her abductor and was run over by the car." Blanton said. "I don not know where she was run
over but it was not at the scene where her body was found."
Paint chips from the girl's body were sent to the FBI crime lab in Washington to be analyzed along with a piece of
shirt containing similar paint chips. The shirt was found near the body.


Abilene Reporter-News
Abilene, Texas
Sunday, October 19, 1969
pg 10

Public Asked to Help Turn Up Girl's Killer

Sherman, Tex., (AP) - It is now nearly six weeks since the battered, half-nude body of 8-year-old Donna Golish was found
beside a road in Sherman, and Grayson County Sheriff Woody Blanton says he is counting on the public to help him find
the killer.
"I think when we ultimately break the case, we'll probably come up with someone that had been least suspected." Sheriff
Blanton said. "But if the suspect is from around here, he should have some acquaintances with whom by just his manner
and questions he could arouse suspicion.
"We're going to need the full cooperation of the public if we break this case."
Donna disappeared Sept. 10 on her way home from Fairview Elementary School in Sherman.
She ordinarily walked home with a friend, but the girl had broken her arm the day before.
"This is as tough a situation as I have ever run into," admitted Blanton.
Texas Ranger Lewis Rigler compared the difficulty of solution to the murder-rape in 1967 of Mrs. Tommie Mae Kirkpatrick
of Sherman. Her killer, Carl Edward Hudson, wasn't caught until almost two months later when he apparently attempted
another attack.
"We had no leads on that case," said Rigler, "And in the end it was the public who helped break it by reporting a
prowler. And I might add, that Hudson was such a quiet, unobtrusive person that even his neighbors were startled
when they learned he had confessed to the rape-slaying."
"As long as we keep working we have a chance," said Rigler.
Blanton said so far he has well over 100 pages of reports on the Golish case. "I have checked cars, checked rumors,
checked out information people have given us. I have talked to people who live around the school who may have seen
or heard something. I have compared this bit of information with that bit. But so far, everything we have done has hit
a blind alley.
"I still feel that somewhere there is someone who saw something that day that will give us the break we need." said
Blanton. "I may be wrong but somehow I feel that someone has a personal knowledge of the habits of a person who
might be a suspect. It could be someone at first thought who would be a long way from being connected.
"Yet, we don't know who we're looking for. We don't know whether the person is local, or just someone who passed
through town.
Even though all of my autopsy reports so far indicate the young girl was not raped. I still feel we are looking for a
man, not a woman. It is possible that a woman could be involved, but I don't think so." the sheriff said.
As far as Blanton has been able to learn the girl's teacher, Mrs. Marylyn Odom, was the last person to recall seeing
her alive.
Donna walked out of her classroom, then headed west to cross Ricketts Street and then angled across Fairview Park to
the street that led to her home. This way, she had only the one street to cross.
Blanton is firm in his belief that the girl was picked up by someone on Ricketts. With a lot of youngsters going home at that hour, he said, it just is possible that the stopping of a car and a child getting in could go unnoticed because it was such a common occurrence.
Donna's stepmother, Mrs. Fred Golish, became worried at 12:30 p.m. when she hadn't come home. She walked down to
the end of the street and crossed the park. When she didn't find her, she hurried home and got into her car and drove
around the area. She checked with her teacher and learned she had left for home. At 1:29 p.m. she called the Sherman
police department and reported Donna missing.


The Mexia Daily News
Mexia, Texas
Sunday, April 5, 1970
pg 1

Girl Missing At Denison And Worst Now Feared

Editor's Note: An associated Press bulletin received just before press time reports that the body of Laurie Stevens, 11,
missing since Wednesday, was found near Randell Lake in the northwest area of Denison. The body was on a lonely graveled road about four miles from the city proper.

Denison, Tex. (AP) - A massive land and air search for a pretty 11-year-old girl intensified in this North Texas city today
as prospects dimmed that the youngster was still alive.
Clothing found by two teenage boys was identified Friday as belonging to Laurie Stevens, missing since Wednesday as
she was returning home from school.
The girl's mother, Mrs. Jay Morgan, identified Laurie's sweater, dress and part of her undergarments which were found
near a railroad yard in Northwest Denison.
The girl's panties, shoes and socks were missing, officers said.
Laurie's purse and a few neat-found Thursday on the edge of the red clay road leading to her home on the city's east side.
The clothing was found near the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad yards. A railroad official said several hundred box cars
were in the yard and each was being searched before leaving.
Laurie was the second small girl to disappear in this area along the Red River since last September.
"I haven't the slightest idea what could have happened to her," said Mrs. Morgan. "I know she hasn't run away. I just
don't know what to do."
Laurie was last seen at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday less than 500 yards from her home.
She had walked home from Lamar Elementary School with a friend. When the girlfriend turned off at her own house, she
watched Laurie trudge up the hill.
Under similar circumstances, seven-year-old Donna Marie Golish disappeared at nearby Sherman last September as she
walked home from school.
Later, her body was discovered battered and torn some two miles from where she was seen last. The killer has not been
found.
"We have no theories right now," said Chief Grayson County Deputy Oscar Lyons of Laurie's disappearance. "There aren't
any sex offenders or child molesters loose up here that we know of. But then, there's bound to be at least one we don't
know of. We're going to keep the search going indefinitely.  Something has to turn up sooner or later."
Some 50 to 60 sheriff's officers and state police, using helicopters, planes, horses, foot and car patrols, combed the
creeks, ponds and wooded pastures near Laurie's home Friday.
"We put out 50 men Wednesday night, 80 men Thursday. They've walked over every foot of ground anywhere near the house," Lyons said.
Her eyes reddened with worry and grief, Mrs. Morgan said Laurie was wearing a red dress and a blue sash the day
she disappeared.
"My husband got home at 4 .m. and I got home at 4:45 p.m. Laurie was last seen by her friend just down the road at
3:45 p.m. That means she disappeared from within sight of the house in broad daylight," Mrs. Morgan said.


The Bonham Daily Favorite
Bonham, Texas
Friday, April 10, 1970
pg 1

Youth Charged With Murders

Sherman, Tex (UPI) - Grayson County Sheriff Woody Blanton today filed murder charges against Charles Dennis Easley,
18, of Denison, in the murders of two young girls.
At a specially called news conference Blanton handed newsmen three sheets of paper and then said he could not
answer questions.
The release said Easley had been charged with murdering Laurie Stevens, 11, of Denison, Tex., and Donna Marie
Golish, 7, of Sherman. The Stevens girl was found shot six times in a ditch near Denison April 3. Donna Marie
was run over repeatedly by a car near Sherman last September.

Arrested Wednesday
Easley was arrested Wednesday, on a Sherman street. Officers at the time declined to say why they believed
he was connected with the little girls' deaths.
They said Easley was carrying a small caliber revolver at the time of his arrest, and that gun was sent to the
Department of Public Safety laboratories in Austin Thursday for tests to determine if it was used to kill Laurie Stevens.
The results of those tests were not revealed.
Easley was taken to  Dallas Wednesday for polygraph tests, but the result of those tests were also  kept
confidential.
The suspect hired Steve Davidchik of Sherman to defend him against the murder charges. Davidchik was not present
at the breaking news conference in Blanton's office today.
The end of Blanton's statement read:
"Due to recent state, federal and appellate decisions, we are prescribed from revealing to the news media details
of the evidence gathered by our investigation. Such revelations, according to the courts, could prejudice the
rights of the accused at the time of the trial.
"Therefore, the information we have already given is all which can be released at this time."
Easley had been brought before a judge Thursday and advised of his rights. He was also charged Thursday with theft
under $50 and with carrying an illegal weapon.
Laurie Stevens' nude, bullet pierced body was found face down in a ditch April 3 four miles northwest of Denison. She
was shot six times with .22 caliber bullets. She disappeared April 1 on her way home from school.
Donna Golish disappeared Sept. 10 also on her way home from school. He body also was found two days later.
Blanton figures the girl escaped from her abductor's automobile and the killer apparently ran the girl down as she ran away. Her body was found eight miles from where the Stevens girl disappeared.


The Bonham Daily Favorite
Bonham, Texas
Sunday April 12, 1970
pg 1

Denison Slaying Suspect Charged

Sherman, Tex. (UPI) - Sheriff Woody Blanton said Friday he will not reveal details of the evidence against Charles
Dennis Easley, 18, who is charged with killing two little schoolgirls.
Donna Marie was run over by a car near Sherman last September. Laurie was shot six times. Her nude body was found
in a ditch near Denison.
Blanton declined to answer reporters' questions about the case Friday, and none of the officers would comment on
what information led to Easley's arrest,
"Due to recent state, federal and appellate decisions," Blanton said, "we are proscribed from revealing to the news
media details of evidence gathered by our investigation. Such revelations, according to the courts, could prejudice the
right of the accused at the time of the trial."
He said his office would not release any more details about the case. Officers have kept tight security ever since
Easley's arrest.
He was taken to Dallas Wednesday for a lie detector test, but later sheriff's officers declined to confirm this. A
gun Easley was carrying when arrested was sent to the Department of Public Safety laboratory in Austin to see if it
was the gun used to kill Laurie Stevens.
The results of those tests were not announced.
The Denison Herald said the Easley youth is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Preston Easley of Denison and that the family
had lived in Bonham for several months after June 1967. While living in Bonham, the accused youth had delivered a
Denison Herald route.
Bonham school officials did not recall off hand whether young Easley was ever enrolled in school here. He dropped out
of Denison high school in his sophomore year, the Denison paper said.
The father was listed as a construction laborer and the mother as doing custom ironing at the home. Although they
once lived in Bonham, the family is not related to the Easley families now living here.


The Mexia Daily News
Mexia Texas
Wednesday May 20, 1970
pg 5

New Trial Date To Be Set For Accused Slayer

Wichita Falls, Tex. (AP) - A new trial date may be set today in the case of Charles Dennis Easley, 18, of Denison who
is charged in connection with the deaths of two small school girls.
The case was moved here Monday from Denison on a change of Venue by Dist. Judge David H. Brown. Defense counsel
maintained that Easley could not get a fair trial in Grayson County.
Easley is charged with murdering Laurie Stevens, 11, of Denison in April, and Donna Golish, 7, of nearby Sherman last
September.
Judge Brown had set July 6 for the trial before he granted the change of venue motion.
Some witnesses testified Monday in Denison that they had no preconceived ideas about the sensational case, but many have stated they felt Easley could not receive a fair trail in the emotionally-charged atmosphere of Denison and Sherman.
Sherman attorney Jack Kennedy said the "anxiety of the people after the two murders plus the resulting newspaper
publicity" would preclude a "fair trial."
Easley, a stocky teen-ager, was arrested shortly after the death of Laurie Stevens.
Both young girls disappeared while en route home from school. Both were found nearly nude, sprawled in outlying sections.
The Golish child was found in a Sherman field, her body battered by what investigators said appeared to have been an
automobile running over her several times.
The Stevens girl was found in Denison shot six times. Her body was tossed into a patch of weeds. She had disappeared
from within sight of her Denison home.
A mass search was sparked by the disappearance of Laurie Stevens. Nearly 100 officers of the sheriff's department and
state police mounted a wide search by air, horseback and car.


The Courier-Gazette
McKinney, Texas
Monday July 6 1970
pg 1

Easley Trial Starts

Wichita Falls, Tex UPI - The murder trial of Charles Dennis Easley began today with 200 prospective jurors present
for questioning.
Easley is charged with murdering two small girls in the Sherman-Denison area earlier this year. The trial was moved
from Grayson County on a change of venue.
Easley is being tried in Judge David H. Brown's court for the murder of Laurie Stevens, 11, of Denison. The girl's body
was found April 1 in a wooded area near Lake Texoma.
He is also charged with murdering Donna Golish, 7, of Sherman. Both girls were abducted on their way home from school.


The Galveston Daily News
Galveston, Texas
Friday July 10, 1970
pg 1

12th Juror For Easley Trial PIcked

Wichita Falls, Tex. (AP) - Lawyers picked their 12th juror Thursday in the murder trial of Charles Dennis Easley, 18,
accused of slaying two little girls in Sherman and Denison.
Three Sheppard Air Force Base sergeants have been picked. Sgt. David H. Webb was the 12th juror selected.
Easley, a school dropout, is being tried only in the case of Laurie Stevens, 11, of Denison.
He also is charged with killing Donna Marie Golish, 7, of Sherman.
Laurie Stevens disappeared April 1 while on the way home from school. Her nude body was found April 4 in northwest
Denison in a clump of bushes. She had been shot six times.
Donna Golish disappeared in Sherman, 10 miles from Denison, as she walked home from school last September. Officers said she had been run over by a car several times.


The Courier-Gazette
McKinney, Texas
Tuesday July 14, 1970
pg 1

Don't Mess Around With Judge

Wichita Falls (UPI) - The defense attorney for Charles Dennis Easley drew a contempt citation Monday when he refused
to cross examine one witness and rested his case without presenting any witnesses of his own.
Final arguments were scheduled to be delivered today. The jury was to get the case later in the afternoon.
Easley is standing trial for the murder of Laurie Stevens, 11, who  disappeared April 1 while on her way home from school.
The girl was shot and thrown into a ravine.
Weldon Thomason, 18, one of three prisoners from the Sherman jail who testified, was the last prosecution witness called
in the case. Thomason said he spent some time with Easley while they were both in jail.
According to Thomason, Easley said he would kill young children for $1,000 and kill their mothers for free.
When the prosecution finished examining Thomason, defense attorney Steve Davidcek was asked if he would like to
cross examine.
"I am not going to dignify this convict's testimony by asking him any questions," Davidcek said.
District Judge David Brown ordered the jury from the room and fined Davidcek $100 for contempt.


Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana, Texas
Wednesday July 15, 1970
pg 5


Easley Faces 300-Year Prison Term

Wichita Falls (AP) - School dropout Charles Dennis Easley, convicted of murder with malice in the shooting death of an
11-year-old Denison girl, faces a 300-year prison term today.
A district court jury deliberated 1 hour Tuesday before assessing the sentence.
The nine-man, three-woman jury deliberated 2 hours and 45 minutes earlier in the day to find Easley guilty in the April
slaying of Frances Laurie Stevens.
Easley, 18, showed no sign of emotion when the punishment was announced.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty.
Defense lawyer Don Jarvis said he would file a motion for a new trial.
The teen-ager also is charged in the slaying of Donna Marie Golish, 7, of Sherman last September.
Frances Laurie disappeared while returning home from school. Her schoolbooks and purse were found near her home,
and her body was found three days later in a rural area.
Investigators said the girl had been shot several times.
Jurors asked to see color slides of the area where the body was found after they were given the case Tuesday morning.
Lawyers had introduced the slides into testimony.
The jury also asked for a taped recorded segment of testimony to be replayed.
The jurors also heard testimony again about pistol shells found near an outbuilding where Easley resided for a time
in Sherman.
Gun experts testified they were unable to link the bullets with a pistol taken from the defendant.
Charles Madden, 23, testified that Easley told him he killed the child and ran a drill bit through the pistol barrel to make ballistic comparisons impossible.
The defense rested Monday without calling any witnesses in the trail, which began July 6.


The Mexia Daily News
Mexia, Texas
Wednesday July 22, 1970
pg 5

Charles Easley To Again Stand Trial This Fall

Denison, Tex., (AP) - Charles Dennis Easley, convicted of murdering an 11-year-old girl in Denison, is scheduled to go
on trail in October on charges of murdering another child.
The case was transferred Monday to McKinney.
The second trial will be on charges of slaying Donna Mari Golish, 7, of Sherman last September.
Officers said the girl apparently was intercepted as she went from school to home at noon. Authorities said she
appeared to have been run over several times by an automobile.
A jury sentenced Easley to 300 years in prison July 14 at the conclusion of his trail in Wichita Falls for the slaying of
Frances Laurie Stevens of Denison.
She was picked up on her way home from school and her body was found in a rural area a few days later. She had
been shot several times.


The Courier-Gazette
McKinney, Texas
Friday September 4, 1970
pg 1

Collin County Murder Haven?

Some people say Collin County and the Collin County Jail is becoming a haven for murders.
. . . And now, Charles D. Easley has been transferred to the Collin County Jail from Sheriff Woody Blanton's Grayson County Jail in Sherman on a change of venue.
Easley received a 300-year sentence from a Grayson County Jury for the death of a Sherman girl, and is awaiting a trial as a suspect in the death of another little girl from the same area.


The Amarillo Globe-Times
Amarillo, Texas
Thursday, December 10, 1970
pg 43

Youth is Given 300-Year Term

Wichita Falls, Tex. (UPI) - Charles Dennis Easley, convicted last July of murdering an 11-year-old Denison girl, Wednesday
drew the longest prison sentence ever handed down in Wichita County, 300 years.
Easley was found guilty of the murder of Laurie Stevens, whose body was found in a wooded area near Lake Texoma
April 1. He is also charged with killing Donna Golish, 7, of Sherman. . .


The Courier-Gazette
McKinney, Texas
Monday March 22, 1971
pg 1

Jury Selection Coming Slow In Easley Murder Trial

As of 11:10 a.m. today no jurors had been selected from the panel in the trial of Charles Dennis Easley for the murder
of seven-year-old Sherman girl.
The case is being tried in Judge David Brown's 59th District Court after a change of venue from Grayson County had
been granted.
A total of seven prospective jurors had been questioned by defense and prosecution attorneys, but none have
been accepted.
"None have been selected and I don't have any idea how long it will take to select a jury," District Attorney Tom
Ryan said.
The trial was moved from Grayson county to McKinney after the change of venue. Easley, already under a 300-year
sentence for the murder of an 11-year-old Denison girl, was also granted a change of venue in that case.
The trial beginning today is for the murder of Donna Golish in September of 1969. The seven-year-old girl was allegedly abducted on her way home from school. She apparently managed to get out of the abductor's car and flee, only to be run down by the abductor's car.
Laurie Stevens of Denison was abducted while on her way home from school last spring, and she was shot.
The Golish trial had originally been scheduled to begin in  February, but it was postponed because of a missing witness.


The Courier-Gazette
McKinney, Texas
Wednesday March 31, 1971
pg 1

Prosecution Rests Case In Charles Easley Trial.

Bot the state and the defense rested their cases in the murder trial today of Charles Dennis Easley, 19, who is charged with the murder of seven-year-old Donna Golish of Sherman.
The case was expected to go to the jury late this afternoon. The state is asking the death penalty.
Tuesday the jury was excused from the courtroom when the prosecution read the statement Easley made to the Grayson
county sheriff telling about his actions on the day of the alleged crime.
Judge David Brown this morning ruled to admit the statement in evidence and it was read to the jury late this morning.
Closing out the expert testimony was Emil F. Benson, a technical director for the Pontiac Coatings, Inc. of Michigan.
Some controversy had arisen over the color of a car in the case and Benson was called to testify.
He testified that his firm mixed a batch of paint to paint a certain number of cars at one time. When that is used, another batch is mixed, he said. Although the color name is the same, it is humanly impossible to get an exact match, he said.
Benson said one batch of paint would paint about 500 car engines. The state had introduced evidence that paint found
on the girl's foot matched that of a car driven by the defendant.
By chemical analysis, Benson testified, a sample of paint can be traced back to the exact batch. From this, the car can be identified.
Following open testimony, the state presented evidence in the judge's chambers, out of hearing the presence of the
jury, admission of this evidence will be ruled on at a later time by the judge. It was the second day of such testimony.
The defense began presenting its case this morning as the trial resumed.
Easley is charged with the murder of the seven-year-old Sherman girl last year.


The Courier-Gazette
McKinney, Texas
Thursday April 1, 1971
pg 1

Death Sentence Is Given Easley

Charles Dennis Easley of Sherman was sentenced to death in the electric chair for the murder and sexual attack of a seven-year-old girl, Donna Golish, of Sherman.
The jury deliberated two and a half hours Wednesday to find Easley guilty and swiftly decided the punishment in 45 minutes.
Attorneys for the condemned man say they will appeal the decision.
Easley was already under a 300-year sentence for the murder of an 11-year-old Denison girl.
The most damaging piece of state testimony during the trial was a seven-page confession Easley wrote while confined in
the Grayson County Jail in Sherman.
In the confession, he admitted that he enticed the girl into his car and tried to rape her. Failing, he took her to a field, beat
her and ran over her with his car in his frustration.
The trial began Friday after the selection of the final juror and both the prosecution and the defense rested their cases Wednesday.
Monday and Tuesday, Judge David Brown heard evidence out of the presence of the jury to determine whether it was
admissible in the trial - Easley's statement. Wednesday morning, the judge ruled to admit the statement.
Attorneys for the prosecution were Collin County District Attorney Tom Ryan and first assistant Tom O'Connell, and Joe Joiner and Sand Freels.
Defense attorneys were Steven Davidshik of Sherman and Ted Sisco of McKinney.
The girl's body was found September 11 in a remote section of Grayson County, following her disappearance while walking home from school September 10.


Brownwood Bulletin
Brownwood, Texas
Wednesday December 19, 1973
pg 4

Easley murder trial postponed

Wichita Falls, Tex. (AP) - The second murder trail of a man accused in the 1970 slaying of an 11-year-old Denison
girl has been postponed again, this time indefinitely.
District Court Judge Stanley Kirk ordered the postponement Tuesday because of a conflict with the schedule of a
defense attorney.
It marks the fourth postponement for the trial of Charles Dennis Easley of Sherman, convicted once for the slaying
of Laurie Stevens. That original convictions was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
The case was moved to Wichita Falls on a change of venue. The latest date for the second trial was to have been
Jan. 14.


The Childress Index
Childress, Texas
Thursday March 21, 1974
pg 1

Wichita Falls, Tex. (AP) - Charles Dennis Easley, 22, has been found guilty of the murder and with malice in the
April 1, 1970 shooting death of 11-year-old Frances L. Stevens, a Denison schoolgirl.
He was assessed a 100-year prison sentence.

The Victoria Advocate
April 16, 1975
pg 1, 12A

Trial Slated Here For Girl's Murder

Charles Dennis Easley, 23, charged with murdering two children in the Sherman-Denison area in 1969 and 1970, will go
on trail for the second time for one of the deaths Monday in Victoria.
Judge James B. Zimmerman of Dallas County Criminal District Court No. 3. who will preside over the trial, made
arrangements to use Judge Joe E. Kell's 24th District Courtroom after he ordered a change of venue to Victoria
from McKinney Monday.
Easley, who is from the Sherman-Denison area along the Texas-Oklahoma border, will be tried here in connection with
the death of Donna Marie Golish, 7, of Sherman, whose body was found in a field of weeds on the northern edge of Sherman on Sept. 12, 1969.
Authorities said it appeared that the girl had been run over by a car several times. The body was clad in a half slip with
the rest of the girl's clothing missing. The girl had vanished two days earlier and was last seen walking home from school.
Easley was assessed the death penalty March 31, 1971, by a jury in 59th District Court in McKinney. However,  District
Judge David Brown granted a motion for a new trial. The judge later disqualified himself from the case and Judge
Zimmerman was appointed to fill in. The  new trial was originally set for Monday in McKinney but Zimmerman moved it
to Victoria on a defense motion.
Easley has already been tried twice, both times in Wichita Falls, for the death of the other child, Laurie Stevens, 11,
of Denison, whose nude body was found April 3, 1970, northwest of Denison. Officers said she had been shot six times.
She vanished two days earlier, officers said.
Easley received a 300-year sentence on July 14, 1970, in a trial presided over by Judge Brown. however, the conviction and
sentenced was reversed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals which remanded the case back to Wichita Falls for retrial.
The second trial was held in March of last year with District Judge Stanley Kirk of 78th District Court in Wichita Falls
presiding Easley received a 100-year sentence and that sentence and conviction is currently on appeal with the Court
of Criminal Appeals.
The new trial in the death of the Golish girl was ordered after the reversal of the 300-year sentence in the Wichita Falls
Trial for the death of the Stevens girl.
Easley is presently being held in the Collin County Jail in McKinney. It was not known when he will be transferred to
Victoria County Jail.
A spokesman for the district clerk's office in McKinney said the court papers in the Golish case were still in her office
Tuesday afternoon but would be mailed as soon as possible to  District Clerk Alton Spuerl's office.
A jury panel of 200 persons for the local trial was ordered Monday and the jury summons were in the process of being
mailed Tuesday afternoon by the sheriff's office.
Grayson County Attorney Joe Max Shelton of Sherman will be state prosecutor in the trial.

The Bonham  Daily Favorite
Bonham, Texas
Tuesday April 22, 1975
pg 1

Easley Being Tried Without Jury in Case
Victoria, Tex. (UPI) - At his own request Charles Dennis Easley will be tried without a jury in his fourth trial for
murder.
Easley, who twice was convicted of murder and twice had his conviction overturned, unexpectedly requested Monday to
be tried by a judge instead of a jury for the slaying of Donna Marie Golish, 7.
Dallas District Judge James Zimmerman, who moved the trial from McKinney on a change of venue, agreed and dismissed
the 200 prospective jurors.
Easley, 22, was convicted March 31, 1971 in McKinney of murdering the Golish girl as she walked home from school in
September, 1969. The 100-year prison sentence and the conviction was overturned in appellate court.

San Antonio Express
San Antonio, Texas
Thursday November 13, 1975
pg 5-C

Appeals court reverses 2nd murder conviction

Austin - Charles Dennis Easley won the second reversal of a murder conviction Wednesday.  The reversal was handed down by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for Easley who is charged in the shooting death of a Denison fifth-grader who was abducted while walking home from school.  The nude body of Laurie Stevens was found in a ditch in rural Grayson County. She had been shot six times.
Easley was arrested April 8, 1970, a week after Laurie failed to return home from school.
His first conviction was reversed by the high court. On retrial, Easley was given a 100-year prison sentence, but the higher
court ruled Wednesday that the evidence was insufficient to convict him.
"The facts adduce in the case at bar cast barely more than a reasonable suspicion upon the appellant and fall far short of showing his guilt to a moral certainty," the court said.
The court said the incriminating facts against Easley consisted only of his suspicious presence in the victim's
heighborhood in the weeks before the killing; a chemical similarity between bullets removed from the girl's body and two bullets found at a place where Easley's family had lived; and eyewitness identification of Easley and his car on the roads near the scene of the crime shortly after the child disappeared.
But there was other conflicting evidence, the court said.
"Far from excluding all other reasonable hypotheses except the appellant's guilt, the evidence adduced leaves it possible
for anyone to have committed this crime, at least anyone who may have fired two bullets on the back of the Easley property during the period of their residence there," the court said.
It noted that ballistics experts said bullets taken from the victim's body could not be matched with a .22 pistol that Easley had with him when he was arrested.



Grayson County Murder Case Resurfaces, Killer Eligible for Parole

Posted: Nov 12, 2014 4:29 PM CST

GRAYSON COUNTY, TX - Four decades ago, a Texoma teenager targeted two young Grayson County schoolgirls - leaving
two families without daughters and an entire community on edge. Now the case is coming back to life as the man behind bars for the crimes will be eligible for parole in two months. It has one of the girls' families fighting to keep him behind
bars, all in the name of their "Lamar Angel."
"It's always going to be a mystery--why did she get in that car? What happened to Laurie forever changed Denison--it
forever changed the whole county," said Kari Karr.
54-year-old Karr remembers the spring of 1970 like it was yesterday--the April Fool's day her best friend, 11-year-old
Laurie Stevens, disappeared on her walk home from Lamar Elementary School. 
"I watched Laurie turn at her street to go home, and that's the last we saw of her," said Karr. "And then this weird feeling came over me that there had not been any pranks yet."
Karr says it was later that evening--jumping on the trampoline at a friend's house--when she learned little Laurie's
disappearance wasn't a prank. In the following days, search teams scoured Grayson County for any signs of the missing
girl. 
Laurie's body was found four days later lying face down in a ditch near Randell Road just six miles from where she was
abducted. She had been shot six times wearing nothing but her school shoes. 
Who would have murdered Laurie Stevens? The unanswered question shook the entire county, and then classmates
started to remember a frequent face at the playground.
"A lot of the girls say he stood here at Fifth Street and watched us, but I remember him watching from under that tree
down there on that next street," said Karr.
Mark Foltermann, another schoolmate, said, "He was always parked in the same place, and he watched every day as they
walked by."
The man was 18-year-old Charles Dennis Easley who would later be arrested in connection with Laurie's death and
convicted for the murder of another schoolgirl--7-year-old Donna Marie Golish of Sherman six months earlier. 
"He just saw a little girl that wasn't going to tell, that wasn't going to scream," said Karr.
Laurie's mother, Frances Morgan, says Easley also lived close by and zeroed in on her daughter's afternoon route.
"He knew where she was going, and he got part of the way up the hill and he made her throw her books down," said Morgan.
Morgan says one of the most disturbing parts of Laurie's kidnapping and murder was a drawing that investigators found
in Laurie's desk. It was drawn by Laurie  during a "Stranger Danger" campaign the week before. It read:
"Live a Little--Don't Get Into Cars with Strangers."
"He must have had a gun on her, or else she wouldn't have," said Morgan.
In an excerpt from "In the Line of Duty," author and Texas Ranger who worked the case, Lewis Rigler, says: "Real panic
set in. Little girls were no longer allowed to walk home from school, but were picked up by their anxious parents instead."
Morgan said: "Used to, kids could play outside after dark and everything. Doors weren't locked. They were after that."
Still locked up almost 45 years later in the Alfred Hughes Unit in Gatesville, Texas, is the now 62-year-old Charles
Easley. In January of 2015, he will be eligible for parole. 
"He's just evil, and he has no business being out," said Morgan.
Karr said, "I just want every child safe, and I think that means keeping him locked up." 
Those who have been haunted by this case are now signing an online petition to keep Easley where the law put him--behind
bars. 
"He might not have killed a lot of kids, but he stole a lot of childhoods," said Foltermann.
As the petition to deny his parole continues to collect thousands of signatures, family and friends hope it will be
enough. In the meantime, they say the only thing left to do is pray and share the story of their "Lamar Angel."
"I think she would be a mother, and be a good mother," said Morgan. "There's no telling what she turned out to be
because she was so precious. I think of that every time I go to the cemetery and see her grave--there she lays, and she
never got to do any of that stuff."

KTEN spoke with a representative from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He says the parole board will consider
several factors when deciding whether to grant Easley parole including the seriousness of his offense, letters of support
or protest, how he's adjusted in prison and his age. 

KTEN Channel 10 Texoma


Denison residents petition against child killer's parol

DENISON, Texas - nearly 45 years after the murder of a young firl, a convicted child killer is still haunting residents.
On a typical April school day in 1970 Denison, a fifth-grade grild was making her way home from school. And just like
any other day, she rode the bus with her friend. It would be the last time the two saw each other.
Laurie Stevens parted ways with her friend at the bus stop, but never made it back to her secluded home. Laurie was
missing for nearly 60 hours before her body was found.
Author Laura Haworth recalls how her murder rattled the community. "Her body was found a few days later," Haworth  said.
"I no longer visited the woods, and I used to go there all the time.
Soon after Laurie Stevens' body was discovered, Denison resident Charles Dennis Easley was arrested and convicted for
 her murder, but because of a technicality, the conviction was later overturned.
Grayson County District Attorny Joe Brown described the crime as violent, and one that involved innocent victims.
"It's something that people don't forget," he said.
Easley remains in prison, though, for the murder of another young girl, Donna Marie Golish. Easley is scheduled for
a parole hearing in January, which alarmed a group enough to start a Change.org petition to keep Easley behind bars -
and almost 500 people have signed it.
Toni Campbell, who was attending elementary school in Denison during the time of the murder signed the petition.
"I don't want him let out - ever - so I signed the petition," she said.
For the time being Easley remains behind bars where many who remember his crimes say they want him to remain.
kxii.com


Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Name: Easley, Charles Dennis
SID Number:01506954
TDCJ Number: 00282740
Last Parole Decision: Denied on 04/15/2015
Denial reason(s): 2D
2D NATURE OF OFFENSE - The record indicated that the inmate committed one or more violent criminal acts indicating a conscious disregard for the lives, safety, or property of others; or the instant offense or pattern of criminal activity has elements of brutality, violence, or conscious selection of victim's vulnerability such that the inmate poses a continuing
threat to public safety, or the records indicates use of a weapon.
Next Parole Review Date: 03/2018

FELONY
Susan Hawkins
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