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. Her 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
neighborhood 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 girl, a convicted child
killer is still haunting residents.
On a typical April school day in 1970 Denison,
a fifth-grade gird 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 Attorney 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