Detective Lauren Gonzalez
Appearances
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
It had a payroll check in it made out to Augustine, a notice to appear from the Midland Municipal Court, a food stamp card in his name, a social security card for someone named Lupe Chacon, and a social security card for Augustine Chacon. He had a resident alien card in his name and $1,484 and one penny in cash. He had a driver's license as well.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
So yeah, he said he was robbed, but I mean, he had a significant amount of cash on him for 1982.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
She was calling from Fieldton, Texas. And she said that she had gotten information from some of the men that had been living with her husband at the time that he was killed. And they told her that one of the men who lived there, a man named Javier, left right after the shooting. And he was reportedly en route to stay with someone named Carlos in Barstow, Florida.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
If I'm being honest, I am wondering what really happened in that house. Did it go down how everybody told police? Or is there some reason that people maybe had all their stories the same? I mean, it's possible that that really is what happened, what they said. But it's also possible that something went down and no one was going to be a snitch.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
And they just had this understanding that no one was going to tell the police what really happened.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
The differences could be because of the crimes themselves, but it does make me wonder if the investigation was so much smaller because they didn't have any leads to go on or it was because they didn't put in work. We could tell I maybe worked on that case a week, a week and a half, and then nothing else.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
I would estimate at the time, you know, in the 80s, there were probably dozens of bars and strip clubs here. It was party town, boom town, you know, just people going out every night, partying all weekend long, blown off steam with that money that they had burning a hole in their pocket.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
There was a saying back then, I think it goes something like, raise your family in Midland, raise hell in Odessa. What I hear from people that lived here at the time, worked here at the time was, oh yeah, Odessa was murder capital of the world. That's how they would describe it. People were getting stabbed and shot. You know, daily occurrences here.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
People were being murdered at the bar every weekend in fights and things. Violent crime had skyrocketed here in Odessa and there was not enough police officers here. I've been told that rookie cops were literally pulled off the street to work a full murder investigation as if they were a homicide detective.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
He stated he had been with Augustine at his house just before the shooting and everything seemed normal. He didn't notice anyone unfamiliar at the house when he left. Eugenio remembered him as a very hardworking man who was not involved in anything criminal.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
She told me that Bertha had spent the day with her mother Lupe in Littlefield, Texas the day of the funeral. Socorro speculated that maybe something had gone on between Bertha and Augustine while he was in Odessa and his wife and kids were in Mexico. And Socorro wondered if maybe Bertha was married or had a boyfriend because she was also killed in Odessa three months after Augustine was killed.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
This is something Socorro's telling me. I've never heard about Bertha before. This is just her speculating to me that perhaps Augustine and Bertha may have been together and got killed because of it.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
I was never able to get in touch with Lupe and then reaching back out to Socorro, trying to check in and set something like that up. I've just never been able to reach her again.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
We're just focused on solving his murder is what we're worried about.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
If you were doing cocaine, buying cocaine, selling cocaine, or any illegal substance like that in Odessa in the 80s, that's not something you're going to be charged with today. We're concerned with the murder investigation and finding out who killed Marshall, why,
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
People I really want to speak with about this investigation are going to be individuals that were working and living in Odessa in early 1982, named Pedro Valverde, Simon Loya, Jesus Manuel Vasquez, Ramiro Morales, Jose Francisco Banuelo Castilla.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
Also, if there is anyone out there named Bertha or who might have known a woman who went by Bertha in Odessa in 1982, that's a line of inquiry that they would like to explore as well.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
I think there's maybe two photographs of the crime scene. There are no photographs of the inside of the house, just one of the outside, and then I think another of a shoe impression they saw in the dirt outside the house. It makes it hard to get a clear picture of the crime scene.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
Thankfully, they at least did the sketch, but in my experience looking at cases from this time frame, that was not typical. I would never expect there to be as many photos as we have today. They were still using film, but in other cases that happened at the same time, there are a lot more photographs.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
He appeared to have been shot with a small caliber bullet in the middle of the back is what they could immediately tell. It seems to be pretty close range because there are some powder burns on the wounds.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
They did collect some drugs from the house. The way everything's described as being packaged, I would say, seems to be consistent with what we call today as the manufacture and delivery of illegal substances. So drug dealing, marijuana and cocaine.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
They kept questioning him, and I guess they had found out that when he had initially found Marshall deceased, he had driven all the way to his brother's house, which was pretty far away on 42nd Street, before he called the police.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
It sounded like screaming and yelling to him, but he could not understand the content of the argument and he just went back to sleep.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
In the past, Marshall had told Tony that he, quote, had a contract out on him. And in layman's terms, what this means is what others would call a hit that someone had advertised basically a murder for hire. If someone kills him, they could get paid. And he had told her that the person who put this out on him was someone named David Golden and that he was from Dallas.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
He made a statement to the effect, quote, if you take a piece of candy from a candy store and you don't pay for it, you pay for it. He paid the ultimate price.
The Deck
Agustin Chacon (King of Clubs, Texas) & Marshall McCarthy (5 of Hearts, Texas)
So they asked him about it, and he said he had made that statement to someone, but he had made it in a casual conversation in jest. But when asked what he meant by the statement, he repeatedly said he had no explanation for it. He became very nervous and defensive about answering questions about that statement.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
At 12.30 p.m., a vehicle matching the description that the clerk gave was located at the nearby University Garden Apartments at 4801 Oakwood. And the vehicle was an exact match to the clerk's description, except it had an Oklahoma plate on the back, not a Texas plate. And officers were quickly able to make contact with the owner of the vehicle. And he was identified as David Good.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And he was a resident of apartment 406 in that complex of University Garden Apartments.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He stated that he'd had an argument with his girlfriend, Peggy, around 10.30 or 11.30 p.m. that night, so he left the apartment. And he drove around for a while before going to the Baby Doll Strip Club. And he stayed there until they closed, which was around 2 a.m., and he drove around for a while before driving back toward his apartment.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He stopped at the 7-Eleven store at the corner of Oakwood and John Ben Shepard Parkway, which is the same 7-Eleven where the kidnapping occurred. He said he left his car running and went inside the store where he played a video game, which is consistent with the statements given by the clerk and her husband and friend. He stated he played four to five games and that each game was one minute long.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
During the interview, he admitted to attempting to kidnap the clerk at the store. He told a detective that his intention was to rape her and possibly even kill her afterward. The detective reported that David would not admit that he was going to rape or kill the victim in writing, but stated so verbally during the interview.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And when he was asked if he killed Deborah Moore at the Viva Apartments, he stated he didn't know if he did or not and asked to be hypnotized.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He broke down in tears and was talking freely about his drinking problem, about his problems with women, and his tendency to feel violent toward women. David was talking about the murder when I was interrupted and made to leave the room to attend a 10-minute briefing on the case. Upon my return to the room, David Good had regained his composure and was not the same person.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He then piled sticks and dirt on her as if she were already dead and that like he was trying to bury her. And this made her very afraid that the next thing he was going to do was kill her. He then threw her clothing a short distance away and left.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
She described him as a white male in his mid-20s, approximately 5'8 or 5'9, 150 pounds, slim but muscular with blonde hair that was cut above his ears and down to the collar of his shirt and a blonde mustache. She described him as wearing a white ball cap with royal blue lettering on the front, a yellow t-shirt, and blue cut-off jeans.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
During this interview, she really pointed out was his pubic hair was straight and long.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
Well, they contaminated horribly a photo lineup they're about to do with the victim, is what they did. And looking at the photo, I do not understand at all why they would see that photo and think, that looks like the rapist, because the photo is terrible. The man turns out to have blonde hair. You can't tell in the photo. The photo was taken, like, the same day as the assault happened.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
and in the paper the same day, and it says, this man at this apartment, and I guess they noticed how close it was, but I don't understand. This is not a very credible way to develop a lead.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
She stated that she had closed up the body shop and she was getting into her car after work and she had seen a man walking through the vacant lot that was just north of Fairgreen Apartments. She got into her car and was having trouble getting it started and The man walked up to her car and he had a knife in his hand and asked her if she needed help with her car. And she told him no.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And then he grabbed at her. So she took a swing at him. And then she reached for underneath the front seat of her car and told him, I have a gun and acted as if she was going to grab one. She didn't really have one. She just wanted to scare him. And she did scare him away. And she described him...
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
as a white male, thin build, 130 pounds, about 5'8", 5'9", with a gold t-shirt, Levi's, a light colored baseball cap, and blonde hair. And this is a same clothing description really as Jane Doe described the rapist. This would have happened right before the rape and in the same area. So this kind of corroborates what he looked like
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
Detective Price claimed that when that assault happened, she refused to file charges, but the manager of the body shop filed charges on David. And that manager is the one who reported being assaulted first.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
They had sex. Debra fell asleep, but woke up and told Charles she'd had a nightmare about the time her grandmother died in her arms. Sometime afterward, she put on his robe and walked out into the living room. And he said he figured she was maybe going to go use the bathroom, but he fell asleep. And he woke up because he heard her screaming his name, Charles.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He was asked, quote, Tim answered no, and the polygrapher's opinion was that Tim was being truthful.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
I have photographs of Tim from that morning when he initially came to the police department. And Tim does not match the description of the attacker at all. Tim had like perm, short, curly blonde hair. He was wearing glasses. He's definitely more of a stocky build, not a slender or slim build that is described by the witness. They said that that man had straight brown hair that was kind of longer.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
So I really don't think Tim was the one that actually did it.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
She did make statements that he had long, straight pubic hair. After three and a half years of marriage to David, she left him. And she had heard from a friend that David's brother, Terry, believed David murdered Deborah. And she told detectives she believed David was capable of committing the murder.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And they stated a woman had been at a bar on 2nd Street in Odessa and an intoxicated man named Ricky started crying and told her, quote, you know that girl that was killed on Oakwood a couple of years ago? I'm the one who killed her, end quote. And the man then sat his full beard down on the bar and just left.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
The woman was extremely afraid of the man, and that was why she would not report this to the police herself. So this is kind of just an anonymous tip. We don't know Ricky's last name. I don't know what Ricky looks like. And yeah, even the person that was reporting this to police was afraid as well. They didn't give their name. They didn't give any information.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
So he went into the living room and opened the door, the front door, and she was there in the doorway bleeding. And she fell to the floor. She'd still had the overnight bag strapped onto her shoulder. And he realized later she must have gone outside to get her bag out of the car because they kind of briefly talked about this.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And he pretty much just said he didn't know anything about Deborah's murder and that he would not submit to a polygraph again because he was in poor health. And he was. He had just gotten out of the hospital when they spoke to him.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
Both Peggy and Chris told the detective that David was a good man and they should leave him alone.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And he's like, oh, no, we can just get it in the morning, something like that. So he knew the bag was in the car. So it's not like she was leaving the apartment with the bag. She had gone to the car to get the bag and bring it back into the apartment because the intention was to spend the night there.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
So these are more for y'all to have like sentimentally and things. But if there's a man or something that you recognize in the picture that I probably don't know who they are, if you recognize them and could let me know, that could possibly help. I think this one's like a birthday party though. I recognize Bert in one of the pictures from that other picture of y'all together.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
I have to remain open to any possibility right now just because there's not enough evidence pointing either way. However, I do really wonder if she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean, there was a lot going on in that neighborhood at the time. There was a lot of indecent exposure reports. You know, a woman had been raped on campus just a few days before.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
You know, David Good tried to kidnap that clerk just a block away from where she was killed. So it does make me wonder if there was a man or multiple men looking to prey on women just caught out alone in the dark at night.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
They spoke with him because his apartment was on the second floor and his balcony patio faced south. So he reported that he had heard screaming and went out on his balcony and saw the victim engaged in a struggle with an unidentified man. And he told police that they were just outside of the gate of Charles' building. And James shouted at the assailant.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
I went back to that sexual assault kit that was taken from Deborah that night. And what I found was they had collected her fingernails. And when I went back and looked at the witness James's written statement, he described Deborah struggling with her attacker.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
So I felt like the most potentially, yeah, probative things, if maybe she was trying to fight with him, maybe she was trying to fight back, maybe his DNA was under her fingernails and she was wearing that robe when she was attacked. So maybe the killer's DNA is on the robe. So about two weeks ago, I had the fingernails and her DNA removed.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
sent to the lab as well as the robe to be screened for potential DNA. Thankfully, detectives had collected David Good's blood as well. And we still have that. So I sent that to be tested as well.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
If there's anyone in this case that's been suspected of this before and they know they didn't do it and they want to clear their name, I would love to speak with them and get a sample of their DNA so they could be cleared from this investigation if that's the case. And that would help me focus more on, you know, who I do need to look for.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
So that's kind of what we're doing right now as far as testing. But I plan on talking with people again as I continue the investigation, you know, re-interviewing witnesses, trying to track down her old friends, things like that. And obviously every tip will be followed up on that we receive.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
She was not yelling Charles because he was doing something to her or she was trying to get away from him. Charles Azell is innocent. So we know, hey, is this the killer's DNA or is this Charles' DNA, who is very obviously not the killer?
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And at that time, the assailant fled eastbound through a gate that led to the fair green apartments next door. He saw Deborah stagger through the apartment building gate. And so he quickly got dressed and went downstairs to try to pursue the attacker, but he could not find him.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He described the suspect as a white male with brown chin-length hair, approximately six feet tall, slim build, wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. He said he didn't get a look at the man's face and he did not see a vehicle leaving the area either.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And he described the man as white, about 5'11", 150 pounds, skinny build with long sideburns and brown hair, wearing a light blue button-down shirt with a tail hanging out of his blue pants. And he saw this man walking towards the apartment where the stabbing had occurred.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
Several minutes after this man walked by, he'd heard a woman scream, but he didn't go to see where the scream came from, and instead he went to check his mailbox.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
There was a pool of blood on the concrete sidewalk at the threshold of the north gate of the apartment building. And looking at photos, it appeared that at least two people had walked through the pool of blood. So there were three bloody right barefoot prints that led from the pool of blood down the sidewalk towards apartment 51.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And that blood trail towards the apartment is accompanied by dozens of blood drops. And that indicated that the person was actively bleeding while walking to the apartment. And there are blood drips on the front door of apartment 51 where the victim made entry. Then there's numerous pools of blood on the carpet of the living room in the apartment.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And so this blood trail was most likely made by Deborah after she was stabbed.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
Now the shoe impressions were not documented very well, and there's no report indicating if the shoe impressions were made by someone other than the killer, like a witness, a paramedic, or officer. And it's unknown where that blood trail terminates because there's just very few photographs that were taken of the blood trail. And they did not document any measurements made.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
So it does make me wonder if those prints were made by someone they didn't suspect, like, again, like a paramedic, a police officer, a witness or something. And that's why they didn't document them.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He said that his friend Charles had called him and said something was wrong with Debra and she was covered in blood and to come over right away. And he believed Debra was either divorced or separated from her husband and that she lived in Monahans, Texas with her two children. Monahans is about a 30-minute drive west of Odessa.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And Curtis said he didn't know Debra's husband's name, but he did know he owned Moore's Trucking Company in Monahans. Debra had told Curtis about three weeks prior that her husband had beat her so badly that he had caused her a head injury that required her to go to the hospital.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
He stated Debra was scared of Tim following her and was worried he would show up where she was. He said approximately six months before Debra wanted to stay with him for a week because Tim had been beating her up. So Jimmy let her and then approximately two months ago Debra asked to stay with Jimmy again and he let her stay another week.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
She told Jimmy that she wanted to divorce Tim, but she was afraid he would kill her or have her killed if she did. And she further told Jimmy that Tim had, quote, the monetary means to do this.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
She had a 10-year-old son named Bert that she had with her first husband, Albert Williams, and a 5-year-old daughter, Brandy, that she had with her second husband, Ed Simmons. And he told police that Brandy was staying with her father, Ed, because Deborah had been having health issues.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
The detective documented in their report that Tim said the health issues were, quote, "...some type of brain ailment." And he advised that Deborah had problems with Albert Williams' new wife over child support.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And he stated that approximately one month ago, he had been at a bar in Monaghan's called The Blue Room with a friend named Jimmy Rollins. And afterward, the men went to Tim's shop, Moore's Trucking, and continued drinking. Tim said that Debra showed up and was giving him a hard time about drinking, so he told her to leave. and that if she didn't, he would drag her back to the car.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And when Debra told him he couldn't do that, he grabbed her by the arm and started to take her outside when she fell down and hit her head. He said that according to Debra's mother, this injured Debra, but Tim felt Debra often made a bigger deal about things than they really were, so he didn't know if the incident is what caused her head injury.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
Tim's mother was there and grabbed one of his arms, and Deborah grabbed the other in an attempt to pull him away from the fight, but he didn't know who had grabbed hold of him, so he threw them off. His mother fell to the ground, and Deborah hit her head against a wall.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
The clerk reported the suspect stated, quote, He told her to walk around from the counter slowly so he could watch her. She screamed at him no and grabbed the phone to call for police, and this caused the suspect to flee the store. He got into a navy blue 1976 to 1979 Oldsmobile two-door car with glass T-tops and a Texas plate, but no front plate.
The Deck
Debra Sue Moore (Jack of Clubs, Texas)
And he was seen driving eastbound on Oakwood at a high rate of speed. She described the suspect as a white male, around 24 to 25 years old, 5'8 or 5'9, 120 to 140 pounds, slim build, with light brown collar to shoulder length, straight hair, and a thin mustache. And then he was wearing a white t-shirt, cut-off blue jeans, and thong sandals, or what we would call flip-flops.