Deep In The Heart Of Texas...Satanism!!!
Martin F. Abernathy
January 27, 1994, Thursday, 2 STAR Edition
SECTION: A; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1505 words
HEADLINE: Strange twist to town's nightmare;Trusted cop is charged in
murder case laden with horror
BYLINE: ROY BRAGG; Staff
DATELINE: GILMER
GILMER -- A week of rain has done little to wash away this
town's fear of the dark secrets of murder, rape and devil worship
that have crept out of the woods and onto its streets.
Perhaps more frightening than the revelations that thrill
killers are behind the disappearance of a bright-eyed teen from the
town square are allegations that a respected policeman -- one of
the town's protectors -- may be implicated in the crimes.
Fourteen-year veteran Sgt. James York Brown, 35, newly
married two months ago and the dogged lead investigator in the Jan.
5, 1992, disappearance of Kelly Wilson, Wednesday remained in the
Upshur County Jail in lieu of $ 650,000 bond.
He was arrested Friday and charged with capital murder,
aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in connection
with the abduction and presumed murder of the 17-year-old minutes
after she left her part-time job at a downtown video-rental store.
Also being held were five adult members of the Kerr family
and another couple who also were indicted in Wilson's abduction,
rape and death. The seven were previously charged with ritually
sexually abusing 16 siblings and cousins on the family farm north
of here.
Investigators won't say much about their cases, but sources
with ties to the probe say one of the abused children told state
investigators several months ago the Wilson girl was kidnapped from
the video store by four adult members of the Kerr family and raped
and murdered on the Kerr farm.
Then, sometime in the last few weeks, another adult member of
the Kerr family told state investigators Brown was present during
that murder. The child, questioned later by investigators, also
said Brown was present when the girl died.
But Brown's supporters, a group that includes the divorced
parents of the missing girl, don't believe it.
""It's particularly hard to believe about someone who you've
been around so much for the last two years,'' said Cathy Carlson,
the teen's mother. ""When we had problems, we'd call and he'd be
there in a heartbeat. When no one else wanted to look into things,
he did it. Sometimes out of his pocketbook and on his own time. ''
""I've spent a lot time with him,'' said Robbie Wilson, the
girl's father, who lives in Nachitoches, La. ""We've spent hours
with him. I don't think I'm that bad a judge of character. ''
In the vacuum of solid information, Wilson's parents say
they're confused. They don't know if there's been a cover-up, a
mistake or an actual break in the case.
The possible connection between the Kerr abuse case and the
Wilson disappearance is the first real break in the case of the
missing teen-ager.
The story has its beginnings in 1990, according to court
documents and interviews, when investigators from Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services showed up at a shabby,
blue-trimmed, white-frame house in a community called Harmony.
All or parts of the Kerr family lived in the house, a
ramshackle tin building behind it and a travel trailer parked in
the back yard.
Neighbors say they're uncertain how the family supported
itself, but described them as ""quiet'' people who stayed indoors.
The children were removed from the family soon after the
investigation began, officials say. Over the next three years, the
children told lawmen and social workers about an almost daily
pattern of sexual assaults against children, some of whom were as
young as 2 years old.
Their stories, detailed in court documents, are filled with
repeated references to children being sodomized, raped and
photographed in those acts by adults.
Some of the assault allegations were confirmed in interviews
with a Kerr relative, Lucas Geer, 25, now in prison for violating
his probation in connection with an indecency with a child case,
according to the affidavits.
Even more shocking may be allegations of intimidation,
violence and occult activity contained in the affidavits, filed
before a search of the home last May 23:
A boy, now 10, described how he, his mother, Wanda Lou Geer
Kerr, and his grandfather, Wendell E.Kerr, gathered bones in the
woods.
""Like if it's an animal, you dig the eyes out and you cook
them in the microwave and eat them,'' he told a social worker.
In a Jan. 3, 1992, interview, the boy says boxes were used to
separate human bones by race and animal bones from human bones.
The same boy described in grisly detail the family's
preferred method to kill a baby, a technique akin to dressing a
deer carcass. The boy also described the harvesting of the brain
and other organs from infants.
A 9-year-old boy talked in detail about being forced to kill
and dismember an unidentified baby.
The 10-year-old told a social worker he was told he was the
""prince of darkness,'' next in line of satanic succession. Because
of that, he said, he was allowed to participate in committing
atrocities.
Several of the children, interviewed separately, took
officers to the sheds behind the house and said the buildings
functioned as ""dungeons'' where much of the cult activity took
place.
Scott Lyford, a Galveston attorney who serves as special
prosecutor in the cases, cited recent studies in which children's
stories -- though rife with fabrications -- were shown to be based
on factual events the children had observed.
""I think children certainly make up stories,'' Lyford said.
""But when they do that, they use as building blocks things they
already know about. ''
While investigators sorted through the macabre web of the
Kerr case, Kelly Wilson disappeared.
Wilson had moved from the Nachitoches home of her father,
Robbie Wilson, to live here with her mother, Cathy Carlson, a few
months earlier.
Attractive and personable, Wilson made good grades, dressed
nicely and loved to dance, said Michelle Gardner, a high school
friend.
In Louisiana, Wilson belonged to the school pep squad, dance
team and spent weekend nights cruising Nachitoches' main drag with
friends, Gardner said.
Gardner and Robbie Wilson say Kelly had decided to return to
Louisiana to finish high school and was planning to move back the
week she disappeared.
""The last time I talked to her, she had decided that it
would be the right move for her,'' Wilson said of a Jan. 3 phone
conversation.
But two days later, she vanished. Police could piece together
few clues.
Her 1985 gold Dodge Charger was parked outside the video
store with the left rear tire slashed. Inside the car, her glasses
and her purse were found undisturbed.
Brown dug into the case immediately, according to Carlson,
and thought he had a break with the arrest of Michael Biby, then
17, of Pocahontas, Ark.
But the youth, who admitted skateboarding and slashing tires
for fun, denied knowledge of Wilson's disappearance. He served 90
days for criminal mischief and was released.
Brown and grand jurors also suspected a boyfriend of Wilson
might be involved.
No charges were filed, but the boyfriend's cousin, Brent
Ward, then 21, was charged with two counts of aggravated perjury
in connection with his testimony before a grand jury, records show.
In one instance, Ward is accused of lying about the type of
vehicle he was riding in on the night Wilson disappeared. In the
other case, he denied telling a girlfriend to lie about his
whereabouts the night Wilson disappeared.
Todd Tefteller, attorney for Ward and Biby, said there was no
case against Biby in connection with Wilson's disappearance. And
Ward, he said, ""has maintained complete innocence, and we expect a
jury trial to vindicate him (in the perjury cases). ''
Supporters here are just as adamant about Brown's innocence.
""He's the most dedicated peace officer I know,'' said Dr.
Cherie Nazzal, a Gilmer veterinarian. ""He's assisted us (in cases
before), and he does everything by the book. ''
Mustachioed, with ever-present sunglasses and slicked back
hair, Brown resembles other boys in blue but ""didn't seem as big
on violence as the others,'' Nazzal said.
News of Brown's indictment has been met with skepticism among
many.
Said a merchant: ""The prevailing attitude among most of us
is that we won't believe it until we see real hard evidence. ''
Brown's wife, Penni, couldn't be reached for comment, but she
told one merchant that she and Brown would fight to clear his name
and ""rattle some heads. ''
It might not be easy.
Brown's attorney, David Moore of nearby Longview, said the
stigma of the allegations would be hard to overcome, even if Brown
is found innocent.
Throughout town, on storefront windows and doors, there are
still letter-sized fliers seeking information about Wilson's
disappearance and offering $ 5,000 for information.
At the bottom of the fliers, there are phone numbers listed
for Brown, Gilmer police and the Upshur County sheriff.
At the Upshur County Jail the only flier there has been
altered.
In ballpoint ink, Brown's name has been scratched out.
===
The Houston Chronicle
May 22, 1994, Sunday, 2 STAR Edition
SECTION: STATE; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 912 words
HEADLINE: Objectivity questioned in abuse probe at Gilmer
BYLINE: MARK SMITH; Staff
DATELINE: AUSTIN
AUSTIN -- Two East Texas social workers conducting a
child-abuse investigation may have become so consumed with proving
allegations of satanic cult torture and sacrifice that they lost
their objectivity and disregarded agency policies, state officials
reviewing the case say.
Among their possible missteps were the protracted questioning
of children and their over-involvement in the criminal
investigation of a Gilmer teen-ager's disappearance and presumed
murder.
Problems with the investigation became apparent in March as a
state district judge dismissed murder indictments against eight
Gilmer residents -- including a police sergeant -- that had been
handed up in the presumed abduction and murder of Kelly Wilson.
Visiting Judge James B. Zimmerman threw out the indictments,
which in part were based on the child-abuse investigations, because
they rested on insufficient evidence.
Wilson, 17, disappeared Jan. 5, 1992 after she left her
place of employment, a downtown Gilmer video rental store.
Since the review began, social worker Debbie Minshew has
resigned, and her colleague, Ann Goar, has been reassigned to
Longview. They could not be reached for comment.
In their investigation of alleged abuse of 16 children in
Gilmer's extended Kerr family, the social workers uncovered
allegations that the children's biological parents slaughtered
babies and engaged in devil worship. One child had said Wilson was
at the family home.
However, authorities fear the social workers' zeal may have
led children to fabricate stories of abuse. The Wilson report, they
believe, came during the interrogation of a 7-year-old boy -- a
questioning reportedly so intense that the child defecated in his
pants. Agency officials are reviewing records related to that
interrogation.
""Subjecting any child to that kind of process is way out of
line, whether it be by us or by anyone else,'' said David Reilly, a
field operations manager with Texas Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services.
Reilly said he couldn't confirm the details of that
interrogation, but said he believes the social workers and
prosecutors may have been so consumed in proving the cult
allegations ""to the extent that their normally good judgments . .
. were overriden. ''
Nonetheless, he supported case workers' decisions to place
the children in foster homes.
""I think we have a strong case that these children were
abused,'' he said. ""I think we have a compelling case that they
were mistreated. This other controversy may cloud that, but I hope
it hasn't. ''
Reilly said one of his agency's main concerns is that its
2,800 social workers don't attempt to cross the line into law
enforcement.
""It wasn't necessary for us to make a connection between
anybody's disappearance or any homicide and the need for protection
of these kids,'' he said.
He acknowledged, though, that the Gilmer social workers may
have felt isolated and that the normal system of ""checks and
balances'' failed to work.
Initially, Reilly said, the social workers and an
appointed prosecutor requested help from outside law enforcement
agencies with expertise in satanic cults.
Although they received help from a Texas Department of Public
Safety investigator and a contract psychologist, Reilly said he
believes it may have been insufficient to bring about a ""reality
check'' from supervisors and other trained health care
professionals and investigators.
""They requested initial assistance from day one,'' Reilly
said. ""They just couldn't get it, I guess. Basically, it was a
small group of people working with a situation that was very
complex and they had very few resources available to them. ''
Feeling isolated, the social workers and law enforcement
officials were swept into the swirl of satanic cult allegations.
""What happened was, I think, that as the stories began to
unfold there developed this aura of fear,'' Reilly said. ""People
were complaining that they had been followed; they were getting
telephone calls in the night; there were dead animals being thrown
in their yard. And so this fear developed and it became almost
contagious, I guess. ''
Minshew and Goar reported they had been threatened. ""They
felt they are in danger . . . by people they believe part of a
cult,'' Reilly said.
As a result of the problems that arose in Gilmer, Reilly said
he expects to recommend formation of a departmental task force to
offer assistance in similar complex cases.
Reilly likely will ask that prosecutors and investigators from
the state attorney general's office and experienced mental health
professionals be included on the team.
Reilly also will call for more extensive communication between
agency supervisors and field workers to monitor and supervise
investigations.
Reilly said he hopes the controversy and expected
recommendations will improve the agency's professional reputation.
The Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, he
said, each year handles more than 100,000 child-abuse cases, often
with little or no controversy.
""If people have a predisposition to criticize the
department, sure, this (the Gilmer case) would be some good
ammunition,'' Reilly said. ""But we believe we do a lot of good
work. . . . We are not perfect, we are going to make mistakes.
""Unfortunately, our mistakes get magnified due to the
consequences of those mistakes. ''
====
Austin American-Statesman (Texas)
November 28, 1995
SECTION: Metro/State; Pg. B7
LENGTH: 603 words
HEADLINE: Gilmer saga leaves wounds that won't heal
DALLAS -- The lawyers and TV cameras -- once drawn to the small East
Texas town of Gilmer after a girl's mysterious disappearance and
allegations of murder, child abuse and satanic cults -- are gone.
The effects of the saga, however, have taken their toll on many of
those involved, and the town's 5,000 residents are left to wonder
about truth and justice.
Two years after the case garnered the national spotlight and four
years after the 17-year-old girl vanished, Kelly Wilson is still
missing. The murder charges have been dropped, along with several
dozen child-abuse cases against a local family.
This month, Assistant Texas Attorney General Lisa Tanner asked that 45
of 48 indictments against 10 people be dropped because the special
prosecutor and a team who once handled the case ''irreparably
tainted'' the children who were to testify.
In February, Danny Kerr Jr. will turn 10. But today he lies in an East
Texas nursing center bed, unable to walk, talk or feed himself. With
luck, doctors say, he could live another decade.
He is just one victim of a satanic cult scare that tore through
Gilmer. His father, uncle and grandparents were among eight people
charged with ritually murdering Wilson. Also charged was the police
officer assigned to solve her disappearance, Sgt. James Brown.
In November 1993, according to some of Danny's siblings, one or both
of his foster parents beat his head against the floor.
The children -- social workers had assigned 10 to the home -- said he
was brutalized during a session of ''holding,'' a technique that
included forcing them to run up and down stairs until they were
exhausted and squeezing them under their arms until they screamed.
Within three days of Danny's injury, both his foster parents, James
and Marie Lappe, had killed themselves.
Experts who have reviewed the case say the Lappes and other foster
parents used holding to induce the Kerr children to confess -- falsely
-- that their real parents were Satan worshipers and cannibals.
Among the tales told by the 15 children in the case, one had
extraordinary resonance. During a holding session, a 7-year-old boy
said that the Kerrs had kidnapped and killed Wilson.
In January 1994, a special prosecutor hired to handle the child- abuse
cases against the Kerrs persuaded a grand jury to indict Brown and
seven members and acquaintances of the Kerr family on charges of
murdering Wilson.
The indictments were dropped almost immediately, after the Texas
attorney general's office determined that they were groundless. But
the case still has taken a toll.
*Danny will never recover. ''He's a ward of the state, and he will die
a ward of the state,'' John Talley, the lawyer assigned to look out
for him, is quoted as saying in the Sunday editions of The Dallas
Morning News.
*Brown, who writhes under the taint of suspicion, suffered a stroke
and is largely house-bound.
*Tammy Jo Smith and Don Holeman, acquaintances of the Kerrs, lost
their two young children for two years. They were branded not just
child molesters but, like Brown, satanic killers. Authorities now say
they are neither.
*The case against the Kerrs has fallen apart. State prosecutors
conceded that although they wanted to win convictions on charges of
child molestation, the cases have been irreparably muddied by the
satanic allegations.
Members of the family, who remain in East Texas, have declined comment
or could not be reached.
*Wilson's father and mother, divorced years ago, have been further
estranged -- divided in their belief about the merit of the charges
against Brown.
+++++++++
ABErnathy, MARtin F. >> [abe...@aol.com] >> Providence, RI >> 9/22/03
Arthur L. Rubin
> The Houston Chronicle
> May 22, 1994, Sunday, 2 STAR Edition
> SECTION: STATE; Pg. 1
> LENGTH: 912 words
> HEADLINE: Objectivity questioned in abuse probe at Gilmer
> BYLINE: MARK SMITH; Staff
> DATELINE: AUSTIN
>
> AUSTIN -- Two East Texas social workers conducting a
> child-abuse investigation may have become so consumed with proving
> allegations of satanic cult torture and sacrifice that they lost
> their objectivity and disregarded agency policies, state officials
> reviewing the case say.
Exactly. This happens more often than you might think.
But why are you reposting information from 1994?
Robert Lee
<ronni...@sprintmail.com> wrote:
>
> But why are you reposting information from 1994?
Because there haven't been any significant SRA investigations in
forever, and he's reliving the glory days?
--Robert
--
Do not sit next to Dennis