KFC Murderer Gets Life

Well let me start off by quoting the late great Colonel Sanders, "I'm to drunk to taste this chicken". Actually, that was one of Will Ferrell's lines from his movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby". That's the only laugh you'll get out of this blog. On Monday, a career criminal and notorious burglar pleaded guilty to the slayings of five innocent people who were taken from a Kentucky Fried Chicken in East Texas. Four of the victims of whom worked at the Kentucky Fried Chicken were murdered as well as another who was a friend of one of the employees. Slayed were Mary Tyler, 37; Opie Ann Hughes, 39; David Maxwell, 20; Joey Johnson, 20; and Monte Landers, 19. The victims were found dead the next day along an abandoned oilfield road in rural Rusk County. This became one of Texas's longest, most unsolved mass-murder cases ever. Romeo Pinkerton, 49, a native of Tyler, Texas came forth with his role in the deaths as part of a plea bargain offered by the Texas attorney general's office. In exchange for the plea, Pinkerton got a life sentence for each of the five deaths instead of the death penalty. Although, the families of the victims wanted to watch him die in misery as did their own, they'd rather him have to live with himself while having to be confined to a tiny prison cell for life. "Romeo Pinkerton's admission of guilt ends decades of uncertainty for the families of five innocent victims," Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement to the press. George Kieny, a retired FBI agent who cracked the murder-mystery case, said he couldn't comment in full but added that he was "extremely pleased with the results."Pinkerton was the first of two men to face trial in the Sept. 23, 1983, slayings. After the judge imposed the sentence on Pinkerton, he allowed the families of the deceased a chance to make impact statements. During the statements, Pinkerton sat emotionless with no remorse or feelings of wrong doings as the families talked about how much they had suffered and what it had did to them. The sister of David Maxwell said, "You're not only a murderer, you are a coward to let this continue all of these years". Pinkerton did not seem to care. In his eyes, all he seemed to be thinking about was whether or not he got top or bottom bunk. The other man involved in the murders, Darnell Hartsfield, cousin of Pinkerton, pleaded not guilty and is expected to be tried on the same charges next year. His lawyer, Donald Killingsworth, did not return phone calls monday night. As for Hartsfield, it's only a matter of time before he has to look the families of the victims in the eye with a cold stare in the court room as did Pinkerton. Until that day comes, as for now, justice has been served and only time will tell if he is but merely trying to prolong his time outside of the cell.

view the article:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/30/1030kfc.html