Chapter 44 Section five

Sunday, June 9.Almost all newspapers, periodicals and televisions in Texas reported on the police's actions on the Red Cliff Ring Road, and large photos of the excavation were published on the front pages of each newspaper.In a few days, news spread across the country, and the term "Texas Black Widow" spread like wildfire. But at that time, Betty's third daughter, Shirley, knew nothing about this well-known news in the streets.She had just returned from her honeymoon with her new third husband, Keith Teigner, on Saturday night, and the next day she was in jail for the murder.

After settling in prison, the first thing Shirley Tegner did was hire a lawyer.She called Irri Unrus, the only lawyer she knew.Yi Rui warned Shirley to keep silent and not to answer any questions from the police and reporters. This sensational news naturally reached the ears of Jane Pitts. Excited, he couldn't help worrying that this seemingly not-so-small lawsuit might swallow up his father's inheritance.So the first thing Jian Jian did on Monday morning was to ask the court to freeze all of Jimmy's property, including those that had been "legally inherited" by Betty, through his lawyer as the sole legal heir of Jimmy Peters. part.

In the following week, the police received a number of insiders and informants who came to the door, most of whom were relatives, neighbors, friends and colleagues of the perpetrator and the victim.Shirley's ex-husband, Jody Simpson, reports to police the night Jimmy disappeared, what he saw and saw while driving his wife to her mother-in-law's house, and Fayley's husband, William Coleman, talks about the Pitts' loss of life over the storage room election. The dispute caused by the location... The incomplete jigsaw puzzle in the hands of Rick Ruth and Michael Oberlin began to emerge little by little.

However, all these are just the background or details of the whole picture.All of the testimony so far has come from second or third hand witnesses.Betty herself was so tight-lipped that she even refused to take a lie detector test.Based on the materials available, there are no witnesses in this case, that is, people who witnessed Betty shooting Jimmy and Wayne with their own eyes, and the possible first-hand witness, that is, Shirley, who saw the corpse at the scene, refused to cooperate.Helpless, Rick and Michael had to go back to find Betty's fourth daughter, Fali Coleman. Meeting Feli in person for the first time, Rick Roos was amazed by her beauty.Three of Betty's six children resembled her, Faye, Faye and Poppy, pretty but short.There were three like their father, Connie, Shirley and Robin, dark and tall.

"We need some clarification," Inspector Ruth said straight to the point. "You said Shirley buried Wayne with your mother, and she helped bury Jimmy, didn't you?" "No. Shirley lost her temper with Mommy and didn't let her kill Jimmy because we all liked him. Shirley definitely had nothing to do with Jimmy." "Did Betty do it all by herself?" "No, it's Robin, she asked Robin to help." Robin was at work—driving a crane on his father, Robert Branson’s construction crew—when he spotted Rick Ruth approaching him in the distance, in his typical Texas cowboy uniform.Robin was not surprised at all, he had already heard about Shirley's arrest.

In the district attorney's office, Robin spoke like a frightened big kid for more than two hours, his head bowed throughout.He also gave police the California address and phone number of his ex-wife Jennifer Cook, saying he had told her everything.Contrary to his mother and sister, Robin willingly and successfully passed the lie detector test. A bail hearing for the double murder of Betty Lou Pitts in the District Court in Esthers, the regional capital of Henderson, on Friday, June 14, 1985.Judge Jack Holland set bail at $1 million. The first witness called by the prosecutor in the case, Henderson District Attorney Bill Bandy, is Rick Roos.During cross-examination, Betty's lawyer, Irri Unruss, asked him, "You caught Ray Bong first last Tuesday?"

"Yes, illegal possession of a gun." "You knew he was out on bail?" "yes." "Why did you let him go again?" "It's just illegal possession of a gun. The car is a friend's and the gun was in it." "Before Betty was arrested, as far as I know, someone had a conversation with Ray Bang about something." "Yes, I asked him to call me." "He told you where they were going?" "yes." "Why would he do that?" "I don't want Betty to run away." Yi Rui Unruth changed the subject: "You didn't see Betty kill anyone?"

"No." ………… Next, Irene Andrews summons Betty. "Where did you work and what did you do before you were arrested?" "Cedar Club barmaid." "Your income?" "$150 to $200 a week, depending on the tips." "So there's no way you're going to pay $1 million bail without someone helping you?" "No one can help me. My relatives and friends are poor." "Do you admit your guilt?" "No. I haven't killed anyone." "When you were at Mansfield, you knew they were going to arrest you for murder, didn't you?"

"Yes. Ray Bang told me." "You didn't intend to escape?" "No." "why?" "I have nothing to run away from. I heard Ray Bang tell Detective Ruth which highway we're going to take and what color the car is." Now it's up to prosecutor Bill Bundy to cross-examine. "You said you didn't kill anyone, did you shoot anyone?" "..." "I have here a file concerning your alleged attempted murder of Billy York Long in 1972." "That case has been dropped." "We know that Jimmy Petz has several life insurance payments of considerable size, of which you are the beneficiary."

"I never knew what life insurance was, but his family told me about it later." "In February of this year, you asked the court to designate you as the heir to Jimmy Peters' entire property." Bill showed Betty the relevant legal documents, "Is this your signature?" "They gave me a bunch of stuff to sign and I had no idea what it was." "The police dug up the bodies of your two husbands at your residence. Can you explain what happened?" "I don't know anything. I didn't kill anyone, I just lived there, and I was often away from home." Betty also said that she had no idea where the body was buried.She was surprised to hear that the police found the remains of Wayne and Jimmy in the garden.

"Did you plant flowers in the well the morning you reported Jimmy missing?" "No." "But a neighbor saw it." "That's their mistake. I planted it before August 6, 1983." In its concluding statement, the defense argued that Betty knew she would be charged with murder and made no attempt to escape, which in itself proved her innocence.The defendant asked the court to drop the charges or lower the bond to a reasonable amount, say, $100,000.The prosecution pointed out that Betty was not only suspected of "premeditated murder", but also "murder for money" in the murder of Jimmy Petz.In the end, Judge Jack Holland ruled to maintain the original bail of $1 million and approved the District Attorney's Office to prosecute Betty Lou Pitts with "murder for money". A week later, at the request of Iri Unrus, a trial hearing was presided over by female judge Vanita Ruska.The defense wants to know how much and what kind of evidence the police and the prosecution have. The first prosecution witness called by Erie Unrus was Michael Oberlin. "Did you say when you talked to Betty in prison that you've got solid evidence that you're going to her place to dig up a body, or bones, or who the hell knows?"