The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 133, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 13, 1983 Page: 1 of 16
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wicnoipx . *NC
p. 0. BOX 15436
DALLAS, TX. 75¿45
15c
Per Issue
The Cherokeean
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper
Established as the Cherokee Sentinel, February 27,1850
Home of the
Texas State
Railroad
Vol. 133, No. 48
Rusk, Texas 75785 — January 13,1983
12 Pages
! i
■ I
■
Murder Suspect Holds Police at Bay 15 Hours
All Night Siege Ends With Man's Surrender
By MIKE TERRELL
A man sought by Henderson police
in connection with the shooting death
of his girlfriend and wounding of
another man surrendered peacefully
to law enforcement officials at 1:50
p.m-. Monday after an all-night siege
in which the suspect barricaded him-
self in a room at the Jacksonville
Holiday Inn.
David Leslie Culverhouse, 27, was
sought in connection with the murder
of his girlfriend, Donna Larue Ray of
Carthage, who was gunned down in-
side a Safeway food store in Hender-
son at approximately 8:30 p.m. Sun-
day.
Layton Cummings, 30, identified as
assistant manager or manager
trainee in the store, was critically in-
jured when Culverhouse opened fire
on Cummings, hitting him in the chest
and shoulders. He remained in stable
condition Monday at Tyler's Medical
Center Hospital.
From Henderson, Culverhouse fled
to Jacksonville and rented Room 235
at the Jacksonville Holiday Inn.
After a routine run through the
motel parking lot Sunday evening, a
Jacksonville policeman noticed a car
that matched the description of the
suspect in the Henderson shootings.
The officer placed a radio check on
the car's license number, a confir-
mation was received and lawmen
immediately converged on the motel.
Cherokee County Sheriff Allen Hor-
ton headed a task force throughout the
siege consisting of his deputies, Rusk
County deputies, policemen from
Rusk and Jacksonville, game war-
dens, Texas Highway patrolmen and
Texas Rangers.
At approximately 11 p.m., Horton
called the suspect's room.
Culverhouse had reportedly noticed
police activity around the motel room
and was ready to talk when Horton
made his first of many calls to the
room.
Culverhouse told the sheriff he had
a 16-year-old girl hostage and would
kill her if police stormed the room.
The suspect demanded the area be
cleared and asked that he be supplied
with a car equipped with a police
scanner and CB radio.
Horton did not fulfill the demand for
the equipped car and temporarily
pacified Culverhouse by clearing the
area.
At another point in the night,
Culverhouse reportedly requested he
be supplied with two parrots, a
demand which Horton refused to
meet.
At 11:10 p.m. Sunday, Horton's task
force evacuated some seven families
in the wing where Culverhouse had
barricaded himself, at which time the
suspect began a series of reportedly
frantic calls to Horton, who had set up
headquarters in the motel lobby.
Culverhouse at this time told Horton
to "send the Boys in," apparently
speaking of law enforcement officers,
saying the hostage might not be in the
room but at least Horton would "get"
someone.
The siege and phone calls continued
throughout the night.
Then in the early morning hours a
childhood friend of Culverhouse's was
brought to the scene by a Panola
County game warden who had found
his name in the effects of the Hender-
son murder victim.
Known only as Shorty, the man
cooperated with lawmen in trying to
get Culverhouse to give up with the
understanding that his name not be
used or that he would not be
photographed
At about 11 a.m. Monday, following
a constant series of phone conver-
sations with the suspect, Shorty ap-
peared on the balcony of the motel
three doors from where the suspect
had baricaded himself. With bullhorn
in hand, Shorty pleaded with
Culverhouse to throw his weapons out
and surrender to lawmen.
"Throw your weapons out. Just
slide them out the door and come out
with your hands in the air," Shorty
pleaded.
"I will be the first one to your side,"
he assured Culverhouse. "I'm just
about 25 feet from your door and I will
be the first person you see when you
come out
"Let me know if you're still with
me...throw the weapons out, clips and
all." At 11:30 a.m., an AR-15 and M-16
rifle were thrown from the room,
along with several clips of am-
munition Shorty urged the suspect to
throw his last weapon from the room
"Throw the .357 out." Shorty con-
tinued "They know you have it
"I couldn't live with myself if you
got shot. Come out now or we can talk
on the phone. This is the best chance
you've got."
At one point as Shorty spoke.
Culverhouse kicked the door to his
room, sending police and members of
the media scurrying, thinking the
noise was that of a gunshot
Culverhouse at. times shouted in
response to Shorty's pleas, but his
yells were inaudible to the media,
stationed in the parking lot below the
second story room
After continuous attempts by Shor
ty to coax Culverhouse to give up. he
returned to headquarters, which by
this time had moved from the motel
lobby to a room located around the
corner and down the balcony from
where the siege took place
CHEROKEE COUNTY Sheriff Allen Horton makes an arrest in con-
nection with a 15-hour siege. During that time 27-year-old David
Culverhouse claimed to be holding a 16-year-old girl hostage at a
Jacksonville motel. Culverhouse, a former Rusk State Hospital
patient, fled to Jacksonville Sunday night after he allegedly murdered
his girlfriend and wounded another man with a M-16 automatic rifle at
a Henderson Safeway. The siege began about 11 p.m. Sunday and en-
ded when Culverhouse surrendered to authorities at 1:50 p.m. Mon-
day. No hostage was found. photo by mike terrell
Accused Man Has Record
Of Mental Illness, Aliases
The Rusk Cherokeean has lear-
ned from a reliable source that
Culverhouse goes by three names
He has been known as Bob Sunsen,
David Lee Padgett and
Culverhouse
According to > information
received, he was transferred to
Rusk State Hospital from Terrell
State Hospital as manifestly
dangerous He was in Rusk from
Oct. 11, 1981 until Nov. 16 of that
year, then sent to McCellan County
on a hold order from the court
there
He again came to Rusk State
Hospital from Hunt County July 6,
1982 for a pre-trial evaluation He
stayed here for 13 days until July
19, 1982. He was returned to the
court in Hunt County with a
recommendation that he would be
re-committed under a Section 5,
not competent
Absentee Voting Is Underway Now
School Slates Bond Election
Voters in the Rusk 1SD will be asked
to consider a $2.975 million school
bond in a district election on Jan. 22 at
the Southwestern Electric Service Co.
office in downtown Rusk. Polls will be
open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Gerald
Chapman is election judge and Billie
Braswell, alternate.
The election is the second election
held by the district during the past
few months. The first one for $3.4
million was defeated on Oct. 30, 1982
by some 74 votes after two members
of the board voiced their opposition to
its passage.
Since that time, the board has got-
ten together and made their plans for
the new proposal. This one, somewhat
smaller than the first includes finan-
cial support for the construction of a
new middle school on school property
near the Rusk High School and the
construction of a new band hall and
music room on the high school cam-
pus.
The band hall and music room will
be used by students at the junior high
school as well as those at the high
school.
A door from the band and music
building will open on the side nearest
the middle school to allow those
students access and exit without going
on the high school campus Another
door will open on the high school side
for the availability to the high school
students.
The new proposal was recommen-
ded to the board by School Superin-
tendent Tony Murray. All seven board
members - President Tom Sartain,
Vice-Chairman Bobby Tosh,
Secretary Mary Buchanan, Bruce
Stovall, Dr. James Hunter, Joe Ray
Ocker and Forest Dyess voted in sup-
port of the proposal. All agreed that it
was practical and would meet needs
of the district
The proposal for the junior high or
middle school was cut some 10,000
square feet from the first proposal,
but board members have reported ac-
tual usage footage has not been cut.
This proposal is to cost some $400,000
less, but board members say the
district will get more for its money In
addition to the new middle school,
band hall and music room, four ad-
ditional classrooms will be construc
ted at the high school
Only six persons have cast ab-
senteen ballots in the election. Ab-
sentee voting will continue until 5
p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 1H at the school
tax office.
Renovation has already been ap-
proved for the elementary school
campus and six additional classrooms
are being constructed at the kin
dergarten campus to house first grade
classes
'Round Town
with Mrs. Roundabout
.A
Chamber Banquet Is Jan. 20
County Native Will Be Featured Speaker
Wouldn't it be wonderful if just on-
ce, only once, in your lifetime...you
could do something so extraordinary
that million of people would sit on the
edges of their chairs and wait.. .expec-
tantly...with held breath...the way
Dallas Cowboy football fans await
each game?
Can you Imagine any one act on
your part that would offer such a con-
tribution to those millions of people?
What would It be? Some questions are
really beyond answering.
And this is not meant to imply that I
am sitting here with a feeling of bit-
terness. No, indeed. The truth is, I am
just plain jealous I That's itl Just once
In my life, I would like to be able to
have the attention of millions...people
who are waiting...expectantly...for
something wonderful.
On the other hand, the
awesomeness of the responsibility
sounds so overpowering, I really don't
think I would want to play the part.
Lot Tom Landry and his team enjoy
whatever they feel when they per-
form. Tbe pressure Is not worth It...to
most of as.
Moat of us are just that...most of
ua,..a majority of mundano folk*. Wo
•end to the ev«ry-day run-of-the-mill
business that keeps the home fires
burning. After all, without us, the
"most of us," where would Tom Lan-
dry and Company find an audience?
There's a place for us, too!
Even the Internal Revenue might
appreciate the foregoing analogy.
They have our attention right
now...and will have until all of us meet
our deadlines. Where would they be
without us??? Without jobs! And
that's a happy thought! But gripe as
we do each year at the unhappy
prospect of tallying up what we owe
IRS, where could we find a better life
on the Planet Earth? That's another
happy thought!
Bad as it seems sometimes, Life for
"moot of us" can always be worse. It
is good that In Spite Of, there are
blessings to be counted! When the
present ballgame is over between the
Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buc-
caneers, I hope that "most of us" will
be able to find something for which we
can bo thankful , win or lose! Per-
sonally, I will be thankful when the
game is over! The pressure of wat-
ching is aimoat as bad as the pressure
of playing!
Until aest week? mw
Jacksonville native John Oakley
Childs of Tyler will be featured
speaker Jan. 20 for the annual Rusk
Chamber of Commerce membership
banquet, according to George Dodd,
banquet committee chairman
The meal will be catered by the
Shrine Auxiliary. Tickets are $6.50
each and must be purchased prior to
Jan. 19 at the Citizens Bank, First
State Bank, Southwestern Electric
Service Co. and the Chamber office.
Childs, now marketing officer for
the Heritage National Bank in Tyler is
in much demand as an after dinner
speaker. He holds a bachelor of scien-
ce degree from 1953 and master of
science degree from George
Washington University.
Following graduation from Texas
A&M University in 1953, Childs, with a
commission through the ROTC
program, entered the Army as an in-
fantry second lieutenant.
Initial assignments included tours
as a student at Infantry School and
duty as an Infantry Platoon Leader.
These assignments were followed by a
tour in Germany as an Infantry unit
commander. A tour as a student and
tactics instructor at the Infantry
School was followed by his assign-
ment ss s Persian Language Student
at the Army language School and
company commander in the 101st
Airborne Division: In 1962 he was
assigned to the Republic <?f Vietnam
as a Battalion Adviser to the Viet-
namese Army After a tour of duty ¿.n
Washington D C. as an infantry
career assignment officer, Childs
returned to the Republic of Vietnam
for his second tour as a battalion
commander in the 101st Airborne
Division and as personnel staff officer
in the headquarters of the U.S. Army,
John Omhlwy ChUd•
Vietnam Returning to the States, he
was appointed Professor of Military
Science at Allen Military Academy at
Bryan and later as Professor of
Military Science at West Texas State
University in August, 1970
"Childs' awards and decorations in
the service include the Distinguished
Flying Crpss, the Legion of Merit, the
Bronze Star Medal for valor, the Air
Medal, Commendation Medal, the
Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallan-
try, the Combat" Infantryman's
Badge and the Parachute Badge
In June, 1974, he retired from the
U.S. Army with the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel. He was employed with the
First National Bank of Canyon from
1974 to 1978 as vice president in charge
of marketing. There he developed a
marketing plan which was instrumen-
tal in the growth of the bank from $36
million to more than HO million in
deposits in lets than three years.
Several of his marketing ideas
received national recognition.
Childs was very active in com-
munity affairs in Canyon, where he
was a director of the Canyon Rotary
Club, (Ustrict chairman of the Boy
Scouts ¿^America, County campaign
chairman lor the American Cancer
Society, deacon in his church and
preiiulent of the Canyon Chamber of
Commerce
Lawmen were also occupying
rooms adjacent to Culverhouse from
both sides and the rear
Shorty repeatedly spoke with
Culverhouse. again asking that the
suspect give himself up
The situation eased somewhat
Monday afternoon when the Rev
Robert Chagnon. pastor of Our Lady
of Sorrows Church, spoke with
Culverhouse on the telephone
Chagnon had earlier offered to go into
the room and remain as a hostage if
the suspect would release the girl,
claimed by the suspect to be under a
mattress in the bathtub of the room
By this time Sheriff Horton had ex-
pressed his doubt that a hostage was
involved at all since all attempts by
law men to see the girl or hear directly
from her that she was all right, failed
At approximately. 1 30 p m Mon-
day. Chagnon and Shorty emerged
from headquarters to once again try
to coax Culverhouse to give the siege
up
Several times the suspect apparen-
tly opened the door to his room with
weapon in hand Shorty and law of
ficials. their rifles and shotguns erect,
yelled "Don't do it put the weapon
dow n "
At approximately 1 52 p m Monday
the siege ended when Culverhouse
threw the last of his weapons from his
room and emerged with his hands
held high above his head The heavy-
set suspect appeared incoherent as
Sheriff Horton and other law officers
converged on him and the room
A quick search of the room turned
up no hostage, as officers had suspec-
ted We couldn't be sure the girl was
not in the room so we had to play his
game. Horton said after the incident
had ended
"I'm just glad that no one was hurt
and I'm appreciative of all the law
officers who assisted in this
Culverhouse was arraigned Monda>
before Cherokee ( ounty .Judge Robert
McNatt, who set bond al $25.(KM) on
charges of murder in connection with
the death of Donna Larue Hay He
was later transferred to the Husk
County Jail where he will be
arraigned there
Bar Asks
Support
Of Court
A delegation from the Cherokee
County Bar Association asked mem-
bers of the commissioners court Mon-
day morning to pass a resolution for
the creation of a county court at law
The delegation, headed by Jackson-
ville attorney Ricky Richards, asked
the commisioners to approve the
resolution allowing the legislature to
set up the court at law After the issue
had been taken through the legislative
procedure, the matter would then
come back to the commissioners
court for funding
Richards explained to com-
missioners that the bar felt District
Judge Morris Hassell and County
Judge Robert McNatt needed relief in
their case loads The new court, if
created, would serve as a court
having concurrent duties with the
county court and concurrent duties
with the district court in considering
domestic matters and civil cases of
$10,000 and less.
Richards said Steve Guy, Rusk at-
torney, had worked with the Anderson
County court at law officials and
auditor to determine what would be
needed for the establishment of a
court in Cherokee County.
With the creation of the court, there
would be more time for family mat-
ters without clogging up everything
else, Richards said. He noted that
with so many divorce and custody
cases, each side was given only five
minutes to present their client's case.
Also Richards explained that the
new county Judge Robert McNatt
probably would have conflict of in-
terest in many cases, as he has writ-
ten thousands of real estate transac-
tions during the past few years. With
another judge to take over, cases In
which McNstt and Hassoll had
disquslifled themselvos could b«
heard on schedule rather than having
to wait for a visiting judge.
•See COURT.o it
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The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 133, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 13, 1983, newspaper, January 13, 1983; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151574/m1/1/: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.