I've separated my life from my ex-husband, Esensee said. The sessions, which were often tape-recorded, weakened Bates, who died that February on the manure-covered floor of the bunkhouse. Erica Hernandez, Digital Journalist/Courthouse Reporter. He hadn't seen his second daughter, Alexis Faith Bockemehl, 17, since infancy, but the two girls met at their father's memorial service. The Hill Country Cowboy Camp Meeting is a camp for Christians looking to grow spiritually. Cases have been set up and posted on electronic court records for Hendricks and Brazil. Key chains hand made by alleged slaves of the Ellebracht Ranch hang in a frame on a wall in Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Ranch, West Kerr Ranch, and D&D Ranch & Wildlife Services. The area was settled in 1856. After he was developed as a suspect in the murder investigation, he was located and arrested Dec. 16 last year. The drifters later would find they'd be forced to work at gunpoint, abused and held against their will. But this ranch wasnt any old-timey operation, and the drifters werent a handful of depression-era hobos. The work was hard, but he was used to manual labor. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. They offer 3-hour guided tours of the 50,00 acre ranch. Three teenagers have been arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of a 17-year-old whose body was found in Pilot Mountain on Thursday morning . The Ellebrachts forced him to write a suicide note and told him: Welcome to your nightmare, newspaper articles about the trial said. Walter Wesley EllebrachtSr. and his extended family had lived in Mountain Home, TX,for generations, and they were known as decent folk. Jake Edward Masters. DPS trooper walks from area where slave's body was reportedly burned. This page is not available in other languages. Olson is in the Baxter County Detention Center with bond set at $25,000. Details on how the suspects came together and why they are suspected of killing 34-year-old Cody Stradford have yet to be disclosed by prosecutors. Kerr County "Slave Ranch" is 25 miles Northwest of Kerrville, Texas. A burned body found in the vehicle was identified as Stradford's by the State Medical Examiner's Office. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, Slave Ranch Trial-Kerr County courthouse, L-R witness Dennis "Pete" Johnson and D.A. But something strange began happening on their ranch in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. It was found Dec. 16 last year off Old Arkana Road south of Mountain Home. Victims reported they werent allowed to leave, and violence was a normal course of everyday life. A book was written about the ranch, The True Story of the Texas Slave Ranch How a Degenerate Ranching Family Got Away With Murder.[3]. Those stories have been around for years, but people and things have moved on.. Prosecutor Ronald Sutton sought life sentences for the three defendants. Texas Hill Country Facebook page is growing by over 1,000 fans per He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. Some former neighbors still defend the family, despite the 1986 convictions of Ellebracht Sr., Ellebracht Jr., his only child, and Caldwell for conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping and murder for the death of Bates, a one-eyed drifter from Alabama. Family launches GoFundMe to help man shot during Fiesta in S.A. Man in critical condition after being shot twice in head in S.A. However, their dream of starting a new life quickly turned into a nightmare when four of the Dowdy children were brutally murdered. Both Lindsey and Cunningham were taken into custody in south Texas near the U.S./Mexico border on Dec. 17. What happened at the Texas Slave Ranch? In a faded photo on the wall of Bill's BBQ in Ingram, TX, Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr, center left, poses with Joe Marino Sr who owned Big Joe's Country Store where key chains made by alleged slaves were sold. He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Killed in a car crash at age 38, Wes went to his grave an Ellebracht, one who overcame the nightmares of his childhood. Wes Sr. received probation. Brazil attempted to flee but was found hiding in weeds by tracking dogs from the Arkansas Department of Correction. He cited thecase of Anthony Bates, who, due to an injured leg, was unable to work. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Their pool of cheap labor in the surrounding area was small, so they found crews from nearby I-10. They were strange people, but they're not that kind of people, said Loraine Haynie, 86, who befriended Ellebracht Sr. as a child and cared for him over the years until his death in 2003. In the 1980s, rancher Walter Ellebracht Sr., his son, Walter Jr. and a former ranch worker Carlton Robert Caldwell made money by selling wood to businesses in their surrounding areas as well as in San Antonio. According to the Baxter County Sheriffs Office, 52-year-old Lawrence Olson of Mountain Home has been charged with breaking into Cunninghams residence along Robinson Point Road. On April 6, 1984, more than 30 federal, state and local lawmen raided a 3,500-acre (14km2) ranch near the Texas Hill Country town of Mountain Home. The victim also has not been publicly identified. Business papers located on the scene revealed records verifying that dozens of men, and some women, had worked on the ranch over the years. Caldwell, the foreman, got the same but only served four years, becoming a free man in 1988. In the hardscrabble west, ranchers had to pull a living from the soil and hope the weather cooperated. Sign up to receive breakingFront Page Detectivesnews and exclusive investigations. Its not known just how many victims were part of the Texas slave ranch. When he first arrived in January 1984, Caldwell watched in horror as the Ellebrachts used the cattle prod on a handcuffed man who had disrespected a family member. Sutton prosecuted Ellebracht Sr. and Jr. and Caldwell, and the workers became state witnesses in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The new workers often stayed because they had no way out and had no one to contact or believed conditions might improve. MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho A Mountain Home man who pleaded guilty to murder in the death of his landlady was sentenced Tuesday to 45 years in prison, even as . The home had apparently been entered Dec. 23 last year and then again on Christmas Day. Valley Regional Transit wants public feedback on new bus network design, 'Failure to provide safe and healthy housing': Tenants sue the Cambridge Square Apartments, Summer-like heat continues for a couple more days, before a return to spring conditions, Flood watch in effect for portions of southeast Idaho, Wood River Foothills, Boise police search for missing 54-year-old woman, 'It's a miracle I'm here': Elmore County man recovering after being shot during home invasion. He also appeared in circuit court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him. SAN ANTONIO - Kidnapping, torture and murder are some of the horrifying. The infamous Y.O. In 1878, the family packed up their belongings and headed off to start their homestead in the hills of the Texas Hill Country. Three of those being charged list Mountain Home addresses, but the fourth is a resident of Siloam Springs in Northwest Arkansas. 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Court records show that most of the cases involved drugs. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. When asked to help pay for his son's burial, Ellebracht Jr. reportedly told relatives to let the county worry about it, his ex-wife said. But the Ellebrachts didnt produce cattle or, like many ranchers, offer their land for deer hunting. They also told investigators Lindsey pointed a handgun at Stradford. At 32 years old, he found himself accepting a job in the Texas hill country, not far from the town of Kerrville. The property was owned by 55-year-old Walter Ellebracht Sr. and his 33-year-old son, Junior, who made their income by chopping down cedar trees and selling the wood and cedar key chains to businesses in the San Antonio area. Home; Gal Behind the Blog; . It was reported he was last seen at his parents residence in Mountain Home and later the same day in the Fayetteville area. The off-the-wall tactics worked, Cogdell said, and Ellebracht Sr. was given probation. Ellebracht Sr. received probation, Junior remained free throughout his 15-year sentence due to appeals, and Caldwell served less than three years of his 14-year sentence. Another piece of the former ranch was awarded to Joann Loftis, Bates' mother, who sued the Ellebrachts for her son's wrongful death. Brazil is accused of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, second-degree battery, violating parole and kidnapping. He'd take me on tours. Using his charisma and ruthlessness to gain control within the gang, Perez was. Part of the ranch is now owned by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department which runs the nearby Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. The voice of Bates was heard on two tapes recovered from the ranch during the raid. According to. I love to see the sparks fly.". Most Texas billionaires did OK in 2022. Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. You just really didn't want to get up and socialize when they came in; they were scary, she said. They hired the best attorney money could buy, and hired Richard RacehorseHaynes. The ranch foreman, Caldwell, reported that torture did go on but claimed it was because the other workers hated Bates for being unable to do his fair share. The DPS report did not indicate if the Elantra had been reported stolen. Always the dependable friend, Ellebracht III was praised by members of the overflow crowd at his funeral. In 1990, the state bought 240 acres of the former ranch and the Ellebrachts' home, which has been used as temporary housing for the center's employees, including Bob Betsill, the research program director. (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: The city of Mountain Home, Texas does not have FBI Crime Statistics. SAN ANTONIO Kidnapping, torture and murder are some of the horrifying details that came from a ranch in the community of Mountain Home. After that first brush with the law, he had other criminal charges brought against him in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and last year. Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 15_5 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) GSA/219.0.457350353 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1, First United Methodist Church Mountain Home, Gardening in the Ozarks with Vicki Garner, Live in the Boat with Binks Guide Service.