Distaff October 1981 page 4 Crime Of Passion In Texas byMonisEdetson of s_ome public opinion, hostile to the in return for a free hand in ::e;s Damels, who were believed to be trying up real estate developments _and sha When she talks she is likely to NOTE: Morris Edelson is a free lance to take Vickie's children and possessions corporations in a vast, explosiVely gro:- someone by the arm, disagree and de- writer-journalist in Houston. The case away from her. Haynes also uncovered ing area to the southwest of Housto · light in contradiction and winning he reports here, though notorious in family scandal, as witnesses testified style and . could conversations. She is a platinum Texas, has had very little publicity that Price lr. had a dllilkin_g problem, illustrated by of his mmor deals. whose standards of dress are determined elsewhere. had been involved in posstbly homo- he gave the JesUJt Houston by her work situation and her up- sexual encou_nters and may have sexu- a small parcel of land '" hts bringing. She never finished high sch 1 Vickie Daniel said that the slug that ally abused hts own children. and extracted _from them a $6 milhon she is not liberal in her personal c:e· tore through her husband's stomach, in good faith, and she is probably punctured his aorta, and left him ::o drowning in his own blood in January which Vickie had made of her husband's the Pope decorated the Baptist banker p:osecutton the tdea to have a psy. in Liberty, Texas was aimed at hypo- allegedly lewd remarks to his children with the highest Knights of the Church chiatnst rule on her called 3 crisy, chauvinism and decadence. The (the Daniels said they were merely Award, a Catholic award. The Jesuit her of . htstnomc dead man's sister, Jean Daniel Murph, normally affectionate) about their cute fathers never got their $6 million back, although hts report was n- formerly of New Orleans, said Vickie "hcinics", and the verified fact that however, Sharp died of a lack ofliquidi· shot her best and truest friend and was puler salesman and had seen Vickie trying to destroy the family that had only briefly taken her literally ofT the street, from TWO WOMEN CONTRASTED a $2-an-hour job at the Dairy Queen in Liberty, into the homes and offices of Vickie was contrasted by the press Texas' leading politicians. Price Daniel, Jr., died January 19th with Jean Murph Daniels, who was at home with the respectable pe ople of from a gunshot after a domestic argu- ment spilled over into violence. He had New Orleans and some of th e most been Texas state legislator, Speaker of famous politicians of the present time, the House of Representatives in Aunin, the likes of John Connally and Lyndon candidate for Attorney General of the Baines Johnson, sometimes foes, some- state, and was preparing for a life of times friends of her father. Jean was a community service in his home town, Kappa Kappa Gamma at the Univer- said his sister, before he was cut down. sity of Texas, lived in the governor's His father, Price Sr., had been gov· mansion , writes for a newspaper (her ernor of the state three times, Senator Price Jr. had brought a black. youth ty and the stress thereform , not before family owns several), and has a reserved, in Washington, State Supreme Court home to live with him and Vickie, tellinganeagerpressabouttheingrati- questioning air. judge and legislator, one of the most whom she claimed was Price's lover. tudeofsevcralofhislegislativebuddics Nonetheless, Jean has deep honored politicians of Southeast Texas Traces of marijuana were also found in who finally could vote him no more about her brother, and her eyes miu Jean Murph's husband, Rev. David the home, causing particular anguish fields to conquer, no more land to de· over as shesitsinhisofficencarLiberty Murph, was pastor of the St. Charles to the dead man's father, who as Gov· velop. and says she expects at any minute to Christian Church in New Orleans and ernor had opened a war on drugs and sec Price Junior come bouncing through officiated over the wedding of Vick.ic casinos of the very type his son was SCANDALS BROKE the door, probably cracking a joke. and Price Jr. Nov I, 1976 in New alleged to have frequented in the gay ''The only way I get through this whole Orleans. sections of Houston and New Orleans. Governor Preston Smith put up thing," she said in a private interview," The victim, dressed in boots, dun- "Drive Friendly" signs all over Texas is to think how Price would behave if garees and shirt, was found by his BA TIERED-WIFE ARGUMENT and helped Ladybird Johnson plant he were me - he would say, 'Oh, brother, Sam Houston Daniel (he and bluebonnets by the roadside. He also it isn't the end of the world,' or some· Price arc lineal descendants of General After the twelve week child custody took some loans from Frank Sharp, and thinglik.cthat." Sam Houston) who summoned ambul· battle, Viclde, victorious. stilt must he stepped down when the scandals Nonetheless, the Daniels are per· ance and law enforcement officials. face this fall the murder charge itself. broke, asdidGusMutcher.PriceJr. had sisting in their support of the charges Viclde had been cowering in the room Once again the trial defense lawyers a foot in both camps, the reformers and against Price's ex-wife, Vickie, and she housing Price's frog collection of over are expected to usc the battered-wife the tainted and was mutually agreeable could get the poisoned needl e if pre- argument, and to do this must again 300items,andwassubducdandscdatcd toallasSpeakeroftheHouse.However, meditation is proven. Texas has death explore alleged private habits of the by emergency personnel and later hisrulefizz.ledintofrustration,ashe by injection as its means of execution. shooting victim. The district attorney, restrained and confined to her room in triedcleaningthinpupbycallinga Even if impulsivemanslaughterisprG- Carroll Wiltborn, is expected to argue the local hospital. statewide constitutional convention ven, Vickie Daniel could go to the state that the several filing'! for divorce and the only one in recent history, a con: pen at HuntsVille for many yem. the developing hostility of Vickie CHILD CUSTODY CASE and confusing mass of conflicting The most recent developments in the toward Price lr. constituted pre-medita- case are running against the defense: tion. finally made him scrap the Mrs. Murph ftlcd a suit to win Racehorse Haynes has dropped out of custody of the children of her brother At the funeral some of the leading After his disappointment as Speaker, the case, and the two original lawyers and Vickie, while Vickie claimed political figures of Texas made state· he went back. toliberty,1hiftedgears, for Vickie, before Haynes, were di5- indigence and left town. The ensuing mcnts of praise for Price Jr., and som e and there heard about the beautiful missed by her. The murdertrialthisfall child custody case was the longest such of them may appear in the trial, in- waitress at the Dairy Queen. Ever will be held in Liberty, aswasthechild trial instate history,andone of the best cluding former presidential candidate methodical, he began pursuing the custody case, and there is not the publicized. Handling the case for the and president of Wells Co11ege, Cissy woman, and helpingherwithherplans slightest chance that an impartial jury Daniels, Zeke Zbranec, chairman of Farnenthold, and ex, Congresswoman, the county Democratic Party, opposed nowprofcssor,BarbaraJordan. will be available. Some will be pro, some will be con; the trialmaybeasmuchof a surprise entry into the fray, Richard The involvement of these figures thenmarriedVicldehimsclf. the Daniels as it is of the events in "Racehorse" Haynes, who successfully stems from Price Jr's record as a pro- Although Vickie does not drink or defended millionaire T. Cullen Davis, gressive legislator, author of the state's January 1981. accused of killing his wife in 1980. open meeting'! act, and champion put The famed defense attorney, a multi· forward by Farnethold and others in millionaire, commuted to and from the state legislature called the Dirty the trial in Liberty in his newPorsche, Thirty, those who opposed free-wheel- ... to begin poking holes in the testimony ing Gov. Preston Smith and Speaker of _ of witnesses who charged Vickie with the House Gus Mutcher in the 1960s, ...... personality disorder, pre-meditation of when the Sharpstown Scandal broke "W3itinits violence, and ove r-reaction to common in Houston. .... friendliness of the dead ex-politician. Frank Sharp, a real estate developer ... Haynes, for his part, had the support and banker, had been issuing unsecured ...... Oiclll loans to state legislators and officials susan los carzo