Billie Sol Estes Billie Sol Estes A Texas Legend Billie Sol Estes BS Productions © copyright 2005 by Billie Sol Estes All rights reserved. No part of this book can be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Published by BS Productions, Granbury, TX 76048 This book is dedicated with love to my parents, John and Lillian Estes, and to my faithful brother Bob-all have gone on to be with Jesus. They worked so hard and were supportive of me; also to my brother Dr. John L., who supported and helped educate my children while I was in prison; to my brother Word, another wheeler-dealer; to my sisters Joan and Jean, who love me. My rock was my wife Patsy, who loved me for 55 years and gave me my wonderful children, who are the light of my life; to my new bride Dorris, who is my inspiration, lover and friend; and to my grandchildren..... may they all be wheeler-dealers. Billie Sol, age 79, Granbury Texas Chapter One During my life, I have talked and corresponded with some of our greatest Presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson. I have also known some of our greatest personalities such as Vito Genovese, Dr. Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa. A higher power and a grand vision guided them all. I have always done what I felt was best for my fellow man. I have been called a con man and a saint. Somewhere between these lies the truth. In 1961, my net worth was over 400 million dollars. I had a beautiful home in Pecos, Texas; a beautiful wife, my childhood sweetheart, Patsy; five beautiful children, Pam, Jan, Dawn, Billie Jr., and Joy. Money is no longer important to me. My family and my roots are important. My beautiful children have grown up and now I have eleven grand-children. My saint of a wife passed away ending a partnership of 54 years--a partnership that included our rise from poverty to multimillionaires--a partnership in which I was sentenced to two different prison terms--a partnership that ended on Valentine's Day with Patsy's death. She was a saint because she stood by me in the best and the worst of times. My bout with prostate cancer in 1998 led to my decision to tell the true story of my life. We are all mortals and have both a dark side and light side. My dark side has over-shadowed the good things in the public's mind. My friends and family understand my private works toward integration and taking care of the poor. Some have called me a modern day Robin Hood. I want to set the BILLIE SOL ESTES record straight. I was the first person to have a televised trial. My story is a simple story. Tapes have always played a major part in my life, as you will see later. They played the tape of the 1984 Grand Jury Hearing into the death of Henry Marshall. The existence of the tape had been rumored for some time. Grand Jury Hearings and deliberations by law are supposed to be secret. The history of this tape is an interesting side light on my career. I listened to the tape and remembered the day of my release in 1983 from Federal Prison in Big Spring, Texas. I had made a promise to United States Marshall Clint Peoples to tell the truth about the death of Henry Marshall. Clint Peoples called me to collect on that promise. This resulted in my return to testify before yet another Robertson County Grand Jury in Franklin, Texas on March 20, 1984. As we drove into town, I saw very little change since my first Grand Jury appearance in 1962. Then I had arrived in a convoy of white Cadillac's. Now we were in a single black Cadillac. The Town Square looked the same but there was an addition to the courthouse for a new sheriffs office. I noticed there was a new Dairy Queen and I asked to stop there for a cup of coffee. I have made many million dollar deals in Dairy Queens. I would rather eat a hamburger there than a fancy restaurant meal any time. In 1961, the County Coroner had ruled that Henry Marshall had died by committing suicide. He had shot himself five times with a bolt action rifle after attempting to kill himself by inhaling the carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust of his truck. I knew then and now that he was murdered. Marshall worked for the Department of Agriculture and had responsibility for overseeing the agriculture programs in the State of Texas. My agriculture empire depended on being on his good side. At the time of his death, I was the largest cotton farmer in Texas, had the largest storage facility for government grain and was the largest supplier of fertilizer in Texas. His primary responsibility, at the time of his death, was the cotton allotment program. At that time, the government maintained a minimum market level for cotton prices and in turn set the allotment or number of acres, a farmer was allowed to plant. My brother Bob and I had developed a plan to transfer cotton allotment acres from land under eminent domain to our own use. The scheme was legal and creative. This was 2 CHAPTER ONE certainly true of some of my political opponents and certainly true of some people who knew I was contributing some of my profits to then Vice President Lyndon Johnson. The death of Henry Marshall resulted in internal investigations by the Agriculture Department and a congressional hearing to determine Lyndon's and my involvement in a possible scandal. All of the investigations found no basis for the scandal charge against Lyndon. In deed, they failed to show that I did anything illegal in the cotton allotment program. Nevertheless, I was called before the Robertson County Grand Jury in June 1962. The family had requested the hearing because they refused to believe that Henry Marshall was capable of committing suicide. The Harris County Medical Examiner, Dr. Joseph A. Jachimczyk came from Houston and Marshall's body was disinterred for an autopsy. Dr. Jachimczyk stated before the Grand Jury, "I believe that this was not a suicide." The official autopsy results were introduced to the Grand Jury with a finding of probable homicide, possible suicide. I was called to the witness stand and in every instance, I pled the Fifth Amendment (refused to answer based on self-incrimination). You see I knew the truth. The Grand Jury ruling was death by suicide. Present at that hearing was Captain Clint Peoples of the famed Texas Rangers. Clint was a true gentleman and a great lawman. As I left the Grand Jury hearing Peoples approached me and said, "Billie Sol, I know most of the real story and so do you. Some day you will tell me the whole truth." By 1979, Peoples had retired as head of the Texas Rangers and had been appointed United States Marshall for the Northern District of Texas. United States Marshalls are responsible for transporting Federal Prisoners and overseeing the Federal Witness Protection Program in addition to other duties. I was sentenced to my second prison term in a Dallas Federal Court. Marshall Clint Peoples decided to transport me from Dallas to the Federal Prison in Big Springs, Texas. We made the trip by car and during those six hours we talked about a variety of subjects including Henry Marshall. Peoples stated that he had continued to investigate the Marshall death and knew the truth. He asked that I set the record straight. While he never threatened me directly with prosecution, he asked that I give the Marshall family peace of mind. Henry 3 BILLIE SOL ESTES Marshall's wife and son were still fighting to clear his name. He appealed to my Christian upbringing, my roots and my honor. Over the next few years, Peoples visited me in prison and continued to discuss the Henry Marshall case with me. I grew to respect his intellect and his bulldog approach to learning and disclosing the truth. I finally agreed to give testimony under a grant of immunity. Clint Peoples arranged the Grant of Immunity with District Attorney John Pascal and in 1984 I went before the Robertson Grand Jury again. I answered all the questions that were asked. Many of you will read this book just to see what I said. Several direct quotes from the Grand Jury Tapes are used in this book. I hope you take time to learn about this Texas farm boy and why I did the things, I did. Yes, I did testify that President Lyndon Baines Johnson was involved in the murder of eleven people including President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. 4 Chapter Two I am Billie Sol Estes, the Texas wheeler-dealer. The first deal that I remember making was with my father at age seven. I convinced him to give me a ewe for Christmas. I had this vision of a large herd of sheep. My vision came true as that ewe formed the foundation of my first large farming operation. The National 4-H Club named me the outstanding Young Farmer of America in 1943 for my farming success. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented me with a chest of Silver. I always envision my future and follow-through with hard work to make it true. I am known as the King of the Wheeler-dealers of my generation.