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. Joe Smith, who oversees Sunset Cemetery in Mountain Home, TX, stands near a landscaped section of the cemetery, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, where a stream runs through which is fed by a spring on what was the Ellebracht Ranch. Mountain Home is cradled between the White River and two of Arkansas' prettiest pristine lakes Norfork and Bull Shoals. He was just a young boy when his father and grandfather were arrested and their so-called Texas Slave Ranch was raided in 1984. Jim Haynie, a neighbor and friend of Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr, sits in his home office where he runs his water well drilling business. 295 RANCHLAND DR , TX 78058. Your chance of being a victim of violent crime in Mountain Home is 1 in 520 and property crime is 1 in 36. The ranch hosts controlled hunting programs, a kids summer camp, and on site lodging and cabins. 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Does this item contain inappropriate content? | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Return Policy. Despite witnesses, bone fragments and the taped torture sessions, the defendants got off relatively easy. The new workers often stayed because they had no way out and had no one to contact or believed conditions might improve. To try to desensitize the seven women and five men on the jury, Haynes played the torture tapes often and asked Cogdell to shock himself with a battery-operated cattle prod like the one the Ellebrachts used. William Lesley Rushing. : Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. They were the first victims of the person who would become known as the Axeman of New Orleans. That was the case with the Texas Slave Ranch, one of the state's creepiest stories. Mountain Home, Texas, is nearly as isolated today as it was in 1984. She graduated from Del Mar College with an Associate's degree in political science and liberal arts. Caldwell went on to report in a 20-page confession to the FBI that after Bates died, weakened by weeks of regular torture sessions, he and another worker burned his body in a homemade funeral pyre while playing theJohnny Cashhit Ring of Fire. They deposited the few bones that didnt burn, along with the ashes, into two 55-gallon drums. Not long after, Ellebracht Sr. and Jr. were torturing Bates, with help from the workers, who picked on him because they disliked his temperament and the fact that he couldn't do hard labor after he was injured by a chain saw, according to trial testimony. Crime in Zip 78058 (Mountain Home, TX) Crime is ranked on a scale of 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime) Mountain Home (zip 78058) violent crime is 14.7. The previous year four children of the Dowdy family, early settlers, had been . On October 5, 1878, still in the midst of unpacking their belongings, the Dowdy family was going about their normal day. 4 bed 3 bath 2,029 sqft House for Sale. Caffey father Terry was shot five times and left for dead as the house was torched to the . Bob Walls sits on his pickup truck, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, thinking about his friend Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, who was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 20 on Highway 290 just out side Fredericksburg. Erica Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning journalist with15 years of experience in the broadcast news business. Violent Crimes - Murder Rape Robbery Assault. Survivors of the slave ranch pointed police to bones that remained after the attempted cremation. San Antonio Express-News On April 6, 1984, Texans learned a horrifying secret in the tiny town of Mountain Home. Besides the torture tapes, also entered into evidence was one worker's poem, titled The Shack, and other recordings of the Ellebrachts putting workers on trial in the bunkhouse. On April 6, 1984, more than 30 federal, state and local lawmen raided a 3,500-acre (14 km 2) ranch near the Texas Hill Country town of Mountain Home. The man groveled in the dirt and begged for mercy, but afterward was allowed to leave, though he decided to stay anyway, Caldwell said. She won, receiving nearly half the ranch, about 1,300 acres, which was then valued at $1.7 million. Among the six people arrested and charged, only family members served prison time. Pat was laid to rest at Mountain View Cemetery on Friday, January 13, 2023.Arrangements were under the care of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel. Walter Wesley Ellebracht Sr. (from left), Walter Wesley Ellebracht Jr., Leona Ellebracht, the young Walter Wesley Ellebracht III, attorney Richard Racehorse Haynes and Joyce Ellebracht are seen in 1986. However, they were effectively acquitted of murder, and there are many who believe justice has yet to be served. The Ellebracht family and their foreman,Carl Robert Caldwell, went to trial in 1984 accused of running a sadistic ranch where drifters met their end. Mountain Home is an unincorporated community in Kerr County, Texas, United States, at the intersection of State Hwy 27 and State Hwy 41. Restaurateur Joe Marino Jr. said his parents bought the Ellebrachts' key chains for a quarter and sold them for 35 cents at their former business, Big Joe's Country Store, for years. Browse photos, see new properties, get open house info, and research neighborhoods on Trulia. This means that your chances of becoming a victim of any type of crime in Mountain Home is 1 in 27 if you reside there for a year. Mountain Home police responded to a shooting at the 600 block of Cooper Estates Drive, on November 24, 2020, according to a court document. It all started with the murder of Mary Pratt in December of 1990, when she was shot, killed, and had her eyes surgically removed. We used old inner tubes, cedar and gasoline, Caldwell said. Best Suburbs in America; Despite charges of murder and kidnapping at the 3,500-acre cattle ranch, the people around Mountain Home, population 98, are reluctant to condemn the Ellebrachts. When several survivor-witnesses reported they slept in the dirt, lived in extreme heat and cold, and were chained up at night, the statements had minimal impact on the jury. Ellebracht Jr. was sentenced to 15 years in prison and in 1996 was released on mandatory supervision, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Nearby cities include Ingram, Hunt. In 1987, the year after his father, grandfather and the ranch foreman, Carlton Robert Caldwell, were convicted and sentenced, Ellebracht III met Bob Walls, who would become his best friend. Thechildrenare buried in Sunset Cemetery in Mountain Homeand the word murdered rests under their names. mountain home, texas murders. There are several day-hunting services in the aera. Before joining the team, she was a producer and video editor at KIII-TV and a radio intern in Corpus Christi. During their court appearances Thursday, 38-year-old Skylar Brazil of Mountain Home and 35-year-old Ashley Nicole Hendricks of Siloam Springs entered not guilty pleas to the charges against them. Ranch, West Kerr Ranch, and D&D Ranch & Wildlife Services. Joyce, who divorced her husband in 1988, would neither testify nor stand trial. Ellebracht Sr. had big ideas, but was too lazy to implement them, said Joe Smith, 68, a pastor and retired builder who was a friend and maintains the small cemetery in Mountain Home where he is buried. Honky Tonk Foodie | May 28, 2020 . I don't think even (Ellebracht) Jr. knew how much abuse he was going through, Caldwell said. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. On another occasion, the Ellebrachts showed up in the slave quarters with a bag containing red Jello and pieces of beef; they told the prisonersthe bag held the remains of a slave who "got smart. Facebook. James Waybern Hall: The murderer known as "Big Jim" killed 4 people, including his wife, in Arkansas between 1944 and 1945. juni 14, 2022; Posted by tui name change lead passenger; 14 . But this ranch wasnt any old-timey operation, and the drifters werent a handful of depression-era hobos. Their capture is toldthrough variousmedia reportsand their arrests were mainly because one man was lucky enough to escape. Subscribe to Front Page Detectives Newsletter. Ranch. Mountain Home High School was evacuated last Aug. 14 after office personnel reported receiving a bomb threat by telephone just at classes were about to begin after lunch. He was born in Caldwell, Idaho on March 30, 1961. James Patrick Finn (1/11/23) James Patrick Finn, "Pat", age 71, of Mountain Home, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, at his home with his loving wife, Roxanne, at his side. The land isn't suitable because topsoil is shallow, as the area is laced with karst and rock just under the surface. All Rights Reserved. Survivors reported being shackled at the end of each work day, and being put to bed in a metal barn. Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? The family-owned ranch started back in 1880 as a program to important exotic species from Africa. A male voice responds, "Tell Robert it feels good. These Texas Slave Ranch facts illustrate a sordid chapter in the South's history. Is Mountain Home, TX Safe? Twins, Lesbian Lover Unravel Texas Murder. Ellebracht Sr. aspired to be the key chain king of the Texas Hill Country, but lost more than he sold, according to a 1986 newspaper article still displayed on the wall beneath four key chains at Bill's BBQ in Kerrville. A Mountain Home man who was charged with failing to report his wife's death last month has now been charged with her murder and extradited to Idaho from Texas, where Rebecca Lynn Henley, 44, is facing a felony first-degree murder charge after authorities found the deceased victim at a Mountain Home residence on Sunday. The ranch operators, 53-year-old Walter Wesley Ellebracht, his son, Walter Wesley Jr., 31 years old, and the son's wife, Joyce, 29 years old, were among those indicted for murder yesterday. He cited thecase of Anthony Bates, who, due to an injured leg, was unable to work. They're both wonderful girls, and he was a wonderful father, Esensee said. The population has increased 11 percent since 2000. The area was settled in 1856. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, Slave Ranch Trial-Kerr County courthouse, L-R witness Dennis "Pete" Johnson and D.A. According to the New York Times, Boyd was informed theyd be digging their own graves that day. Has the 'Zodiac Killer' just been identified? In 1878, the family packed uptheir belongings and headed off to start their homestead in the hills of the Texas Hill Country. Todd Steven Brooks. Mountain Home, Idaho, May 25, 2022 - At 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 3, 2022, representatives from Ginn Group and the City of Mountain Home will celebrate the groundbreaking of the Turner House Depot planned community at the corner of NW Marathon Way and Elmcrest Street. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. Joyce Esensee and her husband, Art, now live in a mobile home in Fredericksburg. Visible, double tap to read brief content visible, double tap to read content! Lucky enough to escape, get open house info, and D & D Ranch & Services. 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