Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
On this date ...
1971: New Mexico authorities arrested two suspects in the early morning killing of an Amarillo service station attendant during a robbery. Earl Mabry Jr., 25, of Mount Dora, Florida, and Sylvester Lorenzo Randolph, 26, no address known, were detained near the Texas-New Mexico state line. Mabry was wounded in the arm and leg during a shootout with J’s Service Station attendant Leroy F. Thompson, 51, during the apparent heist at the station’s counter. Thompson was shot four times with a .38-caliber handgun later found in the front seat of Mabry’s car. Mabry was treated for his wounds at Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari.
• The USS Wood County was transporting the USS Tucumcari PGH-2 hydrofoil boat, built by Boeing. to European waters. The Wood County was using a specially made cradle on its deck to transport the craft. The officer in charge of the USS Tucumcari was Lt. Richard E. Steed of Cleveland.
• The Odeon Theatre in Tucumcari was screening the Oscar-winning disaster film “Airport,” starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin. Admission was $1.50 for adults, $1.25 for students and 75 cents for children.