Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
On this date ...
1973: A jury of six men and six women convicted John Wayne Lee, 31, of Knoxville, Tennessee, of second-degree murder and robbery in the death of Dessie Leach at the State Line Bar in Glenrio.
The jury deliberated three hours before delivering its verdict to District Judge Stanley Frost.
Leach, a co-owner of the bar, died on July 10 after being stabbed in the chest and arm during the robbery.
Texas police apprehended Lee after they were given a description of the brown compact station wagon he was driving.
During his arrest, Lee was wearing a blood-stained shirt and possessed a blood-stained pocketknife and a wad of $100 in cash from the bar stuffed into his pants pocket.
— A New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee member said Gov. Bruce King should repay the state at least $7,068 for an appraisal on a strip of his land needed for right-of-way on Interstate 40 near Moriarty.
State Sen. William Sego said King handpicked two outside appraisers to value his 28 acres at $12,050. King had expressed dissatisfaction with the $5,625 initially offered for his property by an appraiser hired by the Highway Department.
— Rep. Gerald Ford told congressional hearings into his vice-presidential nomination that he is “not a saint” and welcomed close scrutiny into his fitness for the job.
Ford, 60, the Republican House minority leader from Michigan, was the leadoff witness as the Senate Rules Committee opened hearings into his nomination to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as the 40th vice president of the United States.