He was already resentful of decisions Spinks had been makingthis was the last straw. Carl, looking pudgy and sporting a large horseshoe mustache, nervously bounced his legs, his feet shackled, as he sat in his orange-and-white jumpsuit. And now, new details uncovered by KXAN could have a major impact on the upcoming trial., Authorities said that the murder-for-hire scheme was hatched to gain control of the Harkey family estate and rooted in deep family secrets. Evil pop culture scholar. In exchange for a lighter sentence, Carl and Lillian agreed to testify against Bruce, and jurors also heard from two inmates, including one former Aryan Brotherhood member, who claimed that Bruce had tried to hire them from jail to kill both Carl and Spinks. The Johnsons and the Harkeys became great friends, going out to dinner and traveling to gospel concerts in Marble Falls and Burnet. This idea consumed him. Bruce Harkey, they say, felt pressure from years of past-due child support. San Saba County Teenage flirtation gave way to sobering reality with an unexpected pregnancy, however, and the two were married in August 1969, on a Friday evening at the start of Bruces senior year. Wild pecan trees, Carya illinoinensis, haveflourished throughout the South for millennia, and thousands grow along the rivers of Central Texas; when the explorer lvar Nez Cabeza de Vaca was held captive by Indians on the Guadalupe in 1532, he christened it the river of nuts. But human cultivation of pecans in Texas began in San Saba in 1874, with the arrival of Edmund E. Risien. Read our feature on the case from January. His silver hair was closely shorn, per regulations, and he wore wire-frame glasses and flimsy terry-cloth slippers. But Im the mayor of Harkeyville now, Hibler continued. He started to warn me at least once a week, that if I ever tried to run , Bruce Harkeys federal detention order (contains profane, Travis County arrest report from 2003 (contains profane language). The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the family's history. Who is Sherlocks Sponsor Alfredo on Elementary? When Bonnie Harkey, the 85-year-old matriarch of a prominent San Saba family, was brutally murdered in 2012, her death spelled the end of a legendary pecan dynasty. Harkey was arrested and charged with solicitation of murder.. Bruce Harkey, 59, said in interviews with The Associated Press before his arrest that he had long ago reached an agreement to buy part of Pressley's estate. The matriarch of the family, Bonnie Harkey aka The Pecan Queen, was murdered. But her violent death in March shook the quiet Hill Country community about two hours northwest of Austin, both for its brutality and for the fact that members of her own family were charged in what authorities a far-reaching murder-for-hire scheme over the Harkey family fortune. As a signal, Pressleys girlfriend rang the doorbell and when the caretaker came to the door, Pressley snuck-up behind the caretaker, killed her and kidnapped his grandmother. Carlbrought his grandmother to a campground where he held her head underwater and then buried her body in a shallow grave. He said he would kill me and they would never implicate him, Kami told KXAN. It was very true. They set up a sting operation, in which an informant provided Bruce with an illegal silencer and federal agents then arrested him, charging him with possession of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. One thing theyd disagreed on was the day-to-day operations of the farm; Bruce wanted Spinks to pay him a salary to manage the orchards, but Spinks leased the property to Winston Millican. Bonnie is related to Rodney Alan Harkey and Claire Woodslayer Heakins as well as 3 additional people. 1. His late father left the family estate in Bonnies control, but Bruce was set to inherit a large portion of the estate upon his stepmothers death. Like Bruce, Carl had a rap sheet, which included charges for trespassing and domestic violencein 2005 hed allegedly tried to run over his stepfather with a tractorand he also had an eye for pecans: after realizing that a truckful of nuts could net him several thousand dollars, hed begun filching them from Bonnies barn. Lived To 94 Bonnie Sharkey. Invisible to a farmer, the devastating fungus would stealthily invade through the roots, withering the leaves in an instant and killing the tree seemingly overnight. He would go along and dig up an ant bed, and he would sprinkle them, and we would go to the next tree, Bruce recalled. The care of the orchard was very important to him, remembered Millicans wife, Kristen, who grew up across from one of Rileys groves. Harkey was, recalled family friend Donna Bush, "one of the sweetest ladies I ever knew." He would say stuff like, Well, they just need to die so that I can have the farm, recalled Kami. Karens eleven-year-old son, who had found her and called 911, stood on the front porch clutching a cordless phone. I think part of their attitude goes back to being a Harkey, said Teresa Cook, Bonnies niece. Before the Great Depression shuttered most of the town, the racehorses and mules bred by Riley were known to attract crowds of spectators from all over Texas. Bonnie Harkey was reported missing on March 26, 2012, after Johnsons body was found at Harkeys home. And the family pecan fortune was his way out. An autopsy would reveal that she had been hit over the head and drowned in the shallow water. His ex-wife, his eighth wife Kami, said Brucetried to have her killed, too. Queen of the County, Part 5 - NBC News While Bruce had never harbored warm feelings for Carl, the younger man sought desperately to impress his uncle. I do have family who want the property I live on and I have heard many times they want to get rid of me., Betty Ann stopped by the house twice a day and hired caregivers who could be with her around the clock. Then, in 2007, hed looked west, buying the 209-acre strip of farmland adjacent to Harkey Pecan Farms, where he grew wheat and grazed his horses. Wannabe web aficionado. Pressley and his girlfriend, Lillian King, face charges in San Saba and Leon counties. Bonnie, a staunch Baptist, persuaded Riley, a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, to attend San Sabas First Baptist Church with her, where Betty Ann and her husband, Craigan, also attended. If he was coming to worship and study, that was fine, but we didnt want that anger, explained Pastor Sam Crosby. Who else is involved in this?, Carl paused for a moment and looked down. Her ex-husband, a traveling salesman, had left her for another woman, and Bonnie had moved from Ocee to the city with their daughter, fourteen-year-old Connie. If Riley represented security, Bonnie, for her part, embodied the kind of feminine presence that was missing from the Harkey household. Harkey was charged after authorities discovered he had paid $500 to 29-year-old Carl Wade Pressley, Bonnie Harkeys adoptive grandson, to make her gone this weekend. Harkey promised Pressley and his common-law wife, Lillian King, another $55,000 once Bonnie Harkey was dead. (I just wish the old bitch was dead, he told Les Dawson, a justice of the peace, at the courthouse. Who is the biggest pecan producer in the world? As the farms two orchards matured, they began to yield a handsome profit. Despite these outbursts, she continued to write checks for him. Her husband, Riley had passed away, and she relied on a caretaker, Karen Johnson, for help around the house and getting around town.. She was the closest thing to a mother I ever had, he said, choking back tears. Bruce had grown brazen with his declarations around town. Brown wondered if Karen had died of natural causes and if Bonnie, confused upon discovering her body, had simply wandered off. Bonnie Harkey owned the walnut farm and had given 94 acres of it to a grandson, Carl Wade Pressley. I dont want nothin to do with it. The matriarch of the family, Bonnie Harkey aka The Pecan Queen, was murdered. Preview. The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the familys history. He genuinely thought he was fixin to get a not-guilty verdict, recalled Spinks, who was present. 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The paramedics who arrived five minutes later quickly determined she was dead. He grew controlling in his marriage, abusing Kami verbally and then, after she gave birth to their daughter in 1998, physically. It was assumed by many that the ambulance was for Bonnie Harkey, the matriarch. What is the average price of pecans per pound? She got confused at church, showing up at the wrong Sunday school class one week. For Bruce, however, the farm remained a source of tension. Season 10 Episode 10 - Videos 1:13 Preview Texas Double Murder Was "Epic Tale Of Greed" 1:46 Preview Bonnie Harkey's . But to Bruces dismay, Bonnie effortlessly took on the role of family matriarch. Stepson guilty in Texas pecan farm killings - Washington Times The entire county mourned Bonnie's death, killed by her stepson. The town has recently focused its energies on tourism, redeveloping its downtown, but the pecan industry remains alive and well. And although he was still driftingby 1994, when he switched jobs to become a nursing home administrator, he was on wife number sevenhe nevertheless held out hope that his father would hand over the farms operations. Tonight @DatelineNBC reports on the death of Bonnie Harkey, the matriarch of a prominent San Saba pecan farming family. Bruce Harkey, 62, was convicted Tuesday of the murder-for-hire plot that led to the 2012 deaths of his stepmother, Bonnie Harkey, and her housekeeper, Karen Johnson.