Eisenhower had been president during most of our years of growing up, and kids were kept on a very short leash, remembers classmate Dixon Bowles. She was miserable, she told him, and she wanted to die. Citing this statute, Burnett argued before district court judge G. C. Olsen that before any trial was to take place, jurors should first have to evaluate Macks sanity at the time he pulled the trigger. In the meantime, Bettys volatile relationship with her father had worsened. Oh, my God, I didnt think hed come, she had exclaimed. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. In an impassioned closing argument that Burnett delivered before a standing-room-only crowd, he hammered home the fact that nearly two years after Bettys murder, the prosecution had still not established a motive. Betty had enlisted himthis worthy young manto do what she didnt have the courage to do herself. She is survived by her daughters, Tina Marie Lane, of Baker, and. So she became not the victim but the villain., Sullivan appealed the verdict to the Texas Supreme Court, on the grounds that Judge Olsen did not have the authority to grant a hearing that only evaluated Macks sanity at the time of the crime. He didnt like to see things suffer. John was eventually charged for murder but was promptly acquitted. . He told the Post, Ive been really honored to play a part in building a safer, stronger, more economically dynamic and inclusive Commonwealth as a county supervisor, a state senator, and as attorney general, and I think the best way to continue that work would be as Governor. Herring read to the jury, held that Betty alone was to blame for her death. According to the Texas law, an offender was allowed to be set free if proven they had been temporarily insane at the time of the crime. On June 27, 1962, the court sided with Sullivan, vacating the judgment and ordering a new trial. He never gave her his letter jacket or brought her home to meet his parents. After a legal challenge the Texas Supreme Court stated that the judge lacked the authority to do so. But Fairfax is facing a sexual abuse scandal; according to a story on the conservative news site Big League Politics, a woman has accused him of sexually assaulting her at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Macks own confession painted a picture of a methodically planned murder; before driving Betty half an hour out of town and shooting her, point-blank, in the head, he had, by his own admission, procured lead weights, rope, shotgun shells, and even a miners helmet to light his way so he could submerge her body in the stock tank. She loved the thrill of the spotlight and was gifted enough that she landed parts in three school plays when she was just a sophomore. Mack was born in Mooresville, North Carolina, the son of Alice (ne Azouri) and Charles Mack.Mack's father's original family name was Makhoul; he came to the United States from Lebanon when he was 12 years old, following Mack's grandfather, who had arrived at Ellis Island in 1909.. Herring says that, as attorney general, his priorities are cracking down on heroin dealers, and going after violent gang members, gun runners, and human traffickers. The notoriety of the case has long since faded, yet 45 years later, something lingers. Herring shot and killed Betty Williams in 1961 after she had allegedly told him to do it. Betty Williams body was discovered in a stock pond.https://t.co/Gb2DfQzcOt pic.twitter.com/RQg9pQI3hF. Williams engaged in sexual activity with boys she was not in a relationship with, something seen as taboo at the school. By the winter, Betty had started telling friends that she would be better off dead. Mack sat behind the defense table in a dark suit, his head often bowed. The ex-marine was known to persuade judges with his dramatic arguments involving Shakespeare and Scripture. On the drive out to the hunting lease, she was cheerful and chatted about how happy she was going to be when she was dead, Mack explained. Tall and good-looking, with jet-black hair that framed a long, contemplative face, Mack was a guys guy, his classmates remember, who was quiet and self-contained. All around town people spoke ill of the victim. You can read his full statement about that here. The jury pool was the largest that had ever been called in Winkler County; the last murder to get much attentiona stabbing at a hotel in Winkhad happened in 1947. She hoped to one day become an actress, and in her bedroom, where movie posters and playbills covered the walls, she devoured magazines like the Hollywood scandal sheet Confidential. The students all claimed it had been an obvious joke, as Betty liked being dramatic and craved attention. Everything looked different to me afterward. The stunt soured Mack on the relationship, and by the fall, he had broken things off and started going steady with a pretty redhead in Amicae. In the spring of 1961, Betty Williams and Mack Herring were students at Odessa TX High School. Betty Williams was a 17 year old girl who was murdered via shotgun to the head by her football player ex-boyfriend in March of 1961. View Mack Herring's 1940 US census record to find family members, occupation details & more. . Matteo, Where is Alexei Popyrin family from? [3], Shelton Williams, a cousin of the homicide victim and an alumnus of Permian High School who played against Herring in American football games, wrote the book Washed in the Blood, published in 2006. Betty dreamed of becoming a Broadway star and always took part in her high schools plays. This story is from Texas Monthlys archives. 1833 July 18, 1833. Herring Jr. and wife Mary of Fayetteville; two daughters, Patricia Ann Blanton and husband John of. We let Betty know she was the star, Sanchez says. Heron was also granted 100 acres of land in Camden County in 1814. Mark Herring has been married to his wife, Laura, for 27 years; they met the summer before he began law school. When Betty said that life wasnt worth living without Mack, I understood it within the context of our family. Her murder and the verdicts that followed had stripped away any of his preconceptions about fairness and justice. The murderer is no longer among us. It was as cold-blooded and premeditated as it could be. In the Kiss and Kill case, he hatched a plan that he hoped would prevent Mack from ever standing trial for murder, using a defense strategy that had never, to anyones recollection, been used before. . Herring also says hes proud of his offices work reducing Virginias backlog of untested rape kits. Fort Worth Star-Telegram (with photos from AP). Besides, Bill maintained, the incident had not had much of an effect on Mack. He married Elizabeth Jane Brown on 4 April 1920, in Clay, Georgia, United States. Or was she just acting, pushing the boundaries in another bid to catch Macks attention? Mack Herring was duly charged with the first-degree murder of Betty Williams. MOORESVILLE Ralph McNeely Herring graciously accepted the Lord's invitation to come home on the evening of Monday, May 18, 2015. Her mother Mary worked at a JCPenney while her father John was a carpenter. Mack Herring was a handsome football player with all the right friends. Betty had begged him to kill her, he told McAlpine; all he had done was carry out her wishes. Betty had talked about heaven a lot, he said, and had made it appear like a place you could reach out and touch. He explained that on the night he killed her, he had believed he was doing the right thing. the Mortal Mustache, a.k.a. Mrs. & Mr. I finally talked Mack into killing me, she said. I caught sight of him one afternoon in November as he pulled up to his house, a mint-green frame house not far from where he grew up. John Mack Herring attended Texas Tech University, married and divorced twice, and worked as a dock foreman, a carpenter, a welder, and spent 25 years as an electrician. He complied and entered the water. Because the murder had occurred just across the Ector County line, the hearing took place in Kermit, an oil-patch town 45 miles west of Odessa, where the smell of petroleum hung in the air. Mack Herring was a handsome football player with all the right friends. Then she told him to just go ahead and do it, which he didnt. Give me a kiss to remember you by, Mack asked. Mack was born in Sampson Co and moved to Fayetteville as a small boy. The murderer is no longer among us. But she asked him for one. To combat the ghost story culture, the administration later painted the windows of the school auditorium. Interestingly, her cousin, Shelton Williams, assisted in the production of the show. Marvin Grice, a psychiatrist who had examined Mack a few days after his arrest, said he was not a danger to others. During the following hours, Bettys closest friends were individually pulled from class and questioned by authorities. Shelton Williams assisted the making of the program. Though she had pleaded with her father to believe her when she swore to him that she had changed, he could not be convinced. This year the new drama teacher had planned a spring production of Maxwell Andersons Winterset. . I dont [know] what I expected the note to say, but not that. But inconsistencies in his account led McAlpine to believe that the seventeen-year-old knew more than he was letting on. But first they did what they assumed any drama girlspectral or notwould have wanted. Early life and education. Mack,Well, I guess you accomplished what you set out to do. Beside the water, the ground was spattered with blood. Who Are Ana Walshe Parents And Family? Mary called the school but she hadnt arrived yet. The couple has two children: a 24 year old daughter, Peyton, and a 21 year old son, Tim. I remember her saying, in a very ugly way, That girl was nothing. To some observers, it seemed as if Bettys transgressions had eclipsed those of the teenager whod killed her. A coach, who had known Betty, has reportedly been visited by her in the field house. O.H. Herring said he and his friends put on wigs and brown make up and dressed up as their favorite rappers. You might say she has become a witness for the defense, Burnett quipped. In the presence of lawmen, he had shown little emotion for his victim. In retrospect, he told the jury, I know that everything about it was wrong.. Laura works as a middle school . These were highly unpopular opinions to have at the time, but that didnt stop Betty from writing her thoughts down on paper and distributing them as letters throughout her school. Although Mack was near the top of the high school caste system and Betty was at the bottom, they managed to strike up a friendship when she was a junior and he was a sophomore. True Crime Writer catarina.leigh@gmail.com, A Brief History of Electricity: From Ancient Times to Modern Day, How a Boy with Lobster Claws Went From Circus Act To Murder, The Anniversary of the Unsolved Murder of The Black Dahlia. "Kiss and Kill" refers to the March 20, 1961 homicide of Betty Williams, a teenager from Odessa, Texas, United States. She lived in a small, well-worn frame house on an unpaved street not far from the oil fields west of town, where gas flares burned and drilling-rig lights illuminated the desert at night. Heaven must be a nice place, she told junior Howard Sellers. Burnett relied on his old playbook. Betty disdained conformity and reserved particular contempt for the girls with matching sweater sets and saddle shoes who seemed to look right through her. I mean, the defendant had admitted he kissed the girl, then blew her away, weighted her body, and buried it in the pond: What else did the state need? So King was confounded when his good friend Warren Burnett, an Odessa defense attorney, decided to take the case. The two started a romantic relationship during the summer of 1960, though from the outside it didnt seem like it. Jurors would not determine Macks guilt or innocence; they would only render a decision as to whether he had been insane at the time of the crime. The pre-trial took place in the nearby town of Kermit. True Crime and Unbelievably Real Stories; we aim to shine a light on the forgotten and unknown. They allegedly went to a stock tank on his parents property. Seems strange to think that this is really all of high school. You got the feeling with Betty that she was always straining against that leash, even when it choked her. John Mack Herring was the main at Kiss and Kill. Herring was born Laura A. Huff, on August 6, 1960. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Evelyn Page Herring of the home; a son, Mack B. Mark Herring: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. of service. While boys were free to do as they pleased, good girls were expected to obey an unspoken code of conduct. The two became lovers, but Herring later broke up with her. Worse, she learned that Mack would be playing one of Wintersets lead roles, a remorseless killer named Trock Estrella. After graduating he returned to Odessa where he married and divorced twice. A judge approved Burnetts request to evaluate Macks sanity at the time of the murder in a pre-trial. While she aspired to one day appear on the Broadway stage, in the meantime she planned to live at home after graduation and attend Odessa College, just up the street. I take upon myself all blame, for there it lies, on me alone! Does the evidence show you any possible explanation? he challenged the jury. But Mack chose to stay. When football season ended and there was nothing much to do on Friday nights except drink beer and stare up at the wide-open sky, teenagers used to park their pickups across the street from Odessa High School and wait to see the ghost they called Betty. He never had any trouble with the law again. As I have only the will and not the fortitude necessary, a friend of mine, seeing how great is my torment, has graciously consented to look after the details.His name is Mack Herring and I pray that he will not have to suffer for what he is doing for my sake. Nevertheless, students and teachers still claim to hear weird noises, including footsteps and see flickering lights and moving objects. He put Grice back on the stand and packed the courtroom with teammates, teachers, parents, and community leaders who took the stand to extol his clients virtues. [3], Odessa High School staff did not provide counseling after the homicide occurred. The response was always the same: There goes Betty again, trying to be the center of attention. Not only is she still talked about, but many people believe her spirit still lingers in the high schools auditorium. Read more here about our archive digitization project. [4], Odessa High students reported ghost sightings and paranormal phenomena at the school for decades, up to 2006, centering around Betty Williams. He was allegedly the ex-boyfriend of the victim, Betty Williams. . According to Ike, she had been wearing only pale-pink shorty pajamas and a blue-and-white-striped dusternot the kind of clothes a boy would leave a girl standing in on her front porch at midnight. Plenty of girls were flirts, but few of them were as assertive as Betty. Mack told him that he had dropped Betty off at home at midnight and not heard from her since. Join Facebook to connect with Mack Herring and others you may know. She began making comments to her friends about wishing to die so she could leave this world for a better place. None of the facts of the case came out., Moments after Sullivan rested his case, Burnett rose from his seat and thundered across the crowded courtroom, Stand up, Mack Herring! His mother, who was originally from Memphis, worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines but left her job when she married Herrings father. At Kiss and Kill, John Mack Herring was the primary character. 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