Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Solved or Unsolved? Murder at Lake Waco Pt. 2

Episode Date: July 12, 2022

The people of Waco wanted justice to be served. Four suspects emerged, but would that be enough to close the case? This is a crossover series with Unsolved Murders, looking at two complicated cases where the conclusions are far from forgone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, Parcast listeners. It's Vanessa with some incredible news. You can purchase your copy of our book, Cults, inside the world's most notorious groups and understanding the people who joined them. Available now at parcast.com slash cults. Cults is an expanded look at the people who led and followed the most radical groups in history, with an unflinching exploration into what happens when the most vulnerable recesses of the mind are twisted into the lowest forms of malevolence. Details not featured on our podcasts. We're so proud to bring you this fantastic compilation of stories, and we're forever grateful for your support. Without you, none of this would be possible. So thank you. Visit parkast.com slash cults to order your copy of cults

inside the world's most notorious groups and understanding the people who joined them. That's parkast.com slash cults to order today. Due to the graphic nature of this murder case, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of rape, murder, and assault. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. It was April 1983, nine months since the triple homicide now known as the Lake Waco murders. Ned Butler, a recently hired assistant district attorney, looked over the victim's autopsy photos.

The images were beyond horrific. Three teenagers whose lives had been violently cut short, their bodies riddled with stab wounds. But Butler couldn't look away. He was scanning the pictures for something specific. The assistant DA was a huge proponent of forensic odontology, also known as bite-mark analysis. It was a burgeoning specialty, but it had very promising results.

Butler had used this moment. method to solve a murder a few hundred miles away in Amarillo, just two years earlier. He hoped he could do the same in Waco. He poured over close-ups of the female victim's injuries. Besides the rectangular knife wounds, there were smaller red spots arranged in crescent shapes. A less experienced investigator might have assumed they were bug bites, but Butler knew better. These were indentations from the attacker's teeth. For Butler, this evidence could be a smoking gun. If he could match the bite marks to a suspect's teeth,

he'd finally be able to solve the mystery. This is a special series presented by Unsolved Murder's True Crime Mysteries, a Spotify original from Parcast. I'm your host, Carter Roy. And I'm your host, Wendy McKenzie. For these four weeks, we're taking a deep dive into true crimes most perplexing murder cases. We'll cover stories where the line between fact and fiction is blurred.

And try to answer the question, was justice really served? You can find episodes of Unsolved Murders and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free exclusively on Spotify. This is our final episode on the Lake Waco murders. Last week, we discussed the 1982 killings of 18-year-old kids. Kenneth Franks and 17-year-old Raylene Rice and Jill Montgomery. Today we're diving into the suspect's trials. We'll cover the evidence for their guilt, the arguments for their innocence, and the questions that remain. We have all that and more.

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39-year-old Deputy Truman Simons had identified three suspects, 23-year-old Moonir-Deeb, 24-year-old David Spence, and 28-year-old Gilbert Melendez. Thus far, Simons only had circumstantial evidence, witness testimony, jailhouse rumors, and a very strong hunch, but that was all about to change. Assistant District Attorney Ned Butler brought him the first piece of physical evidence in the case, bite marks on Raylene Rice and Jill Montgomery's bodies.

All they needed to do was match the injuries to a suspect and they'd have their killer. The men didn't miss a beat. They contacted the McLennan County Penitentiary where David Spence was incarcerated. The inmate willingly provided a mold of his teeth. This was sent to Ned Butler, who, mailed it all the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the office of a man named Homer Campbell. Campbell was a well-known forensic odontologist who had helped Butler solve a murder in Amarillo. Butler and Simons waited on the edge of their seats for Campbell's analysis. A few days later,

the results came in. It was a match. In Campbell's own words, Spence was the only individual to a reasonable medical and dental certainty who could have inflicted those wounds. It was exactly what Simons had been hoping for. For almost a year, he'd been haunted by memories of the crime scene. He'd given the victims his word. Their murders would be solved. Finally, he was going to make good on his promise. Simons practically sprinted to the district attorney's office. D.A. Vic Fessel was equally delighted by the news. This case had been hanging like a shadow over their city for almost a year. It was time to put it to rest. But it wasn't that simple. They now had physical evidence against David Spence. But what about the

other suspects? Munir Deeb insisted he was innocent, and he'd passed a lie detector test. Gilbert Melendez also claimed he had nothing to do with the murders, although he'd issued and retracted multiple confessions and couldn't pass a polygraph exam. Simons was convinced that Gilbert was lying about something. He just couldn't understand why. He'd already confessed, so it didn't seem like he had anything left to hide. That's when it clicked. Maybe there were holes in Gilbert's story because the tale was missing a character,

a fourth suspect. Simons looked into Gilbert's criminal connections. He had a... younger brother, 24-year-old Tony Melendez, who also had a record. He'd been accused of committing robbery and rape in Corpus Christi, but he was never actually arrested for the crimes. It appeared he'd skipped town and traveled 300 miles north to Waco. He was there during the summer of 1982, right around the time the Lake Waco murders took place. Soon after the triple homicide, Tony was arrested for slashing someone's tires at a local bar.

During that time, fellow inmates said he'd bragged about committing the murders at the lake. Lewaco PD brought him in for questioning. According to Michael Hall's reporting in Texas Monthly, Tony claimed he was 85 miles away painting apartments in Bryan, Texas, on the night of the triple homicide. Although his coworkers verified his alibi, a polygraph test, said Tonyp. Tony was lying.

These results were enough to convince Truman Simons and Vic Fezell of Tony's involvement. They gathered up all the available evidence and presented it to a grand jury. In November 1983, one year and four months after the crime, Munir Dib, David Spence, and Gilbert and Tony Melendez were all officially indicted. That spring, news of the men's upcoming trials dominated headlines. lines. Each suspect was charged with three counts of capital murder. They would go to trial for every victim separately, beginning with Jill Montgomery. David Spence was set to face the judge and jury first, likely because the prosecution had the most evidence against him. Spence's defense

lawyers thought the prosecution's argument was a farce. It rested almost entirely on circumstantial evidence, but the judge found the bite-mark analysis extremely compelling and dismissed the defense's concerns. It was a bad situation, but Spence's lawyer still thought they could get him a favorable verdict until June 12, 1984. Just six days before Spence's first trial, Tony Melendez, issued a written confession saying that he, Gilbert, and Spence were responsible for the murders at the Lake. He claimed Spence had approached the teenagers because they owed one of his friends drug money, then turned violent after Jill refused his sexual advances. Tony said he was appalled by the crime, but he also didn't try to stop Spence. Before he knew it, three people were dead, and he felt like he was

in too deep. So rather than contact authorities, he helped move the bodies from Cone to Spiegelville Park. This made him complicit in the crime, and he pleaded guilty to capital murder in exchange for a life sentence. By the time David Spence's trial began on June 18, 1984, the cards were firmly stacked against him. The prosecution was allowed to bring seven jailhouse informants to the stand. They all testified that Spence had bragged about being paid to commit the crime. Although this was hearsay, it was presented as fact. And it gave the prosecution firepower. The testimony supported Truman Simon's theory of the crime,

that it was both a murder for hire and a case of mistaken identity. The fact that Gilbert and Tony's confessions didn't align with this story didn't seem to matter. The prosecution just chalked it up to the fact that the men had been drunk and high on the night of the crime. And despite all, all the inconsistencies, one piece of evidence seemed irrefutable. Homer Campbell testified that the bite-mark evidence against Spence was airtight, that it proved

his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This was the final nail in the coffin. After over two weeks of testimony, the jury took just two hours to deliberate. They found David Spence guilty of murdering Jill Montgomery. Judge George Allen sentenced. him to death. Locals who'd spent the previous two years in a state of perpetual anxiety felt like they could finally relax. The killers were being held accountable. Although Kenneth, Raylene, and Jill were gone, their families would at least receive some

semblance of justice. Deputy Truman Simons was heralded as a hero. He'd managed to solve a bizarre, labyrinthine case with few clues. Two murderers were now behind bars. He just had two more to go. Gilbert Melendez and Mooneyer Deeb's lawyers had their work cut out for them. Over the next six months, they tried to create some kind of argument in their client's favor. But since one suspect pleaded guilty and the other was on death row, the situation seemed hopeless.

Gilbert knew his options were dwindling. His aim was no longer to get off the hook. He just wanted to avoid a death penalty. So in January, 1985, he issued a fifth confession in exchange for two life sentences. But pleading guilty wasn't enough. Gilbert also agreed to testify against Munir Deeb. Deeb's trial began in February. Gilbert Melendez was the star witness.

According to him, Spence had said that Deeb offered to pay them $5,000 to murder. murder Gail Kelly, the 16-year-old who'd turned down Deeb's advances. Although there was no physical evidence linking Deeb to the crime, Gilbert's statement was enough to convince the jury. They found Debe guilty of Jill Montgomery's murder. He too was sentenced to death. Truman Simons believed he'd done exactly what he'd set out to do. He found answers. He delivered justice, and people loved him for it. D. A. Vic Faisal told the jury, quote, I thank God for men like Truman Simons.

Simons was named Texas Peace Officer of the Year. He was also featured as the protagonist in Carlton Stowers' award-winning book on the Lake Waco murders, Careless Whispers. It presented Simons in much the same way that the deputy saw himself as a detective with incredible, almost superhuman instincts, who'd stop at nothing to find the truth. But what if Simons had made a deadly mistake? Coming up, David Spence and Mooneer-Deeb try to save their own lives.

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Whatever needs to be done for your thing, Canva can make it an even better and bigger thing. Canva, the thing that makes anything a thing. By spring, 1986, two years after David Spence was sentenced to death, and one year after Munir Dieb received the same fate, rumors were spreading about 43-year-old Truman Simons. He'd brought forth a number of jailhouse informants during both men's trials, but now people wondered if those statements were legitimate.

Even members of the Waco PD questioned whether or not Simon's informants were trustworthy. Through the grapevine, they'd heard that the deputy fed witnesses information, gave them favorable treatment, and even shortened their sentences in exchange for court testimony. Simons always denied giving his informants anything in return for their help, but plenty of people didn't believe him, including David Spence's mother, 54-year-old Juanita White. White was her son's biggest supporter. Ever since his conviction, he'd maintained his innocence, and she believed him wholeheartedly. She was resolved to do everything in her power to bring him home to help him avoid the executioner.

And in February of 1986, Juanita White got a piece of evidence that might help her do just that. It was a letter from her son sent from his prison cell. He'd attached a copy of a note someone else had given to him. The writer was one of the seven jailhouse informants who testified against Spence at his trial the previous year. He'd told the jury that Spence admitted to the Lake Waco murders, but now the man had a confession of his own. The testimony was a lie. He'd made it all up.

Spence's mother suspected Truman Simons had fed him the information and promised him favorable treatment if he testified. The letter seemed to confirm what Juanita White had always believed. Her son was innocent. She showed the letter to Spence's trial lawyer, who sent it to the U.S. attorney's office. Juanita held her breath, hoping for the best. Then, two days later,

she was found beaten, raped, and suffocated to death in her home. A Waco PD detective named Jan Price was assigned to the case. She set to work trying to solve it, but before long, Truman Simons jumped into the investigation. Apparently, he didn't believe Juanita White's murder was connected to the crime at the lake. It was just a coincidence, and he'd already received calls from some informants who'd given him leads on a few suspects. It all happened more quickly than Jan Pratt. Price could have anticipated. Simon zeroed in on two men, 31-year-old Calvin Washington, and 19-year-old Joe Sidney Williams. He got dental molds from each suspect. Homer Campbell and

another forensic odontologist matched these to marks left on Juanita White's body. In late 1987, Washington and Williams were both sentenced to life in prison. But according to journalist Michael Hall, Jan Price questioned whether or not they got the right men. She interviewed Washington and Williams, who both maintained their innocence. She also spoke to inmates who said Deputy Simons was crooked. They claimed his informants were given cigarettes, food, and conjugal visits for testifying. Three of these informants even recanted their testimony, admitting they lied at Simon's request. Price couldn't believe it. As far as she was concerned, Truman Simons had just put two innocent men away for life, and he might have done the

same thing with the Lake Waco murders, which Munir Dieb and David Spence could soon be executed for. For years, both men's fates hung in the balance. By 1991, Munir Dieb was 32 years old. He'd celebrated six birthdays in prison. In all that time, he'd laid low, kept quiet, and focused on himself. People noticed that he preferred the company of books to that of his fellow inmates. But Deeb wasn't just reading. He was studying law, learning his rights. His trial, he realized, had been a miscarriage of justice. The jailhouse testimony used against him should never have been allowed in court. From his prison cell, Deeb penned his own writ of habeas corpus. The 114-page document outlined his argument for a retrial. It was his last-ditch effort to make it out of jail alive.

Deeb sent his plea to the Court of Criminal Appeals. In June of 1991, he got the results. The judges overturned his murder conviction and granted him a new trial. He'd have to wait about a year and a half to face another judge and jury, but for the time being, at least he had hope. The same couldn't be said for David Spence. Years earlier, he'd gotten word of his mother's murder, his heartbreak mixed with guilt. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd been killed because she was trying to set him free,

and someone wanted to keep the truth from coming out. He didn't know how to deal with his grief. Fellow inmates watched him walk circles around the prison yard, screaming into the sky, asking God, if his mother was in heaven. The worst part was Juanita White had always been Spence's biggest supporter. She'd passed the informant's letter along to the U.S. Attorney's Office, but nothing ever came of it.

Now it seemed like Spence didn't have anybody in his corner. His execution was scheduled for October 17, 1991, and he felt powerless to stop it. But as it turned out, two people had taken, particular interest in his case. Rob Owen and Raul Shoneman were lawyers who worked for the Texas Resource Center, a non-profit organization that offered free legal support to death row inmates. Owen and Shoneman started looking into the evidence for and against Spence on Labor Day in 1991, just 45 days before he was supposed to go to the gallows. They quickly pointed out that the

jailhouse testimony against him was hearsay. On top of that, they didn't think Truman Simon's theory of the crime held water. The killings didn't resemble the average murder for hire. They weren't quick and business-like. They were horrific and torturous. Whoever committed the triple homicide seemed motivated by utter brutality, not money. Moreover, the mistaken identity theory hardly made any sense to them. Simons thought Gail Kelly, Deeb's love interest, looked like one of the victims.

Jill Montgomery. But a number of investigators, locals, and even the girls' families didn't think they looked very similar at all. On top of that, David Spence knew Gail. It didn't seem possible that he'd gotten her mixed up with a total stranger. Plus, in all this time, law enforcement had yet to even prove where the murders took place. Some thought Spiegelville Park, some thought Cohn Park. It was possible that they were perpetrated at an entirely different location. Nobody knew for sure. And as Owen and Shoneman dug through the district attorney's files, they found evidence that had never been revealed to the jury. There were other suspects in the case, but the judge had ruled this irrelevant and refused to let the defense talk about them. Multiple witnesses had seen a local man named Terry

Lee Harper near Cone Park, where Kenneth Raylene and Jill had been hanging out on the night of the murders. Some claimed he'd later admitted to killing three teenagers. He allegedly bragged about the crime before the victim's bodies were even discovered. There was also James Bishop. He lived in Waco when the crime took place, but very soon after, he moved to San Diego, California. Within a matter of months, he was arrested for the rape and attempted murder of two teenage girls at a beach. It seemed eerily similar to the killings at Lake Waco. Finally, witnesses named Ronnie Brighton. He'd been seen walking around in bloody clothes on the day of the crime.

His stepmother told police that when he came home from the lake that night, she noticed blood stains on his shirt, pants, and shoes. According to her, Brighton claimed he, just been out drinking and fishing. However, the next day, he asked to borrow a knife because he'd lost his at the lake. It's also worth mentioning that while numerous witnesses saw Terry Lee Harper around Lake Waco that night, no one reported seeing Spence or either of the Melendez brothers. Regardless, the fact was David Spence, Munir-Dib, and Gilbert and Tony Melendez weren't the only people who could have committed the Lake Waco murders. Far from it. The only proof of their

involvement were the bite marks that supposedly came from Spence, so the lawyers set out to prove the forensic odontologists wrong. First, they needed time. Rob Owen and Raoul Shoneman filed a stay of execution, which would postpone Spence's death date while they gathered more evidence. It was granted. Then the attorneys teamed up with the former president of the American Board of Forensic Odontology. He advised them to set up a test to see how legitimate the science really was. It began with a blind panel of odontologists, all of whom were considered experts in their field. They were each sent copies of Raylene Rice and Jill Montgomery's autopsy photos and asked to determine whether or not the girls had bite injuries.

Then they were given five sets of dental impressions, one of which belonged to David Spence and asked to match the teeth to any bite wounds they found. Over the next year, responses trickled in. One scientist wrote that the pictures were so low quality he couldn't even complete the exercise. Another said the marks on the girls' bodies were probably from bugs. A third believed the wounds were bite marks but couldn't connect them to any of the molds provided.

Only two of the scientists agreed on the source of these supposed bites. They matched them to a housewife who lived in Kansas, someone who certainly didn't commit the crime. The proof was right there, not a single odontologist named David Spence. And there was no clear consensus among them. This was a huge blow to the prosecution's case. The evidence that swayed the jury wasn't scientifically sound. It was a step in the right direction for Spence and his lawyers, and it was the only thing that got their hopes up.

In January of 1993, Munir Deeb's second trial was underway. His defense argued that Truman Simon's jailhouse informants couldn't be trusted, and there wasn't a shred of physical evidence, implicating him in the crime. In the end, the jury agreed. Deeb was acquitted. Eleven years after the murders at the lake,

he was once again a free man, cleared of any wrongdoing. The verdict was extremely promising to the other convicted men. Truman Simon's theory had hinged on the idea that Deeb was the mastermind behind the whole crime, that he came up with the plan and paid to make it happen. But now, a court had ruled him not guilty.

If Deeb was innocent, it stood to reason that the other three men could be innocent as well. For the next two years, Spence's lawyers fought for him. They went back and forth with various judges, presenting evidence in Spence's favor and trying to get him exonerated. At every turn, their motions were denied. Authorities insisted that bite-mark evidence was legit,

and that even without the jailhouse testimony, jurors still would have convicted Spence. Then in 1995, the Texas Resource Center, the nonprofit that Owen and Shoneman worked for, lost its federal funding. Spence's legal support weakened. Owen left altogether, and while Shoneman continued campaigning for Spence, he had much less time and far fewer resources. By 1997, Shoneman had filed countless appeals, motions for stays of execution, and writs of habeas corpus. That March, he even met with two of Governor George W. Bush's legal aides to plead for Spence's life. One of them simply responded, quote,

You've convinced me that something seriously wrong with Waco law enforcement, but you haven't convinced me that Spence is innocent. There was nothing else the lawyer could do. On April 3, 1997, 15 years after the Lake Waco murders, 39-year-old David Spence was taken to the execution chamber. The families of Kenneth Franks and Jill Montgomery looked on from the gallery, Spence swore to them that he was innocent. Executioners administered the lethal injection.

Spence was pronounced dead, and most of the people watching felt a sense of bittersweet relief. However, others were horrified by what they viewed as a miscarriage of justice. David Spence was gone for a crime he might not have committed. But there were still two men whose lives could be saved. Coming up, many fight to free Gilbert and Tony Melendez. Marvel Television's Wonder Man An eight-episode series

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Some believe justice had finally been served. Others thought an innocent man had faced lethal injection. The story was so big that it spread beyond Texas's borders and all the way to the east coast where a man named Frederick Donin heard about it. Donin was a headstrong journalist who immediately became interested in the case, he traveled from New York to central Texas to look into it for himself. As a crime writer, Donnan's job was to be as objective as possible,

to focus on the facts. But as he conducted interviews with Waco locals and learned more about Truman Simons, the more his emotions took over. In Donin's eyes, the whole case had been mishandled. Suspects ignored, people framed. one man was exonerated, one was dead, and two were stuck behind bars.

Donnan made it his mission to free Gilbert and Tony Melendez. But that was a Herculian task. Since they'd both issued full written confessions, the only way to get them a retrial was by introducing new evidence. But the root problem in the case was a near total lack of evidence. As Donnan worked to create something out of nothing, Gilbert Melendez, then 44 years old, grew sick. He had HIV and the complications were taking a toll on his body.

In October 1998, after 15 years behind bars, he died in prison. The turn of events only pushed Donnan forward. By 1999, forensic DNA testing was helping to solve highly disputed cases and free people who'd been wrongly convicted. Donan hoped that some of the original clues from the Lake Waco murders would yield genetic samples, the new evidence he needed. With the help of a local attorney, Donin submitted the beer cans and hair found at the crime scene

to a lab in Tarrant County. He paid for the testing out of his own pocket. But no biological material was found on the cans and analysis of the hairs was inconclusive. Unsatisfied with the results, Donin sent more clues to a lab in California. The cloth strips and shoelaces used to bind the victims. Analysis of the cloth yielded plenty of DNA. However, the bindings were covered in the victim's blood,

which made it impossible to isolate an attacker's genetic profile. The lab also failed to extract biological material from the shoalings, shoelaces because they were caked with too much dirt. Eventually, funding became an issue. Between 1999 and 2011, Donin shelled out over $30,000 for genetic testing. It wasn't practical for him to keep clearing out his savings, and it was difficult to get donations from other sources. The testing slowed to a halt.

Nevertheless, Donan didn't shut the door altogether. He maintained that with every passing year, the technology would improve, becoming cheaper and more accurate. According to him, one day DNA analysis would both exonerate Tony Melendez and identify the real Lake Waco murderer. In a 2011 Waco Tribune Herald article, Truman Simons replied by saying, quote, Mr. Donnan is full of crap. Both Simons and D.A. Vic Fizzell said genetic analysis was useless because the case was already solved. According to Faisel, quote, we got the right people. I believe that. I could never have asked for the death penalty if I didn't sincerely believe they were guilty. The debate went on and all the while Tony Melendez remained incarcerated. He was getting older, getting sick. He developed bone cancer.

then kidney failure. In 2017, he died at the age of 57, after spending 34 years in prison. At that point, one of the suspects in the Lake Waco murders had been exonerated, one had been executed, and two, died behind bars. As of this recording, DNA analysis remains inconclusive. Truman Simons had his skeptics and his supporters, and there's still no consensus as to whether

he delivered justice or ruined innocent people's lives. But we have plenty of reasons to doubt Simon's methods. Many of his informants later recanted their testimony and claimed they'd been given special treatment in exchange for false information. Although Simon said he never bribed witnesses, we know his informants weren't always correct. A prime example of this comes from the investigation into the murder of Juanita White, David Spence's mother.

Informants led Simons to Calvin Washington and Joe Sidney Williams. Then, bite-mark analysis appeared to confirm the men's involvement, and they were both given life sentences. But in 1992, a court of appeals ruled that the witness testimony against Williams was hearsay. It was very similar to what happened to Manir-Dib, and Williams was also exonerated. Unfortunately, Washington, his supposed co-conspirator, remained in prison. Then, in 1999, journalist Frederick Donnan, the same man who investigated the Lake Waco murders, got access to Juanita White's autopsy report.

As it turned out, seaman had been found on her body, and a sample had been stored for later analysis. At Donnan's request and on his dime, Joe Sidney Williams and Calvin Washington both provided blood samples to be compared to the seaman. In November 2000, the results came in. Neither was a match. They were both innocent.

After over a decade in prison, Washington was finally released. Of course, this brought the original bite-mark evidence into question. At the men's trial, it had been presented as foolproof. But, like Robert Owen and Raul Shoneman's blind study had revealed, that definitely wasn't the case. And there was an even more pressing issue. Oneida White's real killer had never been brought to justice.

In her original investigation, Detective Jan Price thought she knew who it was. She pointed to Benny Carroll, a convicted rapist who'd committed a similar attack in the area. Carol had died by suicide in 1990, but the lab that completed his autopsy still had a sample of his blood. They compared it to the seaman, and it was a match.

Benny Carroll killed Juanita White. This meant two things. Juanita White's murder was almost certainly not connected to the crime at Lake Waco. It was just a bizarre coincidence. And, more importantly, in his haste to identify suspects, Truman Simons had let a murderer walk free. But Simons didn't think so. He said the DNA evidence didn't prove either of the original suspect's innocence. It just proved that they didn't rape Juanita White.

Simons couldn't accept that he might have been wrong. So in what many perceived as an incredible feat of cognitive dissonance, he still believed he'd put the right men in jail. And he felt the same way about the Lake Waco murders. He never expressed any doubt or regret about the convictions, even though there were reasons to believe he might have been wrong. To start, there was absolutely no evidence to suggest Mooneer Deeb requested the murder of Gail Kelly. She turned him down romantically, but they still seemed to be on fairly good terms.

The insurance policy he took out on. was routine. Many employers carry accident insurance for their workers, just in case. Although Deeb would have received a payout in the event of Gail's death, this wasn't enough reason to believe he tried to have her killed. And while Gilbert and Tony Melendez both issued confessions, they only did so under threat of the death penalty. Their options were to plead guilty or risk execution, and they chose the former. Much of the evidence that supposedly pointed to the brother's guilt can be similarly discounted. For example, neither of them could pass a lie detector test.

But polygraphs don't really measure lies. They just measure stress. It's likely that simply being suspected of murder made both brothers extremely nervous, which could have impacted their results. In any case, lie detector tests can't be taken as definitive. proof of someone's guilt or innocence. Although they were considered legitimate in the 1980s, nowadays they're not usually permissible in court. As for David Spence, the evidence that put him on death row wasn't trustworthy. The jailhouse testimony shouldn't have been allowed in court,

and the bite-mark analysis was unreliable at best. Today, forensic odontology has been discredited. by the National Academy of Sciences. Plus, according to the Associated Press, between 2000 and 2013, at least 24 men convicted or charged with murder or rape based on bite marks on the flesh of victims were exonerated. For these reasons and more, Frederick Donnan insisted the main suspects in this case

were innocent and unfairly convicted. And we have to admit, He makes a convincing argument. But plenty of people are just as convinced of the men's guilt, even though most, if not all, the evidence linking them to the crime had been debunked. Their own words did nothing to help their case. Mooney or Deeb told Gail Kelly he had a hand in the murders. He claimed it was just a joke, but it wasn't funny at all,

and it planted a seed of suspicion against him. David Spence also bragged about committing the crime and appeared to have inside information. A court bailiff reportedly told his defense attorney, quote, I know you don't think Spence did it, but he told me he did. Many others felt the same way. One inmate allegedly not prompted by Truman Simons and not given anything in return, said Spence told such a detailed story about the crime that it took two days to get through it And while Spence's girlfriend did defend him, saying he was just trying to look tough and get attention,

there was more to the story. Author Carlton Stowers wrote that she and Spence's relationship was extremely violent and abusive. She later reported that Spence had a fascination with blood, and he often bit her until she bled during sex. Spence's girlfriend said he got so violent that she often feared for her. her life and once considered killing him just to protect herself. Her other statements about him were true. He did love to showboat, but she also believed he was capable of murder.

Because of this, Truman Simons, Vic Faisal, and even some members of the victim's families continued to believe the right people were convicted. Still, among law enforcement and locals, opinions differ. There are so many complicated questions in this case, and the quest for easy answers is part of the problem. When Kenneth Franks, Raylene Rice, and Jill Montgomery were killed, the people of Waco wanted to know what happened. They wanted to feel safe again. They turned to the justice system, and for the most part, they trusted the court's decisions. This is what we're all conditioned to do.

We want to believe the judges and the juries are infallible. that the answers will come out and they'll fit neatly into one of two categories. Guilty or not? But it's rarely so black and white. And in cases that fall into the gray area, every defendant is supposed to be presumed innocent. It's on the prosecution to prove guilt, not on the accused to prove they weren't involved.

The problem is, when people want answers so badly, they often latch under the quickest and easiest solution. But the most convenient explanation isn't always the right one. In fact, it can get in the way of finding out what really happened. So in this case, we can't identify the real killer or killers, but we can say that justice was not served because there's not enough evidence to prove anyone's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Former Detective Jan Price agreed.

When discussing David Spence, she said, quote, Did he do it or not? I can't tell you, I can tell you, he shouldn't have been prosecuted for it. The same goes for Munir Deeb and Gilbert and Tony Melendez. The Lake Waco murders were an absolute tragedy, but so is the fact that 40 years later, we still don't know the full truth.

Thanks again for tuning in to the special series presented by Unsolved Murders. We'll continue our special next week with another case that falls into the gray area between solved and unsolved, the death of Danny Hansford. For more information on the murders of Kenneth Franks, Raylene Rice, and Jill Montgomery,

amongst the many sources we used, we found Michael Hall's Texas Marysburg, monthly article, The Murders at the Lake, and Carlton Stowers' Careless Whisper's extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of Unsolved Murders, Solved Murders, and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Yeah, if we live till next time.

But until then, keep an eye out for clues. Unsolved Murders, True Crime Stories is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler. Sound design by Michael Langsner, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Nick Johnson, Trent Williamson, Jason Bond, and Carly Madden. This episode of Unsolved Murders was written by Karris Allen, edited by Giles Hofseth,

fact-checked by Anya Barely, researched by Mickey Taylor, and produced by Travis Clark. Unsolved Murder stars Wendy McKenzie and Carter Roy. Listeners, remember to visit parcast.com slash cults to order your copy of our first book, Cults, inside the world's most notorious groups and understanding the people who joined them. It's on sale today, and I can't wait for you to dive in. Nexium, the Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, and more.

Cults takes you beyond the headlines for an intimate look at the sordid beginnings and deadly ends of the most radical groups in history. Details never heard on our show before. If you love our cult series or any of our true crime podcasts, this book is for you. Without your loyalty and support, none of this would be possible, so we truly hope you enjoy. Visit parcast.com slash cults to order your copy of cults inside the world's most notorious groups and understanding the people who join them. It's on sale and ready to read right now. Order today at parcast.com slash cults.

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