softheart
06-07-2003, 12:05 PM
I am keeping my mouth shut on this one....:argh
softie
June 6, 2003
By Ihosvani Rodriguez, San Antonio Express-News
Rudy Lopes Sr. had a message for his son Thursday.
A day after an Indiana woman admitted her role in luring Rudy Lopes II
into a sexual romp before tying him up, stealing his money, then killing
him, Lopes Sr. went to his son's grave with the news.
"I told him, 'Well son, the closure is complete,'" he said. "You can rest
now."
Lopes could deliver the message because Tessie McFarland pleaded guilty to
killing the off-duty Bexar County sheriff's deputy in 2000 while she and
her boyfriend were on a cross-country crime binge that left two men dead.
Wednesday's plea for a life prison term means McFarland, 23, avoided being
the first woman in Bexar County to be sent to death row.
The last-minute agreement came while attorneys were sifting through
potential jurors for the former stripper's capital murder trial scheduled
to start later this month. She will be 63 before becoming eligible for
parole.
She and her boyfriend, Joshua Maxwell, traveled the country robbing men
after promising them sex.
During their stop in San Antonio, they met Sgt. Rudy Lopes II while he was
off-duty and then robbed and killed him.
Last year, a jury deliberated three hours before signing off on the death
penalty against Maxwell.
While Maxwell was the trigger man who killed Lopes, his girlfriend had
been portrayed by authorities as the ex-con's sidekick. McFarland had
suggested through her attorneys that Maxwell had manipulated her
throughout the crime spree.
However, an ATM surveillance photo of her sitting in the driver's seat of
Lopes' stolen truck while taking money from his bank account was among the
many pieces of evidence prosecutors were ready to use against her. Lopes'
blindfolded and hog-tied body was found a day later in a wooded area
behind a Northeast Side shopping center.
The duo, who have referred to themselves as a modern-day "Bonnie and
Clyde," were captured in San Francisco days later in Lopes' truck after a
wild police chase and shootout with cops there.
Assistant District Attorney Jim Kopp acknowledged Thursday that
prosecuting McFarland and garnering a death sentence against her would've
been a harder task than with Maxwell.
---------
Source : San Antonio Express-News
softie
June 6, 2003
By Ihosvani Rodriguez, San Antonio Express-News
Rudy Lopes Sr. had a message for his son Thursday.
A day after an Indiana woman admitted her role in luring Rudy Lopes II
into a sexual romp before tying him up, stealing his money, then killing
him, Lopes Sr. went to his son's grave with the news.
"I told him, 'Well son, the closure is complete,'" he said. "You can rest
now."
Lopes could deliver the message because Tessie McFarland pleaded guilty to
killing the off-duty Bexar County sheriff's deputy in 2000 while she and
her boyfriend were on a cross-country crime binge that left two men dead.
Wednesday's plea for a life prison term means McFarland, 23, avoided being
the first woman in Bexar County to be sent to death row.
The last-minute agreement came while attorneys were sifting through
potential jurors for the former stripper's capital murder trial scheduled
to start later this month. She will be 63 before becoming eligible for
parole.
She and her boyfriend, Joshua Maxwell, traveled the country robbing men
after promising them sex.
During their stop in San Antonio, they met Sgt. Rudy Lopes II while he was
off-duty and then robbed and killed him.
Last year, a jury deliberated three hours before signing off on the death
penalty against Maxwell.
While Maxwell was the trigger man who killed Lopes, his girlfriend had
been portrayed by authorities as the ex-con's sidekick. McFarland had
suggested through her attorneys that Maxwell had manipulated her
throughout the crime spree.
However, an ATM surveillance photo of her sitting in the driver's seat of
Lopes' stolen truck while taking money from his bank account was among the
many pieces of evidence prosecutors were ready to use against her. Lopes'
blindfolded and hog-tied body was found a day later in a wooded area
behind a Northeast Side shopping center.
The duo, who have referred to themselves as a modern-day "Bonnie and
Clyde," were captured in San Francisco days later in Lopes' truck after a
wild police chase and shootout with cops there.
Assistant District Attorney Jim Kopp acknowledged Thursday that
prosecuting McFarland and garnering a death sentence against her would've
been a harder task than with Maxwell.
---------
Source : San Antonio Express-News