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. She was very good to everybody she knew too good to these people who took advantage of her, said Donna Bush., According to police, one Sunday back in the early spring while Bonnie was at church, her adopted grandson, Carl Pressley, sneaked into her home. 10,853 followers. Wearing his thin, light-blue coveralls, Riley dispensed tips on everything from soil drainage and fertilization techniques to how many grazing sheep to allow in the groves and how to stave off pecan scab, a type of fungus that looks like a horticultural syphilis. She was the closest thing to a mother I ever had, he said, choking back tears. the Millican family In the meantime, if Riley died first, Bonnie would maintain a life estate over all the property. EDHEC Alumni | LinkedIn Carl started crying at this point, Lillian later recalled. Lillian had dropped him off at the house while Bonnie was at church; hed climbed in through a window and hidden downstairs, smoking meth while he awaited her return. Queen of the County, Part 5 - NBC News He willed it to Connie, while the other two groves were to go to John and Bruce, so that all three kids would have their own orchards someday. They thought the whole county should still revolve around them. In San Saba 237 years later, March 25 dawned as an unremarkable Sunday. Bruce, upset about being left again, told a co-worker at the nursing home that he was contemplating Kamis murder. But he didnt think she would survive the surgery to fix it, and Bonnie insisted on spending whatever days she had left in the house. What is the average price of pecans per pound? Eventually the home would reach 4,872 square feet, many of its corners filled with family mementos: award ribbons and plaques for Rileys pecans and Bonnies pies; framed photos from the couples trips to the Bahamas and San Antonio; Bonnies collection of Desert Rose dishes; her still-life paintings of roses and yuccas; the Harkey family Bible, set on a lace doily in the sitting room, Bonnies looped cursive marking big life events inside. San Saba County Sheriff Stephen Boyd, who attended the same church as Bonnie Harkey, said the verdict was just a relief for San Saba County in general.. If there was a club in town, she belonged to it, said Betty Ann Johnson, a San Saba resident and Bonnies friend of forty years. When shed tell a story, hed interrupt and say, No, thats not the way it goes, recalled Bonnies sister. The Harkey family owns hundreds of acres of walnut farmland in Central Texas. McAfee said he thought jurors were swayed by testimony from several witnesses who said Bruce Harkey had told them that he would be out of town one weekend. And I said, Forwhat? Despite his protestations, he was arrested two days later, for criminal solicitation of capital murder, an allegation he pronounced absolutely and totally ludicrous. He vociferously contested Carls version of events. Press ESC to cancel. John Wilkerson, an investigator with the San Saba County Sheriffs Office.He asked me to forgive him, made comments about burning in hell for the actions that he did.. The care of the orchard was very important to him, remembered Millicans wife, Kristen, who grew up across from one of Rileys groves. 4:12 Cold Justice An Exclusive Look Into the Case of Steven Phelps. Bruce had grown brazen with his declarations around town. The jury deliberated for about an hour Tuesday, and Bruce Harkey received an automatic sentence of life in prison. Whether Bonnie was the instigator or not, it is true that those years were unstable for Bruce. How is it, if Im the mastermind, that I established an alibi before I planned the crime? said Bruce. Autopsy reports indicate Bonnie Harkey may have been buried alive. Finally, when their daughter was four, Kami worked up the courage to walk out. Finally, at two in the morning, after repeatedly calling Carls cellphone, Sheriff Brown reached Carl himself. When he returned to San Saba for high school, Bruce moved in with his grandparents in town rather than live with Riley and Bonnie. A local lawyer by the name of Dick Miller stepped in on Bonnies behalf, asking his law partner, Darrel Spinks, to get involved. Hipster-friendly tv practitioner. Get rid of Bonnie this weekend, Carl said Bruce told him. The matriarch of the family, Bonnie Harkey aka The Pecan Queen, was murdered. Bonnie Harkey's . With no money from Tommy Lee Jones and no authority to care for the orchards, Bruce was left to pine for his stake in Harkey Pecan Farms from a distance. Bruce Harkey, 59, said in interviews with The . My grandfather assumed that if anyone were to take over the farm, it would be me. One major source of tension was their blended family. Is there a shortage of pecans in the united states? Ill pay you. Bonnie H Harkey from Charlotte, North Carolina | VoterRecords.com In a good year, the three orchards brought in more than $100,000, so Bonnie remained comfortably in the house, paying longtime foreman Gaspar Carachero to maintain the farm. He thought everything would be fine and dandy because the two boys knew what they were getting and Connie would get a pecan orchard too.. Who else is involved in this?, Carl paused for a moment and looked down. He rekindled a romance with a high school girlfriend, Jennifer Karnes, whom he persuaded to move to Lubbock and marry him, but she grew unbearably homesick and their union lasted only three months. Later that day, Bonnie Harkeys body was found covered in leaves in a creek bed nearly 200 miles east in Leon County. The Harkeys were one of the first families to settle the area, before pecans were an industry. Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. Bonnie Harkey woke up and ate breakfast, and then Karen, her caretakerwhod brought along her young son for the daydrove her to church in Bonnies gold Chevy Malibu. While Bruce had never harbored warm feelings for Carl, the younger man sought desperately to impress his uncle. 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 is related to Rodney Alan Harkey and Claire Woodslayer Heakins as well as 3 additional people. Proud of his planning, Riley trumpeted what he had done around town. How much is a full grown pecan tree worth? As Price would later put it, Carl has not been accused of being very intelligent.). The best result we found for your search is Bonnie Heakins Harkey age 60s in Charlotte, NC in the Sardis Woods neighborhood. The Millicans, their lease having expired, were no longer caring for the orchards, and as I passed by the historic groves, the trees looked unkempt, thirsty from the drought and in need of a trim. She had been hit in the head and then drowned, said McAfee. Bruce seethed. Bruce Harkey, they say, felt pressure from years of past-due child support. During a good year, the Harkey Pecan Farm outside San Saba, the self-proclaimed Pecan Capital of the World, can produce about $100,000 worth of pecans. Were trying to figure out who Tommy Lee Jones plays in the movie, he quipped, if he doesnt play himself.. Preview. These nuts have a praline-flavored coating, making them a crunchy, but no less sweet, alternative to the thick, chewy praline burger. Texas Double Murder Was "Epic Tale Of Greed" - Oxygen Official Site Read More. 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. Who is the biggest pecan producer in the world? EDHEC Alumni. The real story is of greed, corruption, love, hate, lies, and violence. He was released in December 2007, and after a brief stint in an Austin halfway house,Bruce returned to San Saba for good. He would say stuff like, Well, they just need to die so that I can have the farm, recalled Kami. But Im the mayor of Harkeyville now, Hibler continued. He had been playing video games in another room, he said through tears, and hadnt heard any commotion. King, 26, has confessed to murder for the death of Johnson and faces up to 45 years in prison. The Harkey brothers founded Harkeyville, which in its heyday would boast a general store, a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop, a baseball diamond, a millinery, and a racetrack. April 24, 2015. There was testimony during the trial that Bruce Harkey told Pressley to kill everybody at Bonnie Harkeys house, McAfee said. There arent any Harkeys left.. There was a payment made to Carl Pressley and of course there were some arrangements to be made that further payment would be made to Carl Pressley for killing Bonnie Harkey, said Wilkerson. Recounting the scary incident, Bonnie shared that she and her . After that, Price and Sergeant John Wilkerson moved Carl to the sally port of the jail, where they could use a patrol cars dash cam to record the interrogation. While his grandmother was still alive, Pressley sold the rights to his share for about $70,000 to Bruce Harkey and his brother, the district attorney said. They brought their own refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker and remarried the next fall. The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the familys history.April 24, 2015. But she was now 85 and increasingly frail; it was common knowledge that she was suffering from dementia and required the attention of a caretaker. He had lived with Bonnie for a few years as a teenager, and his grandmother spoiled him, indulging every whim: when he ruined his truck, she bought him a new one; when he said he wanted to raise Boer goats, she bought him a flock of redheaded kids; when he brought home a stray dog, she let him keep it. She got confused at church, showing up at the wrong Sunday school class one week.