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Kathryn Wood, the widow of the slain judge, provided a five-page handwritten letter from Elizabeth Chagra, apologizing for her involvement in the murder. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. According to the Jahns, Harrelson offered to kill people suspected of killing Jimmys older brother, attorney Lee Chagra, who was murdered in his El Paso law office two days before Christmas in 1978. 'The hearing will continue when I hear further from the government or the witness (Mrs. But they would have had leaves on them at the time of the murder, rendering the witness testimony not credible. Woody Harrelsons father is arrested for murder - HISTORY Jack Sheehan calls him the Pablo Escobar of weed. Mr. Harrelson also said that Mr. Kay had $135,000 to $150,000 delivered to him as part of the ''scam.'' The Chagras were known as key members of a so-called Dixie Mafia, heavily involved in drug smuggling. WebThe map led the feds to learn that the murder weapon had been purchased by Harrelsons wife, Jo Ann. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. He was sentenced to two life sentences. Judge Woods 1979 slaying by Charles Harrelson was crime of the People walk by the Judge John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse in 2017. ", - Jim Everette, Harrelson Center Ex-Officio Board Member, We are all different parts, but part of the same body. To cut costs, Amazon delays completion of second headquarters, closes retail stores. Almost immediately, investigators turned to Mr. Chagra's plush law offices. Jimmy told me he was never going to get a fair trial and asked if I thought he should try having Judge Wood killed, Joe Chagra testified, according to newspaper stories at the time. with Diane Harrelson{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Diane Harrelson", "gender": "Female" }. ." Mrs. Harrelson, 42, a small, blond woman who was once a known 'card counter' at Las Vegas blackjack tables, collapsed moments after hearing the verdict Monday. He built a marijuana and cocaine smuggling operation with connections to Colombia and Mexico. However, after a game of pickup basketball between Woody and Fred Biery, the judge scheduled to hear the case, the judge disqualified himself and the case was continued to the year 2000, to be heard before Judge Orlando Garcia in Denver. Mr. Chagra testified not only that Mr. Harrelson had told him he had killed Judge Wood, but also that his brother had suggested killing the judge and had identified Mr. Harrelson as the man he paid to do so. Joseph Chagra did not testify. Lee, his eldest brother, brought Joe into his law partnership largely to enhance his own self-esteem as patrn of the Chagra family. Charles Harrelson - Wikipedia Depen, Chicago Mobsters Convicted of Decades-Old Murders The UK's supply crisis puts extra pressure on Prime Minister Boris. Adding further to their indignation, the trial was presided over by then-federal Judge William Sessions, who was a pallbearer at Woods funeral and delivered a eulogy, Campion said. Sessions will preside over the March 14 trial in Shreveport of Chagra, Mrs. Chagra, and Mrs. Chagra's father, Leon Nichols, on tax evasion charges. He enjoyed a high-rolling lifestyle at Caesars Palace and Binions Horseshoe but he was not a very good gambler. Everybody got hurt in this. By Wayne King, Special To the New York Times. On May 29, 1979, Judge John H. Wood was killed in San Antonio, Texas, by a shot from a high-powered rifle to the back of the head. Years later, the trial of Charles V. Harrelson revealed that Bill Bannister was a pseudonym Harrelson used to help track the judge, who was shot in the back outside his Alamo Heights townhome less than 2 miles from the motel as he was leaving for work. US based Meghan and Harry.. FameChain has their amazing trees. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. Encyclopedia.com. A convicted hit man's wife Monday won a first - UPI Suspected burglar inside New Brunswick home was a panicked deer. ." Joseph Chagra pled guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit murder and received a sentence of ten years. In his testimony over more than five days on the witness stand, Mr. Harrelson said he had gone to lure Jamiel Chagra into a crooked card game. After marrying his third wife, he died of cancer in July 2008 while living in Mesa, Arizona, under the name James Madrid, several news outlets reported. "Three Are Found Guilty of Assassination of Federal Judge." The three had risen from an unremarkable middle-class upbringing to live among El Paso's wealthiest residents. The bug picked up Chagra talking with his wife and brother Joe about the judges murder. Jo Ann Harrelson was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Mrs. Chagra was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Livestreaming available the night of the event by clicking here. SHREVEPORT, La. But Mr. Jahn, the Federal prosecutor, said in his final argument Saturday, ''Charles Harrelson had three talents. Jimmy Chagra broached the matter again in early May 1979 as the brothers walked on the lawn of Jimmys Las Vegas home, Joe Chagra testified. Governor of Philippine province, 5 others killed in gun attack. Jo Ann Harrelson: 25 years for obstruction of justice and perjury. Joe Chagra also testified that Jimmy Chagra later told him he had hired Harrelson to kill the judge and that Harrelson himself told Joe Chagra that he had carried out the hit, according to the newspaper stories. Charles Harrelson & Jo Ann Harrelson Divorced, Joint Family Tree Elizabeth Chagra died in prison of ovarian cancer in September 1997 at age 43. Harrelson claimed that he was set up. Wood was shot in the back with a high-powered rifle while leaving his north San Antonio townhouse for work. Woody Harrelson's dad Charles Voyde Harrelson was a career criminal who died in prison while serving two life sentences for murdering a judge in a contract In an earlier trial, Mrs. Harrelson's husband, Charles Harrelson, was convicted of the 1979 assassination of U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr. in San Antonio, Texas, the only such killing of a sitting federal judge this century. The $450,000 they took from the office safe was money Jimmy owed to mob boss Joe Bonanno, Sr., for a busted drug deal. The prosecution charged that Harrelson, who had earlier served five years before being paroled of a 15-year sentence for killing a man for a $2,000 fee, Ive published three articles in this magazine about Wood and the Chagras, but Ive never written all I knowuntil now. He agreed to testify against Mr. Harrelson and pleaded guilty to conspiracy in return for a 10-year prison sentence and relief from having to testify against Jimmy. Having these additional resources in the same building for our families, as well as having the support of the Harrelson Center staff allows us to continue to ease the transitions of our local foster children. '', It was at a pretrial hearing on April 2, 1979, as he listened to Judge Wood deny a score of defense motions, that Jamiel Chagra turned to Joseph Salim Chagra, his brother and attorney, and said, according to Joseph Chagra's testimony later, ''that he was never going to have a fair trial and if I thought he should have Judge Wood killed.''. Mr. Harrelson also said that a high-powered Weatherby hunting rifle, the kind the Government said killed the judge, purchased by his wife 12 days before the slaying, was actually given to Mr. Kay. Goodman is one of the nations best criminal defense attorneys and was named one of the 15 Best Trial Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal. While awaiting trial, Chagra came into contact with career criminal Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson, in Las Vegas. A portrait of Federal Judge John H. Wood, Jr. hangs at the Federal Courthouse, Monday, August 7, 2017. By the time the first indictments came down in April 1982, the FBI had conducted more than 30,000 interviews and collected more than 500,000 pieces of information. Investigators suspected that the murder was somehow connected to the growing drug trade in Texas. Our incoming donations used to be 70% used items. Courthouse in San Antonio, Texas, Tuesday morning, September 28, 1982, to begin the trial for the May 1979 murder of Federal Judge John H. Wood, Jr.( AP PHOTO/ STEVE KRAUSS). Because Joe was simultaneously representing Jimmy, who was serving thirty years without parole on a drug charge at the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, Harrelson had to assume that sooner or later Joe would learn the truth. Encyclopedia.com. (February 23, 2023). A few days later they returned a not-guilty verdict to the murder charge. His wife received a total of 25 years on the conspiracy and perjury charges; Elizabeth received 30 years on the conspiracy and tax evasion charges. H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country. I promised Samantha that I would write that Joe was a good father, and I know damn well he was. The collaborations and friendships are blessings to me and to our organization. After 18 hours of deliberation, a Federal jury, several members in tears, found three defendants guilty today on six counts of planning, carrying out and trying to cover up the assassination of Federal District Judge John H. Wood Jr. After the collective verdicts were announced, each of the nine women and three men on the jury, which began deliberating Saturday, was polled individually on all six counts. On Express-News.com: Judge Sarah Garrahan-Moulder, who helped prosecute hit man Charles Harrelson in San Antonio, dies at 84. Judge Wood, known as "maximum John" because of the heavy sentences he had imposed on drug dealers, had presided over the pretrial hearing of Jamiel Chagra, denying 20 defense motions. Harrelson).'. A police officer stopped his car. - Steve Spain, Executive Director, Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity. Anyone can read what you share. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). killed Judge Wood in exchange for a promised $250,000 payment by Jamiel Chagra. In his testimony, Mr. Harrelson said he was ''set up'' by George Edward (Pete) Kay, another gambler. The reward was eventually paid out to a handful of people who included a horrible creton bankrobber who shared a jail cell with Charles Harrelson, a woman who delivered the $250,000 payout for the hit to Harrelson, and a kid who found a piece of the murder rifle in a creek bed, said Sam Millsap, who chaired the reward committee. She said she had not believed him. WebJo Ann Harrelson, Charles Voyed Harrelson and Elizabethnichols Chagra, Defendants-appellants, 754 F.2d 1153 (5th Cir. Jo Ann, convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury, was later paroled. He was a cheat, he was a con man and he was a murderer. But theres a postscript: I feel certain that the youngest of three brothers in El Pasos infamous Chagra crime family knew nothing about Woods murder until months after the fact. March 4 (UPI) -- On March 4, 1933, Frances Perkins was sworn in as U.S. labor secretary, becoming the first female member of the Cabinet. But unknown to Harrelson, the trial had been postponed, Ray Jahn said. There was a lot of internal pressure.. Tapes of Jerry Ray James' extensive conversations with Jamiel spelled out details of the plot to kill the judge. On This Day: Frances Perkins sworn in as first female Cabinet member. Judge Wood denied any impropriety and refused to remove himself from the case. and court testimony, Jamiel Chagra was ''the highest of high rollers,'' a man who flew in private jets, gambled at roped-off tables in Las Vegas and thought nothing of betting half a million dollars on a roll of the dice. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Joe accepted a ten-year plea bargain in the Wood conspiracy, with the understanding that prosecutors would help him recover his law license. She also said that when she had demurred about delivering the money, thinking it was a gambling payoff, he had hissed, ''This is for the judge.'' He has said he is a key suspect in Wood's slaying on May 29, 1979. By the time the trial came around in 1983, Jimmy Chagras case had been severed from his co-defendants and Joe Chagra had taken a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to murder Wood. I know, of course, that on the witness stand Joe testified that he counseled his brother Jimmy to order the hit, and I know he did time in federal prison. Minnesota officer removes jar from raccoon's head. At least 5 dead following year's first severe spring weather outbreak. Joseph Chagra, 50, Lawyer Linked to Assassination, Dies Throughout, Charles Voyde Harrelson, the man convicted of killing the judge May 29, 1979, with a single shot in the back from a highpowered rifle, appeared at ease, leaning back in his chair and offering the jury faint smiles. Mr. Chagra returned to El Paso in 1988 from a Federal prison in Stafford, Ariz., where he had served six and a half years of a 10-year sentence for conspiracy. On the basis of the wiretaps, the FBI searched Joes home, turning up not only his private stash of drugs but also the map Harrelson had given him. It was the huge stepping stone we needed to be able to increase our impact on the community and really do right by our clients. ", Woman wins $100,000 lottery prize 11 hours after $11,000 casino jackpot. Donald asks the courts to let him tweet. Charles Harrelson Trial: 1982-83 | Encyclopedia.com The government efforts in the Wood case are not over. ''O.K., honey,'' Mrs. Chagra said she replied. After invoking the It is believed to be correct at the time of inputting and is presented here in good faith. Harrelson argued that Kay's wife had purchased a Weatherby hunting rifle of the type used to kill the judge some 12 days before the killing. 7-year-old baseball umpire seeks Guinness World Record. Overdue book returned to Massachusetts library after 56 years. Elizabeth Chagra: 30 years for conspiracy to murder, two concurrent five year sentences for obstruction of justice and tax evasion. Together we create higher quality programs, were better able to remove barriers, and we have more space to provide instruction with positive adult role models. March 4 (UPI) -- At least 15 people were killed and searchers combed a section ofthe Indonesian capital of Jakartafor survivors Saturday after a massive fire engulfed a fuel storage depot. separate, there is cohesiveness. It was then, the Government asserted, that ''the fear began. Middle brother Jimmy, the proverbial bad penny, used Joe as a wedge against Lee in a sibling rivalry that consumed both brothers and eventually the entire family, and as the unwitting liaison in his drug operations. Talented With Cards. When the murder trial got underway in San Antonio, in exchange for a guilty plea to commit conspiracy to murder and a sentence of 10 years, Joseph Chagra testified against Harrelson, who he claimed was the hit man. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Judge Wood, known as ''Maximum John'' because of the sentences he had given drug dealers, set May 29, 1979, as the day the trial was to begin. Now, perhaps due to our improved stature, our incoming donations are 80% new! Bring on the Shiplap. It was a big deal; there was a lot of interest in the case, said Millsap, who later served as Bexar County district attorney. The government indicted Harrelson, the Chagra brothers, Jo Ann Harrelson and Jimmy Chagras wife, Elizabeth, who delivered the $250,000 payoff for Charles Harrelson. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. 1985) Annotate this Case US Court of Appeals for the ", Louise Hicks, Executive Director, Community In Schools of Cape Fear, "We are grateful for the resources and partners the Harrelson Center has introduced to us. They tortured her for no (reason). United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Jo Ann Harrelson ''I asked him if he was the one who murdered Judge Wood, and he said he was,'' Mr. Chagra testified in a San Antonio Federal Court. Thats not the problem I have, Ray Jahn quoted Jimmy Chagra as telling Harrelson. Jo Ann Harrelson was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Since much of the wiretapping was inadmissible in court, the government had a major problem with its case: The only witness who could connect Jimmy with Harrelson was Joe. Three reputed Chicago mobsters were convicted in September 2007 for their involvement in a series o, To make a decision or reach a conclusion after examining all the factual evidence presented. Jimmy's trial was scheduled to begin on the day the judge died. The unlawful killing of another human being without justification or excuse. As a result, people used him. Sessions gave Chagra 30 years on the drug charges, and he was sent to Leavenworth. Further, most of the evidence and testimony against Charles Harrelson had been gathered from prisoners who were offered reduced sentences in exchange for implicating Harrelson. Mrs. Harrelson, who had said she was '99 percent sure' she would be jailed Monday, is the wife of convicted hit man Charles V. Harrelson, who is imprisoned in Houston on state charges.