Plainview Herald 3.28.2010

Lifestyles
Bill LaFont has memories of 1943 Littlefield murder 03-28-10
Hayley Cox/Plainview Daily Herald CLOVIS ROAD: Plainview attorney Bill LaFont looks
over a copy of “Clovis Road,” a book about the murders of Dr. Roy Hunt and his wife,
Mae, in Littlefield in 1943. LaFontʼs father, Judge Harold LaFont, was district attorney during
the murder trial as well as a previous trial when Dr. Billy Newton shot Hunt on Clovis Road
outside of Littlefield.
By NICKI BRUCE LOGAN
Herald Lifestyles Editor
Published: Sunday, March 28, 2010 4:12 AM CDT
By NICKI BRUCE LOGAN
Herald Lifestyles Editor
Although he was a toddler when Dr. Roy Hunt and his wife, Mae, were murdered in
Littlefield, Plainview attorney Bill LaFont says he grew up hearing about the trial that riveted
citizens across Texas.
"My father was district attorney at the time," LaFont says in explaining his interest in the story
and how he got involved in a recently-published book that details the murders and
subsequent trials held in Olton and Plainview.
"I grew up hearing talk about the trial. It was quite a famous deal at the time."
He adds that his father planned to write a book about the trials and his involvement "some
day," but didnʼt get around to it.
"Dad tried to get in position to write a book but never took the time to sit down and do it, so
when I was contacted by the Samuelsons, I was interested in helping them."
The Samuelsons are the bookʼs authors, Dr. Robert and Dana Middlebrooks Samuelson of
Dallas, who became fascinated with the murders when Danaʼs mother, Sue Middlebrooks,
told them about a Littlefield doctor and his wife who were killed in their home in the 1940s
while their two young daughters were in the house.
Sue Middlebrooks was nine at the time of the murders and, like LaFont, grew up hearing
about them. Dana graduated from Littlefield High School and, after hearing the story from
her mother, became fascinated with finding the real story behind the murders.
That initial interest led the Samuelsons to the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech
University in Lubbock.
"I had furnished all of Dadʼs records to the Southwest library, and the Samuelsons were
allowed to see about a third of what I had given to the library," LaFont says. "When they
contacted me, I gave them everything I had, made copies from the files . . . transcripts of
the trials."
LaFont says that opening the old files brought back memories for him and he helped the
Samuelsons in their research because he was interested in a book being written, in part
because his father had intended to write one about his experiences.
Research shows that behind the murders was a love/hate triangle that had its roots in
medical school where Roy Hunt and Billy Newton were dating, unbeknownst to each other,
Ruth Nichols, a pretty nursing student with a reputation of being popular with the boys. Ruth
was in love with Roy but he wasnʼt ready to get married, so she married Billy.
Later, Roy married Mae Franks and set up a medical practice in Littlefield. The Newtons
lived at Cameron where Billy Newton practiced medicine.
The plot thickened when Hunt was called out in the middle of the night to meet Ruth Newton
on Clovis Road. Once there, Newton stepped out from behind the car and shot Hunt twice.
Hunt survived by hiding between furrows in a plowed field, then after the Newtons
searched for him and drove away he crawled back to his car and got help.
Newton was charged with attempted murder, and a trial was held in Olton, which was the
Lamb County seat at the time. He was convicted and sentenced to seven years in the
penitentiary.
Still holding a grudge, Newton found Jim Thomas who, according to reports, never claimed
to be anything but a killer.
In October 1943, he entered the Hunt home in Littlefield by climbing in a window, killed
Roy and Mae Hunt and when their young daughter, Jo Ann, came into the room, he
doused her with chloroform and threw her into a closet.
She escaped and went to a neighborʼs house for help.
On a tip, Thomas was arrested in Galveston and was convicted of murder and sentenced to
death in a trail held in Plainview.
The book tells a fascinating tale of Thomasʼ background and criminal history and how he got
involved in the murders.
Bill LaFont remembers his fatherʼs description of Thomas.
"Itʼs interesting that Dad always told me that Jim Thomas was a very nice man — he didnʼt
smoke, he didnʼt drink, he didnʼt cuss — he just killed people."
LaFont also remembers that the story was published in several crime and mystery
magazines popular at the time.
Emotions ran high throughout both trials, and the safety of the beloved district attorney was
in question.
"Dad wore a shoulder holster for six months after the last trial," LaFont says. "Nobody ever
did anything to him that I know of, but he kept a gun . . . wore that shoulder holster . . . for a
while."
("Clovis Road, the Dr. Roy Hunt Murder, Littlefield, Texas 1942-1943, A True Crime
Story," written by Dad Middlebrooks Samuelson and Robert Samuelson, M.D., is
available at Waymoreʼs in Littlefield, at Amazon.com