Book Sales Update - Littlefield, Texas

CLOVIS ROAD - THE DR. ROY HUNT MURDER 

by Dana Middlebroooks Samuelson and Robert J. Samuelson, M.D.

Now available exclusively at the 

Littlefield Lands Duggan House Museum in Littlefield

Both first and second editions available - Screen rights are still under contract

Essential Littlefield historical true crime story from the 1940s

Copies by mail: Highgate Publishing, LLC 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas 75214

Phelps Avenue, Littlefield, Texas 1940-1945

On page sixty-six of the Second Edition of Clovis Road a triangle is mentioned that contained the Littlefield Jail where the W. R. Newton’s spent the night in 1942. It is formed by the Hunt’s hospital to the west, the McCormick Station north just east of the depot, and the Hunt home to the east. Also, inside that triangle was the heart of the  business district on Phelps Avenue. It is pictured in this 1940 post card. Looking north toward the railroad depot at the end of the avenue on the Clovis Road one can see the Palace Theater on the west side and Stokes Pharmacy on the east side. Certainly the Hunt’s walked Phelps Avenue, shopped and ate there, attended movies, and visited the Stokes Pharmacy.  This card was provided by Rev. Jim Harris of Littlefield who has been active in the preservation of the history of Littlefield.

Phelps Avenue, Littlefield 1940

Compare the 1940 card with the photo used in the 1945 magazine article about the Hunt murders.

Phelps Avenue West Side about 1945

Ruth M. Nichols Newton Grave

Clarendon Texas Cemetery

Not Our Doctor Roy - And His Wife, Too!

1945 Article on the Dr. Roy Hunt Murder

Highgate Publishing has obtained a copy of the 1945 article from a true crime magazine about the Dr. Roy Hunt murders. At the same time we have begun a new book based on a true crime in the Dallas area in 2001.

Dana Middlebrooks Samuelson and Robert J. Samuelson -2014

2013 Clovis Road Greeting

+Robert J. Samuelson, M.D. and +Dana Middlebrooks Samuelson

Thanksgiving is over, the tree is up, the cards are addressed, and the gifts are wrapped. Orders are coming in for copies of +Clovis Road II to be given for 2013 Christmas presents. Celebrate the coming Advent. Be sure and order your copies of the epic story of the +Dr. Roy Hunt murder in time to be wrapped and under the tree by sending $36.81 to Highgate Publishing, LLC, 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas 75214. Thank you all for a great year. The Samuelsons

Happy Holidays from the Clovis Road authors +Robert J. Samuelson, M.D. and +Dana Middlebrooks Samuelson

James C. Thomas and the Nebraska Bank Holdup of 1931

Mr. Monty McCord of Hastings, Nebraska, along with the History Press, have published   The 1931 Hastings Bank Job and the Bloody Bandit Trail. This 160 page paperback was published in 2013 and recounts the story of the men and women, including +James Clyde Thomas, who robbed the Hastings National Bank. In Chapter 12, titled “Jim Clyde, Dr Hunt and the Texas Rangers,” Mr. McCord  adds the story of the Dr. Roy Hunt murder to Jim’s dossier, and reveals the fate of Jim Clyde Thomas in Chapter 14. Several  previously unpublished photographs of Jim Clyde Thomas  were provided by Jim Thomas relatives presently living  in Texas, and Mr. McCord has revived photos from the Hastings Tribune. Anyone interested in the Hunt murder saga and Jim Clyde Thomas will want to add this book to their true crime library. We ordered our copy from History Press. The complete story of the Dr. Roy Hunt murder, Clovis Road II, can be purchased from Highgate Publishing LLC, 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas 75214.

70th Anniversary of the Dr. Roy Hunt Murder

Lamb County Leader October, 1943 Single click to enlarge

Lamb County Leader August, 2008

Saturday marks the 70th year since the Dr. Roy Hunt murders. The story of Roy and Mae
has attracted media attention for years. Dr. Hunt said he didn’t know of a motive for his attempted murder in 1942 by the W. R. Newtons of Cameron, Texas but he identified them at the scene of the shooting. The mystery around Dr. Hunts negotiation of  a payment with his attempted murderer, +Dr. W.R. Newton, Jr., and his weak testimony against the Newtons at trial just before he was murdered is explained in Clovis Road. Conveniently, the Hunts were murdered just weeks before the trial set November 15, 1943 for Mrs. Ruth Newton. Dr. Hunt had powerful enemies who brought hired killer +James Clyde Thomas to Littlefield that fateful night. It would take years for the legal system to eventually fail to bring those powerful enemies to justice. Don’t miss a single fascinating detail of this true epic Texas tragedy.

Waymore's On Texas Country Reporter

+Darla K. Jennings' museum and liquor store, Waymore's, was featured on the Texas Country Reporter show during the week of October 5, 2013 in episode #1362. Clovis Road I and II are on sale exclusively in Littlefield at Waymore's for $30 plus tax, or you can order a copy from Highgate Publishing LLC, 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas for $36.81 check or money order. Waymore's is located at Hall and Waylon Jennings Boulevard and was formerly the family filling station.

For more about Waymore's see: http://lubbockonline.com/stories/121509/loc_535701382.shtml

Sleuthing Clovis Road - 2

    +David A. (Sammy) Samuelson and I stayed in Littlefield at the Crescent Park Motel, 2021 Hall Avenue, after driving from Dallas on March 23, 2003. On the morning of the 24th, after visiting the Clovis Road site a little over two miles east on old highway 7, we went to the Lamb County Courthouse and copied probate, real estate, and court records relating to the Hunt case. About 10 A.M. we visited the mysterious Hunt home at 606 East 7th and roamed the alleys to the north and south of the house. From there we drove to the Duggan Museum and  copied  the history records of +Mardema Ogletree and exhibits there relating to the Littlefield Hospital on 1938. At Waymore’s, 901 Hall Avenue, Sammy met owner +Darla K. Jennings and we looked at the memorabilia there that her parents had collected in the Waylon Jennings museum. We had lunch at the Sonic at 1015 Hall and spent the early aftenoon at the Lamb County Leader News office, 313 W. 4th Street,  copying newspapers in their morgue aided by +Ms. Grata Reber. About three we drove to Plainview to visit the LaFont Justice Center and review court records relating to the Hunt case. We returned to Littlefield and had dinner at the Rodriguez Restaurant at 426 Phelps  Avenue in downtown Littlefield. The next morning, after breakfast and a visit to the Littlefield Cemetery, we returned to the Duggan Museum to copy

Hunt Home 606 East 7th - March 24, 2003

Sammy Samuelson at Lamb County Court House County Clerk Office March 24, 2003

Mr. Jake Moreland Interview, Littlefield, Texas March 24, 2003

Hunt Home Nursery Windows from South alley

David A. (Sammy) March 24, 2003 Successful Trip

more records, and then went to the +Jake Moreland home for an interview with him about his role in the Hunt case. After checking out at the Crescent Park Motel we drove to Lubbock to visit the Southwest Collection at the library at Texas Tech to review Judge LaFont’s files there and returned to Dallas that evening. Outline of events March 23 - 25, 2009 in the Littlefield area by Robert J. Samuelson, M.D.

Lamb County Leader News Oct 1943

Sleuthing the Clovis Road Story 2009

+David A. (Sammy) Samuelson with Darla K Jennings at +Waymore's, Littlefield, Texas 2009

Dana Middlebrooks Samuelson with Mr. King in Milam Co. Jail Museum, Cameron, Texas 2009

Dr. Robert Samuelson at Justice Center, Plainview, Texas 2009

Dana M. Samuelson at Student Nurses Dorm at Jefferson Davis Hospital, Houston, Texas 2009

Investigative research, interviews, and travel brought the clues in the mosaic mystery of the +Dr. Roy Hunt murder together in the spring and summer of 2009. Trips to Cameron, Plainview, Denton, Houston, Galveston, and Littlefield came in rapid order for the Samuelsons. The detective work was assisted by +Ms. Darla K. Jennings in Littlefield, Mr. King in Cameron, +Mr. Bill LaFont and his secretary, +Ms. Jean Stovall, in Plainview, +Ms. Grata Reber of Littlefield and many others. Read about the results of their efforts by writing Highgate Publishing, LLC, 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas 75214 and order Clovis Road II to read the story about a doctor who shoots another doctor in front of the woman they both loved on the Clovis Road.

Clovis Road Second Suspect in Hunt Murder

Leader News October 1943

Early on in the investigation of the Dr. Roy Hunt murder articles appeared with large print about a second suspect besides James C. Thomas.  Red Craig, who drove Jim to Childress on the evening of the murders, was eventually questioned. In previous jobs Jim Thomas had a driver or accomplice, in the Keeton case in 1941, in the murder of Lon Holley in 1948, in the Baxter Honey case in 1942, and probably in the Hunt case in 1943. Mrs. Stokes saw two strange men in the Hunt neighborhood just before the murders. Probably Hubert A. Deere or Red Craig was with Thomas that night and probably the next. Read about the fate of Jim Thomas in the Second Edition of Clovis Road available from Highgate Publishing, 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas 75214.

Dr. Roy Hunt Home Rear View 2009

Knot Evidence Not Used Why Not?

Galveston News, Nov. 3, 1943 page 2

Early on in the +Dr. Roy Hunt murder investigation was the claim that the Texas Rangers early on linked Jim Thomas to the case because of the type knots used on the cords and ropes on the bodies compared with the knots used on the Lenro Keaton couple in nearby Lubbock a couple of years before the Hunt murder. These observations did not come into to trial evidence by the prosecution. The knot theories are another interesting aspect of the circumstantial case against +James C. Thomas. Read all about the cases, the evidence, and the trials in Clovis Road.

Clovis Road Questions or Comments

We have studied and thought about the story of the Dr. Roy Hunt murders for five years and the facts never cease to ask as many questions as they answer. We would like the readers to comment or ask those questions here about this story and we will try to answer them. For instance, they tried Jim C. Thomas for the Hunt murders successfully multiple times in the Littlefield area without ever really addressing the motive for him to do the killings. Why? Why were the Smith and Wenig detectives that went out across Texas always asking the people they interviewed about drugs if drugs was not on the mind of the prosecutors and family. Why didn't Mrs Stokes, the druggist's wife,  with the lost pony, ever view a line up?
We are aware that there is a remnant that cannot accept the guilt of Dr. Newton and we ask that those of that number who make comments or ask questions not use it as an anonymous forum to promote his innocence.
Soon we begin another Texas true crime writing project but have time now for readers.
The Samuelsons

Dr. William R. Newton, Jr. A Dilemma of 100 Evil Deeds

Dr. William Rowland Newton, Jr.

Some wonder how many crimes Dr. Billy Newton committed. Some would think if you are apprehended  in a few that you can multiply by some factor to see how many you got by with. Ecclesiastes Chapter 8 Verses 10 through 12 says: “And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God.”
    In this section of Old Testament Scripture the wisdom writer of Ecclesiastes (Solomon) wonders at the enigma of the failure of God to quickly punish wickedness. The wicked go to church (the holy place), die, and are buried and may even be praised in the city where they committed crime. Failure to punish a crime quickly may lead to more crime and wrongdoing. The enigma bothers the author, but is later answered in a parabolic teaching,  Matthew 13:36-43.
    Dr. Newton lived more than 70 years. He ratted on his friends. He dragged the people of Cameron to west Texas many times to testify for an unjust cause. He arranged a murder. He attempted murder. He forged documents. He got kickbacks. He bribed public officials. He cheated his siblings out of their inheritance. He ran his mother out of her house and probably burned her up. He manipulated the futures market. He sued everyone.  He cheated on his wife. He was a drug dealer. He is not remembered for these things in his home city, but he did join the church. Read the Website: “He established the 1st hospital in Cameron, was well-known, revered physician in this entire area. Dr. Billy built the Newton Memorial Hospital in Cameron in memory of his father.”
    While the parable of the tares may have only referred to the members of the church and not to all people,  it can help answer the dilemma of the unpunished civil and criminal matters for the writer of Ecclesiastes. When the harvest comes, the probationary time of forbearance for the tares is over, but not until His time is fulfilled. It is part of the process of understanding all that +Dr. William Rowland Newton, Jr. did, and was allowed to do. And, it allows us to reflect on what we ourselves have done.
(Ref: Walvoord and Zuck, Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 997, 1985) 

White Rock Lake Weekly On Clovis Road

Robert J. Samuelson and Judge Ted Z. Robertson

Ms. Lucy Higginbotham writes an column for the White Rock Lake Weekly called "Meet Your Neighbor." Today's article titled "Want ad uncovers romance, mysteries" featured her views on the Clovis Road epic and was based on an interview last week with the authors, +Judge Ted Z.  Robertson, and communications with +Ms. Anna Nupson, managing partner of Mulligan Life Entertainment. The link to the feature article is: http://www.whiterocklakeweekly.com/view/full_story/23381197/article-MEET-YOUR-NEIGHBOR--Want-ad-uncovers-romance--mysteries? Here is the headline from the front page and a photo of Judge Ted Robertson with Bob Samuelson after Ted rushed down this afternoon to get his copy after he heard the news that the paper was out. To purchase a copy of Clovis Road see the  post from yesterday on this blog.

White Rock Weekly Aug 16, 2013 Page One

Clovis Road II Purchase Information

Clovis Road II can be obtained by sending a check or money order for $36.81 to Highgate Publishing, 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas, 75214. This amount includes tax, postage, and tracking. Most orders are placed in the mail the next day. Request a free autograph if you want the book signed.

Click once to enlarge this notice

Clovis Road Authors Bob and Dana Samuelson at Adolphus Hotel in Dallas

Clovis Road Comments By Ms. Wanda Erickson

The Director of Littlefield's Duggan House Museum, Ms. Wanda Erickson, had a followup article on recent museum activity  in the August 4, 2013 issue of the Lamb County Leader News on page 4 in her column called “At The Museum.” She mentioned +Ms. Sally Davidson’s wine tasting benefit and a conversation she had with Sally about whether +Anna Nupson was going to be there. Sally replied that Anna was in L.A. working on the film.

By Wanda Erickson From Lamb County Leader News August 4, 2013

Clovis Road Screenwriter Named by Mulligan Life Entertainment

Mulligan Life Entertainment announced yesterday via +Anna K. Nupson that a screenwriter has been named for the motion picture production of Clovis Road. Another great step in the process of beginning production. Highgate Publishing joins Mulligan Life in celebrating this announcement.
 Mulligan Life named +Mr. David S. Ward will be doing the screenplay. Mr. David Ward is a veteran Hollywood writer and won the Academy Award for his work on "The Sting."

Mrs. Stokes, the Lost Pony, and Two Seniors

     Football was big in small town west Texas, and in the fall of 1945 Littlefield saw one of its best ever Wildcat teams go undefeated until it lost the regional playoff to Ballinger on December 7, 1945. A letterman on that Wildcat team was senior Landon “Slow” Grissom who saw the Hunt girls coming toward his house with his mother in 1943 when the Hunts were killed. Also, the student manager of that football team was senior  +Malcolm Parker Stokes whose mom was looking for his lost pony on Sunday October 24, 1943 near the Hunt home just before the murders on Tuesday October 26, 1943.
     As 1946 began this “lost pony” story was one of the loose ends of the Hunt case that the district attorney in Plainview was trying to tie up. He tried multiple times to get sheriff Hutson to get the lady to tell her story to the court and to go to line ups where she could identify Jim Thomas. The trial for Jim Thomas was set for October 15, 1946. 
     It is the story of the local druggists wife, +Pearl Elizabeth (Loyd) Stokes, told on page 93 of +Clovis Road II and also on page 148 how District Attorney Harold LaFont so badly wanted her testimony in a case where he had very little evidence placing Jim C. Thomas in Littlefield in 1943. On August 15, 1946 eldest son, James Jr, of Pearl and her husband, James Mitchell Stokes,  married a good Baptist girl, Ruth. James Stokes, Jr was studying to be a dentist and football manager son Malcolm was done with Littlefield High School and off to Texas Tech.
     The Stokes family had moved to Littlefield and opened the only drug store and soda fountain at 331 Phelps Avenue before 1924. On August 13, 1924 new city commissioner J. M. Stokes attended the first meeting of the Littlefield City Council and worked hard to get the city incorporated by the state the following year on March 24, 1925. Stokes was reelected commissioner in 1925. +James Mitchell Stokes was born in Tennessee, the son of a Baptist minister, on March 26, 1891 and listed himself as a drug clerk by 1910.
    Then all of a sudden, when testimony was badly needed in October of 1946,  Mrs. Stokes reconsidered visiting a line up in Huntsville for Jim Thomas. Some in Littlefield say she  left Littlefield, and moved to Snyder, Texas for a time. She never testified. Snyder was  where +Dr. Billy Newton had great influence and owned the local hospital. Also, Jim Thomas had real estate interests in Snyder. In 1950 the town of Snyder grew from 4,000 population to more than 12,000 after the discovery of Canyon Reef Oil Field.There are no coincidences ... and Mrs. Stokes had  been dissuaded by the Newton gang from testifying, been given an offer she could not refuse and in effect damaged the prosecution’s case against +Jim C. Thomas. What makes a 57 year old druggist with political influence, with an established business, with a home on East 8th Street, and with ties in a community ties where he raised his family and helped found the city, sell his store to the Wrights and pick up and move 120 miles further down Highway 84, the Clovis Road?  Only Pearl Stokes  and her husband Jim knew for sure and she died in 1961 before her husband died on November 14, 1967.

From July 3, 2013 Lamb County Leader News J.M. Stokes third from left at Littlefield City Council meeting in 1925

W. R. Newton Home in Cameron, Texas

Before it burned on April 24, 1972 the Dr. Billy

From Matchless Milam, 1984

From Matchless Milam, 1984

Newton home at 8th and Jackson was featured in 1970 in a photo essay "Cameron Folk Fete." The photos showed girls in costume touring the house. The chandalier in the entry with the spiral staircase was a well known accent of the house. The house was built in the 1890s by Mr. W. Hefley an early Cameron real estate developer. The fire and events surrounding it are told in Clovis Road. The book can be obtained from Highgate Publishing, 6257 Highgate Lane, Dallas, Texas 75214.