Murder of U.S. Army Major Chester Garrett/Wife&S.Son CONVICTED

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/02/cold-case-1977-texas-army-officers-killing-finally-leads-to-arrests/
Cold Case: 1977 Texas Army Officer’s Killing Finally Leads to Arrests
February 8, 2013



For 30 years the trail had been cold — Major Chester Garrett, a decorated U.S. Army officer, found murdered in the desert near El Paso, Texas in January 1977.  Now, police say they have arrested his stepson and estranged wife.
Maj. Garrett was 36 when he was found dead.  He had suffered blunt force trauma to the head, and stab wounds as well. At the time, local authorities pursued leads, but eventually the case went cold.
It was only in 2006 that the case was reopened after family members contacted the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office to review the case. “New information and new leads developed and the case was reopened,” said El Paso Public Information Officer Angelica Becerra in an email to ABC News.  She would not be more specific about the new information.  “[The] family was looking for justice.”
The trail led investigators across state lines to Knoxville, Tennessee. Investigators say Maj. Garrett’s stepson, Roger Garrett, 54, had been living there for 2-3 months and had recently been fired from his job. Police went to his apartment, found it empty, and called his cellphone.

“Obviously he didn’t know we were calling about the homicide,” Knoxville Public Information Officer Darrell DeBusk told ABC’s Knoxville affiliate, WATE. “He thought we were calling about another issue and he made the suggestion for him to come by. When he did we placed him into custody.”
Meanwhile in El Paso, police arrested Lizbeth Ann Garrett, 74. She had been Maj. Garrett’s wife.
“According to military authorities he was one of the most highly decorated soldiers in the Vietnam era.” Sgt. Jim Belknat of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office told WATE. The El Paso Times also reports that at the time of his death he was the executive officer of the student battalion at the Air Defense School at Fort Bliss, where he was stationed.
Investigators have not cited a possible motive for the killing.  Both Roger Garrett and Lizbeth Ann Garrett are charged with murder and are each being held on $5 million bond.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/09/chester-garrett-army-major-murdered-wife-stepson-el-paso_n_2652521.html
Chester Garrett, Army Major Killed In 1977, Was Murdered By Wife And Stepson: El Paso Sheriff
February 9, 2013

In 1977, a dead Army Green Beret was found with his skull cracked in the west Texas desert.

On Thursday, more than 36 years later, Maj. Chester Garrett's estranged wife and stepson were arrested for allegedly killing him.

El Paso sheriff's detectives nabbed Lisbeth Garrett, now 74, at her cluttered home while others from the department traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., to apprehend her son Roger Garrett.

The investigation into Garrett's grisly murder had long ago grown cold. The 35-year-old's bloody body was found with 10 stab wounds in the backseat of his '72 Volkswagon, according to the Associated Press, but it was the head injury that killed him.

There were several sets of footprints outside the car and another car's tire tracks, but no sign of a struggle, the El Paso Times said.

A member of the sheriff's department in 1977 described Garrett as "almost what you'd call a superman," because of his military training.

"Whoever got him must have been mighty tough, too, and probably more than one, and probably took him by surprise," Sheriff's Capt. Mac Stout said then, the El Paso Times reported.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2276080/Stepson-estranged-wife-charged-murder-decorated-Green-Beret-1977.html
Stepson and estranged wife charged with murder of decorated Green Beret in 1977
* Vietnam hero Major Chester Garrett found dead in his car in El Paso desert
* Case was unsolved for 36 years but new leads appeared in 2006
* Police charge wife and stepson with murder, both held on $5 million bail
February 9, 2013

Comments

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/suspect-1977-murder-will-be-extradited/nWbCk/
Suspect in 1977 murder will be extradited
February 26, 2013

EL PASO, Texas — The stepson of a military major who was recently arrested in connection with the officer's 1977 murder will be brought to El Paso, where the slaying took place.

Roger Evan Garrett, 54, is charged with the murder of Fort Bliss Maj. Chester Garrett.
 ::snipping2::
El Paso County sheriff's officials said Roger Garrett will be extradited to El Paso on Wednesday.

He will be booked into the El Paso County Detention Center on a $5 million bond.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/suspected-killer-brought-booked-el-paso-county-jai/nWcqH/
Suspected killer brought, booked into El Paso County Jail
February 28, 2013

EL PASO, Texas — El Paso authorities traveled to Tennessee to pick up and bring back a suspected killer in a cold case they recently solved.

El Paso County Sheriff's investigators brought back Roger Evan Garrett Wednesday evening.
 ::snipping2::
Garrett's widow, Lisbeth Garrett, was also arrested in connection to the slaying.

Roger Garrett was booked into the El Paso County Detention Center on a $5 million bond.

[Nut44x4]

Both suspects found guilty.

https://www.yourconroenews.com/neighborhood/moco/news/article/Woman-sentenced-to-45-years-for-role-in-1977-9503314.php

Woman sentenced to 45 years for role in 1977 Texas slaying
The Associated Press Published 3:52 pm CDT, Thursday, October 22, 2015

EL PASO — A 76-year-old former school teacher has been sentenced in West Texas to 45 years in prison for the death of her estranged Green Beret husband in 1977.
An El Paso County jury deliberated for almost two hours before sentencing Lisbeth Garrett on Thursday, a day after jurors found her guilty of murdering Fort Bliss Army Maj. Chester Garrett.
Trial testimony focused on a blood stain found in the home where prosecutors say Chester Garrett was killed. Prosecutors also argued that Lisbeth Garrett stood to benefit financially from her estranged husband’s death, the El Paso Times reported.

Roger Garrett, the son of Lisbeth Garrett from another relationship, was convicted of murder in 2013 in the major’s death and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Authorities had reopened the cold case when Roger Garrett’s stepbrother, Patrick Garrett, provided new information.
Patrick Garrett testified against his mother during her trial, telling jurors that at the time of his father’s death he and his stepbrother used acid to clean a “giant red Kool-Aid stain” in their garage, the newspaper reported. Authorities have said that he previously told them that Robert Garrett confessed in 1990 to the killing.

Defense lawyer Richard Esper said it was “absurd” to believe Lisbeth Garrett would kill her husband.
“There is no evidence that this 5-foot woman beat her husband with a bat or stabbed him,” Esper said during closing arguments.
Court records show Roger Garrett told his stepbrother that on Jan. 3, 1977, he struck Chester Garrett with a bat on the back of the head and that their mother stabbed him several times. Then they took the body from the kitchen to the garage, where they loaded it inside the victim’s 1972 Volkswagen, and drove to a dump.Investigators say Chester Garrett, who had served several tours in Vietnam, was stabbed more than 10 times but died of a skull fracture.