The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 8

A8 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1997 GALVESTQN COUNTY, TEXAS Unsolved: Jane Doe tato Parton Aprl 1, The vkrtfcn, who IHM i being hi her "Torfyfa old boy who was flying kite. Continued from Page Al Phillip Morris. "I think the hest thing that we could do now is take it from the very beginning," he said. Hudson left her office about 1 p.m. March 7, 1987, for a 2 p.m.

appointment at a house in the 12700 block of Conquistador in the Spanish Grant subdivision, Morris said. She was filling in for her boss, Inge Volger-Burke. A mysterious call Volger-Burke had gotten a call earlier in the day from a man who said he was from Dallas and had gotten the office's phone number from a for-sale sign, said Hudson's sister, Joan Megna. The man said he needed to see the home that day. But no record of his name was found, and Volger-Burke's couldn't say what it was, Morris said.

That was the last time anyone admits to seeing Hudson alive. She never arrived home. The next morning, Betty Jo's husband, George Hudson, made calls to Volger-Burke and her hus.band, Raymond Burke, the owners of the real estate business, and to Joan Megna and her husband, Joseph Megna. Her van still outside George Hudson and the Burkes went to the Spanish Grant house, finding Betty Jo's van still parked outside. They then went to the real estate office to get the keys to the house.

The three entered the house. George Hudson went up the stairs, while the Burkes searched the bottom floor, police said. Betty Jo Hudson's fully clothed body was found by her husband in a top-floor bedroom. She had been shot once in the head above the right eyebrow with a small-caliber gun, Morris said. There was no sign of a struggle, and the only things found in the immaculately clean house were several footprints in the carpet, Morris said.

"It looks like there was somebody wearing shoes and somebody not wearing shoes," he said. The killer known? While her death came during a rash of real estate agent murders in the state and some jewelry was reported missing from her body, those closest to her believe Betty Jo knew her killer. Betty Jo would not have gotten herself into a compromising situation with a stranger, Joan Megna said. "She was a tough, street-smart woman. She's not going to let someone come up and pop her," said Mel Rourke, a longtime family friend and private investigator hired to look into the case.

While Hudson's sisters Joan Megna and Nancy Freudenburg, wife of Mayor Henry Freudenburg Unsolved: Autry Debra Arm Autry, 23, of Gatvwton, was found stabbed to death 6, i 1985 on the sand i The E. KonNktcfbr to thai neck. pan. City, men A Suzanne Rene Richerson, a 22- yeawH Texas University at Galveston student, was a hardworking, serious student putting herself through college working part- time jobs and living with her brother when she disappeared. Police artists drew this composite sketch of a suspect in Richerson's disappearance using wit- nesses'de- scriptions.

Garveston police are taking another look at the case. (Courtesy photos) Unsolved homicides The number of active, unsolved homicideB on the books at dty po- departments and the county sheriffs Dickinson 0 Galveston 73 (since 1975) Hitchcock 0 La Marque 5 League City 9 Santa Fe 1 City 7 Gatveston County Sheriff (since 1975) socialized at local yacht clubs, the Hudsons spent their time at local taverns such as the old Bullseye on 61st Street, Rourke said. "They were into darts and they would drink some beer," he said. The question of motive Police also do not believe robbery was the motive for the murder. "I think that from looking at the case that that's what they wanted us to think," Morris said.

Inside Betty Jo Hudson's van, police found a gold bracelet and her purse. Several loan payment books from (Freudenburg and Megna) Investments and a foreclosure notice also were found among Betty Jo belongings, according to police. Betty Jo Hudson left behind two sons, Doug and Chad Smith, from a previous marriage: The boys were cared for by then- maternal grandparents, the Megnas and Freuden- burgs after their mother's death. Betty Jo Hudson's murder was "the worst thing in the world," Megna said. "I remember the agonizing physical pain of it." A triple murder League City Police Chief Rex Fancher is taking another look at the Nov.

3,1983, murders of Beth Wilburn, 25, Thomas McGraw, 27, and James Gates, 22. They were killed at Corvette Concepts, a car repair shop in the 500 block of West Main Street. Fancher said he will be requesting new tests on some old evi- dence in the hopes of reopening the case. The original detectives, assisted by Texas Rangers, Worked bn the case for about two years before it was turned over to him, Fancher said. "I probably worked another year on it.

But it didn't develop," he said. Bodies found The three bodies were found the morning of Nov. 3,1983 by Bob Currie, who co-owned the business with Wilburn. Wilburn and McGraw were romantically involved and living together. Gates was an electrician working on the building's lighting, police said.

The three were found with several gunshot wounds, and Wilburn and McGraw also were stabbed many times. According to previous news accounts, Wilburn was stabbed about 100 times. Nothing missing The times of death were sometime in the late evening hours of Nov. 2, 1983, police said. "They were working at the time Well, Wilburn and Gates were working.

McGraw was picking Wilburn up from work," Fancher said. Nothing was reported missing from the business. One frustrating part of the case is that while several motives were considered and investigated, a clear motive never developed, Fancher said. "Normally, if you can get the motive, you can arrest somebody," he said. Unsolved: Mathte found dead In Ms 1510 Avenue I in Gafvesfam Sept 9,1962.

MatMs'nude body was found about pjn. by a He had been beaten. No i found at the The Suzanne Rene Richerson case Galveston police also are taking another look at the Oct. 7,1988 disappearance of Suzanne Rene Richerson from the lobby of the Casa Del Mar condominiums. Clues in the case were scarce from the beginning: early morning screams heard by several guests, a shoe in a parking lot and scuffs on a door that may or may not have been the result of a struggle, said police Sgt.

Norman Giles. The 22-year-old Texas University at Galveston student was a hard-working, serious student putting herself through college working part-time jobs and living with her brother. One of her positions was as night clerk at the Casa Del Mar condominiums on Seawall Boulevard. In good hearth Richerson arrived at work the evening of Oct. 6 and was scheduled to work until 7 a.m.

the next morning, while a private security guard hired by the Casa Del Mar was scheduled to get off work at 6 a.m., Giles said. "He claims that he worked until about 6. He punched out and left, and he claims that when he left she was sitting at the desk in good health," he said. According to reports, the next people to come through the lobby taai bn- i tooth. Doe tad only i and MVMI teeth on the bottom.

She At lent one of the tfrb was Doew were a couple wanting to check out about 6:18 a.m. Finding nobody at the desk, the couple dropped then- room key on the desk and left, said Kathy Richerson, the missing girl's mother. At 6:45 a.m., the morning clerk arrived to take over. "And Rene was not there," Giles said. "Her personal effects were all inside the office and didn't seem to be disturbed in any way." Shoe discovered Later, one of Richerson's shoes was discovered by a maintenance worker ha the Casa Del Mar parking lot and scuffs were found on the employee entrance door, said Kathy Richerson and police.

At least two guests reported hearing a woman screaming, Kathy Richerson said. The screaming prompted one of the two to go look down the hall until he heard the screaming stop and a door shut, she said. On Dec. 5, one of Richerson's friends received the first of several telephone calls made to those connected to the case. The caller said Unsolved: Cephus Hudson Cephui liMfann, 36, of4OUO 11TL5 tun, on Apr! 2,1983 In front of Ms the he was involved in the abduction.

In July 1989, a private investigator hired by the Richerson family reported on a local radio talk show that the anonymous caller cried and said he was with two men when they kidnapped, murdered and buried Richerson about 15 to 20 miles west of Hitchcock. Body not found Although her body has not been found, a death certificate was issued for Rene Richerson in January, said Kathy Richerson. In the months following the disappearance, the family often got prank telephone calls and calls from police whenever an unidentified body was found that fit her daughter's description. they don't do that much anymore," Kathy Richerson said. "But it's still difficult not knowing what happened." The family has filed a lawsuit against the owners of Casa Del Mar condominiums claiming inadequate security was responsible for their daughter's abduction..