*With an incidental appearance by Tommy Lee Jones. He called KXAN from behind bars in the Taylor County jail, where he awaits trial. FULL EPISODE: Queen of the County Premature loss of nuts For many years, lack of pollination causes the greatest loss of nuts. He grew controlling in his marriage, abusing Kami verbally and then, after she gave birth to their daughter in 1998, physically. The investigation into the murder of Bonnie Harkey and her caretaker broadens as lawmen look for a motive in the family's history. Bonnie Harkey was. And the family pecan fortune was his way out. Bonnie Harkey owned the pecan farm and had willed 94 acres of it to a grandson, Carl Wade Pressley. And several years later, when their son planted 2,000 acres of walnuts in Australia, the Stahmanns became the world's largest walnut producing family. The Harkey family owns hundreds of acres of walnut farmland in Central Texas. The two needed to get back immediately, the sheriff told him: Karen was dead and Bonnie was missing. She also wrote large checks to foreign telephone scammers. They brought their own refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker and remarried the next fall. I made my way down U.S. 190, passing Harkey Pecan Farms and its rows of trees. After Connie had her mothers drivers license revoked, in 2009, Bonnies condition only worsened. Bruce could con you into doing anything he wanted you to do, he said mournfully in his prison whites. Over the years, he had started to wonder whether Eric might have lived if Bonnie hadnt been the one watching him. But her violent death in March shook the quiet Hill Country community about two hours northwest of Austin, both for its brutality and for the fact that members of her own family were charged in what authorities a far-reaching murder-for-hire scheme over the Harkey family fortune. Bonnie, too, was grief-stricken. Bruce Harkey, who had been taking care of the orchard, was fired sometime during 2011, McAfee said. One time she wrote about sports. They were mean, said close friend, Myrna Najar. They were so greedy.. Bonnie Harkey woke up and ate breakfast, and then Karen, her caretakerwhod brought along her young son for the daydrove her to church in Bonnies gold Chevy Malibu. He sensed her reluctance to embrace him and John, feeling her disdain as soon as the wedding was over. But she was now 85 and increasingly frail; it was common knowledge that she was suffering from dementia and required the attention of a caretaker. He said he would kill me and they would never implicate him, Kami told KXAN. It was very true. He did odd jobs, helped out around the farm, and went into town to buy groceries for Bonnie, who had started to grow feeble. Bonnie was laidto rest next to Riley in the city cemetery on the afternoon of April 1exactly 42 years after Eric Harkeys birth. San Saba offers something for everyone. San Saba County The autopsy reports she may have been buried alive. Hed planned to smother Bonnie with a pillow at naptime and then sneak out, but when Karen spotted him as she answered the door, he panicked, tackling her in a bear hug and throwing her to the floor, where he suffocated her beneath his body weight. He scowled as the judge read his sentence: life without parole. Bonnie says she lost just about everything in the blaze at the home . Bruce Harkey, 62, was convicted Tuesday of the murder-for-hire plot that led to the 2012 deaths of his stepmother, Bonnie Harkey, and her housekeeper, Karen Johnson. Find contact info for Bonnie Sharkey - phone number, address, email. How many acres do you need for a pecan orchard? The entrance to the Harkey homestead off U.S. 190. A devout reader ofBetter Homes and Gardensshe stored all her back issues neatly in the laundry roomBonnie also put her stamp on the house, turning a closet into a bathroom, adding on an extra bedroom, and building a sunporch that could comfortably seat up to 27 people. She aint going to forgive me, Carl told Wilkerson through tears. Carl also had a temper, one so volatile that First Baptist Church barred him from the premises after he showed up at Bible study one Wednesday to demand money from Bonnie. Portraits of several generations of Harkeys, including white-haired matriarch Bonnie Harkey. I think part of their attitude goes back to being a Harkey, said Teresa Cook, Bonnies niece. There was bunch disease and stem end blight and fungal twig dieback. The gravestone for Bruces firstborn, Eric Harkey, in the San Saba City Cemetery. Bonnie Harkey and Karen Johnson Find-A-Grave: Bonnie Katherine Sawyer Harkey Bruce Harkey on Trial for Capital Murder Woman Kidnapped, Buried Alive, Was Victim Of Murder- For-Hire-Plot Co-conspirators are sentenced in San Saba County double-murder A Tree Is Known By Its Fruit The death of the 'Pecan Queen' Bonnie Harkey, Texas Pecan Queen, Killed By Grandson 4:12 Cold Justice An Exclusive Look Into the Case of Steven Phelps. At her hearing, Lillian, her pale blond hair held back by a white scrunchie, sobbed uncontrollably. The more we tried to convince her to get away from him, the more she would say it was not the Christian thing to do. Who owns the largest pecan orchard in the world? What's the average lifespan of a pecan tree? But when Brown arrived at the house, hefound a puzzling scene. Pressley and his girlfriend, Lillian King, face charges in San Saba and Leon counties. They set up a sting operation, in which an informant provided Bruce with an illegal silencer and federal agents then arrested him, charging him with possession of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. View the profiles of people named Bonnie Harkey. 10,853 followers. Despite these outbursts, she continued to write checks for him. Thats when hed settled on Carl. Lillian, meanwhile, kept Bonnie occupied in the wood-paneled living room, their conversation and the TV muffling the sounds of Karens struggle. Her husband, Riley had passed away, and she relied on a caretaker, Karen Johnson, for help around the house and getting around town.. April 24, 2015. Humans lose their hearts, their souls, and their ability to act like anything other than monsters., In August I went to visit Carl at the Telford Unit, in New Boston. While his grandmother was still alive, Pressley sold the rights to his share for about $70,000 to Bruce Harkey and his brother, the district attorney said. The foyer where Karen Johnson was found dead. Ill pay you. His left arm was taken off above the elbow in an accident in the late fifties, but hed tuck a grub hoe under his stub and put a mayonnaise pint jar in his hip pocket filled with ant poison. The fear was that Bonnie had tripped in the orchard or somehow fallen into the river. By this time he and Jennifer had moved to his grandfathers house in town, and to anyone who would listen, he complained loudly about Millicans work, finding fault with everything from the way he trimmed branches to how he irrigated. Except there was one wrinkle. Meanwhile, KXAN has found that it is not the first time Bruce Harkey has been accused of soliciting murder. We uncovered a 2003 case in which there is evidence he tried to have his ex-wife killed. KXAN located Harkeys ex-wife, whom we are identifying only as Kami. She has been in hiding with their child since before her marriage ended.. And now, new details uncovered by KXAN could have a major impact on the upcoming trial., Authorities said that the murder-for-hire scheme was hatched to gain control of the Harkey family estate and rooted in deep family secrets. Where was Bonnie? How long does it take for a pecan tree to fully mature? In the days before the murders, hed proclaimed to everyone he encounteredat the San Saba Printing Company, at the Corner Caf, at J&Js Tractor Companythat he planned to spend the weekend at Johns house, in Fort Worth, playing golf. She was 85. Was I enamored with or happy about Bonnie Harkey? By 1956, Leonard Bend Pecan Farm had 3,300 acres of orchards on the peninsula and had become the largest contiguous walnut orchard in Texas and the second largest in the United States. In May the brothers had persuaded Carl to sell them his future rights to the Prichard Orchard for a measly $75,000, even though the property was valued at more than $500,000. Bruce called me in the mornings, in the evenings, on the weekends. Teenage flirtation gave way to sobering reality with an unexpected pregnancy, however, and the two were married in August 1969, on a Friday evening at the start of Bruces senior year. But then things went suddenly and terribly awry: on April 15, as Bruce sat in English class, the baby stopped breathing. Facebook gives people the power to. Sheriff Allen Brown was already out on patrol when the 911 call came in. Bonnie Harkey's . But the marriage couldnt weather their sorrow, and by January they had divorced. An old holiday photo of Bonnie and her grandson Carl Pressley. Betty Ann had provided a long pink dress for Bonnie to be buried in. And, Im the only one left alive that knows the truth, he wrote, his ballpoint indenting the paper. Bruce had taken in two of Jennifers granddaughters, and his money from the wheat field sale was going rapidly. The three got into Carls carhe insisted that Lillian drive because his license had been revokedand headed to the campground in Normangee, where a friend from his motorcycle club had loaned him an RV. But when one of the owners couldnt get the blessing of his stepmothers guardian to sell it, authorities said, he decided to kill for it. . Later that day, Bonnie Harkeys body was found covered in leaves in a creek bed nearly 200 miles east in Leon County. Bruce isdenying all allegations from prison although he does have a history of being accused of solicitation of murder. He tried to have me killed. Why are pecans more expensive than almonds? March 25 isknown as Pecan Day, marking the date in 1775 when George Washington planted 25 pecan trees at his home in Mount Vernon. April 24, 2015 A change of venue brought the high-profile trial to Burnet County. Get rid of Bonnie this weekend, Carl said Bruce told him. including 3 cats, a dog, a gecko and a pet snake. Bruce Harkey was convicted Tuesday of capital murder for a 2012 scheme to kill his 85-year-old stepmother, Bonnie Harkey, and her housekeeper, Karen Johnson. At the trial, held in Burnet, Bonnies relatives and a handful of San Sabans watched as Bruce sat coolly through the proceedings, convinced there was nothing hed be found guilty of. When Bonnie and Karen got home, he texted Lillian, who was to come back and ring the doorbell, serving as a distraction while he tiptoed into Bonnies bedroom. But both those possibilities were excluded when the bloodhound, using a scent swab from her pillow, followed her trail down the driveway almost to the road, indicating shed likely left in a vehicle. They still handpicked all their pecans way up into the eighties and nineties. This idea consumed him. One major source of tension was their blended family. Bonnie Harkey had left 94 acres in her will to Pressley, who then sold that interest to Bruce Harkey and his brother for about $70,000, prosecutor Sonny McAfee said. These nuts have a praline-flavored coating, making them a crunchy, but no less sweet, alternative to the thick, chewy praline burger. (We dont have the budget of big cities, so we had to use the same thing we use to record traffic stops to record a capital homicide confession, explained Wilkerson.) There was testimony during the trial that Bruce Harkey told Pressley to kill everybody at Bonnie Harkeys house, McAfee said. Afterward, they returned home, where Bonnie changed out of her Sunday best and into a teal tracksuit. Local columnist Lindy Lieban Schulz voiced the collective unease. Do you need 2 pecan trees to produce nuts? An English cabinetmaker who was captivated by the wrinkly nuts, Risien offered a $5 prize to whoever brought him the finest specimens. John Wilkerson, an investigator with the San Saba County Sheriffs Office.He asked me to forgive him, made comments about burning in hell for the actions that he did.. After that, Price and Sergeant John Wilkerson moved Carl to the sally port of the jail, where they could use a patrol cars dash cam to record the interrogation. The judge disagreed, sending Bruce to federal prison for five years. While his grandmother was still alive, Pressley sold the rights to his share for about $70,000 to Bruce Harkey and his brother, the district attorney said. This labor-intensive process takes time and costs money. And where was Bonnie? (It was eating me alive, I just couldnt do it anymore, she said.) Hed openly shared his travel plans to Fort Worth, he continued, because he was excited to go to the big city. After a brief courtship, the two were married at Wacos Highland Baptist Church that April, one month after his divorce was finalized. Bonnie Harkey was reported missing on March 26, 2012, after Johnsons body was found at Harkeys home. Bonnie is related to Rodney Alan Harkey and Claire Woodslayer Heakins as well as 3 additional people. Rileys wife, Joan, had recently walked out on him and their twoboys after a troubledmarriage, packingup her Ford stationwagon and hightailing it to the desert of Nevada. House in Roubaix, Hauts-de-France, France Contact. On April 1, 1970, a month before her due date, Judi gave birth to the next Harkey: a seven-pound, two-ounce boy named Eric. According to Carl, he approached another potential hit man about killing Bonnie and Spinks but found the $10,000 asking price too steep. If there was a club in town, she belonged to it, said Betty Ann Johnson, a San Saba resident and Bonnies friend of forty years. They'd made a fortune in pecans, but a double murder would expose a vicious power struggle. Wearing his thin, light-blue coveralls, Riley dispensed tips on everything from soil drainage and fertilization techniques to how many grazing sheep to allow in the groves and how to stave off pecan scab, a type of fungus that looks like a horticultural syphilis. Bonnie Chapman, the 24-year-old daughter of Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman is going through another unbearable family tragedy.. Less than five years after the death of her mother and Dog's . The famously craggy-faced movie star had been buying up property near his hometown since 1981, slowly amassing a 5,050-acre ranch in the eastern part of San Saba County. I want to stay here as long as I can.. She got confused at church, showing up at the wrong Sunday school class one week. Bonnie Louise Harkey Birth 26 Aug 1947 - Iredell, North Carolina Death 2017 - Mocksville, Davie, North Carolina, USA Mother Lucille Virgina Thompson Father David Lee Harkey Quick access Family tree 314 New search Bonnie Louise Harkey family tree Family tree Explore more family trees Parents David Lee Harkey 1911 - 1990 Lucille Virgina Thompson That summer the couple left San Saba and moved to Lubbock,where, like his siblings, Bruce enrolled at Texas Tech. King, 26, has confessed to murder for the death of Johnson and faces up to 45 years in prison. Carl said his uncle Bruce Harkey paid him to do it. Shortly thereafter, I went to see him at the Byrd Unit, in Huntsville. And I wont do that. John packed up in the fall of 1965 to attend Texas Tech University, in Lubbock; Connie enrolled there two years later after being named San Sabas homecoming queen. What is the average price of pecans per pound? Brown wondered if Karen had died of natural causes and if Bonnie, confused upon discovering her body, had simply wandered off. Second of all, if I thought somebody needed killing that bad, I would take care of it myself., Investigators, however, had reasons to be suspicious. But his father resisted any overtures, preferring to run the farm himself, with Bonnie at his side. The paramedics who arrived five minutes later quickly determined she was dead. Where do most of the u, s. pecans come from? (Farming is gambling, and I didnt think that was the most prudent thing to do with an eighty-four-year-olds money, when she might need it for hospital care, Spinks said. . by 2Paragraphs in Culture | April 23, 2015. Later that day, Bonnie Harkey's body was found covered. He knew the house well; since the early sixties, generations of San Sabans had attended the church suppers and cookouts hosted there by Bonnie Harkey, the familys matriarch. Read our feature on the case from January. Why hadnt Bruce and Carl just waited? By 1884, the town had four churches, two schools, a sawmill and a gristmill, a bank, a paper, and a population of 800. He had lived with Bonnie for a few years as a teenager, and his grandmother spoiled him, indulging every whim: when he ruined his truck, she bought him a new one; when he said he wanted to raise Boer goats, she bought him a flock of redheaded kids; when he brought home a stray dog, she let him keep it. View 19 photos $1,262,694 Bonnie doted on the strawberry-blond little boy, proudly displaying his photos on her mantel. The grisly crime shocked the rural community of Harkeyville named for the pecan-farming family in San Saba County, about 100 miles northwest of Austin. The care of the orchard was very important to him, remembered Millicans wife, Kristen, who grew up across from one of Rileys groves. Kosciusko, MS. BURNET, Texas (AP) - A Central Texas man faces life in prison for plotting the death of his stepmother so he could sell her lucrative pecan farm and make hundreds of thousands of dollars. As volunteers combed the property, chief deputy Bill Price returned to the sheriffs office to work the phones. How much money can you make with pecan trees? Because of that, Bonnie did pretty much everything she could to alienate me. He was convinced she had caused Erics death. With no money from Tommy Lee Jones and no authority to care for the orchards, Bruce was left to pine for his stake in Harkey Pecan Farms from a distance. I try to be careful when driving. With the deal falling apart, authorities said, Bruce Harkey made Pressley an offer: He would pay Pressley and his girlfriend, Lillian King, $500 to make her gone this weekend, with a follow-up payment of $55,000 after Bonnie Harkeys death, one affidavit said. She might have lived two years, or maybe fivebut where ishenow? said Les Dawson, referring to Bruce and his future behind bars. John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. (Many think Jones was less interested in pecans than in the excellent water rights that come with the property.) ), Bruce, Carl, and Lillian were sent away to separate county jails, where they remained until Bruces trial this past April. Despite the chaos, Bonnie remained lucid about some things. Bonnie, who had been watching Eric, rushed him to the hospital, but by the time she got there, the baby was dead. The orchards were in such horrible condition, because Bonnie and Connie didnt know how to run a farm or what to do with pecan trees, Jennifer told me. They would laugh at her and criticize her food, her sister continued. Bonnie let the baby die because he was a threat to her, because he was the firstborn male heir to Harkey Farms, he told me.