Thursday-Wednesday November 13-19th

There was not much to report on these days. I kept plugging away at old cases and getting my office cleaned up so whoever takes it over won't have the big pile of papers that I accumulated over the last couple of years.

I took statements on a couple of sexual assaults so that I can interview the bad guys next week as my last big cases. I went to the 1st National Bank and closed my account and said goodbye to the employees there. I have come to be on a first name basis with the ones that have been through the robberies. It's kind of ironic that there have been so many big cases like the bank robberies and a large theft from the bank that I have worked on and cleared. I am proud of the fact that we caught the two guys in the second robbery and then I was able to make a case on a third suspect and identified another suspect that I was unable to get the necessary evidence on to be able to arrest him. All three of the suspects have plead out to penitentiery time ranging from 10 years to 18 years. I have managed to put 8 people in the pen since being back in Manvel.

Saturday was spent relaxing. We went out to eat on Saturday night with Harry and Judy Hartley at the old Terrace Drive In in Texas City which is now a mexican restaurant. It was good to see our old friends and spend time with them. We made some plans about the upcoming Boomer rally in Boerne to leave from Rayford and drive up to Boerne together. We will likely hook up with Ted and Donna also to make the trip. We went over to Kim and Jeremy's house after eating and watched the boys on the WII. They both set up their profiles for the excercise program. We got home about ten o'clock which is pretty late for me to be up.

Sunday I woke up early as usual but when I went in to watch my tV shows, I found that they weren't available. Since the storm we haven't been able to get channels 20-60 consistently. Sometimes they show to not be available but other times they work fine. I started watching the Houston Texans getting beat before we went back over to Kim's house to spend time with the boys. I played a game of chess with Tyler and as usual, he beat me. It's been a long time since I've played, so I was very rusty. I think they are coming up to Rayford for Thanksgiving and we talked about that.

Monday started my last full week to work. It's exciting to think that I've worked all my life looking toward retirement and now it's here! WOW....
I've never really been without a job for any length of time, so it will be weird to think that I don't have to get up and go into the office or be on call. I'm sure I'll get used to it. I took the last of the statements on one of the sexual assaults, so now I just have to contact the suspect and interview him. I also learned today that the City and Police Dept. is going to have a retirement party for me on Thursday afternoon. I told the Chief that I had already sent out notices to many of my law enforcement friends and he forwarded the invitation to them too. I also found out who my replacement will be, Dennis "Duke" Adkisson. Duke is a 27 year veteran of the Alvin Police Dept. and should be an asset to the PD.

Tuesday I started cleaning ut my office. I took much of my "stuff" home and about the only big things that are left are my plaques and photos on the wall of my office. I spoke with Suzanne Birdwell, the forensic artist for the Texas Rangers, stationed in Austin. She and I have been working on the cold cases here in Manvel, especially the Princess Blue case. This was the recovery of skeletal remains in 1990 that has remained unsolved to this day. I am very sorry that I wasn't able to at least get this girl identified. I would have been satisfied to have been able to get her returned to her family for closure of the missing loved one, but it just didn't work out. It has been an honor to have worked with the legendary Rangers on these cases and I will never forget my time here.

Wednesday I had an appointment with the suspect in one of the sexual assaults to take his statement, but he wouldn't answer his door. It turns out that he lives in Dickinson, not far from my house. I wasn't surprised when he wouldn't talk to me about the case but its still frustrating. I will refer the case to the DA's office for a Grand Jury investigation. I went to lunch with BCSO Investigator Richard Rosser, who I had also worked the cold case with. It was good to see him again and to talk over old times. I plan to take down my wall decorations today and will bring in all my gear tomorrow so that all that will be squared away before the big day on Friday. Tomorrow is my big party.....

So long for now,