New Charges in Missing Atheist Case
A U S T I N, Texas, Sept. 19, 2000 -- A federal grand jury today indicted a formeroffice manager for well-known Texas atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hairin the 1995 disappearances of O’Hair and her family.
David Roland Waters, 53, of Austin is accused in an abduction,kidnapping, extortion and robbery plot that resulted in the deathof another person.
Waters, now serving 60 years in prison on another charge, is thesecond suspect indicted in the disappearances of O’Hair, her sonJon Garth Murray and her granddaughter and adopted daughter, RobinMurray O’Hair.
The trio disappeared from San Antonio along with $500,000 ingold coins in September 1995. Their bodies have not been founddespite exhaustive searches by federal authorities in the TexasHill Country.
Madalyn Murray O’Hair is best known for a 1963 Supreme Courtdecision that, along with a ruling the previous year, struck downorganized prayer in public schools as unconstitutional. O’Hairreveled in calling herself the most hated woman in America.
Previous Case ConvictionWaters previously was convicted of stealing from O’Hair’satheist organizations and faces time in federal prison on weaponsconvictions.
The charges today also relate to the death of unindictedco-conspirator Danny Fry, whose headless and handless body wasfound in Dallas County shortly after the O’Hair disappearance.
Water’s attorney, Patrick Ganne of Austin, was on military dutyand unavailable for comment today. No one else in his law firmwould comment on the case.
Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys office in SanAntonio, which oversees the Austin area, would not comment on theindictment.
In August, a federal judge sentenced Gary Paul Karr, 52, to lifein prison for extorting money from O’Hair and her family and forhis role in what prosecutors called and elaborate robbery andmurder scheme.
Karr was convicted of extorting more than $600,000 from thefamily.
Prosecutors have alleged the family members were kidnapped,killed and dismembered.
The five-count indictment against Waters charges him withconspiracy to kidnap the three family members and hold them forransom; conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery andextortion; interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise;conspiracy to engage in a monetary transaction with criminallyderived property; and interstate transportation of a firearm by aconvicted felon.
He could face up to life in prison if convicted.
Abduction SchemeThe indictment alleges that between April 1995 and October 1995,Waters conspired with others to plot and carry out the abductionscheme for financial gains.
Among other things, he is accused of causing another person toaccompany Murray to New Jersey, where they facilitated a $600,000wire transfer of funds that belonged to the United States to SanAntonio, where they were converted into gold coins.
Soon after Murray converted the cash into gold coins, theatheists were never heard from again.
The indictment also accuses Waters of providing anotherindividual with three stolen Rolex watches that were subsequentlytransported to Florida and traveling to Florida from Texas armedwith a 9 mm pistol to confront and threaten a potential witness.
Waters also used a spray bottle containing a bleach solution toclean a rental storage unit in Austin and caused firearms,ammunition, switchblade knives, handcuffs and other property to beshipped from Austin to Illinois, the indictment says.
Storage Unit MysteryProsecutors today also returned a one-count indictmentagainst Gerald Lee “Chico” Osborne, of Weatherford.
Osborne, 49, is accused of using a false Social Security numberto lease a public storage unit in Austin in September 1995.Authorities believe Osborne rented the storage unit for Waters thatwas ultimately used in the dismembering and disposal of theO’Hairs.