Lady Rabbs ‘Service

Inside:
notch win Obituaries, page 2A Above Self’
Atlanta girls win their Atlanta Rotarians put
baseball game Notebook, page 4A their motto to work and
against McLeod’s Sports, page 1B, 2B raised cash as carhops
Lady Longhorns.
Classifieds, page 4B Tuesday night.
See Page 1A See Page 5

WEEKEND EDITION
March 14, 2010

USPS NO. 114-160 VOL. 131, NO. 21 50 CENTS CASS COUNTY, TEXAS • 2 SECTIONS, 12 PAGES

Moulton gets 60 years for wife’s murder

By MARTI ALEXANDER
Journal Editor
It took a nine-man, three-
woman jury a little more than
four hours of deliberation
Wednesday to find David Len
Moulton guilty on the charge
of murder for the April 17,
2004, death of his wife.
Following the verdict,
members of Moulton’s family
addressed the jury during a
sentencing hearing, pleading
for a sentence on the lower
end of the spectrum.
On Thursday, the jury
deliberated and came back
with a sentence of 60 years
in the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice-Institutional
Division and a $10,000 fine.
In closing arguments on
Wednesday, Johnny Ward,
who assisted in the
prosecution of the case, told
the jury they may have spent
six days in trial, but the
Byrum family “has waited six
years for this day.” though Moulton said it was in
Ward told the jury through self-defense.
testimony they had heard of A letter to Becky from
the domestic abuse in the Moulton, which was
relationship and “Moulton mentioned in a statement
even admitted to slapping his
See MURDER Page 2
wife four or five times,” even

Defense recalls We Shore ‘Bee’ Havin’ Fun!

APD’s West for
clarification
By MARTI ALEXANDER
Journal Editor
As the defense pleaded its
case Tuesday in Fifth District
Court in New Boston, David
Moulton’s attorney called
Mark West to the stand to
testify about documents from
Southwest Institute of
Forensic Science regarding
the death of his wife.
Moulton was found guilty
on Wednesday for the April
17, 2004, murder Rebecca
“Becky” Moulton, whose
body was found floating in a
pond behind the couple’s
South William Street home in
Atlanta.
Attorney Rick Shelton
asked West, who is a former
sergeant with the Atlanta
Police Department and
investigated Becky’s death,
about an investigative
narrative and a supplement to
the narrative.
According to the narrative
report, officers had
responded to calls at the
Moulton home three times
during the last three months
prior to Becky’s death.
The first incident
mentioned is when officers
responded to a call at the
Moulton home when
Moulton claimed he had been
shot.
West said that incident
happened about four years
prior to Becky’s death and, at
the time, the couple’s home
was not located within the
city limits. He responded to
the call upon the request of
the Cass County Sheriff’s
Office and took photos.
Shelton questioned why a
shooter had not been caught
and if the incident was a
domestic dispute.
“I wasn’t privy to the full
investigation,” West said. “It
wasn’t our case.”
The second incident in
question was a fire that
destroyed the Moulton home
in 2002, two years prior to
Becky’s death.
“This event didn’t occur in
a few months prior to Becky’s
death and there were never
any allegations of a dispute,
were there?” Shelton asked.
Again West stated at the
time of the incident, the
Moulton’s property was not Photos by BRENDA BEDGOOD
located in the city limits and Boudreaux and Bo Artwain, also known as David Burden and Bubba Kirkland around these parts, made quite
it was not a case handled by a spectacle of themselves as they took their places on stage at the Atlanta Rotary Club’s 10th annual Spelling
the Atlanta Police Bee Thursday night at Morris Upchurch Middle School. The Artwains didn’t win, but they sure made the night
Department. “I was not privy fun.
to the investigation,” he said.
The third incident alleged
that officers responded to a
domestic disturbance call at
the residence and West
confirmed to his knowledge
there was never such a call
and that information was not
correct.
When asked where the
information had come from,
West said he had never
spoken with the individual
who took the information in
question and did not know
where the information came
from.
A narrative stated Moulton
told Taylor Mayfield, then
justice of the peace for
Precinct 4, he had run into his
residence and dialed 9-1-1.
However, previous testimony
and records show that
Moulton called 9-1-1 from
his cell phone.
The narrative also stated
Sisters Dianne Guest and Tammy Tigert were deemed
that the Atlanta Fire
the best spellers of the night – and they weren’t above
Atlanta Mayor Keith Crow sported a new set of teeth
See DEFENSE Page 6 bribing the judge to win for their team sponsor,
for the bee. Brookshire’s Food Store.

McMichael addresses recent ‘negative issues’

By BRENDA BROWN
Journal Publisher
County Judge Charles
McMichael addressed a
recent primary election topic
during his “judge’s report” at
the commissioners court
meeting in Linden on
Monday.
McMichael read a courthouse
statement to the court
regarding former County
Judge Tommy Kessler ’s
request for a copy of a
promissory note to pay for
Windstream Communi-
cations telephone service for
the Cass County Law
Enforcement and Justice
Center building, which now
houses virtually all county
offices and functions as the
courthouse while the historic
undergoes
renovations. Windstream is a
provider of telephone,
broadband Internet and
digital television services in
Linden.
McMichael said he wanted
“to address the negative
issues that surfaced during
the last few weeks” regarding
the financing of the telephone
system.
He read from a prepared
statement that “the
Windstream project for the
new building was approved
by the commissioner’s court
on September 22, 2008” and
not Dec. 14, 2009, “as
reported in the paper.”
In September 2008,
McMichael stated the motion
to finance the new phone
system was made by
Commissioner Paul Cothren
and seconded by
Commissioner Kenneth Pate
and the court unanimously
approved obtaining a loan at
Texana Bank in Linden.
“I am not sure why this was
not related to former county
employee Tommy Kessler
when he requested the copy
of the promissory note. The
request was not in writing,”
McMichael stated during the
March 8 commissioners court
meeting.
“In regards to public
information, some items can
be released with a verbal
request if that office does not
have a policy in place, but a
request for a financial
See ISSUES Page 6