April 24, 2004

Texas officials reopen 1946 hanging case

Denton , Texas -- Herb Vest never believed that his father committed suicide. Now, thanks to a mysterious letter, he may get some answers.

Vest got the letter in response to a newspaper ad he ran seeking information about the death of his father, Harold Vest, in 1946. Vest was found hanged in his cabinet-making shop in Gainesville , Texas .

The letter suggests Harold Vest's death was actually a murder.

Today, authorities will exhume Vest's body. The justice of the peace who ordered the case reopened says there's "quite a bit of evidence" suggesting it was not a suicide.

In the letter, a woman says she had flirted with Vest and that her boyfriend went into a jealous rage. She says she learned of Vest's death the next day. A private investigator says the person who wrote the letter knew intimate details about the case.