CURRENT THEORY - SUMMARY SCENARIO
In the Matter of the Murder of Harold Eugene Vest
on 27 Jun 1946 in Gainesville, TX

This document is strictly confidential.  It is designed to document an independent assessment of the facts and theories surrounding the death of Harold “Buddy” Eugene Vest on June 28, 1946 in order to discover the truth.  This document necessarily includes a significant amount of personal information – some of which may not be accurate – in order to analyze investigative leads.  This document and its information are not designed to impugn anyone.  Readers must understand that many of the statements in this summary are not factual, but rather are opinions, impressions and speculations based on assumptions and interpretations of existing and necessarily incomplete information.  Further, the information contained in this summary is not warranted to be accurate and we assume no responsibility for damages arising from the publication, distribution, use of, or reliance on any such information.  This document is being provided confidentially in order to further the investigation.  It is a living document, and as such remains subject to change without notice. 

RECONCILIATION OF INQUEST RECORD
WITH STATEMENTS MADE BY WITNESSES

Portions of the inquest record are reproduced in italics here.

Inquest record: Upon arriving, the body was shown to be suspended by a thin leather belt, ostensibly removed from one of the woodworking machines in the building.

There is no variation among the accounts. The justice of the peace does not describe the width, circumference, age or color of the belt. There was no apparent attempt by the justice of the peace to ascertain if there was a belt missing from one of the woodworking machines. Therefore, it is possible that the perpetrators brought the belt to the shop with them. Flint said that the machine belt was pinched together between the nails and the neck and then bound by tape. Lance stated that he believed the belt to be from a machine in the shop; however he made no attempt to ascertain if there was a belt missing from one of the machines.

Inquest record: Three nails hammered to the door facing supported the belt.

Flint says the nails were straight and at a 45-degree angle from the wall.

Lance says that the nails were hammered in the wall between the studs. The nails had been bent back over the machine belt to secure the belt to the wall. The difference here is important: If the nails were bent back over the belt, as Lance says, then if Buddy acted alone, he would have had to secure the belt to the wall before placing the noose around his neck. If Flint is correct, then the belt must have been placed back over the nails in order for Lance to find it in that location a couple of days later. This seems unlikely.

It is more probable that Flint cut the tape holding the two sides of the belt together, thereby releasing the body. The belt was never taken off the nails prior to Lance’s arrival.

Inquest record: Deceased had a small rope tied around his waist, with the left arm pinioned to his side.

Flint agrees. Flint says the rope around the waist was on the outside of the girdle. Flint does not recall how tight the rope was nor exactly how the rope was secured.

Lance prepared a mock-up of the scene as he found it, a couple of days after the death. His mock-up shows looped rope hand restraints threaded through the holes drilled through the walls. Buddy would have been able to slip his hand into the restraint; however, removing it without assistance from the other hand would have been very difficult. The left hand restraint was secured by knots on both ends on the outside restroom wall to form a loop for the hand on the inside of the restroom wall. The right hand restraint had been untied on one end. The other end remained tied. The loose rope dangled on the inside wall of the restroom. He said that there was sawdust on the floor where the holes for the hand restraints were drilled.  Lance says that the three nails, sawdust and the holes in the restroom wall were not present when he left work at 5 p.m. on the date of death.

Flint denies that hand restraints were threaded through the wall. My interview with Lance leads me to believe that he is a highly credible witness. It is unlikely, in my opinion, that he would remember the hand restraints and sawdust on the floor if there had been none.

Reconciliation: The rope was most likely tied around Buddy’s waist before placing him on the wall. The justice of the peace is silent as to how the left arm was pinioned to his side. It could be that there were left and right rope extensions tied to the waist rope. This would be similar to the chain shackles used to move prisoners today. Securing the hands by rope extensions would be more secure than placing the arm between the torso and rope. Moreover, this arrangement allows the prisoner more mobility and flexibility, and thus makes him easier to handle. The left hand may or may not have been actually placed through the looped rope restraint. If it was, it may not have been necessary to untie it from the rope extension first.

It is difficult to get a clear picture of how the left arm was pinioned to his side. The mental image one gets from the inquest record is that Buddy’s left arm was placed between the torso and the rope looped around the waist, and that his left hand was not actually placed in the looped hand restraint on the wall. This may or may not be the accurate image. The issue remains unreconciled in my mind.

Inquest record: A small rope was tied around the legs at and just above the ankles and this was fastened to the wall by a small eye screw.

Lance agrees. Further, Lance says that the eye screw was not present when he left work at 5 p.m. on the date of death. Flint does not remember an eye screw. Lance said that the loop formed by the rope was loose enough to barely slip the feet through. Inserting or removing the feet without assistance from the hands would have been extremely difficult.

Inquest record: A block of wood approximately 4 inches square and 10 inches long was lying on the floor about 8 inches from the feet.

Flint and Lance say there were two blocks. If Buddy stood flat-footed on the block, then removed the block and stood on his toes with his heels supported by the wall, he would have been at or slightly above his flat-footed standing position on the block. This agrees with Gus Blakely’s statement to Ruth that Buddy “could have touched his feet to the floor.” (Gus never saw the body on the wall. Accordingly, he was relating what he heard, probably from Herb Seright, his son-in-law.)

Inquest record: An open knife was lying near a drain in the floor.

Neither Flint nor Lance remembers seeing a knife. It is unknown if the knife belonged to Buddy or was brought to the shop by the perpetrators.

Inquest record: The body was clad in socks and ladies panties and a Lastex girdle.

Flint said that the girdle was pulled all the way up and that the panties and the rope were on the outside of the girdle. Further, Flint said that Buddy could not have been masturbating at the time of death because the panties and girdle did not give him access to the genitals. He also said that there was no indication that the penis was erect at the time of death. (Sufficient blood in an erect penis at the time of death would most like have caused the organ to become elongated.)

Inquest record: A GI towel was placed in a loop around the deceased’s neck as a cushion.

Flint does not remember a towel. Lance found a towel wrapped around the belt in a clockwise direction with the end dangling 2 to 4 inches below the belt where the Adam’s apple would have been.

Inquest record: The body was hanging in a small restroom in the northwest corner of the building and the opening in said restroom was a wooden door that fit extremely tight and was locked from the inside by means of a metal screen door hook.

Lance stated the door did not fit tightly. On the contrary, it had to be held shut by a wooden block rotating on a nail. Lance stated that it would have been relatively easy to pull the door back enough to secure the screen door latch. Justice of the Peace Henry could not have firsthand knowledge that the restroom door was locked. The sailor, soldier, police and funeral home employees had arrived before Justice of the Peace. Henry. Flint stated that the door was open when he arrived. Accordingly, the door was opened by the sailor, soldier or the police.

Ruth and Ms. Howard confirm that the door was apparently locked from the inside when the sailor pulled the door open enough to see inside. The lock had not been broken when the two women left the shop. Ruth and Ms. Howard’s accounts also vary from the justice of the peace report. That is, if the door “fit extremely tight” the sailor could not have pulled the top of the door open enough to see inside.

Inquest record: She procured a passing soldier and sailor to go into the building and they noticed a light burning in the restroom and, peeking through a crack, discovered the body.

Both Ruth and Ms. Howard state that they entered the shop first, turned on the lights and noticed a light coming from the restroom. Ruth tried the door and found that it was locked, so they went outside to get the sailor they had noticed when they drove up. The sailor told them to leave the shop and stayed inside himself. Both women say no soldier was present when they left the shop to go to the police station.

Justice of the Peace Henry apparently made no effort to question the sailor or soldier as to what they were doing across the street from a strange death at 1 a.m.

Inquest record: There were no marks of violence on the body, save a few scratches and an indentation around the neck produced from the belt of suspension.

Justice of the Peace Henry is not clear as to the location of the “few scratches” or how recent the scratches were. Flint said that he examined the naked body carefully three times at the funeral home. He told us that he “knew he would be asked about it.” He did not say why he thought he would be asked about it.

He said that there were no bruises, scratches, lacerations or other marks of violence. He stated there were no scratches around the neck, but there was an indentation produced by the belt.  Flint states that there was no bruising, swelling or blood around the nose. He says he saw no broken teeth, cut lip nor other indication of trauma around the mouth area. He said he saw no contusions around the L2 disk area on the back.