Kenneth McDuff(1946-1998)
Kenneth McDuff has the dubious distinction as being the only man in
Texas history to be sentenced to death for murder, paroled, arrested
and convicted of murder, and re-sent to death row. While it is
confirmed he killed 9 people, he may have killed as many as 14.
Born and raised in Rosebud, Texas, his parents, John and Addie, owned and operated a concrete company. Rosebud residents Wanda Fischer and Glen Stock recalled young McDuff as a bully with a hair-trigger temper who was coddled by his mother, known around town as "the pistol-packing Mama" as she carried a pistol in her purse. He was already known to Charlie Butts, one of the Tarrant County District Attorneys assigned with prosecuting McDuff and Roy Dale Green for the August 6, 1966 murders of Richard Brand - son of Louise Brand and brother of Fran Brown - his girlfriend, Edna Sullivan, and his cousin, Mark Dunnam. McDuff was dubbed "The Broomstick Killer" because he used a broomstick to snap Edna's neck after raping her repeatedly. Found guilty, Green was sentenced to 31 years in prison; McDuff to death. When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all death penalty statutes in 1972, McDuff's sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole. In 1981, he offered members of the parole board $10,000, and was promptly convicted of bribery. In October 1989, he made parole thanks to a federal judge's order to release 150 prisoners a day to ease overcrowding.
A run-in with a group of black teens in July 1990 should have sent McDuff, a vehement racist, back to prison, but he fell through the cracks; likewise, the disappearances of three prostitutes - Sarafia Parker, Valencia Joshua, and Regenia Moore - in the months after he was paroled. But authorities could not ignore the disappearances of accountant Colleen Reed, sister of Lori Bible, and convenience store clerk Melissa Northrup, daughter of Brenda Solomon and step-daughter of Richard Solomon. A nationwide manhunt instigated by Deputy U.S. Marshals Mike McNamara and Parnell McNamara, and a profile on "America's Most Wanted" led to McDuff's capture in Kansas City, Missouri on May 4, 1992.
His court-appointed attorney Dwight Goains did what he could, but the evidence was overwhelming, and McDuff was sentenced to death twice by two different juries for the murder of Melissa Northrup, and the murder of Colleen Reed. He never confessed to any of the murders until the weeks leading to his execution. The maps he drew led investigators to the remains of Sarafia, Valencia, and Regenia. But he would not give up Colleen Reed. After he was assured that he would not lose his commissary privileges, McDuff was taken out of prison on a "clandestine high security move" so he could direct investigators to the location of her remains.
He never expressed any remorse; his last words were: "I am ready to be released. Release me". Neither Addie or any of his four sisters claimed his body. McDuff was also survived by a daughter he fathered when he raped her mother in 1964.
Born and raised in Rosebud, Texas, his parents, John and Addie, owned and operated a concrete company. Rosebud residents Wanda Fischer and Glen Stock recalled young McDuff as a bully with a hair-trigger temper who was coddled by his mother, known around town as "the pistol-packing Mama" as she carried a pistol in her purse. He was already known to Charlie Butts, one of the Tarrant County District Attorneys assigned with prosecuting McDuff and Roy Dale Green for the August 6, 1966 murders of Richard Brand - son of Louise Brand and brother of Fran Brown - his girlfriend, Edna Sullivan, and his cousin, Mark Dunnam. McDuff was dubbed "The Broomstick Killer" because he used a broomstick to snap Edna's neck after raping her repeatedly. Found guilty, Green was sentenced to 31 years in prison; McDuff to death. When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all death penalty statutes in 1972, McDuff's sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole. In 1981, he offered members of the parole board $10,000, and was promptly convicted of bribery. In October 1989, he made parole thanks to a federal judge's order to release 150 prisoners a day to ease overcrowding.
A run-in with a group of black teens in July 1990 should have sent McDuff, a vehement racist, back to prison, but he fell through the cracks; likewise, the disappearances of three prostitutes - Sarafia Parker, Valencia Joshua, and Regenia Moore - in the months after he was paroled. But authorities could not ignore the disappearances of accountant Colleen Reed, sister of Lori Bible, and convenience store clerk Melissa Northrup, daughter of Brenda Solomon and step-daughter of Richard Solomon. A nationwide manhunt instigated by Deputy U.S. Marshals Mike McNamara and Parnell McNamara, and a profile on "America's Most Wanted" led to McDuff's capture in Kansas City, Missouri on May 4, 1992.
His court-appointed attorney Dwight Goains did what he could, but the evidence was overwhelming, and McDuff was sentenced to death twice by two different juries for the murder of Melissa Northrup, and the murder of Colleen Reed. He never confessed to any of the murders until the weeks leading to his execution. The maps he drew led investigators to the remains of Sarafia, Valencia, and Regenia. But he would not give up Colleen Reed. After he was assured that he would not lose his commissary privileges, McDuff was taken out of prison on a "clandestine high security move" so he could direct investigators to the location of her remains.
He never expressed any remorse; his last words were: "I am ready to be released. Release me". Neither Addie or any of his four sisters claimed his body. McDuff was also survived by a daughter he fathered when he raped her mother in 1964.
