Thomass death certificate currently lists his cause of death as pending. The attorney general suspended the investigation pending any new, credible evidence. Panhandle radio host Chris Samples spent his entire three-hour morning show lambasting the private investigator. Chris Jones: Were going like towards the [unclear] yard. It could be five years from today. Skip Hollandsworth: And how many people are we talking about being indicted? Jan 19, 2023. He was just wanting to give Tom a little scare. When she does, she said, she feels like she gets PTSD or something, especially when she drives around town, following the route she and her friends used to call Toms loop., I wonder what I could have done for Tom if I had stayed around a little bit longer [that night], she said. . Why? Duane Allen Christensen II, 41 of Minneapolis, MN 55412 for GM 3rd Degree DWI. This week, there may be some explanation. The Deputies serve all court papers. SAN ANTONIO One rural Texas family from Canadian, far north in the Texas Panhandle, knows there may never be any definitive answers about what happened to their loved one the night he disappeared and was years later found dead. Texas Lege Watch: A House Republican Fights for Chicken Freedom, Texas Monthly Recognized by ASME in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. . We had the peer reviews with the Rangers. The Unit's first case was to assist the Hemphill County Sheriff's Office in the case of Thomas Brown of Canadian. He drove away in his Dodge Durango, apparently headed home. Skip Hollandsworth: And what would they be indicted for? Philip Klein: And were gonna tell you about the manner of death. Skip Hollandsworth: And that came across as deception on the examiners report. It wasnt until later that night that I considered the allegations that Lewis, Kading, and Smyth had leveled against her. Philip Klein: Chris Jones is an integral part in the Tom Brown case. Penny said Kading hadnt paid her a visit either. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. You need to catch up some supplements. HUGE NEWS IN THE TOM BROWN CASE! Chris Jones: . According to Chris, Lewis told him that he wanted him to transfer to Canadian and play football for the Wildcats. He will only say this: This is kids playing around and they shouldnt have and they know it shouldnt happen, Klein said. On the sign were two sentences: There is a killer among us. Kading was, however, spotted in Salem Abrahams downtown office interviewing one of his employees, who happened to be the woman whod found Toms cellphone. Skip Hollandsworth: Theres nothing you can do, right? She said that despite all the time thats passed since Tom vanished, Im definitely more paranoid wherever I go. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Nathan Lewis (independent) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 19th Congressional District. On the night before Thanksgiving, 2016, Tom went cruising around town with his friends. by Malheur Enterprise on June 30, 2021. Youll recall that Klein is the outspoken private investigator who works for Toms mother, Penny. But none of the physical evidence seemed to make any sense. Why, Kading wanted to know, would Penny ask for the phones password unless she had the phone in her possession all along? This idea was pioneered by Christian identity minister William Potter Gale in the 1970's and described as Posse . The Hemphill County Sheriff's Office became a Contract Training Provider on April 26, 2017. Lewis has been involved in the case of once missing Canadian teenager Thomas Brown and was recently reprimanded by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) for the false documentation of training hours. Lewis has also been accused--both formally and informally--of numerous other breaches of the law and his ethical duty as a law enforcement officer. VALE - On Sunday night, Judith Obermeier wanted to find a good place in her yard to plant . [surveillance videos from] Dollar General and Fronk. Philip Klein: Here you go, folks. Skip Hollandsworth: Well, explain the lie detector test: Showed signs of deception on the question regarding possession. Pictured: Nathan Lewis, former Sheriff of Hemphill County, TX. In the months before his death, he unexpectedly had quit the football team and broken up with his girlfriend. I dont know the truth about what happened to Thomas, but I know the truth about where I was. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current . But were gonna show you the manner of death tonight, that weand its not theory, folks. Klein told me he had been talking to a couple of the towns residentshe wouldnt identify them or tell me their ageswho were feeding him an entirely new story about what had happened on Thanksgiving eve 2016. Skip Hollandsworth: But in a lie detector test that Penny agreed to give, you wrote that she, quote, showed signs of deception on questions regarding Tom Browns location. What do you mean by that? Or he had been murdered by one of the friends who had gone cruising with him. Christian graduated in May from Oklahoma State and landed a job as a forensic scientist at the Department of Public Safety in Waco. Will we ever know what happened to Tom Brown? Same deal. And former deputy Pyne Gregory has a gun to Tom Browns head. Advertise; Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. The exact location of the remains has not been released. But I now wonder whether some questions will remain unanswered. Skip Hollandsworth: Tucker was asked by you to take a lie detector test. Various citizens would be subpoenaed to testify under penalty of perjury. Klein did tell me he was still seeking evidence to support the most recent of the many theories he has floated about the case. Rachel Kading: So, I dont know if the general public is really familiar with how polygraphs work, but theres usually a battery of questions. Sponsored Links. MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Berkeley County Sheriff Nathan . I asked her if she has ever been to the spot where Toms remains were found. Or we would discover new evidence, or we would discover there were more witnesses, there were other people we could talk to. This one isthe latest shared by Philip Klein and his team of investigators last night. Chris said that next to Tom he saw Pyne Gregory, the sheriffs deputy, with a hat on his head and a gun in his hand. And did she, months later, plant the phone by Lake Marvin Road, where it was found? Had Penny taken the phone from Tom the night he disappeared? CANADIAN, Texas (KFDA) - The Hemphill County Sheriff in the swirl of controversy resigned today. . I asked Penny how she was doing, living in a town where everyone talks about her. Did someone who had supposedly contacted him after the shooting know something scandalous about Lewiss life that he threatened to reveal if the sheriff didnt assist with the cover-up? If youve forgotten some of the details of this story, let me give you a brief recap. It showed no signs of damage from rain or ice storms, which meant it had to have been planted shortly before the search began. Chris Jones: Yeah, when he took the goggles off me. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In fact, her written report mentioned the lie detector tests thatPenny and her husband Chris agreed to take in 2018, not long after Kading got involved in the case. An online facebook community called Moms4Tom was created. Its really funny. Oh, thats theory; Oh no, its fact. Fact! Which, impossible. Thomass family has questioned if that happened in his case. New York City Sheriff's Office / Kings County Sheriff's Division Anthony Miranda, Sheriff . I definitely watch my back more and pay attention to whats going on around me.. We have theories, obviously. I asked her to read some of them. All I want is for someone to tell me what happened to my son.. Skip Hollandsworth: In your report that comes out, scattered throughout the report, seem to be several questions about Toms own family, that they might not be telling everything they knew about what happened that night. That these two individuals found out that he may know something about it; that they basically kidnapped him, strapped him to a chair; that they shot him up with drugs and told him that if he ever told anybody, that they would kill him. Lewis resigned as Hemphill County sheriff in November 2019. And his story hasnt changed once. AG Ken Paxton announced on Tuesday that a new Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit would be formed in the Office of the Attorney General to assist law enforcement agencies with the over 19,000 unsolved homicides in Texas. . . He was a talented running back who had just moved to Canadian from a nearby town. After obtaining enough information, SCSO investigators completed and served a Manufacturing and Delivery of a Controlled Substance (F . During another conversation, Klein acknowledged that his sources had told him the law enforcement officer was Lewis. Over the past 29 years, Klein said his company has investigated around 1,000 missing person cases with an 85 percent . Bradley Bernard Pierson, 33 of Elk River, MN 55330 for GM 2nd Degree DWI. Indeed, as the meeting began, Klein teased that he was ready to reveal everything. Hemphill County Sheriff Nathan Lewis resigns, Woman released from federal prison by mistake in custody at Lubbock Co. jail, Texas mother who drowned her two children sentenced to 40 years, Amarillo High gears up for third consecutive regional semifinal, Discover Switzerland, Austria and Bavaria with Doppler Dave, Hemphill County Sheriff's Office Investigation, KFDA-departmentheads@gray.tv - 806-331-9839. Penny Meek: I dont even know where it is, to be honest. She did not answer the question. Who placed his cellphone near Lake Marvin Road? Skip Hollandsworth: Do you feel like people want you to quit and leave town so people will forget, so Canadian can get past the Tom Brown episode? But he accidentally pulled the trigger. A sheriff in Texas is accused of regularly ordering his deputies to seize cash and vehicles from undocumented immigrants during traffic stops, even if they were not stopped for an alleged crime. He got into fights and was eventually kicked out of high school after that 2016 season. In a curious move, Sheriff Nathan Lewis asked Penny for Tom's phone passcode, even though his phone had not yet been recovered. Thats why I came to school in Higgins. Were here to figure out how an eighteen-year-old died. Although she admitted she had no evidence, Penny said what made the most sense to her was that Lewis himself shot Tom in the school parking lot. Klein knew that there were plenty of people in the audience who were suspicious of Penny, who is a longtime elementary school teacher in Canadian. Skip Hollandsworth: Chris Meek, her husband, was asked the same set of questions, correct? All I want is for the truth to come out, she said. Read more from the Tom Browns Body Series: Chapter 3: Evil Has Come to Canadian, Texas. We did everything good. Sheriff Nathan Lewis, Hemphill County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse, Henderson County Sheriff Rodney B. Watson, Hill County Sheriff Roger Deeds, Hood County The Sheriff enforces payment of delinquent taxes. Choosing her words carefully, she explained to me why there had been so much uncertainty around calling a grand jury. BERKELEY COUNTY In a letter to WRNR TV10, Berkeley County Sheriff Nathan Harmon addressed a situation regarding a traffic accident that involved his daughter on Jan. 6 of this year. . On Tuesday, October 26, 2021, Sheriff Windham and SCSO deputies completed a narcotics operation at a residence in Timpson. Nevertheless, he decided to quit anyway. I didnt sign up for this. They just think that Thomas committed suicide and that we know it and we just need to get over it and move on. Pictured: Nathan Lewis, former Sheriff of Hemphill County, TX. Then that adult called Lewis, a close friend. As for Penny, she says shes not giving up on her investigation, either. Acrimonious relationships, he replied. Rachel Kading: Basically, the discussion was that even though this was going to be an investigational grand jury, that multiple indictments were likely, and that it was not felt that that was the ethical thing to do at this time. Due to the poor quality of the recording, Holmes recapped what Jones said. "There's not one person in this community that doesn't think about this," said Hemphill County Sheriff Nathan Lewis. February 22, 2023 - 9 . According to the Canadian Record, the Hemphill Sheriff's Office determined the evidence in the Canadian missing teen case proved it was a voluntary runaway.The Canadian Record tells ABC 7 the Sheriff's Office said this is based on forensic evidence, eviden. We have kept that very silent, and were going to kind of go through that tonight. Thats just ludicrous. . A couple of years later, he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to thirty years in prison. Thomas' remains were found in January of 2019 off Lake Marvin Road outside of Canadian. Pictured: Nathan Lewis, former Sheriff of Hemphill County, TX. Skip Hollandsworth: There was a moment last night when I thought, This story will never come to an end. Has that occurred to you? Kading also asked Toms brother Tucker if he too would take a lie detector test. Panicking, one of them made a phone call, most likely to his father or a friend of his fathers, Klein said. Rachel Kading: He did not. I then asked Kading about Kleins newest theorythat Chris Jones had seen Tom tied to a chair while a deputy sheriff held a gun to his head. TCOLE report stated the investigating officers reported, "Clapp said it wasn't outside the realm of Lewis fabricating a document because he had manufactured a supplement for a missing person a year and half after it happened.". I thought we did everything right. Skip Hollandsworth: And. . Further, the legal standard at trial of beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Browns death was the result of an intentional, or unintentional, criminal act, is not supported by any evidence collected at this time. If thats the opinion you want to have of me, then, I guess, so be it. With a winning margin of roughly 7,800 votes in the November election, Harmon said he was ecstatic to have been chosen by the county's residents . MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Berkeley County Sheriff Nathan Harmon is proud of his department's record marijuana bust, which netted product with an estimated street value of more than $200,000 . Theres a possibility that some law enforcement may be involved in either the actual event or the cover-up, he told me. You were certain of that? Philip Klein: I think were fixing to get the signal; were good. "As of today, this case remains a questionable death investigation without sufficient evidence to conclude that Tom Browns death was attributed to a criminal act, an accidental death, or a suicide. And in the meantime, weve ruined the sheriff and his familys life. Penny said theyve even been blamed for a faltering economy; it just so happened that an oil bust had begun ravaging the region the same year Tom disappeared. If Penny and her family seemed to be the target of the attorney generals investigation, why would they want a grand jury to be convened? Nathan Lewis envisioned providing training for his agency along with surrounding agencies in the upper. Current Sports. Is that correct? He is a very unreliable witness. He didntTucker did not do anything to Thomas. The attorney general announced in August 2019 there was no foul play in his death. J.K. Nickell is our editor and Paul Knight is our fact-checker. The Texas Rangers accuse Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson of felony-level theft by a public servant and abuse of official capacity, according to the Texas Tribune. Our theme music is No Hard Feelings by the Avett Brothers. Hes been interviewed how many times? . Skip Navigation Share on Facebook Sheriff's . In August 2019, Hemphill County Sheriff Nathan Lewis received a visit from a couple of officers from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, the regulatory agency for all peace officers in the . . Theres been a lot of discrepancies. Its our fault people dont want to come here. Im a new sheriff; this will ruin my career, so I got to take care of this., In another conversation, however, Penny backed off her theory that Lewis was responsible. Everybody good? This is Penny Meek. Lewis was accused by former employee . The Dollar General is next door to Fronks gas station, the last place Thomas was known to have gone to get gas before disappearing. It led other deputies to question the documentation in Thomass case. . Chris said that Sheriff Lewis let him go, but made it clear that Chris would be shot the next time he didnt follow orders. At the meeting, Toms family sat in the front row. Nathan Lewis now denies that this photo ever . He said whenever I looked at the video from the Dollar General there wasn't anything on there, so I threw it away.". Lewis has also been accusedboth formally and informallyof numerous other breaches of the law and his ethical duty as a law enforcement officer. Chris Jones: And he was like, Im gonna show you something. He also said he spoke with the Sheriff from Ochiltree County, and he advised Lewis he could give hours for anything they do in the jail. Box 233 Lowville, NY 13367-0233 Telephone: (315) 376-3511 Fax: (315) 376-5232 Livingston County Sheriff's Department Lewis resigned from his post after being formally reprimanded by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) for falsifying training records. She pulled out her phone. Sheriff Lewis continued, explaining to the family that after locating the vehicle, police had taken search dogs to the scene, the dogs were able to lock on to Toms scent following it for a mile east, toward the banks of the Canadian River . 0:35. Maybe there was something about Chriss activities that night that she didnt want to give away. We believe that there was a period of a bad relationship between families up there.. Former Chief Deputy Brent Clapp has been reinstated to his former position. The year before, Toms mother had filed a complaint against Lewis for allegedly harassing her son. 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