Post by Anja Nieser on Oct 1, 2006 5:47:29 GMT -5
Navarro County man indicted for murder, decades after fleeing Alabama
prison
Those acquainted with Glenn Ray Boelter in Central Texas knew him as a
former barbecue stand owner and a bar regular who was sometimes quick to
lose his temper over a game of pool. But until recently, they didn't know
his name was an alias to cover his tracks as he ran from a murder in
Alabama for nearly 3 decades.
But his alias and cover story unraveled after he was recently arrested in
a new murder case.
Gary Thomas Sharron, who lived in Tool, Texas, under the alias Boelter,
was indicted in Navarro County on Thursday in connection with the shooting
death of 59-year-old Sammie Hawkins, according to court records. Hawkins
was found dead Sept. 5 with a gunshot wound to his head at his home near
Kerens, about 10 miles east of Corsicana.
On Sept. 9, Navarro County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Sharron and
recovered a pistol possibly used in the shooting, according to the
sheriff's department. While officials said little about the murder
investigation Tuesday, they said robbery was a possible motive.
Authorities said Sharron, 52, had lived in Central Texas for much of the
past 3 decades under the assumed name Glenn Ray Boelter. An analysis of
his fingerprints traced Sharron's identity back to Alabama, according to a
sheriff's department news release.
Brian Corbett, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections, said
Sharron walked away from a prison road gang in 1977. At the time, he was
serving the 4th year of a 25-year sentence for a murder conviction.
Tommy Boswell, sheriff of Russell County, Ala., said Sharron fatally
stabbed a soldier from Fort Benning, Ga., during a fight at a bar called
The Log Cabin.
"They gave him 25 years; I guess that's all a bar fight killing was worth
in those days," Boswell said.
The sheriff said he knew Sharron since they went to school together in
Phenix City, Ala., as boys.
"He was already in the 7th grade when I got there, and he stayed there 2
more years," Boswell said. "He was a big old boy, kind of a street thug,
mean, but a heck of a football player."
Boswell said most people familiar with Sharron's 1973 trial have died or
retired, and his name had not been mentioned in Russell County for some
time.
"When we got the call, it was a total surprise," Boswell said. "I'm
probably the only one here who even knows about the case."
The news of Sharron's arrest and his former life also took some of his
Central Texas acquaintances aback.
Diane Diemer, a bartender at Chaps bar in Seven Points, near Sharron's
hometown of Tool, said he was a regular customer.
"He was a good customer; he'd tip well," Diemer said. "Sometimes he'd get
drunk and get into it with someone over a game of pool. He could have a
quick temper, but all of this was surprising to us."
Diemer said she met Sharron a few years earlier when she was working at
Rumors bar next door to a barbecue restaurant Sharron owned, the
Chatahoochie Smokehouse.
"I don't want to make Glenn sound like a bad guy," Diemer said, still
using Sharron's alias. "Personally, I liked him, and I feel real bad about
what happened."
Sharron remained in the Navarro County Jail late Tuesday with bail set at
$750,000 on the capital murder charge, authorities said.
(source: Waco Tribune-Herald)
prison
Those acquainted with Glenn Ray Boelter in Central Texas knew him as a
former barbecue stand owner and a bar regular who was sometimes quick to
lose his temper over a game of pool. But until recently, they didn't know
his name was an alias to cover his tracks as he ran from a murder in
Alabama for nearly 3 decades.
But his alias and cover story unraveled after he was recently arrested in
a new murder case.
Gary Thomas Sharron, who lived in Tool, Texas, under the alias Boelter,
was indicted in Navarro County on Thursday in connection with the shooting
death of 59-year-old Sammie Hawkins, according to court records. Hawkins
was found dead Sept. 5 with a gunshot wound to his head at his home near
Kerens, about 10 miles east of Corsicana.
On Sept. 9, Navarro County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Sharron and
recovered a pistol possibly used in the shooting, according to the
sheriff's department. While officials said little about the murder
investigation Tuesday, they said robbery was a possible motive.
Authorities said Sharron, 52, had lived in Central Texas for much of the
past 3 decades under the assumed name Glenn Ray Boelter. An analysis of
his fingerprints traced Sharron's identity back to Alabama, according to a
sheriff's department news release.
Brian Corbett, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections, said
Sharron walked away from a prison road gang in 1977. At the time, he was
serving the 4th year of a 25-year sentence for a murder conviction.
Tommy Boswell, sheriff of Russell County, Ala., said Sharron fatally
stabbed a soldier from Fort Benning, Ga., during a fight at a bar called
The Log Cabin.
"They gave him 25 years; I guess that's all a bar fight killing was worth
in those days," Boswell said.
The sheriff said he knew Sharron since they went to school together in
Phenix City, Ala., as boys.
"He was already in the 7th grade when I got there, and he stayed there 2
more years," Boswell said. "He was a big old boy, kind of a street thug,
mean, but a heck of a football player."
Boswell said most people familiar with Sharron's 1973 trial have died or
retired, and his name had not been mentioned in Russell County for some
time.
"When we got the call, it was a total surprise," Boswell said. "I'm
probably the only one here who even knows about the case."
The news of Sharron's arrest and his former life also took some of his
Central Texas acquaintances aback.
Diane Diemer, a bartender at Chaps bar in Seven Points, near Sharron's
hometown of Tool, said he was a regular customer.
"He was a good customer; he'd tip well," Diemer said. "Sometimes he'd get
drunk and get into it with someone over a game of pool. He could have a
quick temper, but all of this was surprising to us."
Diemer said she met Sharron a few years earlier when she was working at
Rumors bar next door to a barbecue restaurant Sharron owned, the
Chatahoochie Smokehouse.
"I don't want to make Glenn sound like a bad guy," Diemer said, still
using Sharron's alias. "Personally, I liked him, and I feel real bad about
what happened."
Sharron remained in the Navarro County Jail late Tuesday with bail set at
$750,000 on the capital murder charge, authorities said.
(source: Waco Tribune-Herald)