A Texas man who has been in prison for 26 years for aggravated sexual assault may face a murder rap after crime victim dies 26 years after he was shot.
This is a fascinating case of how crime can come back and haunt a criminal for years.
Fort Worth Telegraph reports that it is a scenic overlook known for its breathtaking view of Lake Worth, but on an April night 26 years ago, it became a backdrop for terror.
Armed with a gun and knife, two grungy ex-convicts later described as "Charles Manson types" attacked and robbed a young couple at the area known as Inspiration Point.
The 22-year-old man was beaten and tied up. His 18-year-old date was forced at knifepoint into the men's pickup. Three men who happened upon the attack were each shot in the head. One, 21-year-old Kevin Allen, died. The attackers drove away into the night with the woman, taking turns sexually assaulting her as they headed toward Florida.
Eighteen hours later, the teen was rescued and the men arrested after she left a note seeking help in a truck stop restroom. The gunman, 22-year-old Delbert Teague, was convicted of capital murder and executed in 1998. His partner, 28-year-old Robin Scott Partine, is serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault. But the case that once seemed forever closed is being reviewed again after the recent death of one of the men shot that night.
David Suson, 58, died April 13 at a Fort Worth hospital, one day after suffering a seizure in Sansom Park, falling from a stool and striking his head, causing an intracranial hemorrhage.
His death has been ruled a homicide by the Tarrant County medical examiner's office. "He was having a seizure, which was caused by the gunshot wound, when he fell," said Linda Anderson, a spokeswoman with the office.
Homicide Sgt. Cheryl Johnson said investigators are reviewing the case and are talking with the district attorney's office to determine whether any other charges can be brought against Partine.
In a letter from prison, Partine, now 54, laid blame for the shootings squarely on his partner.
"The remorse I feel is a heavy burden," he wrote. "I would give anything to have been able to somehow prevent the shootings and avoid the terrible outcome."
But the kidnapping victim is among those who want to see Partine tried for Suson's death.
"Just because he didn't pull the trigger, he was there and he knew what was going on," said Donna Irwin Dodd, who agreed to be identified. "He was an accessory. He didn't say anything to try to stop it. He was, to me, as guilty as Delbert was."
Midnight attack
Dodd and Tommy Cox had spotted the dark pickup driving back and forth near them around midnight April 28, 1985, and Cox was uncomfortable, she recalled.
"We decided we were going leave," Dodd said. "They pulled up right next to us, and that's when they asked Tommy for some jumper cables. ... It was just a ploy to stop us."
Cox told the men that he didn't have any but offered to go get them some. Teague pulled out a .22-caliber pistol and dragged Cox from the couple's truck, beating and robbing him, then tying him up.
Partine, wielding a knife, rifled Dodd's purse and pockets for money, then forced her into the stolen pickup. They were driving away when Allen, Suson and his then-brother-in-law James Bell crossed paths with them during a hill-climbing excursion in Suson's new four-wheel-drive truck.
Cox, who had escaped his binds, tried to flag down Suson's truck. Teague, worried that the three men might be "trouble," decided to turn back. He approached Suson's truck and shot each of the three in the head, taking the men's wallets before fleeing.
"They were completely innocent people," Dodd said. "They had no clue what was going on."
Cox managed to escape after the shooting started. (He died in April 2006 after choking on food inside his Springtown home.)
Allen, who was shot twice, died hours later at a Fort Worth hospital.
Bell feigned death after being shot in the face, the bullet entering his left check and exiting his neck.
The bullet entered Suson's head near his temple and rested close to his spine. That prevented doctors from removing it. He would have to relearn how to talk and endure seizures that got progressively worse in later years.
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