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Saturday, June 28, 1997

Fugitive returning to Texas from Mexico after nearly 35 years on the run

LAREDO, Texas (AP) - More than three decades after escaping from prison, a man convicted in the 1956 New Year's Eve killing of a Dallas girl has been captured in Mexico.

Ernesto Lopez, 60, who was arrested Thursday in a Mexico City suburb, is the longest- missing fugitive from the Texas prison system, state prison officials said.

He was expected to be returned to Texas authorities in Laredo today to resume serving his life sentence.

"This case is out of the ordinary and is a rare exception. All of our escapees have been apprehended promptly," said Wayne Scott, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

"Fortunately, even in this exceptional case, we never gave up and justice does finally prevail," Scott said.

Officials plan to take Lopez to the McConnell Unit in Beeville, where he will be housed in a maximum security cell, said TDCJ spokesman Larry Todd.

Lopez also will face a felony escape charge, Todd said.

Lopez and another inmate dis- appeared Nov. 12, 1962, from Harlem State Prison Farm near Richmond after sawing through bars on their ground-level dormi- tory, climbing over a high barbed-wire fence and stealing a car. The other man was cap- tured, but Lopez never was found until now.

Lopez, 19 at the time of the crime, was convicted for his role in the rape and killing of 12- year-old Jeannett Mangan on Dec. 31, 1956. She and her 14- month-old brother, Dickie Dean Mangan, were picked up by Lopez and 16-year-old Simon Ro- driguez as the children were walking to a neighborhood gro- cery store in west Dallas.

The case became known as the "Goat Hill" murder, named for the lonely bluff where Jeannett was beaten, raped and shot to death.

The toddler was found unharmed except for bruises and bumps on his head.

Rodriguez was convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison. He served 14 years and now lives in Dallas.

Lopez was sentenced to die in the electric chair. But a public outcry over the disparity in sentencing, and testimony that Rodriguez was the triggerman, prompted Gov. Price Daniel to commute his sentence to life just a week before the execution date. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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