1980 Case # 80-2138
Murder of Barbara Gale Whitten
July 8, 1980 Wooded area, south of Roman Forest Blvd, New Caney, Texas
SYNOPSIS: At approximately 2:00 pm, a witness responded to the sight
of smoke in the area of the scene.
Upon arrival, the witness observed what
appeared to be a log on fire and a 1976 1977 medium blue Chevrolet
Nova parked nearby. The Nova had what appeared to be two navy blue
racing stripes on the side. Two white males were observed closing the
vehicle trunk and upon entering the car, the males fled on Roman Forest
Blvd.
MCSO Deputies responded and found that the fire involved a dead
body of a black female. Two freshly dug shallow holes were located
nearby. The victim was later identified by dental records as Barbara Gale
Whitten (23 yoa) from Wipprecht Street in Houston, Texas.
An autopsy
revealed that she had been shot multiple times with a 22-caliber firearm.
In 1983, self-professed Serial Killer Henry Lee Lucas subsequently
confessed to several murders in Montgomery County, along with approx.
600 murders elsewhere. Investigators in 1983 thought that Lucas might
have been involved in Whittens murder. Lucas died in prison in 2001,
after his death sentence was commuted to life. Lucas had recanted his
confessions and it is believed that he is not responsible for most of the
crimes he confessed too.
1981
http://www.woodlandsonline.com/dbs/sheriff/files/File/COLDCASE.pdf