GUILTY TX - Tommy McGraw, Beth Wilburn & James Oatis, slain, League City, Nov 1983 *Arrest*

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Thursday, May 25th:
*Trial continues (Day 14)-VERDICT WATCH! (Day 3) (@ 9am CT) - TX - Thomas Earl McGraw, Jr. (28), Beth Yvette Wilburn (25) & James Craig Oatis (22) all slain in the Corvette Concepts garage, League City, Nov. 2, 1983. *Jesse Dean Kersh (25 @ time of crime/58/now 65) arrested & charged (1/26/16) & indicted (4/21/16) with 3 counts of 1st degree felony murder. Bond $150K. Posted bond (2/5/16). Out of jail.
Trial was set to begin on 10/10/22 with jury selection. Jury was selected, but trial has been cancelled.
Trial began on 5/2/23 & ended on 5/23/23. Jury deliberations Day 1 (5/23/23): ~1 hour 40 mins. Day 2 (5/24/23): 9am-5pm (less 1 hour for lunch): ~7 hours. Total: ~8 hours 40 mins.
Felony Division Chief Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen is assisting First Assistant DA Kevin Petroff in the prosecution of the case.
Case & court info from 2/14/16 to 9/26/22, Jury selection (10/10/22) & Trial Day 1-11 (5/2-5/22/23) reference post #99 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...lain-league-city-nov-1983-arrest.32808/page-5
5/23/23 Tuesday, Trial Day 12/Verdict Watch Day 1: Jury instructions were read.
Closing arguments by Prosecuting attorney Kayla Allen & defense attorney Kevin Rekoff.
Jury started deliberations about 3:20pm & left at 5pm. Jury asked for photos, diagrams, etc.
For more info see post #100 here:
 [I]https://www.websleuths.com/foru...-league-city-nov-1983-arrest.32808/page-5[/I]
Trial continues on Wednesday, 5/24/23 with jury deliberations @ 9am.
5/24/23 Wednesday, Trail Day 13/Verdict Watch Day 2: Jury started deliberations @ 9am & left at 5pm. Trial continues with jury deliberations on Thursday, 5/25/23. See post #103.
 
Besides the tweet above - I found nothing else...

Friday, May 26th:
*Trial continues (Day 15)-VERDICT WATCH! (Day 4) (@ 9am CT) - TX - Thomas Earl McGraw, Jr. (28), Beth Yvette Wilburn (25) & James Craig Oatis (22) all slain in the Corvette Concepts garage, League City, Nov. 2, 1983. *Jesse Dean Kersh (25 @ time of crime/58/now 65) arrested & charged (1/26/16) & indicted (4/21/16) with 3 counts of 1st degree felony murder. Bond $150K. Posted bond (2/5/16). Out of jail.
Trial was set to begin on 10/10/22 with jury selection. Jury was selected, but trial has been cancelled.
Trial began on 5/2/23 & ended on 5/23/23. Jury deliberations Day 1 (5/23/23): ~1 hour 40 mins. Day 2 (5/24/23): 9am-5pm (less 1 hour for lunch): ~7 hours. Total: ~8 hours 40 mins. 5/25/23: 9am-tpm (less 1 hour for lunch): ~7 hours. Total: ~15 hours 40 mins.
Felony Division Chief Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen is assisting First Assistant DA Kevin Petroff in the prosecution of the case.
Case & court info from 2/14/16 to 9/26/22, Jury selection (10/10/22) & Trial Day 1-12 (5/2-5/23/23) & Jury deliberations Day 1-2 (5/23-5/24/23) reference post #104 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...lain-league-city-nov-1983-arrest.32808/page-6
5/25/23 Thursday, Trail Day 14/Verdict Watch Day 3: Jury started deliberations @ 9am & left at 5pm. Trial continues with jury deliberations on Friday, 5/26/23.
 
Niner said:
Trace Harris
@TraceH_news
·
22h
VERDICT WATCH: Jury continues to deliberate as the second full day nears conclusion

6m
Jesse Dean Kersh guilty on three counts of murder in the 1983 Corvette Concepts case #galvnews


link: https://twitter.com/TraceH_news?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1661132288896237571|twgr^60e2cc695ef3b9de144f62756af66c70ca896ad6|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/tx-tommy-mcgraw-beth-wilburn-james-oatis-slain-league-city-nov-1983-arrest.32808/page-6


www.galvnews.com

Corvette Concepts suspect found guilty of triple homicide

GALVESTON
www.galvnews.com www.galvnews.com

which I can not access ^^


If someone can - is there a sentencing date?
Click to expand...
From the 5/26/23 link:

GALVESTON
A jury on Friday morning entered a guilty verdict in the triple-homicide trial of Jesse Dean Kersh, 64, who was accused of murdering three people nearly 40 years ago.
A Galveston County jury found Kersh guilty on all three counts of murder on Friday morning.
On the morning of Nov. 3, 1983, Thomas Earl McGraw, 28, Beth Yvette Wilburn, 25, and James Oatis, 22, were found dead inside the auto shop on West Main Street in League City.

The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Wilburn, a co-owner of the shop, had been stabbed 114 times in the torso and shot in the head.


[..]

McGraw, a Halliburton employee who apparently just happened to be at the shop, had been shot seven times and stabbed 15 times.
Oatis, an Houston electrician who was there just to repair a light, was shot eight times in the head.

On Feb. 21, 1985, Kersh, an employee at the shop, told investigators that when he left work on Nov. 2, 1983, Wilburn, Oatis and McGraw were all in the building and alive. In the same interview, Kersh told police he did not own a .22-caliber handgun, the type used in the killings.
 
I dunno -- there were 3 victims and one assailant. And 114 stab wounds on Wilburn. This was obviously not a slam dunk for the jurors either.
 
Seattle1 said:
From the 5/26/23 link:

GALVESTON
A jury on Friday morning entered a guilty verdict in the triple-homicide trial of Jesse Dean Kersh, 64, who was accused of murdering three people nearly 40 years ago.
A Galveston County jury found Kersh guilty on all three counts of murder on Friday morning.
On the morning of Nov. 3, 1983, Thomas Earl McGraw, 28, Beth Yvette Wilburn, 25, and James Oatis, 22, were found dead inside the auto shop on West Main Street in League City.

The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Wilburn, a co-owner of the shop, had been stabbed 114 times in the torso and shot in the head.


[..]

McGraw, a Halliburton employee who apparently just happened to be at the shop, had been shot seven times and stabbed 15 times.
Oatis, an Houston electrician who was there just to repair a light, was shot eight times in the head.

On Feb. 21, 1985, Kersh, an employee at the shop, told investigators that when he left work on Nov. 2, 1983, Wilburn, Oatis and McGraw were all in the building and alive. In the same interview, Kersh told police he did not own a .22-caliber handgun, the type used in the killings.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Now I will wait until next week to ask you if you see a sentencing date in the court site.

I guess I no longer have a Free account at the Galveston paper - must have expired! :(
 
Seattle1 said:
I dunno -- there were 3 victims and one assailant. And 114 stab wounds on Wilburn. This was obviously not a slam dunk for the jurors either.
Click to expand...

By my calculations they deliberated for about 17 hours 40 minutes.
 
Niner said:
Thanks!

Now I will wait until next week to ask you if you see a sentencing date in the court site.

I guess I no longer have a Free account at the Galveston paper - must have expired! :(
Click to expand...

This was the most bizarre prosecution ever.

Defendant's name still doesn't show up on the TX court site -- last time his name populated was 2022. o_O

Also, I asked my reporter buddy to update us when the sentencing date is set.
 
www.fox26houston.com

Jury deliberates in brutal triple homicide trial from League City in 1983

A jury is deciding if a man murdered his boss and two others in a brutal triple homicide in League City in 1983.
www.fox26houston.com www.fox26houston.com

5/23/23

[..]

The triple murder, was not only a cold case but seemed frozen in time until Kersh was indicted for the killings in 2016.

"The method of the murders. 114 stab wounds with a screwdriver, and another set of stab wounds to Thomas McGraw and gunshot wounds on top of that," says Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Petroff.

[..]

Investigators say Wilburn was the target because they say at the end of the night a customer called, and complained their Corvette wasn’t repaired and prosecutors say Wilburn chewed Kersh out. Kersh was the worker who supposedly fixed the car, and allegedly he responded to that reprimand by attacking Wilburn. Prosecutors say Kersh then shot the electrician installing light bulbs off a 20-foot ladder and then killed McGraw, Wilburn’s boyfriend who arrived to pick her up.

Defense attorneys are blaming the killings on the shop’s co-owner, Bob Currie, who was Wilburn’s ex-boyfriend. Currie was never charged with the triple murder.

"Bob still had passion for Beth, and he was jealous of Tommy," says Defense Attorney Kevin Rekoff. "We’ve learned Beth put him in a financial position, and he was up to his ears."

"Bob had an alibi," says Prosecutor Kayla Allen. "No one has ever seen him or known him to have a .22 handgun, and he’s never had a silencer attached to gun. There’s no evidence that it’s Bob."
 
www.fox26houston.com

League City mechanic found guilty on 3 counts of murder for 1983 massacre of his boss, 2 others

It took years to happen, but decades after a horrific triple homicide in 1983, a man has been found guilty on all the charges.
www.fox26houston.com www.fox26houston.com

5/26/23

Jesse Dean Kersh of League City was found guilty Friday by a Galveston County judge for the triple murder of Thomas Earl McGraw, Beth Yvette Wilburn, and James Oatis in November 1983.

The verdict comes after nearly four days of deliberations. Kersh was taken into handcuffs and will now remain in Galveston Co. Jail, where he awaits sentencing.

This is a developing story and will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.

ETA: See link for Verdict Live from the Courtroom -- 4 min video.
 
Last edited:
@Seattle1 - just wondering if the Galveston court site might be updated for his sentencing hearing date?

TIA! :)
 
@Seattle1 - this is the message I get when I try to get into the Galveston court site:

​

ACCESS DENIED​

The website you tried to visit has been blocked by the company's security systems because it may contain content that is considered inappropriate according to the company's policy for information security.

If you need to have access to this website for work-related reasons please contact the help desk.


:(
any news on sentencing date yet?
 
@Niner
Is that Galveston Court site message you cite a
new thing that has just started to occur, and did
not occur in the past?
 
buyerninety said:
@Niner
Is that Galveston Court site message you cite a
new thing that has just started to occur, and did
not occur in the past?
Click to expand...

no - it is not a new thing for me - since I moved from California to Europe - some of my court sites stopped working...
 
Niner said:
no - it is not a new thing for me - since I moved from California to Europe - some of my court sites stopped working...
Click to expand...
You're not missing anything. JK hasn't been in the system for more than a year. I've searched by the name of his attorney and even the judge, and his record does not populate. I don't know if this was high security or what but this record is not publicly accessible online.
 
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