The Aransas Pass Progress (Aransas Pass, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 29, 2017 Page: 4 of 10
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Aransas Pass Progress
Wednesday, November 29,2017
Page 4
COP KILLER FACES EXECUTION WITH A SMILE
By Bartee Haile
Eyewitnesses loaded the
wounded policemen into pri-
vate vehicles and rushed them
to the nearest hospital. Fitzger-
ald was dead on arrival, and
Phares lost his fight for life 11
days later.
A search of the bandit car
turned up a business card with
Jess Maples name and address.
The house was vacant when po-
lice stormed in, so a detective
stayed behind just in case some-
one showed up.
At dawn the next day, Ma-
ria Maple returned to pick up a
few things. During a two- hour
grilling at police headquarters,
the German war bride broke
down and told interrogators
where they could find her hus-
band.
“I guess you know what we
want you for,” a detective said
matter-of-factly.
“I suppose I do,” calmly
answered the cop killer rising
to his feet without waking the
child.
get it over with as soon as pos
sible.
able and, besides, prisoners
could not accept collect calls.
The second caller said with a
quivering voice, “Tell Jess good-
bye. Two Houston friends are
calling.”
Maple walked unaided
through the infamous green
door into the execution cham-
ber. Stopping in front of “Old
Sparky,” he could not resist
another wisecrack. “Is this the
place you want me to sit down?”
Once he was seated, the
warden asked, “Is there any-
thing you want to say?”
Maple pondered the ques-
tion for a moment before reply-
ing slowly, “You might send my
love back to my wife and baby
and all the people.”
At five minutes past mid-
night, the switch was flipped
sending the lethal current
through Jess Maples body. Eight
minutes later, the 65th man to
die in Texas’ electric chair was
pronounced dead with 296 to
follow before the plug was per-
manently pulled in 1964.
A minue before midnight on
Nov. 29, 1930, the condemned
cop killer finished a letter to
his widow-to-be, glanced at
the nervous chaplain and asked
with a wry smile, “What return
address shall I put on this?”
Jess J. Maple was not a career
criminal. In fact, the 36-year-
old Indiana native had a clean
record until the summer of
1930, when he suddenly went
on a stick-up spree.
The World War I veteran
and his sidekick entered a fur-
niture store in downtown Hous-
ton at closing time on Saturday
night, Sept. 20. They cleaned
out the cash register and two
employees’ pockets of $300 and
forced one of the victims to take
a ride.
Maple awoke on his last day
on earth “apparently refreshed
and without a trace of fear,”
according to a death-row ob-
server. After a tearful visit with
his wife and daughter, he settled
into the grim routine.
While the condemned ate
a hearty last meal - a belated
Thanksgiving feast of roast
pork, sliced tomatoes, mashed
potatoes, celery, cranberry
sauce, biscuits, coffee, milk and
pie - reporters squeezed into
the cramped cell for a final in-
terview.
Maple seemed to enjoy be-
ing the center of attention. “You
know, boys,” he declared be-
tween mouthfuls, “I am going
into something more interest-
ing than all of you put together.”
The telephone rang twice in
the warden’s office a little before
midnight. The first time it was
collect from a woman asking to
speak to Maple. The operator
informed her he was unavail-
*
\
V
On the way downtown, Ma-
ple made a full confession. The
furniture store was the third
business he had held up in the
past two months. He absolved
his accomplice, taken into
custody that same day, of any
involvement in the fatal shoot-
Bartee Haile
went out over the police tele-
graph system.
Motorcycle patrolman W.B.
Phares spotted the suspects’
parked car a few blocks from
the furniture store. He stopped
in the middle of the street and
was halfway off the two-wheel-
er, when shots rang out. Bleed-
ing badly from a bullet wound
in the abdomen, he emptied his
pistol in the general direction
of his attacker before crawling
into high weeds on the side of
the road.
Seconds later Officer E.D.
Fitzgerald roared onto the
scene. Ignoring his partner’s
plea to take cover, the second
motorcycle cop was also gunned
down by the unseen sniper.
mgs.
“I have but one consola-
tion,” Maple told his captors. “I
kept up my government insur-
ance and my little girl and my
wife will get that when they get
through with me up at Hunts-
ville.”
Jess Maple was sitting on
the bank of a secluded bayou
with his nine-year-old daugh-
ter asleep in his arms, when the
posse appeared out of nowhere.
A loaded .45 automatic lay
within reach on the grass, but
he made no move for it.
At his murder trial 10 days
later, Maple dismissed his court-
appointed attorney and pleaded
guilty. Sentenced to death for
the double homicide, he waived
his right to an appeal and in-
formed the judge he wanted to
After his release a short dis-
tance away, the fast-thinking
hostage got a good look at the
getaway car. In a matter of min-
utes, the license plate number
and a description of the robbers
Funding, efforts for hurricane relief presented
to work diligently to this day.
As we have seen from pictures
and videos, the waters and land
along the coast were plagued by
debris. The cost and amount of
manpower needed to clean and
rebuild is quite costly.
The Texas Department
of Emergency Management
(TDEM) estimates more than
25 million cubic yards of de-
bris burdens our coast. To date,
about 9.5 million cubic yards
has been cleared. Removing this
debris is costly. Unfortunately,
the city and county govern-
ments in the disaster-declared
areas are responsible for paying
10 percent of the cost to remove
the debris.
Local leaders had the op-
portunity to express their com-
munity’s needs for help in an
Appropriations hearing with
the Texas House of Representa-
tives recently in Corpus Christi.
The efforts of the local leaders
paid off. On Nov. 9, the Texas
Legislature and the Comptroller
announced an approval of $90
million from the Solid Waste
Disposal Fees Account (also
known as the General Revenue
Account 5000). These funds are
intended to alleviate part of the
financial burden on our coastal
communities and enable each of
them to move forward in their
plans to rebuild.
The Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
and the TDEM will work to-
gether to administer these
emergency funds. The Federal
Emergency Management Agen-
cy (FEMA) has provided fund-
ing to the declared disaster-af-
fected areas, as well. FEMA has
also provided $478.2 million to
help with recovery efforts. Texas
leaders have also requested $61
billion dollars in emergency
funding to assist with hurricane
recovery, as well.
The waters in the Coastal
Bend also suffered damage from
debris. There was nearly 700
crippled or completely sunken
vessels and ships identified
across the coast. The Texas Gen-
eral Land Office (GLO) worked
diligently with the U.S. Coast
Guard to clean up our harbors
and wetlands. Most of the ves-
sels have been salvaged or re-
covered. There has also been
57,000 gallons of oil and 8,200
pounds of hazardous material
removed from our waters.
There is still work to be done
to clean up our coast. If you see
debris on the beaches or in the
bay, gulf, bayou, or river please
document it (if possible) and re-
port it to the GLO. You can sub-
mit photos or other documenta-
tion to www.harveydamagepics.
com.
suspected insurance fraud, the
Texas Department of Insurance
(TDI) can be reached at 800-
252-3439.
Please note there are couple
deadlines for applications for
Individual Assistance approach-
ing. The deadline to report
property damage to the SBA is
Nov. 24. The deadline to register
with FEMA is Nov. 30.
If you have questions re-
garding any of the information
mentioned in this week’s article,
please do not hesitate to call my
Capitol or District Office. Please
always feel free to contact my
office if you have any questions
or issues regarding a Texas state
agency, or if you would like to
contact my office regarding
constituent services. As always,
my offices are available at any
time to assist with questions,
concerns or comments (Capitol
Office, 512-463-0672; District
Office, 361-949-4603).
By Todd Hunter
The coast of Texas was dev-
astated by Hurricane Harvey in
late August. There was histori-
cal damage across most of the
coast. The local governments
and residents in the affected
areas banded together to begin
cleaning up their homes and
communities immediately af-
ter the storm. They continue
There are resources still
available for individual assis-
tance for recovery and insur-
ance. The FEMA Disaster Re-
covery Centers (DRCs) are still
up and running. These centers
are designed to help you fill out
the formal paperwork for Indi-
vidual Assistance for FEMA and
the Small Business Administra-
tion (SBA). You can find loca-
tions of the DRCs at www.fema.
gov/DRC. If you have ques-
tions about insurance claims for
settlements or need to report
■ iThe Aransas Pass
Progress
Publisher
John Bowers
publisher@aransaspassprogress.com
Editor
Norma L. Martinez
editor@aransaspassprogress.com
Bookkeeper
Maricela Benavidez
bookkeeping@aransaspassprogress.com
Production/Social Media Manager
Mikayla Oelschlegel-Gonzalez
production@aransaspassprogress.com
Home Country
and education at the Mule
“The truth, cowboy, noth-
ing but the truth. In fact, it
wasn’t so much Kaldi doing
anything, it was his sheep.
You see...” (and he turned to
face the tables and booths to
find he held a rapt audience)
“... ol’ Kaldi had noticed his
sheep munching these red
berries and going kinda hy-
per all over the place, looking
for a lion to whip or some-
thing. Well, Kaldi knew that
hyper sheep were too busy
running around eating the
plants flat to the ground to
be putting on any mutton, so
he decided to investigate. He
chewed some of these berries
continued on page 5
By Slim Randles
Barn truck stop.
“Actually, Steve,” Herb
“Ahhh! Coffee!” said our
resident cowboy, Steve, rais-
ing his cup at the philosophy
counter. “Let’s raise our cups
to whichever Brazilian came
up with this stuff.”
Very slowly, Herb Collins
stood with his cup of coffee
there in the midst of culture
said, in his most professorial
his name was Kaldi.
tone,
He lived in Ethiopia.’
Delivery
Loren Vega
And here Herb grinned
fiendlishly at Steve. “And he
was a sheepherder!”
“No way, Herb!”
Legislators Forum Writers:
District 43 State Rep.J.M Lozano
Capitol Office 512-463-0463
District Phone - 361 -595-1550
Water planning shifts to flooding
District 21 State Senator Judith Zaffirini
Capitol Office 512-463-0121
District Phone - 956-722-2293
planning, prevention and im-
plementation can help us save
water for times in need.
The Texas Water Develop-
ment Board has been working
on a flood prevention plan for
some months now. Even be-
fore Hurricane Harvey hit the
Texas coast, a flood plan was
already in the works. The Leg-
islature dedicated $600,000
during the session to get
working on this plan. The idea
behind this plan is getting in-
put from local government,
landowners and engineers on
how to anticipate flood risks,
direct that water away from
By LM.Lozano
It wasn’t that long ago
Texans worried about his-
toric draught. In 2015, in the
midst of a scorching summer
and dwindling water supplies,
state leaders focused on long-
term water supply solutions.
In a fast-growing state with
a large population and sig-
nificant industry, we needed
a better plan to preserve water
resources and manage their
distribution. Texas voters
went to the polls that year to
pass a referendum that helps
Texas local governments plan
for water supplies, waste less
and upgrade to more efficient
water systems.
The impact of Hurricane
Harvey, and the resulting wa-
ter damage from flooding,
has shifted our state on focus-
ing from draught to flooding.
However, these two condi-
tions: dry and wet, actually fit
together when we think about
planning for our state’s water
needs. For example, adequate
populated areas, and how to
possibly capture that water for
future use. This kind of long-
term planning and forward
thinking will help to reduce
costs to taxpayers and ensure
clean and consistent water
supply for Texans.
U.S. Rep. District 27 Blake Farenthold
(202) 225-7742
http://farenthold.house.gov/contact/email.htm
The Aransas Pass Progress
(USPS 028-900) is published by DeWitt County Publish-
ing LR, 346 S Houston St., Aransas Pass,TX 78336. Sec-
ond Class postage paid at Aransas Pass,TX. Postmaster:
Send address changes to The Aransas Pass Progress, P.O.
Box 2100 Aransas Pass,TX 78335.
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Subscription rates: Aransas and San Patricio
County, Cities of Port Aransas and Rockport-$39 per
year. Outside listed area-$49 per year.
Memberships:
National Newspaper Association, Texas Press
Association; South Texas Press Association; Texas Gulf
Coast Press Association; Aransas Pass Chamber of Com-
merce, Rockport Chamber of Commerce,
Ingleside Chamber of Commerce.
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Aransas Pass Progress
346 S. Houston, PO Box 2100
Aransas Pass,TX 78336
Phone: 361-758-5391
Fax: 361-758-5393
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Martinez, Norma L. The Aransas Pass Progress (Aransas Pass, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 29, 2017, newspaper, November 29, 2017; Aransas Pass, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1143912/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ed & Hazel Richmond Public Library.