The Prologue
(An excerpt from “Fatal Bullets and the Search for Justice”)
This chapter introduces the foundations for this book and how I came across this story while researching my own family history.
I have been asked the question many times, “Why did you become interested in this murder story?” Normally, a second question follows, “Are you related to the Hunts?” It began when I was looking for information in old bound newspapers on the car wreck that nearly killed all my paternal family near Dimmitt, Texas.
With one turn of a fragile page, the headlines of the Hunt murders caught my eyes and a photograph captured my attention. That faded newspaper photo became implanted in my memory. It was of two young girls. The caption read: “A bad man killed them,” little five-year-old Jo Ann Hunt said, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Roy E. Hunt, who were found murdered in their bed early Tuesday morning….
I begin researching the story and eventually presented a paper to the West Texas Historical Association (WTHA) in April 2009 in Lubbock, Texas. Due to a feature article by Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reporter, Ray Westbrook on my presentation – one of the largest crowds ever for a history presentation, attended the conference session.
This was not an easy story to tell – a double murder of a married couple in their bed while their two daughters were still in the house. It is an unimaginable crime in any decade, and the task to write it was not made any easier with all the twists and turns of the story that came to light since I presented my original paper to WTHA. “Fatal Bullets and the Search for Justice” recounts the murders of Roy and Mae Hunt.
Photograph – © Christena Stephens Photography
Forgotten Winds 