TX - Charles, 35, & Kathy Hayes, 37, murdered, La Porte, 27 Sept 1997

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10 years later, grisly La Porte case still open
The morning of Sept. 27, 1997, police were called to the Hayes' small, pink brick home at Bayer and Carlow by Tiffenie Hayes, Charles Hayes' then 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. The teen told police that she was awakened by her father's labored breathing.
Charles Hayes, whom friends called Charlie, was found in a chair in the blood-spattered living room. Kathy Hayes was on the ground nearby.
The beatings sustained by the couple were so severe "we thought it was a gunshot wound to the head," McBeath said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5233259.html
 
Kind of strange that her father's labored breathing woke this girl up but she slept through 2 people being beaten to death with a hammer? No forced entry, no barking from the family dog? HMMMMMMMMMMMM....:waitasec:
 
The discussion under the article at the above link has quite a few people saying the same thing. I am wondering about that too.
 
I'm sure that the physical evidence did not point toward direct involvement in the killing; there would have been quite a bit of blood I suspect. Of course, that does not mean that the killer was not known to her. Why would the killer leave her alone? It sounds like she's sort of exonerated. It's remotely possible that she is just that deep a sleeper. Or maybe she was on some sort of medication. But why was she not killed as well? If not a boyfriend, maybe she had a stalker she was not aware of?

Another link with more info:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jcplummer/clotiaux/24740.HTM
 
Some interesting things mentioned in the newspaper archives:

"They were tremendous, vicious blows," Carolyn Hayes said. "This was obviously someone enraged or out of his mind."

...the daughter had told investigators it was not unusual for the doors to be left unlocked at night. "It was the first cool spell of the fall that night so the doors and windows might have been open, but the air conditioner was on," Carolyn Hayes said.

Three of the Hayes' four daughters were visiting relatives at the time of the murder. Only the 16-year-old was home that fateful evening.
 
What about the ex-wife? What were the circumstances of his divorce before marrying Kathy?
 
I've tried Googling this couple, and can not find ANYTHING except for the original posted news link. There is nothing about them.

The daughter who found them would be 26 now, you think she would have web sites, information plastered every where...(our special "Rosco" here at WS comes to mind here :))

I wonder if a rival Band member could be to blame. Sounds like they where doing pretty good to be an opening act for Billy Ray Cyrus. It would be interesting to find out who the Billy Ray people replaced the Hayz band with at the last minute for the Billy Ray concert. Know what I mean? A jealous band, who got beat out at preforming by Charles & Kathy found away to still make their debut...humm., maybe even became famous?:waitasec:
 
I was wondering about the ex-wife too. Can't find any info about that, though. I guess rival bands could be possible, but I don't see it as being likely. Musicians committing murder in order to open for Billy Ray Cyrus - and in such a brutal, personal way.

Seems to me it was likely someone close to them. I think it's interesting that the 16 y.o. daughter was the only other one in the house, and the others were visiting relatives at the time. She's the one that found them. She heard labored breathing but nothing else. She herself was not attacked. No sign of forced entry. The air conditioner was on, and yet the doors and windows might have been open too. I'd like to know more about the daughter.
 
I dunno I am tossed in this knowing what I know and how my kids are.I know girls can and will have their parents muredered and I know my kids will sleep through the land lady busting in to my house with out letting me know cause they dont know cause they are asleep)and she doesnt give warning as to the lease(against the the law I feel and going to consult my att.)and she lies
 
I found this online a long time ago and never had time to get a login to comment back on this thread and now I do.

First I want to say I am a family member and know the people you speak of.

I completely understand the line of thinking here in this thread and why some of you may have questions about band rivalry, the daughter and what possible motives there may be that lead to such a terrible crime that has affected so many people and haunt them to this day.

I want you to know that yes, while you may believe that "the daughter" had something to do with this crime and you can't believe how she could have not been hurt by the person who killed her father and step mother OR that she could have slept through the whole thing I want you to know something:

This young lady loved her father very much. She was very very close to him and he was not only her father but a friend as well. If you only knew what it has taken her to try and move on with a "normal life" after having discovered the bodies in the home and being terrified for her life - as she did not know if the person was still in the home or if she would later become a target since the circumstances of the crime are unknown has been more than difficult for her.

Now, to answer why she does not have blogs and things posted up all over the web- it goes back to being so traumatized from the death of her father and how it completely changed her life and how he has not been there to see major and important events in her life. She also does not have a lot of time to spend on the computer and has dealt with this trauma in more constructive ways- by living life to the fullest and being the best person she could ever be, which is exactly what her father would have wanted. She loved him and her step mother so much and you can't imagine what this has done to her and how strong she has had to be. Can you imagine being the brunt of suspicion and having to live with that- and also with the horrific images that have stained her memory?

Also, I wanted to say that I have lived with "the daughter" and I can assure you she is a VERY hard sleeper. She can sleep through a train going through the living room and several family members can testify to that. She has always been a hard sleeper. Even in the time following her father's death she was a hard sleeper- when she could sleep- since insomnia sometimes set in.

To this very day my own family in my household is very careful about bolting and locking doors and we are almost paranoid about answering the door to strangers. We have taught our children to fear opening the door and to call the police if there are any strange sounds outside. It is not that we fear someone coming after us, but this sort of thing will scar a person in a way that it is hard to recover from. My spouse has become a very light sleeper and we sleep with weapons by our side because this thing is not something you can just "get over" no matter how long time has passed.

It is our prayer that one day we will find out who killed Charlie and Kathy and WHY they did it.

Charlie was a brilliant musician and was a musical genius. They left behind a very young daughter and several step daughters who will never have their father walk them down the aisle or rock his grandchildren to sleep at night. It is heartbreaking.

His eldest daughter who was there that night and who survived for some miracle of God is a beautiful woman of God and we love her very very much.

I have never told her I found this thread, and it would break her heart even further. She misses her dad every single day and she has had to go on with her life and move past this unimaginable horror.

Charlie's band members loved him and thought the world of him. They were so thankful to know him and they have never been the same. None of them were able to continue with their musical dreams because how can you recover from such a tragedy? Charlie wasn't just a band member, he was family, he was their mentor and dear friend.

Kathy was a woman who loved her little girl and it is so sad she has had to grow up without her mother there to tell her all the things she should know about being a woman or boys or any nuggets of wisdom.

All the girls loved Kathy like a mother and they always got along well with her and had fun with her.

I do have suspicions as to what has happened and it has been shared with the police and still there are leads, but no answers.

Please keep this family in your prayers. For now these children have grown without their loved ones and Charlie and Kathy have never been forgotten by the hearts of their parents and all their numerous friends, family, and fans.

So, God- if you're listening up in heaven to my thoughts while I write this in cyber space, please help everyone find closure as to what has happened....please.

Thank you for reading everyone and God bless.
 
I found this online a long time ago and never had time to get a login to comment back on this thread and now I do.

First I want to say I am a family member and know the people you speak of.

I completely understand the line of thinking here in this thread and why some of you may have questions about band rivalry, the daughter and what possible motives there may be that lead to such a terrible crime that has affected so many people and haunt them to this day.

I want you to know that yes, while you may believe that "the daughter" had something to do with this crime and you can't believe how she could have not been hurt by the person who killed her father and step mother OR that she could have slept through the whole thing I want you to know something:

This young lady loved her father very much. She was very very close to him and he was not only her father but a friend as well. If you only knew what it has taken her to try and move on with a "normal life" after having discovered the bodies in the home and being terrified for her life - as she did not know if the person was still in the home or if she would later become a target since the circumstances of the crime are unknown has been more than difficult for her.

Now, to answer why she does not have blogs and things posted up all over the web- it goes back to being so traumatized from the death of her father and how it completely changed her life and how he has not been there to see major and important events in her life. She also does not have a lot of time to spend on the computer and has dealt with this trauma in more constructive ways- by living life to the fullest and being the best person she could ever be, which is exactly what her father would have wanted. She loved him and her step mother so much and you can't imagine what this has done to her and how strong she has had to be. Can you imagine being the brunt of suspicion and having to live with that- and also with the horrific images that have stained her memory?

Also, I wanted to say that I have lived with "the daughter" and I can assure you she is a VERY hard sleeper. She can sleep through a train going through the living room and several family members can testify to that. She has always been a hard sleeper. Even in the time following her father's death she was a hard sleeper- when she could sleep- since insomnia sometimes set in.

To this very day my own family in my household is very careful about bolting and locking doors and we are almost paranoid about answering the door to strangers. We have taught our children to fear opening the door and to call the police if there are any strange sounds outside. It is not that we fear someone coming after us, but this sort of thing will scar a person in a way that it is hard to recover from. My spouse has become a very light sleeper and we sleep with weapons by our side because this thing is not something you can just "get over" no matter how long time has passed.

It is our prayer that one day we will find out who killed Charlie and Kathy and WHY they did it.

Charlie was a brilliant musician and was a musical genius. They left behind a very young daughter and several step daughters who will never have their father walk them down the aisle or rock his grandchildren to sleep at night. It is heartbreaking.

His eldest daughter who was there that night and who survived for some miracle of God is a beautiful woman of God and we love her very very much.

I have never told her I found this thread, and it would break her heart even further. She misses her dad every single day and she has had to go on with her life and move past this unimaginable horror.

Charlie's band members loved him and thought the world of him. They were so thankful to know him and they have never been the same. None of them were able to continue with their musical dreams because how can you recover from such a tragedy? Charlie wasn't just a band member, he was family, he was their mentor and dear friend.

Kathy was a woman who loved her little girl and it is so sad she has had to grow up without her mother there to tell her all the things she should know about being a woman or boys or any nuggets of wisdom.

All the girls loved Kathy like a mother and they always got along well with her and had fun with her.

I do have suspicions as to what has happened and it has been shared with the police and still there are leads, but no answers.

Please keep this family in your prayers. For now these children have grown without their loved ones and Charlie and Kathy have never been forgotten by the hearts of their parents and all their numerous friends, family, and fans.

So, God- if you're listening up in heaven to my thoughts while I write this in cyber space, please help everyone find closure as to what has happened....please.

Thank you for reading everyone and God bless.

Thank you for sharing with us. With so little information, it's difficult to try to figure out what happened. Really, the only info there was to go on was the daughter. I would venture to guess something else woke her up, but she wasn't sure what. After waking up, she heard her dad's labored breathing, so she assumed that's what woke her up.

Is there any avenue the sleuthers can look at without interfereing with the investigation?
 
I agree, this does sound suspicious about someone sleeping through the beating/bludgeoning. But this does also sound like Tommy Lynn Sells could've done this. He elliptically alluded to Diane Fanning that he "may" have committed some murders in the Houston area (the timeline of his whereabouts works) but would not discuss it further as he was in a very non-cooperative period with the TX rangers at the time. It definitely fits the type of one of his "blind rage" murders wherein he would bludgeon his victims with whatever blunt object was handy (table leg, baseball bat, etc.) Very sad case.
 
Cold case no more! Charles and Kathy's case was featured on former prosecutor Kelly Siegler and former CSI Yolanda McClary's new show on TNT, Cold Justice. The Cold Justice team's assistance was invaluable.

When the officers arrived, they found Charlie sitting in a chair, his head covered with blood, and more spattered throughout the room. His wife, Kathy, was found lying face down on the ground in the hallway with her head bashed in, dead at the scene.

tnt-coldjustice-case-201-charleshayes-kathyhayes-228x212.jpg


http://www.tntdrama.com/series/cold-justice/season-two/case-three/index/
 
Cannot find any recent updates; these are from February 2014:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...harged-in-1997-deaths-of-La-Porte-5201719.php

Gordon Craig Houser, 53, was arrested Friday at his home in Wickes, Ark. Houser is charged with capital murder, accused of using a hammer to attack Charles and Kathy Hayes in their home.

A Harris County grand jury indictment charging Houser was unsealed on Thursday. Deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service and Arkansas police arrested him the next day, authorities said.

http://swtimes.com/news/texas-capital-murder-suspect-arrested-polk-county

Witnesses at the time recounted several arguments that took place between Houser and Charles Hayes leading up to the suspected murders. La Porte police interviewed Houser within five days of the killings, but were unable to gather sufficient evidence leading to an arrest, Exley said.

“He’s been on the radar as a possible suspect for a long time,” Exley said.
 
D.A. not retrying brutal La Porte hammer murders featured on 'Cold Justice'

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-...g-brutal-La-Porte-hammer-murders-13113383.php

In May, 21 years after the brutal double murder, Harris County prosecutors finally brought Houser to trial. And once more, the story refused to end: The case ended in a hung jury.

Now, the district attorney's office has decided not to retry the case.

The district attorney's office points to lost DNA evidence as the sticking point preventing a retrial. "Do we think he did it?" said Harris County District Attorney's Office spokesman Dane Schiller. "What we think doesn't matter. It's: 'Can we prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt?'"

But TV host Siegler – who has a history with the Harris County DA's office – says the decision to let the case go is really about politics and priorities.​
 
That’s disappointing.

I wonder what Gordon Craig Houser has been up to in the 20 years since these grisly murders.

IMO, once a person goes over the deep end to such an extreme, they will continue their criminal behavior. Especially if they get away with it the first time.

I am a law enforcement supporter, but I fail to see how anyone would be so careless as to lose DNA evidence. Everyone knows how important that is.
 

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