{"id":425115,"date":"2026-09-03T15:48:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/425115\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T15:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:48:31","slug":"texas-killing-fields-james-dolphs-elmore-jr-found-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/425115\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Killing Fields: James Dolphs Elmore Jr. found guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mxxqewfx1si3ji89.jpg\" alt=\"James Dolphs Elmore Jr. found guilty of manslaughter in 'Texas Killing Fields' case\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-892ef6a8=\"\"\/>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mxxqewfx1si3ji89.jpg\" alt=\"James Dolphs Elmore Jr. found guilty of manslaughter in 'Texas Killing Fields' case\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"vod-poster-image vod-poster-image--embedded\" data-v-5173a8d8=\"\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">BACLIFF, Texas &#8211; A jury has found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/news\/killing-fields-texas-case-updates-new-arrest-suspect-information\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">James Dolphs Elmore Jr.<\/a> guilty of manslaughter in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/search?q=Texas%20Killing%20Fields&amp;ss=fb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">&#8220;Texas Killing Field&#8221;<\/a> case.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">He was charged in the death of 16-year-old Laura Miller, daughter of Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Laura disappeared in League City in 1984. Her remains were recovered more than a year later.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Court will resume on Thursday with the same jury to determine his sentence.<\/p>\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/t3ouc57gqod4vcpb.jpg\" alt=\"Texas Killing Fields: Latest suspect found guilty\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-892ef6a8=\"\"\/>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/t3ouc57gqod4vcpb.jpg\" alt=\"Texas Killing Fields: Latest suspect found guilty\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"vod-poster-image vod-poster-image--embedded\" data-v-5173a8d8=\"\"\/>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/video\/fmc-kngcrppah2xtvkkx\" data-v-892ef6a8=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas Killing Fields: Latest suspect found guilty<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-v-892ef6a8=\"\">The latest suspect arrested in connection to the Galveston County &#8220;Texas Killings Fields&#8221; cases was found guilty on Wednesday. FOX 26&#8217;s Mekenna Earnhart explains the breaking update and the connection between it and Texas Equusearch.<\/p>\n<p> Indictment decades in the making <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">The backstory:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">In March, the Galveston County District Attorney&#8217;s Office announced Elmore\u2019s indictment in connection with the deaths of Audrey Lee Cook, 30, and Miller.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">He was indicted for tampering with evidence and manslaughter in Miller\u2019s death and tampering with evidence in Cook\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/news\/killing-fields-texas-case-updates-new-arrest-suspect-information\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">More details of Elmore&#8217;s arrest<\/a><\/p>\n<p> Calder Road deaths <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Between 1984 and 1991, the bodies of Cook, Miller, Heidi Fye and Donna Gonsoulin Prudhomme were discovered in a Leage City field near Calder Road.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The investigation has centered heavily on another man, Clyde Hedrick. The district attorney\u2019s office says they recently decided to seek grand jury indictments against Hedrick for the deaths of the four Calder Road victims.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">However, Hedrick will never face a jury. The district attorney revealed that Hedrick took his own life shortly before the case was going to be presented to a grand jury.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Despite Hedrick\u2019s death, the case against Elmore moved forward, motivated by what District Attorney Kenneth Cusick described as extensive lab results, thousands of investigative hours, and past statements made by Elmore himself.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Cusick says Hedrick and Elmore were friends for decades. According to the district attorney&#8217;s office, Elmore assisted Hedrick by giving him a vial of cocaine to administer to Miller.<\/p>\n<p> The &#8220;Texas Killing Fields&#8221; <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">Big picture view:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The Calder Road field is just part of a larger area known as the &#8220;Texas Killing Fields&#8221; along the I-45 corridor between the southeast side of Houston and Galveston where the bodies of at least 30 women have been recovered over the decades. They are not all linked to one killer.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The Galveston County District Attorney\u2019s Office says they are making a renewed effort, along with local enforcement, to bring justice to the murderers responsible for the women\u2019s deaths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: The information in this article comes from past FOX 26 reporting, including a press release from the district attorney&#8217;s office. The information on the verdict comes from court proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/tag\/crime-publicsafety\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Crime and Public Safety<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/tag\/us\/tx\/galveston-county\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Galveston County<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/tag\/top-stories\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top Stories<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BACLIFF, Texas &#8211; A jury has found James Dolphs Elmore Jr. guilty of manslaughter in a &#8220;Texas Killing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1046,12597,56,58,57,223,2053,216,393],"class_list":["post-425115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-galveston-county","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-tx","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}