1993-12-31

Henry Watkins Skinner

Convicted in a triple murder at a home in Pampa. Killed were Twila Busby, Randolph Busby, and Elwin Caler. Twila Busby was choked and struck repeatedly in the head with a wooden ax handle. The other two victims wer stabbed with a kitchen knife.

Skinner lived with Twila Busby and her two adult sons, Randy Busby and Elwin Caler, both of whom had mental retardation. Between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m., on December 31, 1993, Howard Mitchell came to the residence to take appellant and Twila to a New Year's Eve party. Howard found appellant asleep on the couch and was unable to wake him. Skinner had apparently been drinking.

Leaving appellant on the couch, Twila and Howard went to the party, but Twila soon asked to be taken home because her uncle, Robert Donnell, was drunk and was following her around, making rude sexual advances, and generally agitating her.

Howard drove Twila home between 11:00 and 11:15 p.m., and left.

At around midnight, Elwin showed up on a neighbor's porch with stab wounds, from which he subsequently died. Twila was found dead on the living room floor of her home, and Randy's dead body was found lying face down on the top bunk bed in the sons' bedroom.

Skinner was found by police at Andrea Reed's house, located three-and-a-half to four blocks away, at around 3:00 a.m. When the police found him, appellant was standing in a closet and wearing clothing that was heavily stained in blood on both the front and back.

At trial, Andrea testified that Skinner arrived at her house at around midnight and that they conversed for three hours. She did not know how he entered her trailer, but when she saw him, he took his shirt off and laid it on a chair.

Skinner had a bleeding cut in his right hand. He heated up sewing needles and attempted to bend them to sew up his hand, and then he asked her to sew it, and she agreed. At some point, he went to the bathroom by himself. During their conversation, Andrea attempted to leave the room and call the police, but Skinner stopped her and threatened to kill her.

Skinner told Andrea multiple stories about what happened at his home. He claimed that a Mexican came to the door and pulled a knife, that Twila was in bed with her ex-husband with whom Skinner got into a fist-fight, that Skinner thought he had killed Twila by trying to kick her to death, that Ricky Palmer broke into the house, and that cocaine dealers were looking for Twila and wanted her really bad.

The medical examiner found that Twila had been strangled into unconsciousness and subsequently beaten at least fourteen times about the face and head with a club. DNA testing matched the blood on appellant's clothing to Twila and Elwin. Three bloody handprints matching Skinner's were found in the house: one in the sons' bedroom and two on doorknobs leading out the back door.

A toxicological test of appellant's blood, conducted at 5:48 a.m., showed that appellant had 0.11 milligrams of codeine per liter of blood and a blood alcohol level of 0.11.