North Texas Killing Tied To Hate Group
TARRANT COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - A man who reportedly boasted of being a member of the hate gang, The Aryan Brotherhood, has been tortured to death in North Texas – allegedly by ex-convicts who are actually members of the white supremacy group.
Race is not believed to be a motive in the killing of 34-year-old Earnest Ray Lackey, who was white. Instead, investigators were told Lackey was killed because Aryan Brotherhood members were mad that he was falsely claiming to be a part of their gang.
CBS 11 News has exclusively obtained police and court records that tell a bizarre and tragic story of Lackey being beaten and tortured in early July – his cries for help piercing the walls into a back room where two women huddled in fright.
Three reported members of The Aryan Brotherhood – Staten Corbett, nicknamed "Monster;" Jimmy Riddle, nicknamed "Jimbo;" and Ronnie Freeman – were being held in the Tarrant County Jail, each charged with murder. Bail was set at $100,000 for each man.
Records with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice show that all three suspects, as well as the victim, served time in Texas prisons, where Aryan Brotherhood affiliations begin.
In fact, Corbett, the one known as "Monster," had only been out of prison a month, on a drug conviction, when Lackey was beaten to death.
The killing is believed to have been committed in a ramshackle trailer home in the unincorporated area of Tarrant County, north of Fort Worth. It is being investigated by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department.
The official records obtained by CBS 11 News say, in part: "According to Freeman, Lackey was beaten repeatedly because they believed he was falsely claiming to be a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, which Freeman, "Monster" and "Jimbo" are affiliates."
"It's been consistent through the investigation that those two words (Aryan Brotherhood) keep popping up," Tarrant County sheriff spokesman Terry Grisham said, in an interview only with CBS 11.
The FBI describes The Aryan Brotherhood as a "violent white supremacist gang," first formed in the California state prison system in the late 1960s. It eventually spread throughout the country, both in and out of prisons, and is believed to have settled firmly in North Texas.
Among other things, The Aryan Brotherhood is known for carrying out contract killings, according to the FBI.
The presence of Aryan Brotherhood members in North Texas has been known for quite some time, Grisham said, with one notable case being the 2005 shooting death of Fort Worth policeman Henry Nava. An Aryan Brotherhood member was convicted in Nava's death.
In the most recent case, Lackey's badly decomposed body was not found until Aug. 2 -- nearly a month after he was believed to have been killed -- in high weeds, next to a discarded boat near Eagle Mountain Lake.
The records obtained by CBS 11 News say that "on or about July 7" Lackey was hogtied and tortured for hours in a trailer house, while two women were ordered to stay in a back bedroom.
One of the women told investigators she "feared for her life" while hearing "men yelling and what sounded like people fighting in the living room," one of the reports said, adding:
"She specifically heard Lackey yell out as if he was in pain."
The records say that during the beating, Corbett, known as "Monster," was overheard telling Lackey, "You know you like it! You know you like it!"
In a chilling account, the report added, "Lackey stopped screaming shortly after that …"
