Elderly Woman's Slaying Derailed Town In Texas -- Once-Sleepy Hughes Springs Awoke The Day A Serial Killer Came Calling

HUGHES SPRINGS, Texas - Gail Rowe only has to glance out her front window to be reminded of the beating death of her elderly neighbor.

What she sees across the street from her tiny wooden home is the train station along the Kansas City-Southern rail line. It makes her think of 87-year-old Leafie Mason, who was bludgeoned to death. Prosecutors allege that drifter Angel Maturino Resendez, who surrendered last week, was Mason's killer.

"We're all relieved, but we're not satisfied yet," said Rowe, who knew Mason for more than 20 years. "We want justice. I think the death penalty's too easy. I think he should suffer."

The 2,500 people in this old railroad town have yet to recover from last fall's killing, one of four Maturino Resendez is charged with in Texas, Illinois and Kentucky. He is suspected in five other Texas slayings.

Rowe's strong feelings are typical among residents here. Hughes Springs, in the rolling hills about 30 miles west of Arkansas, has never witnessed such a gruesome attack.

Mason was struck repeatedly in the head last October with her own antique iron by someone who entered her home through a window. She apparently struggled with her assailant, who probably surprised her while she slept. She was left to die on her bedroom floor.

Investigators say her body was covered by a blanket, as were the bodies of several other people believed to have been killed by Maturino Resendez, who is also known as Rafael Resendez-Ramirez.

Perhaps the strongest tie to the suspect is just 70 yards from Mason's doorstep: the railroad. Maturino Resendez often hitched rides in unlocked boxcars.

For Police Chief Randy Kennedy, the case is personal. He mowed Mason's lawn as a teenager and remembers her as a polite, firm woman.

"It's something that's been on my mind every day since it happened," said Kennedy, who was the first to find what he called the "most gory" crime scene he ever investigated.

But no one may feel the loss of Mason more than her sister.

Virgie Mason was born mentally retarded and requires full-time care. Leafie Mason visited her each day at the local nursing home to make sure Virgie received adequate attention and to keep her spirits up. Virgie now has no family and no visitors.

"That's all she had in this world," said Rowe, who works at the nursing home.

For Lawrence Lancaster, a Cass County commissioner, the killing also hit close to home. His 90-year-old mother lives alone, just two doors from Mason's red-brick house on state Highway 49. Lancaster says he now checks on her more frequently.

"We were all hurt when this happened," he said. "This is such a small, laid-back kind of town. This wasn't supposed to happen here."

It never has before. This is the first capital-murder case on record in Hughes Springs. Kennedy and his two full-time officers usually investigate petty crimes and write traffic tickets.

During the long manhunt for Maturino Resendez, police were flooded with calls from nervous residents. Some heard mysterious noises or saw suspicious-looking people. Others hurried to install security systems.

Kennedy and Cass County District Attorney Randall Lee are preparing to travel to Houston this week to meet the man who allegedly took away Hughes Springs' peace of mind.

Kennedy knows how he plans to open his interview with Maturino Resendez: "I'm going to ask him why he picked our town, why he did this and why he picked this defenseless old woman."