“Our lives will never be the same without Jason,” Mrs. Gonzalez told the three men after they were found guilty. “Ironically, your lives will never be the same because of Jason. I hope you remain incarcerated forever.”
On Monday, a fourth man charged with the crime who testified against the other three defendants will go to trial for capital murder in Capt. Gonzalez’ death. Jury selection is scheduled to begin, to find 12 Bell County residents who will weigh the state’s evidence against 22–year–old Matthew Harris.
Harris admitted on the stand during the 2006 trial that he was with three others - 24–year–old Russell Alligood, 19–year–old Erik Siperko and 17–year–old Brandon Hammock - when they broke into the house where Capt. Gonzalez slept. Harris testified that Hammock carried the gun and fired the four shots that killed Gonzalez on June 3, 2005, before the men stole items from the house. Later, Harris and Alligood returned to the house to steal more items, including Capt. Gonzalez’s pickup truck.
A jury deliberated about three hours on July 27, 2006, before returning guilty verdicts against Alligood, Siperko and Hammock. As the state did not seek the death penalty, the three men were automatically sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum of 40 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Harris did not have a plea agreement with the state when he testified against his co–defendants last year, according to First Assistant District Attorney Murff Bledsoe, who prosecuted the case against the three and will be facing Harris’ defense attorney Jim Kreimeyer in the 264th District Court.
Kreimeyer could not be reached for comment.
George Dix, a University of Texas law school professor, called the case unusual.
“I am not aware of any statistics, but I agree that many and probably most situations like this are ones in which the testifying person has reached an agreement to plead guilty perhaps to a lesser offense and perhaps even to get a specific penalty in return for his cooperation,” he said.
Capt. Gonzalez, a West Point graduate and an Apache helicopter pilot, had returned from a tour of duty in South Korea when he was stationed at Fort Hood. His family spent his deployment in San Antonio, his and his wife’s hometown, and planned to join him at their new house in Harker Heights that weekend.
Instead, a long–time friend found him dead in his kitchen after Capt. Gonzalez didn’t report at Fort Hood that day.
When Mrs. Gonzalez received a telephone call from that friend, who was also a pilot stationed at Fort Hood, asking for the address where she was staying, she knew something was wrong. She repeatedly attempted to call her husband, her worry growing with each unanswered call.
“About 10 (a.m.), I wanted to drive this way,” she said. “I knew if I drove this way, I’d miss them coming to tell me he’d passed away.”
During the early morning hours of June 4, a ringing doorbell and a knock at her parents’ house confirmed her fears. Military officers and a chaplain arrived at her door to tell her that her husband had been killed.
njsicking@temple-telegram.com
