3-13-2006 Texas:.A man was found dead from a gunshot wound in his home in the 4800 block of Trails End south of San Marcos about 11:45 a.m. Sunday. Police are investigating the death as a homicide. Deputies with the Hays County sheriff's department found Jack Larue Hood Jr., 49, dead after receiving a call to check on him, said deputy Pam Robinson, a department spokeswoman.
This is the first homicide case of 2006 for Hays County. Deputies did not have further details about Hood's death. Hood was a registered sex offender. Texas Department of Public Safety records show that he was serving five years of probation for possession or promotion of child pornography. ..more.. : by AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Eagle Lake man admits role in for 2006 Hays County shooting death
9-22-2008 Texas:
David Hicks, of the Eagle Lake area, contacted the Hays County Sheriff’s office Friday and made a statement about his role in the 2006 shooting death of San Marcos resident Jack Larue Hood, according to one of Hicks’ attorneys, David Sergi.
Hood, 49, was found dead from a gunshot wound in his home on March 12, 2006. Sergi said Hicks turned himself in because he did not want to live with the guilt of what he had done.
Hood was a registered sex offender serving five years probation for the possession or promotion of child pornography.
Hicks, in the Hays County jail on a $500,000 bail, comes from a good family, Sergi said.
“I will say that in his confession, he has apologized to the family and is very, very apologetic for what he did,” Sergi said.
Hicks is “extremely contrite” about his actions and is ready to face punishment for it, Sergi said. “He helped solve a cold case.”
Hays County sheriff officials say they will release details on the arrest at a press conference at 3 p.m. today. Check back here for details. ..News Source.. by Andrea Lorenz
Former resident confesses to 2006 murder
San Marcos — The arrest of a former San Marcos resident in the 2006 slaying of a registered sex offender should make local residents sleep better, Hays Sheriff Allen Bridges said at a Monday press conference.
According to attorneys for suspect David Paul Hicks, so will he.
Hicks, 32, confessed on Friday to the murder of 49-year-old Jack Larue Hood. Hood’s body was discovered on March 12, 2006 in his home in the 4800 block of Trails End. He had been shot once in the back.
Hood’s pickup was also stolen but recovered later.
Bridges would not comment on any possible motive in the case; and Hicks’ attorneys Robert Updegrove and David Sergi would not say whether he knew Hood.
They did say Hicks, whose last address was in McAllen, had lived and worked in the San Marcos area and had suffered a head injury that went untreated sometime prior to the murder.
“He was extremely remorseful. He wanted to bring closure to the family,” Sergi said. “It was very much out of character for him.”
Hood pled guilty to possession of child pornography in 2002 after an attorney general’s task force found his name on the subscriber list of an illegal Web site. He was originally indicted on 10 counts but a plea bargain agreement led to reduced charges and a sentence of five years probation.
Hood was registered as a sex offender with the San Marcos Police Department and Hays County Sheriff’s Office. He was also a former president of Quail Creek Country Club and Chamber of Commerce ambassador. Hood and his brother ran a local contracting company.
Sergi also said that Hicks had a history of mental illness after his head injury and had at one point been committed to the Austin State Hospital. “He didn’t have insurance and couldn’t get (the head injury) treated.”
He characterized his client as a man whose life had spun “out of control.”
The attorneys said Hicks came to their office on Tuesday of last week, and that they had contacted the District Attorney’s Office prior to accompanying him to the Sheriff’s Office on Friday to make the confession.
Bridges, who repeatedly said the investigation is still ongoing, said he is “satisfied we have the right suspect,” though details of the confession are still being verified. “At this point the citizens of San Marcos and Hays county can feel safe.”
Bridges said Hicks had been arrested once in Hays County since the murder on a check charge but was never considered a suspect in the homicide.
Hicks is charged with first-degree murder. Justice of the Peace Joann Prado set his bond at $500,000. ..News Source.. by Anita Miller, News Editor
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Hicks sentenced in Hood murder
5-13-2010 Texas:
More than four years after a San Marcos man was found dead from a gunshot to the back, the man who confessed to murdering him was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
David Paul Hicks, 34, was sentenced on Tuesday by District Judge Gary Steel. Because there was a “deadly weapon” finding in the case, he will have to serve 20 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Hicks was taken into custody in September 2008 for the March 2006 murder of 49-year-old Jack Larue Hood, whose body was found in his home in the 4800 block of Trails End.
At the time his confession was announced, attorneys then representing him said he had been most recently living in McAllen but had lived and worked in the San Marcos area around the time of the murder.
They also said Hicks had suffered a head injury sometime prior to the murder that had gone untreated because he did not have health insurance. Hicks had also at one time been committed to the Austin State Hospital for treatment of mental illness.
They described him as a man whose life had spun “out of control,” and said he was compelled to confess out of remorse and a desire to bring closure to Hood’s family.
Hicks had met with the attorneys prior to his confession.
Hood was a registered sex offender, having pled guilty to possession of child pornography in 2002. He was originally indicted on 10 counts, though a plea bargain agreement led to reduced charges and a probated five-year sentence.
Hicks was arrested once in San Marcos on a bad check charge but was never considered a suspect in the murder, then-Sheriff Allen Bridges said at the time his confession was announced.
It was never revealed whether Hicks and Hood knew each other.
Hood’s pickup truck was missing at the time his body was found but was later recovered. ..Source.. by Anita Miller
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