dhomme.

Elmore was accused in an indictment of preparing a vial of cocaine that was administered to Miller by Clyde Hedrick, who authorities have alleged was the person responsible for the deaths of the four women and had been Elmore's longtime friend.

Hedrick was convicted of manslaughter in 2014 in the death of Ellen Beason, a young woman whose body was found in 1985 after going missing the previous years. He was released on parole in 2022.

The district attorney's office said in March that they had decided to seek grand jury indictments against Hedrick in the deaths, but the 72-year-old Hedrick died by suicide before the grand jury presentation.

Elmore's attorney, Bill Agnew, told jurors that his client  didn't have anything to do with this.  He also noted that had Hedrick lived, Elmore would have likely been called to testify at his trial.

 Clyde killed himself, and once that happened you've got one guy standing,  Agnew said.

Few convictions in  Texas Killing Fields' cases

Most of the deaths associated with the  Texas Killing Fields  remain unsolved.

When Kenneth Cusick was appointed district attorney in Galveston County last year, he said he would be taking a harder look at the cases.

In 2022, William Reece, an Oklahoma death row inmate, pleaded guilty to three murders in Texas: Laura Smither, 12; Jessica Cain, 17; and Kelli Cox, 20. Cox was from Denton, north of Dallas, but her body was found hundreds of miles away near the  Texas Killings Fields  area.

Reece received life sentences for all three murders.

Testifying at Elmore's trial, Miller told jurors that he wanted to see Elmore punished for  mixing up the dope and giving the needle to Clyde. 

 You handed it to Clyde Hedrick. You handed it,  he said, as he pointed at Elmore and began to cry.