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.When John Hill offered to take a lie detectortest, the DA insisted that he could do so only after staying injail for forty-eight hours, so that he couldn t bomb himself with tranquilizers.Racehorse nixed the idea immediately.While the grand jury moved implacably through the evi-dence, questioned those subpoenaed, and deliberated at tax-payers expense, John Hill announced that he was going to getmarried again.Racehorse threw a sheaf of papers at the ceil-ing.His purported words were, Then just drive yourself outto Huntsville and spend the wedding night so you ll be closeto the state prison. Knowing the importance of jury selection, Racehorsewanted a majority of women on the panel, figuring that hewould tell them over and over that John Hill was not on trialfor a bad marriage.But in the end, the panel contained onlyone woman and eleven men.As the questioning of witnesses began, the judge kept over-ruling Racehorse s objections to the prosecution asking whatmight be construed as leading questions.A glance to his sideshowed John Hill sitting ashen faced and looking as guilty as sin.Finally, when Ann Kurth began to testify, the case blewopen.She testified that she actually saw an experiment inprogress in John Hill s apartment before his wife died.Threepetri dishes containing tiny amounts of liquid were beingwarmed under a gooseneck light.Racehorse leaped up main-taining the witness was lying, declaring that she didn t evenknow what petri dishes were.The judge overruled him.Laterin her testimony, Ann declared that Hill came at her with asyringe, which she was able to knock out of his hand.As the story grew wilder and wilder, men on the jury beganto shake their heads.Ann Kurth was crazy.The defense wasright.Finally, as hypodermic needles flashed through the air, the judge declared a mistrial.Racehorse was ecstatic.He had considered putting AshRobinson on the stand as a last resort, figuring his ranting and46 outrageous texans 08_147_03_Ch02.qxd 5/13/08 5:58 AM Page 47raving would drive the case further toward complete dismissalof all charges.But Ash Robinson, though furious, was anunknown.Racehorse could not count on the old man to givethe answers that would improve John Hill s position.And heknew better than to put a witness on the stand and ask ques-tions when he didn t know what the man might answer.Ash Robinson did not intend to let his daughter s death gounavenged, but he was seventy-five years old.At the ratethings were happening, he could not just wait around for thenext trial.He began to think of alternative strategies.John Hill married his third wife, Connie Loesby, whomoved into Joan Robinson Hill s house, which he had contin-ued to occupy because the situation was unresolved.His med-ical practice picked up again, although the couple was neveraccepted in River Oaks society.The case was passed aroundthe DA s office like an old shoe.Because of the mistrial and then the subsequent delaysinstigated by Racehorse, the case rocked along until Novemberof 1972.When the lawyer approached Ash Robinson to per-suade him to call it quits and to remind him that his formerson-in-law still had a $10,000,000 damage suit hanging overAsh s head, Robinson said, Hell, no! Have you people forgot-ten that my daughter is dead? Haynes remarked, He reminds me of a crocodile.Old.Mean.He sits there sleeping in the sun.about ready to passon.But just you step on him, and he bites your head off.Snap! John Hill had forgotten the jaws of the crocodile.Two years went by.John and Connie Hill returned from aplastic surgeon s convention in Las Vegas.While John paid thetaxi driver, Connie walked to the door and rang the bell for themaid to answer.When no one came immediately, she peeredthrough the glass panes.Suddenly, the door opened and amasked man jerked her inside by her gold chain necklace.Shescreamed.John raced up the walk to her aid.As the taxi droveoff, he plunged into the house
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