Madness, Murder & Multiple Personalities - Fredericksburg, Texas

Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express! Yay and choo choo! Oh, yay indeed, Jimmy! Yay indeed! My name is James Petrogallo, I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you folks so much for joining us on another absolutely insane edition of Small Town Murder Express. This is one that I've been saving for almost nine years now. Oh, you should have done that. Oh no, it's so good and I've just been saving it. I don't know why. It's my spot of a caimass. I've been hoarding it. I'm telling you, I'll tell you the story as we get into it because you'll remember when I found it because I told you about it at the time. Very quickly, head over to shutupandgivememurder.com. You can get all your merchandise. Tickets for live shows, none of them are available right now. December shows are sold out. We are going to be announcing in the next, I think, week the slate of 2026 shows. Those tickets will be available this month in December before Christmas. 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Then for small town murder, we're going to talk about Charles Starkweather, killed 11 people, blamed his 13-year-old girlfriend. We'll talk all about it. 60s or 50s? 50s, late 50s. They thought he was James Dean this guy. We'll talk all about it. It's crazy stuff there. That's patreon.com slash crime in sports. You also get all of our shows, Crime in Sports, your stupid opinions, all the small town murders, all ad-free as well. Ad-free! You can't beat it and you get a shout out at the end of the regular show too. So do that. Get in there and do that. That said, I think it's time everybody to sit back. What do you say here? Let's all clear the lungs, the throats and everything and let's all shout. Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this, everybody. Let's go on a trip, shall we? We are going to Texas this week. We're going to Fredericksburg, Texas. Oh, hey! Which we remember this because, okay, this case was found. We were driving 2017. This show, Small Town Murder, was about two months old at this point. And we were going to South by Southwest. 15 hours. 16. The festival in Austin. We had been accepted with Crime in Sports and it was a big deal because it's the first acknowledgement we had of any kind, of anything. So we drove all the way. And South by Southwest at the time was a huge fucking deal. It's a big festival and it was a big deal and a great credit to have. So we got in Jimmy's Honda Civic and we had enough money to share a bed in a hotel room that was $89 a night. We ate subway sandwiches from gas stations. That's all we could afford. And we did all this. And then did the show and made a U-turn. Came right. But we did not stay after doing the show. We drove straight back. So Fredericksburg is on the way to Austin, as we'll talk about. And as we drove through, first of all, a ton of wineries. I was like, what's going on here? Then we found Bobby Colorado, the animal trainer who does a bunch of animal training for movies and then became a Crime in Sports character based on that. And it's the home of LBJ. Yes. And as we were going, as we were going through small towns, I was googling murder of this town just because that's what we were doing. And I found this case and I was like, holy shit, this is awesome. And I told you about it and I put it away and now we're finally going to do it. So I'm excited. Fredericksburg, Texas, it's in Central Texas. It is about an hour and 10 minutes to San Antonio and about an hour and a half to Austin. I remember being excited too because we were almost to Austin finally. We were so close. It's crazy to drive from Arizona to Austin. So far. And it's so far. It's literally six hours to get to Texas and then 10 hours once you get to Texas. That was when we were famously driving through El Paso and Jimmy looked to the south and went, man, that's like El Paso looks like shit. And I went, yeah, that's not even America, Jimmy. That's why that is not. That is Juarez. That is. Barely. Mexico, hell, that is Juarez. Yeah, that's crazy. Somehow a step below Tijuana. Yeah, it is. It's more dangerous than Tijuana. It's four hours and Tijuana is a party town. Juarez is not a party town. They'll pickpocket you, but they want you alive. That's fine. Yeah, four hours and five minutes to Lancaster, Texas. Our last episode in Texas, episode 609, Murder is Life. And that was a twisted, crazy one. So I'm not even going to get into what that was. Gillespie County, this is in area code 830, population here 10,864. Not a big town. You remember it has that like kind of quaint downtown area. It does, yeah. And then it's very spread out with wineries and big properties. And I'll let you know. I remember we driving down that fucking freeway. And there was a giant ranch right there. And it was beautiful. And the fucking freeway running right through the front. Right through it. Yeah, it's like, man, that is not ideal. Sorry about that. Median household income here, 54,771. So not a ton of money, but the median home cost is crazy. $548,400. Holy. That is a lot compared to the median household income. They must have lots of land, huh? Yeah, all the houses, we saw a lot of ranches, vineyards, things like that. Lots of space, yeah. Bring the average up. The nickname of this town, they call it Fritz Town. For a reason, we'll get into here. A little bit of history to explain that. The county seat, first of all, it's the county seat of Gillespie County. It was named after Prince Frederick of Prussia, which is Germany now. So German residents refer to it as Fritz Town, which some businesses still use as well. It's notable as the center of Texas German, which is a dialect spoken by the first generation of German settlers who initially refused to learn English. What is it? Just like you. Yeah, someone a question, they go, nine, y'all. I ain't doing it. That's Texas German, I guess. I don't know. Who the fuck knows? Yeah, how many guns should I carry? Nine, y'all. Wait, is he German or just heavily armed? I can't decide. What a town. So reviews of this town, here's five stars. Since the day I was born, I have been a member of the Fredericksburg community. Wow, that is dramatic. It's been a blessing. Born and raised is easy to say. Way easier since the day I was born. It's been a blessing to grow up in this beautiful German town. It gave me so many chances to grow as women, such as giving me the opportunity to be a Stonewall and Gillespie County Fair Dutchess. Okay. She's a pageant loon. Pageant loon. She must be hot. Maybe, yeah, who knows. I bet her hair's big, though. She might look like LBJ, we don't know. We don't know. Three stars. One star. One star is typically expensive for a nice house. There are many rundown houses as well in certain parts of town. We didn't get to see any of those. One star, very closed off from the rest of the world. It's great if you have money, otherwise you're a servant. Are you? Yeah, that's most places. And one star, administration and teachers target kids they deem bad and use excessive punishment for minor offenses. This person's kid's a fuck up. That's what that is. How'd you tell your kids to stop being a nudnik? To control your goddamn kids over here. Things to do here are right. The Gillespie County Fair. And they hear us from their website. There's nothing like a good old fashioned county fair. That's true. And the Gillespie County Fair does it right up. Does it upright, not does it right up. Does it upright with a stock show, entertainment rides, great food and more. There's even a fair parade down Main Street and of course a contest crowning the next Gillespie County Fair Queen. Oh, God. The coveted. The coveted. And they say, of course we couldn't have a parade without a fair queen. So there's that. It's returning. They said they will have a paramutial horse racing. What the frick is that? Paramutile? M-U-T-E-L. Paramutile. I don't know what that is. I've never heard of that. And then there's livestock shows. There's a paramilitary and they just spelled it wrong. Who knows? Very wrong. Race day. Camel wash horses. They have an open cattle show. They have, what else here? Livestock judging. Just go by and I don't like the looks of that cow. Just judge it. Throw up the west end of them. Fair food, household exhibits, a washer pitching tournament. Where you bring your own, you bring your own washer and you throw it. Oh, yeah, the washers. Yeah. Yeah, the big washers. The big washers. That's an antique tractor displays. Okay. There's also the Stonewall Peach Jamboree and Rodeo. Okay. Jamboree and Rodeo. That's the other one she was a fair duchess of was the Stonewall. Yeah. The Stonewall Peach Jamboree and Rodeo. Nightly dances, Rodeo, peach queen coronation, goat roping, which isn't that an insult? Goat roper, isn't that an insult? That means you're not a pussy if you're a goat roper. You get a week. Yeah. A washer, washer throwing again. Sure. It's a big deal. A 42 tournament, which is like 21 if you can count higher. It is. It's like some kind of table game. Food trucks, beer, wine. Who knows? Oh, also a peach eating contest, a peach pit spitting contest. How do you win, I guess you eat the peach fastest? Fastest in the most of them, which will just make you shit everywhere. Yeah, that's not good. That's a fiver. Pit spitting. There's also mutton busting, music, and of course Rodeo. So you've got to have that. We've got to get everyone involved. That said, let's talk about some murder here. Here we go. Like I said, a case that I have been sitting on for nine years in my notes and I've just wanted to do it and I'm like, ah, let's do it another time because it's too good. I've just been saving it. I'm kind of upset we're doing it on this because I want to know all about whoever's performing at the front. I know, but they don't tell you. They give no name. There's no information. That's what I mean. Yeah, I looked at, believe me, I was looking and it was hard to find. I'm not who's buying that. So let's talk about some murder. Let's talk about a dude first here. Let's talk about a guy, a dude, Scott Lewis Panetti. P-A-N-E-T-T-I Panetti. He's born February 28th, 1958. He is born in Wisconsin, from Wisconsin, north central Wisconsin. Wisconsin boy. Yes, he is. And well, let's talk about when he was a kid. His parents, his mother said she remembers him as affectionate and even soft-hearted as a boy. Yeah, Jack Panetti, his dad, recalls one time when their oldest son, Tom, and then Scott also, they were, Scott was 14, they went deer hunting. And Jack Panetti said, quote, Scott was all shook up. Oh, he hated the idea of killing an animal. He couldn't stand the blood. So that's what they thought of him. You know, just a... Not a hunter. Not a hunter. He was a star athlete, apparently. Was like a, like all county, like a big deal. But dropped out of Poignette High School, or Poignette High School. Well, this is, you're going to drop out or get kicked out for this after he got in trouble for punching the assistant principal. Well... You got to expect that. You're not coming back to school on Monday. Yeah. There's very little that you get to justify that. You have to be punched first, Jack. Yeah. Was he trying to finger you? Outside of that, that's really the only thing. Are you fighting back? That's the only time he had it. The only time it's okay. So he was transferred, or I should say dropped out and re-enrolled in Portage High School to finish his education. In Wisconsin. In Wisconsin still. And this is just a small acorn of a very large batshit tree that we'll call it. Or to use the scientific term, cuckoo crazy, I would be, I believe. I do love cuckoo clock. Yeah. Well, he's a nuts is what the best way to put it. He's fucking crazy as a loon, this guy. Here's something his mother said, quote, looking back, I remember the danger signs, but I then associated his behavior with typical teenager weirdness. Okay. Typical. She said after, she said after all, this was the early 1970s, which yeah, kids were doing all sorts of crazy shit. Real illness was not publicized or admitted to. Again, also true. If someone went to a psychiatrist, they go, what happened? Did you snap? Did you, you know, just drive your car into a nursery school? Like what did you do? Like that's crazy. People really thought that. She said, I told myself that Scott was just a unique person. He's not crazy. He's just interesting. That's what she said basically. She said there were no support groups to contact that I know of where one could go for two for advice, probably especially in small town, Northern Wisconsin. I would assume that would also be part of it. Psychiatry or psychiatry was eyed with suspicion. I now understand what I didn't want to see then. There was something dreadfully wrong with Scott. That is an understatement of all understatements here. 1976 at the age of 18, he joined the Navy. Let's give this guy access to weaponry. That's good. Wow. I don't even know how the hell you get into the Navy being this crazy. Had you not punched the guy interviewing you? Yeah. Because the doctor given you the physical. Fascinating. He received an early honorable discharge. He told his parents it was due to him having arthritis in his hands, but he never had arthritis in his hands. So they think it was psychological. He was psychologically and he didn't want to say it because he was embarrassed, but they think he was psychologically discharged honorably. He tried, but he's too crazy. So we're kicking him out. His parents ended up selling their dairy farm because that's where they grew up, near Poinett, and then moved to Fredericksburg, Texas. Here we go. He ended up joining them and meeting a woman and getting married. He ends up going with them down to Texas and meets a woman named Janie Lukenbach. Oh, Lukenbach, Texas? I have no idea. L-Luck or luck and back. Is it not? L-U-C-K-E-N-B-A-C-H. Yeah, I don't know. So he marries her. He's going to have three kids with this woman too, by the way. An unstable man. Let's have three kids. Not two. Not one. Not three. In 1981, he is involuntarily committed to the Kerville State Hospital in Texas. He's diagnosed as paranoid after being very hostile to his family. Apparently, he was being real weird with everybody. He was getting, thinking people were after him. His own family was coming for him, things like that. Just unhinged, huh? They gave him a little break. Now, 1982, his family moves back to Wisconsin. But he stays in Texas because he's got a wife and started having kids and everything else. He's got a relationship with some psychiatrists and everything else, so he's going to stay there. Got some friends, got some mechanical brain next down here. Yeah, why not? I got some people tinkering on the old brain there. Yeah, when you've got a specific car and you've got a guy that knows how to work on it, you don't move far from that car. You don't leave. So, his wife is terrified of him by the time their third child was born in about 1986, basically here. She ends up, she's going to file for divorce here pretty soon, because this is a lot. But in her petition for divorce, she says that he'd been threatening her and become obsessed with the idea that the devil lived in their house. Not that it was her or the kids, but that the devil was in a separate entity, was living in their house. He was in the house. She said he claims he saw the devil on the wall and cut the devil with a knife and that blood had run out of him. That's what he said. He wounded him. He's stabbing the wall like Winona Ryder and Stranger Things, trying to fucking get to the upside down. But got him. But got him apparently is what he thought or said. Which is... Now he's pissed. Yeah, now the devil's mad. I got him, but I don't think I killed him. Now think about how crazy, let's stack the levels of crazy. The devil lives in the house. Okay, that's entry level crazy. Level one of crazy. I see the devil on the wall. I seen him. That's a different level. That's level two. Then I not only... He's not only here and he's not only on the wall, but I interacted with him and stabbed him and devil blood came out. Hand to hand combat, I got him. That is the third... That's outrageous. Wow, that is outrageous. Think about where your mind has to be for that. You've gone completely outside of what is reasonable. Oh, daddy, what happened? What happened? So he's admitted to the Starlight Village Hospital in Texas here, obviously. Diagnosed with Schizophrenia now. Okay, yeah, that means... That's there. He apparently had a history by now of speaking incoherently out of nowhere, saying crazy shit and also serious paranoia. The wife said he absolutely became obsessed with the notion that the devil lived in the house. He took all the family furniture. This is what made me put this aside for nine years and save it like a wonderful job. I remember this part. Now you remember this part because it's so crazy. You went, what? You turned away from the road and were like, are you kidding me? He was convinced that the devil lived inside his furniture. So he took all the family's furniture from the living room, couch, coffee tables, entertainment center, everything and buried it in the backyard. All outside. And buried it like... Underground, yeah. Underground, buried it like the way it was set up in the living room too. Like he was like, there, set. Like if you found like the remains of Pompeii or something where they're like, they're sitting there having dinner and it's just... That's what happened. Here, done. They're still like archaeologists years in the future, they're going to go, there must have been a... Like a civilisation. Like a landslide or something that came on in these people's... I found an Ashley sofa underground. It's real weird. Nice, Akiya. Coffee table. They got a Wayfair Entertainment Center and ain't bad. It's not that stuff. So that's what's crazy. He also then nailed the curtains in the house shut. Nailed the shut. Didn't tape the... Nailed the curtains. They're curtains. Not... Not the curtains to the wall. So quote that the neighbours would not film him. Oh, through the windows. Through the windows. And he need to nail them shut otherwise they'll obviously blow open. So he's also having hallucinations about the devil. Seeing blood come out of the walls. She would catch him, the wife would catch him just washing the walls and she's like, what are you doing? He's like washing the devil blood off. Got him again. Got him again. Started speaking Texas German. It got weird. Real weird. So for the rest of 1986, he's transferred to the Kerville Hospital again where he started back in 81, diagnosed with, like I said, schizophrenia. Then he's transferred to the Waco Veterans Administration Hospital. I was going to say he was in the Navy in honorably discharge so he should have access to veteran services I would think. He's diagnosed with schizophrenia there as well and given anti-psychotic medications. There we go. He's in business. He ends up moving back to Wisconsin in 1986 at the end of the year. Really? Yeah. I don't know if his wife called his parents and was like, I don't know what you did to handle him but I can't handle him. They got along for at least three times. You know what I mean? For a second to be able to make three kids but what the fuck? It's crazy. His mother said our plan was to get Scott the help he needed in the more progressive state of Wisconsin. Texas had a bad reputation concerning its treatment of the mentally ill. It still does, by the way. We'll talk about it for a second. I might as well just talk about it now. Texas has like, they spend like a third of what the average state spends in mental health services. Wow. Yeah. If you're crazy in Texas, good luck. They got a prison for you. That's what they do. Back in the hospital, he moved back to Wisconsin. He's admitted to the Tomah Veterans Hospital which I believe we did a Tomah Wisconsin episode. I'm not mistaken. Where he's diagnosed with, I'm going to get you guessed, Jimmy. Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia. Seems like multiple hospitals come up with the same diagnosis. He might be schizophrenic. He might be schizophrenic. He's then hospitalized in the Northern Pines Unified Services Center where he's diagnosed with depression and suicidal ideation as well as schizophrenia. So he's transferred then to the Cumberland Memorial Hospital and diagnosed with depression, brain dysfunction. I don't know if that's organic or caused by something else. Delusions, auditory hallucinations and a homicidal ideation toward his family. This is real bad. This is bad stuff. That's dangerous. This is real true crazy. You know what I mean? Like this is real life. Yeah. Something is wrong. Organic issues. Dare I say unfixable too. Sometimes though these people if they're on the right medications can be very fine and very functional. They just need to get their shit balanced out. There's plenty of people who are terrible mental illness that's very well helped by medications. But have to be willing to. That's the thing. He seems to be willing. He's going to hospital after hospital to try to fix it. And his family's trying to help him and he seems to but he's genuinely going pretty crazy. So somewhere in all this his wife files for divorce. Shockingly. When the divorce came through he became even more unstable. And then move back to Texas. Really? I don't know if his family was like okay at least he's out of our hands or if they're like holy shit scared now he's going back. When he gets back to Texas pretty much immediately he's admitted to the Starlight Village Hospital again and again diagnosed with schizophrenia. Transferred to the Kerrville State Hospital this is becoming a pattern. Same thing. And diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder which is a combination of schizophrenia and manic depression bipolar. So that that seems to be where we're at with him. So in 1989 and I'm going to tell everyone out there right now. I know listen it's hard out there for everybody but if you can't if you are just really want a relationship and can't find one you are not looking hard enough. It's on you. You're not. It's on you. He gets married again in 1989. Wow. I mean honestly if this guy can find a wife what is your excuse? What are you doing? Yeah. What's your excuse man? Are you stabbing the walls and then cleaning the devil blood off of him burying the furniture in the yard? No. You're a catch. Get out there. Have some confidence in yourself. Have you wounded Satan? No? Yeah. No? All right. Do you speak Texas German? No? All right. I think you're doing all right. You're doing fine. So 1989 he marries Sonia Alvarado. Now they have a daughter that year as well. So I don't know if he married her because she got pregnant or what the deal was but they have a daughter the same year they get married in 1989. So again now he's got four kids as well. Wow. Four people call Scott dad. That's crazy. Fascinating. So 1990 next year involuntarily committed to the Kerville hospital due to homicidal behavior which was threatening to kill his wife, their new baby, his father-in-law, his wife's father and himself when he's finished. Yeah. Because I'm not going to pay for this. So yeah. Back in the hospital he goes. By this time he was telling the doctors that he had genuinely come to believe that there was a plot against him put forth by the entire citizenry of Fredericksburg. They had had it with him. The whole town is after me. Yep. He said that's where his wife and his parents in law and all those they all live there and the whole town is plotting like I'll see I'll walk down the street. I'll see people talking. They're obviously plotting against me. That's some serious paranoia. Hey everybody. Just going to take a quick break from the show here to tell you about the best holiday gift you can get an AuraFrame. AuraFrames.com. Absolutely. 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They moved at least two times due to his craziness angering the neighbors and having all the neighbors hate them so she was like we'll move. Move multiple times. She's really trying to make this work man. 1992 admitted to the Kerrville hospital again. Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder again. This is again for threatening to kill his family. Records reveal from this time that Scott had a series of different personalities now and aspects of his own personality that he gave full on names to. Last names and everything. I mean he has got characters in there now multiple of them. So this is you've seen this. It's a show as a cast. A full cast dude a full cast. Damn it. There's like lighting guys and grips. The best boy grip is in there. It's got everything. So August of 1992 Scott and Sonia separate which wow. And by the way in addition to his you know mental illness and behavior that's threatening everybody he's also started drinking heavily as well. And not taking his medication. He's gonna try. Oh substitute. So I don't know if drinking tries to try to quiet the voices because a lot of I've heard that a lot people who are paranoid schizophrenic and you know multiple personalities they will drink to try to quiet the voices. And sometimes it works and sometimes it amplifies them so you never know. So Sonia takes their three year old daughter and goes to stay with her parents for a bit here. Okay her parents are Joe Alvarado who's born November 23rd 1936 and Amanda Alvarado made a name carry on. She's born April 30th 1936. They've been married since 1958. They apparently I don't know if it's just if it was they apparently had a child born named Gloria born in 1954 before they were married. Who died in 1984 and then they had another daughter named Martha who died in 1977 at the age of 17. I don't know. Yeah so they have Sonia left as their daughter and now she's going out with this guy. So okay September 1st 1992 Sonia comes home from work to her house to Scott's house and everything and found Scott just mumbling to himself just mumbling which is not a good sign. They started to fight. He went and grabbed a rifle and smashed her in the face with the butt of the rifle. So she then took the daughter left and took it went right to the police station or the court or something and got a restraining order against him immediately and moved in with her parents which all of the correct things to do. Yeah all you what else can you do you know what I mean. So she obtained a protective order to prevent him from contacting her or the child or her family. Friends of the alvarados here said that the couple the old you know the parents here Joe and Amanda had been afraid of him. So one of the friends said for a full week Joe was worried about this man. He had already talked to the police about it. So they were this was a church person that went to church with them. He was talking to his god my son in law I'm scared of him. So September 8th 1982. Here we go. Scott has got some stuff he wants to get accomplished today. First off is shaving his head completely bald. I get it. He's got well he's got hair. He just decides to go to the skin today which nowadays people do all the time in 1992 that was considered aberrant behavior to just shave your head to the skin. You're either a Nazi or a crazy person one of the two or from the future. Those are the only three options. There was no really going through something right now. You're going through something. So September 8th 1992. Shaves his head. Then he goes in the garage and saws off a shotgun. Make that nice and short and easy to carry. Then he dresses up in full military fatigues. He's in the car with the shotgun and a rifle and drives to the Alvarado home. Drives to Joe and Amanda Alvarado 55 56 years old here. Now obviously Sony has been staying here for at least a whole week. She stayed for a couple of weeks tried to go back. He was mumbling with her with the rifle. Now she's been back here for a week. Now through the back sliding glass door. She just heard glass shatter from the back from coming from the back sliding glass door. She immediately knew what it was. So yeah, you heard the glass shatter of the door. She said fuck Scott's here and he's coming for me. So she ran out of the house immediately. But he caught up with her and hit her on the right side of the face with the butt of the deer rifle. Wow nails her. Then wow. So she to get away from him from outside crawled back into the house after being hit with the rifle. So then Scott corners her in a small hallway area which is about six by eight feet. So she is in deep shit. At that point here comes Joe and Amanda. They're in the mix obviously here too. Everyone's in the small hallway. He just takes his 30-odd six deer rifle and shoots Joe and then shoots Amanda with his rifle. Boom and boom. That rifle instead of the shotgun. Instead of the shotty. Which close quarters the sawed off is the weapon of choice. But he's pretty good shot. Doesn't like hunting but one shot each right through the head. These two kills them both. Sonya said I could feel the vibration of the gunshots on the floor. It was so loud. Yeah. Small hallway too. It's a 30 caliber weapon. That's tough. He then turns it to her to Sonya and pulls the trigger but it jammed. And he's fucking with it trying to get it to work and it won't work and he's trying to shoot her. She said I believe I'm alive today by the grace of God. So yeah. So apparently also the child is right there. The three-year-old is watching all this. Sweet Jesus. When you bust open a sliding glass door everyone's up in the house at that point. Everyone's awake. That's happening. That's a big plate glass window. Either you're in a lot of trouble or Stone Cold Steve Austin just got here. One of the two. But you got problems either way. So anyway he then because the gun won't work he just grabs Sonya and the three-year-old and says you're coming with me. So he takes them at gunpoint and puts them in the car and drives about three miles west of Fredericksburg to a bunk house that he knew about. That he had some stuff in. That he was like crashing at. It was like his hideaway pad. I don't know what's going on. So he brings them in there. There is a standoff. The cops are aware of the situation because of the gunshots. People call the cops. They end up going there. He says I'm not coming out and you want me we're going to shoot it out basically. That's what's going on. I got my wife. I got my daughter and we're all going to die today if that's what's going to happen here or you're going to go away. This lasts for nine hours. Nine hours standoff. Nine hours and then he releases the wife and daughter. He tells them you guys can go. He puts them they run out of the house. Then he dresses up in his best suit coat and tie and everything and goes out and surrenders. But he's wearing his best suit with a cleanly shaved head. So he looks super nuts at this point. Real clean cut. Real clean. Yeah. Real clean. One of the troopers said I don't think the officers had any problem convincing him to surrender. I think he already had made up his mind before they got there that eventually he would surrender. One of the sheriffs this guy's kind of a dick we'll find out later Gillespie County Sheriff Milton Young or Jung J.U.N.G. Jung Young either one. He said that Scott had been treated for mental problems before at the VA hospital. He said yeah guy shaved his head and all that. He said quote he's a very strange man. No shit. Yeah. Obviously. They also said this was the first homicide in Fredericksburg in more than 20 years. Oh wow. It's been a while. Yeah. Now they also said we know him. They describe the officers describe him as someone who's been in legal trouble several times for alcohol related problems. Ones that we couldn't find in the newspaper because they were small. They called him an unemployed former Navy man who's on medication and is prone to violent outbursts when his medication is not taken exactly properly. He apparently has several medications they all have to be taken in a very specific way. Yeah. And if he doesn't do it because he's loopy he goes nuts. So it's sad. I mean that's real mental illness. I mean it really is. So one of their friends the Alvarado's friends when found out that she was that they were killed started talking about them said Mrs. Alvarado had been suffering from cancer and was undergoing chemo. And she said Joe Alvarado enjoyed working in the yard and around the house so that he could stay close to his wife. He also worked at a stone quarry Joe Alvarado there and said he was just a good man. He was my best friend the woman said. So there you go. Now they bring Scott in. He gives a full confession. Really? He goes yeah I did it. Yeah absolutely. That's why I had them in there. I got all the guns. I mean pretty obvious what I did. You know the devil and all and blah blah blah. But he said it was me but it really wasn't me. See that's the thing. The devil got in there. No no no it was a very specific person with a person last name. It was Sarge Iron Horse. Oh wow. Which sounds like a great gay porn name by the way. Sarge Iron Horse. You are going to the top of the charts with that one. But also yes a guy named Sarge he does bad shit. Oh yeah. He's seen some shit in the past and you don't fuck with Sarge when he's on the track. To look at a baby and name it Sarge you got to know there's some shit going on about to happen. Sarge Iron Horse did it. It's a story. Alrighty. Now Sonya warned them by the way. Sonya recalled a number of incidents prior to the crime in which she alleged that the police had failed to act on the family's concerns about the threat he posed. She recalled that after one incident only weeks before the killing of her parents she said my mother and I begged the police to take the rifles. Scott had his deer rifle the .30 .06 he used to kill my parents. The other shotgun at my parents house even though the police were told to take the guns they did not. The court told them to but they didn't follow it through. She said Scott had made threats against my parents. She said several occasions they responded to domestic violence calls and did nothing to reprimand Scott because she claims they either feared him or they were casually acquainted with him because he's been there a long time and they were like oh he's crazy but harmless is how they looked at him. You know he's not going to do nothing. The police chief said that he couldn't recall any particular incident that was handled incorrectly and said the police knowing Scott was not a factor in how the domestic calls were handled. Yeah right. She said we dealt with Scott on several occasions adding that she has also made these allegations on previous occasions. Well she sounds right at this point. He just killed her whole family. She said the police department and sheriff's department tried to keep all the facts about the events from the media in an attempt to protect the image of the community not to protect her privacy. She said their main concern was upholding the image of Fredericksburg as a nice tourist town. That's it. That's all I gave a fuck about. Well yeah that's what this place is. She was also ignored. She says on the day of the crime when she was taken away from the being held hostage she was injured and traumatized and not provided any medical attention or counseling. She said she just made a statement to the police and they were like bye. She said that the denial of immediate medical attention by sheriff's deputies caused her to be denied funds from the victims of crime program as well. So she said she was barefoot when she was kidnapped and was not given shoes or even a pair of socks to wear by the law enforcement officers at the scene. She was questioned for nearly seven hours at about the day's events without any medical attention or anything. Said she was the county sheriff. This Milton Jung said she was not held against her will. She could have gone at any time. Well maybe she's trying to be helpful. We're telling her that she needs to tell you everything and it'll be helpful. She never requested medical care. But she said this type of experience is just one of several with local law enforcement agencies that were handled carelessly. She said about a week later when my head and memory became more clear I told the DA that I wanted to add more events as they occurred. He told me it was best to just leave things as they were and they would stick to the original statement given which is not how you do things by the way. You got to get the whole story. Yeah especially a woman who's been hit with a deer rifle an hour before you talked to her. I told them there were more things I wanted to add but the DA told me it wasn't important. He wanted to stay with the first statement. Too many mistakes. I feel this was wrong of him. I feel now that I was used on the stand so that I would cover up for law enforcement mistakes and the sheriff knowing of Scott's mental illness for years not to mention all the other reports that were not written out. So Scott's evaluated in jail. Records indicate that he's being prescribed anti-psychotic medications for his symptoms so he stays on those apparently for a while. Later on he'll discontinue the medication after what he claimed was a religious experience that he had on it. They were like let's take those away from you. Now he's got a court appointed attorney. He's poor bastard by the way. When I tell you what goes on in this trial. His responsibility is outrageous. Poor guy. He said quote Scott was unable to cooperate with his attorneys or assist them in any way. He said I have never had a client who did not try to cooperate who just separated themselves to where they weren't with us anymore. I never had a meaningful conversation with Scott regarding the status of the case, the facts of the case or any issue involved. Over a period of two and a half years I never saw a change in Scott's demeanor and conversation. His talk was always bizarre. He was never able to complete a rational and meaningful conversation with his attorneys. Which is one of the things that you go on if they're competent to stand trial is can they assist in the defense of their case or not. If their lawyers are like I don't know. I ask him questions. He blows bubbles at me. What am I supposed to do here? What do you do if you're that lawyer? You're fucked. So, summer of 93 the next year. He's still in jail awaiting trial and being evaluated and medicated and everything. His younger sister visits him and she recalls that he was quote very paranoid and very hyper and was making many irrational and bizarre statements. And she claimed that, remember that conspiracy in Fredericksburg that's against him? His lawyers are also part of a conspiracy against him as well. Possibly connected to all the Fredericksburg people as well. So July 1994 he has a competency hearing. Apparently there is a jury for this competency hearing which I didn't know that was a thing. But the competency hearing is declared a mistrial after the jury is unable to reach a verdict. So September 9th. Did they call that a mistrial? Did they call that a mistrial of the hearing? Okay. Whatever. Anytime a jury can't reach a verdict it's called a mistrial whether it's a trial or not. September 1994 second competency hearing. His lawyer testified that in the previous two years he has had no useful communication with Scott because of Scott's delusional thinking. A psychiatrist for the defense concluded that Scott was not competent to stand trial. A psychiatrist for the prosecution agreed with the diagnosis of schizophrenia and that Scott's delusional thinking could interfere with his communications with legal counsel particularly under the situations of stress such as a courtroom. So that's only going to exacerbate the symptoms. However, he said, even with all that said, I think he's competent to stand trial. Even though he can't assist in his defense and he's completely delusional. And he thinks everybody's out to get him. I think he's fine. Including his team. The jury said competent. Yeah. No problem. All right. So now he's competent and he wants to be his own attorney. Oh, I... You want to have a party? I'm so competent. I'm a lawyer now. Yeah. Me and Sarge are good. We got this. Sarge Iron Horse is going to cover this case. So that is... think about that. You're letting this man... That's too much. It's going to be a circus. Yeah. And it is. Way to hear this. So according to what his sister said, his sister said he had a delusion that only an insane person could prove insanity. That's his... Only an insane person can prove insanity. See? You know how that goes. That is... that's insane. That is... what an insane person says. See? And she went, you're right. You just proved it. Yeah. Sold. And his fears of the attorneys were irrational and due to his paranoid delusions. I believe that his decision to represent himself was totally irrational. This decision was because of his mental illness. She also had a friend who was like a crime reporter for a TV station and had that friend who knows about the justice system try to tell him this is a bad idea and he was like, you're out of your mind. You don't know what you're talking about. I got him. Yeah. He had voluntarily and knowingly waived his right to counsel and allowed him to be his own lawyer. Fucking unbelievable. Leading up to the trial, he sent... constantly sent mail to his sister and family in Wisconsin. She said his writings were completely irrational. He wrote many strange things that did not make sense. This is... while this is going on. She said that he called her his legal assistant and he mailed all his papers, documents and records for the trial because he was afraid to keep them in his cell because he thought the guards were looking at his work and would tell them... Everybody's after me. She said, quote, I can't understand how he was supposed to get ready for his trial when his papers were in Wisconsin. So she mailed the boxes of materials back to him for the trial, but quote, the jury selection was over before the boxes arrived so he did not use them. So he doesn't even have the materials for the trial. There's no idea what's going on. None of the reports, nothing. What the fuck is going on? His standby counsel, because he's got a standby counsel that's appointed, said when the trial began, Scott did not have his files. The material that had been prepared was not available. Scott's family brought the files back to Texas, but Scott never used the materials. I do not think that Scott had a rational understanding of the importance of that information. Scott was for all the discovery, everything. Scott was filing motions and subpoenas with rambling statements and bizarre artwork. He draw a picture. This is also what I want. I also want a cat with dragon wings if you could make that for me. I'd like this and that. I'd like you to pass this motion and make this reality. I need a signed Emmett Smith helmet with full of ice cream, rocky road. Full of ice cream and I want my dragon cat to, instead of fire coming out of its mouth, it's Captain Crunch. That's what I want. Perfect. Fire comes out of his asshole. Everybody knows that. Yeah, everyone knows that. He also, he also, he also, he also, he also, he also, he also, he also, he also, he also, he has 200 plus subpoenas he filed, the lawyer said. I have copies of the 200 plus subpoenas he filed. Scott wanted to subpoena Jesus Christ, JFK, actors and actresses, people who have died. That have nothing to do with this. I know Van Van Croft was one of the people he tried to subpoena. Oh, I think was dead at that point. Yeah. In his pre-trial motions, including to, he filed several Scott does, including to disqualify the judge for a change of venue, his central argument being that he couldn't get a fair trial because the people of Fredericksburg have been plotting against him for years. So obviously the whole jury, they're all going to be in on it. Psychiatrists who reviewed the records, a 10 page letter that Panetti sent the trial judge, this psychiatrist said at this time, quote, contain numerous biblical passages, just idiosyncratic expressions, flight of ideas, meaning sudden changes in his thought processes, loose associations, meaning communication that was not coherently connected together, and incoherent and illogical thought processes. Like a judge should have got that and said, this person can't stand trial. They're insane. It's too much. Instead, they do do them this favor of suppressing his confession. They suppress his confession here for some reason. I don't know what the reason is. And the judge also granted his change of venue motion and set the trial for Bandera. That's where it'll be happening. The prosecutor said they're going to appeal the suppression of the confession. Like it's not enough that you've got a crazy person representing himself. You need to stack the deck more and that delays the trial. So finally, August through September 95 is the trial. It begins with jury selection in late August and Scott's sister arrives in Texas for the trial and visited him in the jail. And she said, quote, I had never seen Scott so sick. I got to visit with him in his cell since I was his so-called legal assistant. Maybe that's why he did that. Scott was acting all strung out and weird. He started screaming at the guards and acting like a madman. Scott was laying on the floor so he could scream under the door at the guards. I was scared. I had never seen Scott act so crazy. So now he's the craziest he's ever been. So he's set to represent himself in a murder trial. Here we go. His appointed standby counsel here said that his attempts to help Scott were impossible due to his mental illness. He said Scott did not have a factual and rational understanding of the capital murder proceedings. Scott was not able to assist me and I was not able to assist him due to his mental illness. Scott was paranoid of a big conspiracy that everyone was out to get him. He had to represent himself to prove insanity. Scott was not on any psychotropic medication during the trial. Scott did not use the information I prepared for him. I tried to outline the theory of the defense, but Scott was only interested in his own show. At a meeting during the jury selection, I advised Scott on several important issues. This was all way above Scott's head. It did not appear to make any sense to him. Every time I tried to talk about jury selection or discuss any of the items or things I brought him, he instantly changed the subject until he eventually ran out of time. So during the trial, he pleads not guilty by reason of insanity. This should be easy, right? His trial... Oh my God. Okay. Now, normally just his mental stuff is going to cause a spectacle in the trial. He goes even harder. He walks into the courtroom, and this is what he wears every day, described as a quote, 1920s cowboy style outfit. He showed up in like a completely like garish, like 1930s movie cowboy outfit. He showed up in a giant 10 gallon hat, a huge bandana, boots with stirrup, weird boots, they're described as do not just regular boots, weird boots that the pants were tucked into to... Oh, nice. With stirrup. He's got the boots on the outside. He had, I believe it was a purple, he wore purple shirts with green ties. Oh, you can't do that. He's dressed like a circus clown cowboy. He's dressed like a fucking lunatic. Like the Joker as a cowpull. And affected from a newspaper, affected the mannerisms and accent of a John Wayne movie character. Oh no. Like over the top. So he's like, let me tell you all little ladies and cusses a little something there. I got a little something to tell you about this craziness now. Mental illness will sneak on up on you, kind of like a Texas tornado, if you know what I mean, they just pop up out of nowhere now. He's knowing what I'm talking about. Like a rabid prayer doll. I'll tell you what, when you're out there on the ranch with the doggy, it's a little something. Jesus. This is crazy. This is crazy. Yeah. So here's some different doctors observations of him during the trial. Okay. Different psychologists. Quote, in my opinion, Scott was not competent to stand trial because he was unable to assist himself in his own defense and didn't have a factual and rational understanding of the proceedings. There's no doubt in my mind that he was mentally ill and he was incompetent to stand trial. Here's another thing. My main impression was, why was the judge allowing this crazy man to defend himself? I thought to myself, my God, how in the world can our legal system allow an insane man to defend himself? How can this be just? I not only thought that Scott was incompetent, but I thought, but that it was not moral to have him stand trial. It was terribly wrong. I did not know that our legal system would allow an insane man to represent himself in his own trial. Here's another one. There's no question in my mind that Scott was incompetent at his trial. Scott's questions and conduct were bizarre and represented a break from reality. His conduct was bizarre in part due to his unusual dress, which I can only call a costume. Scott was more concerned with his dress and appearance than the reality of his capital murder trial. The courtroom had an atmosphere of a circus. Here's another. At the trial, Scott dressed in 1920s Eric Cowboy style. It looked idiotic. He wore a large hat and a huge bandana. He wore weird boots with stirrups. The pants were tucked in at the calf. I had a feeling that Scott had no perception of how he was coming across. He was totally unable to see the effect. His questions were completely without thought. They were irrelevant. I felt like Scott was digging his own grave. The trial was a joke. It was a big fiasco. And two more here. When I watched Scott in court, he was very bizarre. When I saw him on the first day of the trial, I thought the judge should stop the trial and commit him to a hospital. Scott was not competent to stand trial. My wife had written the judge a letter, but it didn't seem to make any difference. I wanted to tell the judge to stop the trial because, oh, this is from his mother. My son was sick and incompetent. Like he's obviously nuts. Clearly, yeah. Got a problem. And his sister said, I think the justice system or the justice broke down in my brother's trial. It was not fair to let a mentally ill man be his own attorney when he didn't know what he was doing. I am sorry to say the trial was a farce. It was a circus-like atmosphere. I never expected justice to allow this. Even Sonia, whose parents were murdered, said that she thought the trial was a big joke and a circus and that there was lots the jury did not know about Scott and his mental illness. Even she was like, what are we doing? The actual trial, yeah, purple and green cowboy shirts. He wore leather chaps for fuck's sake. For fuck's sake. He didn't wear like a suit and tie and a cowboy hat and boots like a Texas lawyer. He dressed like it from a costume. Anyway, one person said, this is his lawyer, sorry, Mr. Panetti's direct examination testimony essentially began with his birth. He discussed a near-drowning episode, falling off a horse and messing in his pants when he was a child. God damn it. He later described his school in Wisconsin, the carpeting there, how he wanted to look up his teacher's skirt. This is great. I know the feeling. You just, what are you, yeah, we all get it, but you don't tell the jury that. He can't. He told a minute, man. At one point he showed a jury, the jury, a tattoo on his arm, a wounded sunbird and went into excessive detail about it. After the court redirected him, Mr. Panetti talked at length about his high school sweetheart in a loosely connected manner. The judge redirected him for a second time to be, to relevant evidence. After Mr. Panetti discussed bull riding, high school interactions, and that his father looked like Colonel Sanders, the court redirected him again to the relevance of the guilt innocence phase of the trial. Despite continued redirection, Mr. Panetti described working on his father's ranch in Texas. The district attorney even asked the court to instruct Mr. Panetti to talk about his guilt or innocence and not about his life story. One of the doctors who attended the trial as a witness said, I witnessed a number of incidents where the inappropriate use of language and actions show that Scott was mentally ill and incompetent. Scott literally enjoyed the spectacle of the courtroom where he was the center of attention. Scott enjoyed the trial since he was getting attention and was being allowed to act like an attorney. Right. Hey, I get to dress up like a cowboy and ask people questions. Isn't this fun? Hey, Scott was acting out of a role of an attorney as a facet of the mental illness, not a rational decision to represent himself at trial. Scott was acting as his own attorney from his paranoid fear that his attorneys were out to get him. He gave a rambling presentation that showed he could not think clearly nor understand the information that was important to his trial. The trial gave Scott the opportunity to get the attention that a paranoid person so desperately needs. Scott needed to represent himself out of the delusion that he alone could defend himself. He wanted recognition as an attorney and got the judge to allow him to center stage. The mental illness caused him to fail to recognize the importance of the jury. In his mind, the jury was not important. What was important to Scott was the recognition of the judge, the DA, the witnesses, and the public that Scott was an attorney in the courtroom. So one witness, he asked this question here, quote, we, we subpoenaed Dr. Hal. I mean, I didn't want to go to, I didn't want to go subpoena crazy and I just turned the Pope loose and JFK and I never subpoenaed them. But Jesus Christ, he didn't need a subpoena. He's right here with me and we'll get into that. We'll get there. Huh? Give me some time. He turned the Pope loose. Yeah. What the fuck are you talking about? I don't need him. He's busy. He also said during one question, he called Jesus, he said Jesus Christ was sharing a cell with him. He said he had a cellmate and it was Jesus Christ, but he was serious and it wasn't a guy named Jesus because it is Texas. He called 43 witnesses over eight days. Subpoena John Kennedy, subpoenaed Jesus Christ and the end he did need to subpoena him. Yeah. Yeah. He's busy. Busy guy. I'm tired of all the miracles. Yeah. You're bound to be here. I get that, you know, teach a man to fish, elite for a lifetime and all that kind of shit, but you're also time blind. You're real bad with times and dates and yeah. At one point he put his hand on the jury box like he was shooting. He did finger guns at the jury and said boom, boom, boom. With a cowboy outfit on. Oh my God. He can't do that. No. Scott's mom on the stand. He said, mom. I slept good and I had a dream and woke up real confused in the relevance of my and the relevance of my guilt or innocence. Is there anything that has to do now? I flat ironed you yesterday. You sort of expected I would call you, but you didn't expect it this morning. No, that's what he said to a flat ironed you that none of this makes any sense. Nope. The judge said, you need to ask a question, Mr. Panetti. And he said, talk about my treatment mom before, after and during my, the duration of my treatment that's directly, directly relevant to my guilt or innocence as charged mom. The judge says, Mr. Panetti, ask a specific question. I don't want a general question. Scott says, I'm going to have to ask you a couple of questions that we didn't ask before and it's safe to ask mom. Well, there's things I should have said or didn't say or didn't say and should have said. The judge said, Mr. Panetti, ask a question. Then he testifies. Oh boy. Himself. He said the day of the crime, he'd been under the control of Sarge iron horse. Oh, Sarge did. Okay. He's back. Yeah. He, yeah, he also said that the demons were cackling at him during his crime. This is his quote, quote, Sarge woke up, cut off Scott's hair, Sarge suited up, shells canteen pouch, 30 odd six, tropical hat, tropical top, bunkhouse, fast haircut, fast suited up, fast boom, really fast, fast haircut, web gear, top, brush hat, boots out the door, in the Jeep, driving, wife, the bridge. Why is it taking so long in front of Joe and Amanda's house? Sarge, everything fast. So everything. He sounds like English is in his first language through the ways he's losing connector words. Everything fast, everything slow, tapped on the window, shattered window, Sonya screams, runs, follow her. She runs out, out the front knife, birdie birdie. That's Scott and that's their daughter. Where's birdie pick her up? She's in bed. Scott, what? Scott, what did you see Sarge do? Fall, Sonya, Joe, Amanda kitchen, Joe bayonet, not attacking, Sarge not afraid, not threatened, Sarge not angry, not mad, Sarge, boom, boom, Sarge, boom, boom, boom, Sarge, boom, boom, Sarge is gone. No more Sarge, Sonya and birdie, birdie and Sonya. Joe, Amanda lying in kitchen, here, there, blood, no, leave. Scott, remember exactly what Scott did. Shot the lock, walked in the kitchen, Sonya, where's birdie, Sonya here, Joe bayonet, door, Amanda, boom, boom, boom, blood, demons, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, oh Lord, oh you. That's what he said? He said that on the stand. Those are words strung together. He said what happened that morning? And he said that. That's what happened that morning. My God. The judge said, Mr. Panetti, let's stop. And he said, you puppet. That was Scott's answer to the judge. In closing arguments, he said this, quote, how long did this deliberate and that deliberate? I don't think, I think that you are all way beyond and this ain't no show and there ain't no body in this point, any evidence and I proved without a preponderance of doubt, those are not words that go together like that, that I didn't know right from wrong and that I was insane, not lay experts or doctors and in your hearts, everybody knows. Do you honestly think any of you are going to go home after making the decision and second guess it? I think without hesitation you won't and God bless Texas. God bless. I will be done. Oh, the law sometimes sleeps but it never dies. What does that mean? The jury goes in, deliberates for two hours. God bless Texas, you guys. God bless Texas. Tips his hat. Ma'am, he gives him one of those. They find him guilty of capital murder. Yeah. Not crazy. Not at all. Guilty, regular old criminal. The prosecution's going for the death penalty. Oh, Jesus. Yeah, Scott's attorney said this is not a case for the death penalty. That's life history and long-term mental problems making an excellent case for mitigating evidence. Scott, instead though, during sentencing doesn't present any mitigating evidence. Oh, Scott. It's fucking crazy. He asked one of the jury, there's a different jury for the sentencing and he asked one of them, quote, I despise the tragedy details but as far as do you understand what even I don't, do you know what mitigating means? And the jurors said, well, from what I gather off of him, the prosecutor, it means circumstances. Is that what, something to that effect? No, not really. And he says, Scott says, mean either. Mean either. Okay. Oh, fuck. His opening. Well, thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I think it's maybe odd that you didn't see more of a breakdown. It's been three years and that was two years ago that I went into the may have heard being uncomfortable with crime but I went into the crime that I described as something that I heard in Jacques Cousteau analogy of tears that whales would swim and I hope that you don't think it's odd that I don't have more of a breakdown but again, I must reiterate I had very untreated mental illness that in my brief look over some papers that a previous law firm sent which I should have prepared earlier, there is my culpable mental state. Oh, fuck. What does that mean? I don't know what that means. It doesn't mean anything. He said that sheep guilty and that's not justice to the sheep and I pose no future dangers to anyone including myself and even less and less if I were given proper medication. I pose no threat. All right. Judge they come back. You, sir, may fuck off death penalty. Not only do they try this guy and let him represent himself, they're going to kill him. God bless Texas. God bless Texas. What the fuck? Oh, one witness said, I watched Scott question some of the jurors. The jurors would look scared. One of the doctors who was at the trial said, in my opinion, Scott's mental illness had an effect on the jury that was visible. It was obvious from the appearance of the jury that Scott antagonized them by his verbal rambling and antics. Scott was completely unaware of the effect of his words and actions. Members of the jury had hostile stares and looked at Scott in disbelief when he rambled and made no sense. Yeah. So anyway, that detective, Jung, said, quote, he's the best actor there is. I guarantee you that guy's an actor for his whole life. He's been doing this acting, huh? He did all this in calculated ways so that he could murder two people. That's all he wanted to do for years. He knew it. Another, the lead homicide detective said, I'm sorry, I just don't buy it. Why would someone who didn't know right from wrong run from the police, take hostages and engage in a standoff? Because he's crazy. Why would he do anything? The answer is nuts. So he appeals. He's got tons of psychiatrists saying, holy shit, he's insane. It's denied. The state fights for the death penalty in every hard they want to kill Scott. Yep. The board of pardons voted 14 to 1 to reject a request to commute his sentence to life and 15-0 in rejecting his reprieve. Sonya wrote, in 1999, I do not hate Scott. I hate what Scott did. Scott was a good person except when he changed. I now know that Scott is mentally ill and should not be put to death. It is her parents. Please don't kill him. She said also my family doesn't understand any of this. She said my family couldn't understand why I was alive and my parents were dead. So they're mad at her because she wasn't murdered. That's a little bit about the daughter, but we don't have time for that. 2003, this goes to the Supreme Court. They tried to, but they don't listen to it. The Texas Attorney General's Office said that he's fine, basically. 2003, Supreme Court did not refuse to consider the case. They said that the U.S. Court of Appeals said during trial, Panetti proceeded while dressed in a cowboy suit, gave the appearance of hallucinating and carried rambling dialogues. He did, however, formulate a trial strategy, improved his trial performance over time, and was able to effectively cross-examine and cross-examine witnesses. Is that what you heard from the quotes I gave you? Is that what he did? He's fine. Kill him. Scott's mom said maybe they can throw him away like trash, but that's not what he is. He's a human being who is sick, but no one will help. Wow. Yeah, 2004, they issue a death warrant for Scott. He says, by the way, in jail, he's known as the preacher in death row for his manic recitations from the Bible. Manic. He's got to be, he's real fun to have around. He's told several visitors that the state wants to execute him to stop his preaching. They said he doesn't associate the death penalty even with the murder anymore. Now it's in his head. They don't want him preaching the truth to the prisoners, so they're going to kill him. Oh. 2007. It's not that he's okay. No. 2007, Panetti versus Quaterman, our US Supreme Court reversed, holding that the state court competency proceedings had violated his right to due process and that the federal court had applied the wrong test for determining competency. 2014, Texas schedules a new execution date, but the Fifth Circuit issues a stay, ordering a full hearing on his competency. 2022, in an opening statement here, his attorney noted it's unprecedented to be litigating an execution competency claim for 20 years. In 2023, US District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled that Scott was not competent to be executed. Saying that he had severe mental illness rendered him unable to meet rational understanding of what the fuck is even going on. Yeah. What is this? He left him on death row anyway. Really? So he stayed on death row this whole time. May 26th, 2025. This is why we're finally doing it, by the way. He dies. He dies. Scott dies at 67 of natural causes at the hospital in Gallister. The Alvarados are buried at the St. Mary Cemetery in Fredericksburg there. Gotta bust out. We're way late here. All right. If you like this story, holy shit, it's great. See why? Saved it for so long. If you like this story, get on whatever app you're on. Give us five stars. It really helps. Shut up and give me murder.com is where you get everything. Check that out for all the 2026 tour dates. We're announcing them this week. So get in there and do that. Hang out with us there. You can follow us on social media at Small Town Murder on Instagram, Small Town Pod on Facebook. Patreon.com slash Crime in Sports. 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