1999-03-05

The following appears courtesy of yesterday's United Press International news wire:

Former Texan investigated in Chile

March 5, 1999

AMARILLO, Texas, March 5 (UPI) A former Texan is facing charges in Chile of
illegally burying two bodies believed to be those of his parents.

The Amarillo Globe-News reports today that 38-year-old Marion Bristow is
jailed in Temuco, Chile, on the charge as an investigation continues into the
deaths of Richard and Patsy Bristow, who moved to Chile five years ago.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Santiago told the Globe-News that Bristow is
charged with fraud and illegal burial, adding that officials are trying
to make positive identification of the bodies before considering other charges.

Bristow is also accused of writing a $7,000 bad check.

Judge Aner Padilla of the First Criminal Court in Temuco is
investigating the case. Under the Chilean judicial system,
he can gather evidence and then make a determination of
guilt or innocence.

While Marion Bristow is only formally charged with two crimes,
preliminary charges by Chile's Investigative Police include two counts of murder.

Marion Bristow, who used to live in Borger and Amarillo in the Texas
Panhandle, claims his parents committed suicide.

Family members say he told them Patsy Bristow died of a heart attack and
that his grief-stricken father subsequently shot himself to death.

Marion Bristow's parents traveled to Chile to visit in 1994 but decided
to stay, according to a family member.

The following appears courtesy of the 3/5/99 online edition of The
Amarillo
Globe-News newspaper:

Friday, March 5, 1999

Former area resident charged with fraud, illegal burial in Chile

By KEVIN WELCH
Globe-News Staff Writer

And TIM VANDENACK
Special to the Globe-News

Marion Bristow, formerly of Borger and Amarillo, has been charged by a
Chilean judge with illegally burying two bodies believed to be those of his
parents, Richard "Gene" and Patsy Bristow.

"Yesterday (Wednesday) he was charged with fraud and illegal burial," a
spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Santiago, Chile said. "He hasn't
been charged with murder because officials have not yet made positive
identifications of the bodies."

Marion Bristow, 38, is jailed in Temuco, Chile. Besides the alleged
illegal burial, he is accused of writing a $7,000 hot check.

Judge Aner Padilla of the First Criminal Court in Temuco said he has
interrogated Bristow.

In the Chilean judicial system, a judge acts as investigator, prosecutor
and jury, the embassy spokeswoman said. "He can ask police to get statements
and evidence. He can interrogate witnesses, and then make a determination of
the guilt or innocence of the accused," she said.

Marion Bristow's sister, Paula Hornell of Albuquerque, N.M., said she is
helping gather her parents' medical and dental records in the United
States to help Chilean authorities with the identification process.

Gene and Patsy Bristow moved from Amarillo to Chile about five years
ago.

While Marion Bristow has only been formally charged with two crimes,
preliminary charges by Chile's Investigative Police include two counts
of murder. Also pending are unrelated charges of falsification of documents
and illegal practice of a profession, according to police officials.

Marion Bristow, a Navy veteran, claims his parents committed suicide.
His common-law wife, Teresa Moya, said he panicked when he found the couple
in their home and buried them, according to a Chilean television report.

Family members said Marion Bristow told them Patsy Bristow died of a
heart attack and that a grief-stricken Gene Bristow subsequently committed
suicide, shooting himself.

Joyce West, a Borger resident who was the sister of Gene Bristow, said
earlier this week she believes the couple was killed at the end of 1996. "But in
August 1998, Marion called a nephew of mine and said they'd just died. He said
that Patsy had a heart attack and Gene killed himself."

Hornell praised her brother as intelligent, computer savvy and a
globe-trotter. However, she said his behavior became increasingly
peculiar over the past few years.

"He would call me on the phone and rant and rave and scream and yell
about what was going on," Hornell said.

"I'm not sure what happened. Whatever happened, I think my brother is
not in his right mind."

Marion Bristow's estranged Chilean wife, Maria Teresa Acuna, described
her husband as an increasingly erratic and violent man.

"He walked, talked and dressed differently and said things that didn't
make sense," Acuna said.

Marion Bristow's parents traveled to Chile to visit in 1994 but decided
to stay, according to Acuna. When she left Marion Bristow with their three
children, the elder Bristows moved in with their son.

Tim Vandenack is a free-lance reporter in Santiago, Chile.

The following appears courtesy of the 3/1/99 Reuters news wire:

Police Dig Up U.S. Couple, Arrest Son

March 1, 1999

SANTIAGO, Chile — A 36-year-old man has been arrested in connection with
the death of his parents, a Texas couple whose bodies were found under the
patio of a house in central Chile, a police official said Sunday.

Marion Lee Bristow has been taken into custody by police and will be
charged with the killings in criminal court Monday, said Eric Madurana, head of
the homicide brigade in the town of Temuco, 420 miles (676 km) south of
Santiago.

Madurana said two bodies had been recovered from beneath a cement patio
at a house where Bristow once lived in Chillan, 250 miles (400 km) south of
the capital. He said the bodies were buried Oct. 28, 1996.

"We believe they are Richard Eugene Bristow and his wife, Patsy Lorrain
Bristow,'' Madurana told Reuters. He said the Bristows were from
Amarillo, Texas.

"We are investigating their son, Marion Lee Bristow,'' Madurana said.

The detective said Bristow's parents came to Chile in 1994 ''on a
visit.'' It was unclear whether they returned home after that trip. Police launched
an investigation a month ago after relatives in the United States became
worried about the couple's absence, he said.