2001-05-09
Texas inmate found dead in cell
AMARILLO, Texas - A man accused in two Texas Panhandle murders last fall and caught in Oklahoma has been found dead in his Dumas, Texas, jail cell in an apparent suicide.
Hiram Bodry, 46, of Pueblo, Colo., was found dead in his cell Sunday. Moore County authorities said it appeared Bodry hanged himself.
Bodry's body was taken to Lubbock for an autopsy.
The case gained media attention in November because the man and a friend were tracked while driving a car reportedly stolen from Floydada, Texas. The truck had the OnStar Global Positioning System.
The men were caught in Oklahoma after a shoot-out with officers. Authorities used the OnStar system to track the car's progress along U.S. 62 between Altus and Lawton.
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper and several passing motorists were fired upon during the pursuit, authorities said. Afterward, the men abandoned the car and fled into the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton. Dozens of law officers sealed off the area and the two eventually surrendered.
Bodry's body was taken to Lubbock for an autopsy.
Bodry and Tom Raper Jr., 30, were charged with murder in Dumas in connection with the Nov. 10 shooting death of Patricia Norris Hart, 48, who was found dead at the liquor store where she worked.
Bodry and Raper also were charged with murder in connection with the shotgun death of Clifford Espinoza.
Espinoza was found dead in a field near Amarillo on Nov. 13.
Archive ID: 849701