Thursday, July 03, 2008

Possible Connection Being Investigated Between Prosecutor & Man Suspected In Alleged Deed Theft Of Dead Woman's Home

In Dallas, Texas, CBS 11 News reports:
  • How did the top prosecutor for Dallas County and his wife end up crossing paths with a career criminal indicted for theft and forgery? CBS 11 Investigator Bennett Cunningham discovered how it happened and why the Texas Attorney General is now investigating the case.

  • Robert Wayne Mitchell, 51, is in jail. According to state records, he's been in and out of prison for theft. But this time, the charges are much more sophisticated. Back in 2005, Dallas County records show a woman named Ella Mae Walker deeded her Dallas home on Bonnie View Road to Mr. Mitchell. The CBS 11 Investigators showed Mitchell the warranty deed with his name and her signature on it. When we asked Mitchell how he had come to own that house, he replied, "I don't want to particularly answer."

  • Mitchell might not want to answer because, unless you can bring back the dead, there is a problem with the deal. The day Mrs. Walker signed the warranty deed she'd been dead for more than six months.

***

  • Land records show Mr. Mitchell sold Ella Mae Walker's property to the Good Street Missionary Baptist Church, just adjacent to her house. According to a letter from the Dallas District Attorney's Office, District Attorney Craig Watkins not only owns the title company that reviewed the title on the Walker deal, but that the DA did some legal work for the title company while he was serving as the county's top prosecutor. Texas statute prohibits the practice of law by a state prosecutor. Also, the notary on this part of the deal was Tanya Watkins, the DA's wife. Now both are potential witnesses in any case that may be brought against Mr. Mitchell.

For more, see Career Criminal Crosses Paths With Dallas DA, Wife (read story) (watch video).

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