Murriel Melvin Chester
Funeral service for Murriel M. Chester, age 85, of Sulphur Springs, TX will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at Murray-Orwosky Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Gary Thompson officiating and Rev. Samuel Glenn assisting. Interment will follow at Rockdale Cemetery with Masonic and Military Honors. Serving as pallbearers are Carroll Willis, Herby Willis, Ricky Willis, Brian Willis, Kurt Willis and Kenneth Adams. Honorary...
Yantis Man Arrested on Criminal Solicitation Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child
Sunday night, Hopkins County Criminal Investigators and deputies arrested Justin Dean Cowart, 31, of Yantis, for Attempted Human Trafficking and Criminal Solicitation Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. The arrest at a local discount box store came following a law enforcement response to the guardian of a child. The guardian had met Cowart on line and had been communicating with him. Cowart became interested in the child of the...
Auction of Seized Cattle Underway Wednesday
According to Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office the hundreds of head of cattle seized by the SPCA of Texas and Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office December 4-6, 2017 are being sold at auction today, Wednesday, January 17th, according to the court order issued in a settlement reached in Justice of the Peace court and upheld in an appeal made by the owner of the cattle, George Lawrence Bergin, 61, to Hopkins County Court at Law. The cattle are...
Kougher Sentenced to Life Plus 20 Years for Indecency with Child Charges
It will be 40 years before Bradley Curtis Kougher, 41, will be eligible for parole following a decision by a Hopkins County jury in Eighth Judicial Court Thursday evening. Kougher was found guilty of a Felony 1 Indecency with a Child and a Felony 2 Indecency with a Child. It took the jury less than 15 minutes to find him guilty and just over an hour to determine his sentence. He was sentenced to life in prison for the Felony 1 and 20...
Appeal of Custody of Cattle Settlement Underway
An employee of the SPCA testified Monday morning in Hopkins County Court at Law that during his investigation, he observed cattle, owned by George Bergin of Sulphur Springs, on more than one location and each location looked the same. Testimony continues in the appeal of a settlement made in Justice of the Peace Court regarding the custody of several hundred head of cattle owned by Bergin. The appeal is being heard in the Justice of...
Bergin’s Motions Question Jurisdiction, Evidence Obtained, and Texas Health and Safety Code vs Civil Procedure
In three motions filed before the Hopkins County Court at Law by Attorney Chad Cable on behalf of George Lawrence Bergin and his desire to regain custody of hundreds of head of cattle seized by the SPCA of Texas and Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputies, Bergin through his attorney states that the court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss on account of the courts complete abrogation of the rules of civil procedure, requests that the...
Bergin Appeals Settlement; Posts $245,000 Bond; Trial Begins January 4
An appeal of a settlement reached in a pre-court hearing involving the custody of hundreds of cattle seized by Hopkins County Law Enforcement and the SPCA of Texas and owned by George Lawrence Bergin, 61, of Sulphur Springs has been filed with the County Clerk’s office and will be heard by a jury in Hopkins County Court at Law January 4th according to local officials. Bergin was arrested December 4th and charged with Cruelty to...
Alleged Buy of Small Amount of Marijuana Led to Sunday’s Shooting Death
In evidence gathered, a dispute over an alleged buy of a small amount of marijuana led to the shooting death of 18-year old Tyrese Pryor and Felony 1 murder charges and four counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon filed against 17-year old Gavin Gilbert. The alleged sale was between Gilbert and one of five passengers in a truck on County Road 1185 just off FM 1567 in the South Liberty area of Hopkins County. Investigations...
Jury Selection Underway Tuesday for Retaliation Trial
Tuesday morning (December 19, 2017) in 8th Judicial District Court, selection began for a jury to hear the trial of Robert Alan Hawkins for Retaliation. Hawkins, of Dallas, is charged with making threats against a member of the local judicial system. When threats were made the local judge, Eighth District Judge Eddie Northcutt contacted Lewis Tatum, Hopkins County Sheriff. Tatum called on the Texas Rangers and the U S Marshall’s...
Crump Captured; Faces Possible Failure to Appear Indictment
December 15, 2017 – Hopkins County Sheriff’s Investigators and deputies apprehended Keri Amanda Crump, 28, of Sulphur Springs, Friday morning in Rowlett, Texas. Crump has been on the run after she failed to appear the second day of her jury trial last week. Although not present for the second day of her trial Tuesday December 12, 2017, a Hopkins County Jury found Crump guilty of Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group...
