One of the most interesting facts brought out in this City Confidential episode was that Tyler, Texas, never suffered through the Great Depression. While the rest of the USA went through that horrible period in the 1930s, Tyler flourished and did quite nicely, thank you. This city never had any hard financial times until the late '80s when this particular crime story featured on this show took place.
Tyler, known for growing millions and millions of roses, hit the jackpot with "black gold" (oil) in the '30s. Soon, 3,600 wells were up-and-gushing in this East Texas area. After that, there was a big Army training base at Tyler and many, many soldiers were so impressed with the friendliness of the area (including a lot of new girlfriends) that they came back and settled here after World War II. Tyler just kept on booming.
Few people made a bigger success out of their business than Baker Lucas II, who built houses and provided real estate for these WWII vets and the Baby Boomers. A very likable guy, Lucas quickly rose to the top, had a wonderful home, a new baby boy, joined the richest country club and ran for mayor. He was elected, and re-elected. Nobody enjoyed his success more than his wife Bette, who spent her days on the Tyler social scene while taking a lot of time for shopping, getting her nails and hair done all the time and looking and acting as glamorous as she could. While good at social climbing, she wasn't good as a mother. Being a mother hindered her social activities. She once told her young son Steve that she wished she'd had an abortion and never had the kid. That's nice to hear when you're young! Steve left town when he was adult, trying to see if could make it on his own. His daddy's shadow was too big and his mom - well, no love lost there.
Disaster struck the Lucas family(the date was never mentioned) when the elder Lucas was in a car crash and died suddenly. His wife was lost without her husband's business sense, money, moral support and standing in the community. In 1986, her son Steve came back, with his family, to Tyler to see if you could revive his father's real estate business. He couldn't, being a poor worker and one with poor business sense. He couldn't fill his old man's shoes and soon was sponging thousands of dollars off his mother.
When the mom got tired of giving Steve money and decided to cut him out of her will, another tragedy struck. He says it was an accident, that the mom was carrying a VCR up the stairs at home, tumbled down them and was killed. Most other people think it was no accident, that this woman was so spoiled that she never carried anything in her life, much less a VCR up a lot of stairs. Cause of death was "blunt force trauma" and prosecutors think a brass candlestick was used to beat the woman to death.
In November of 1988, Steve was charged with murder. The trial, in 1991, wound up as a hung jury, eight voting to convict.. The re-trial was moved to Dallas, thinking Tyler was too involved to hold another trial there. Lucas made out poorly in the second trial, convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Meanwhile, on a more pleasant note, people who live in Tyler, Texas, sure love it....at least all the ones interviewed on this program. They think this "self-proclaimed rose capital of the world" (as narrator Paul Winfield puts it with is normal sarcasm) is about as good as it gets. They love the town, the annual Rose Festival - which has always been a very big deal and the nice-looking town "which is more whispering willow than Old West." One wishes Mrs. Lucas could whisper back from the grave and confirm whether her death was an accident or murder.
Tyler, known for growing millions and millions of roses, hit the jackpot with "black gold" (oil) in the '30s. Soon, 3,600 wells were up-and-gushing in this East Texas area. After that, there was a big Army training base at Tyler and many, many soldiers were so impressed with the friendliness of the area (including a lot of new girlfriends) that they came back and settled here after World War II. Tyler just kept on booming.
Few people made a bigger success out of their business than Baker Lucas II, who built houses and provided real estate for these WWII vets and the Baby Boomers. A very likable guy, Lucas quickly rose to the top, had a wonderful home, a new baby boy, joined the richest country club and ran for mayor. He was elected, and re-elected. Nobody enjoyed his success more than his wife Bette, who spent her days on the Tyler social scene while taking a lot of time for shopping, getting her nails and hair done all the time and looking and acting as glamorous as she could. While good at social climbing, she wasn't good as a mother. Being a mother hindered her social activities. She once told her young son Steve that she wished she'd had an abortion and never had the kid. That's nice to hear when you're young! Steve left town when he was adult, trying to see if could make it on his own. His daddy's shadow was too big and his mom - well, no love lost there.
Disaster struck the Lucas family(the date was never mentioned) when the elder Lucas was in a car crash and died suddenly. His wife was lost without her husband's business sense, money, moral support and standing in the community. In 1986, her son Steve came back, with his family, to Tyler to see if you could revive his father's real estate business. He couldn't, being a poor worker and one with poor business sense. He couldn't fill his old man's shoes and soon was sponging thousands of dollars off his mother.
When the mom got tired of giving Steve money and decided to cut him out of her will, another tragedy struck. He says it was an accident, that the mom was carrying a VCR up the stairs at home, tumbled down them and was killed. Most other people think it was no accident, that this woman was so spoiled that she never carried anything in her life, much less a VCR up a lot of stairs. Cause of death was "blunt force trauma" and prosecutors think a brass candlestick was used to beat the woman to death.
In November of 1988, Steve was charged with murder. The trial, in 1991, wound up as a hung jury, eight voting to convict.. The re-trial was moved to Dallas, thinking Tyler was too involved to hold another trial there. Lucas made out poorly in the second trial, convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Meanwhile, on a more pleasant note, people who live in Tyler, Texas, sure love it....at least all the ones interviewed on this program. They think this "self-proclaimed rose capital of the world" (as narrator Paul Winfield puts it with is normal sarcasm) is about as good as it gets. They love the town, the annual Rose Festival - which has always been a very big deal and the nice-looking town "which is more whispering willow than Old West." One wishes Mrs. Lucas could whisper back from the grave and confirm whether her death was an accident or murder.