Posted 11:14 am Thursday, April 26, 2012
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Man Indicted For 1999 Cold Case Murder
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
A man being held in a federal prison in Colorado for seven bank robberies will soon be extradited to Smith County to face murder charges in a 1999 cold case.
Smith County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Bobby Garmon said “good old fashioned” police work was key in finally getting an indictment for murder in the case against 32-year-old Shams Emil Masters.
“We arrested our suspect back in 1999, and a grand jury did indict him, but upon further investigation the case was dismissed by the former district attorney (Jack Skeen Jr.) due to insufficient evidence,” he said.
Masters is charged with murder for the February 1999 death of 18-year-old William Thomas Young, who was found face down in a grove of trees on Cedarwood Circle in the Woodlands Estates subdivision off Old Noonday Road on Feb. 18, 1999 by a man walking his dog.
Detectives at the time determined Young had been dead of a gunshot wound several days before his body was located.
According to a story in 1999, Masters believed Young had stolen several hundred dollars from his home during a Super Bowl party.
The article from 1999 said a friend of Masters said Young would “get what was coming to him.”
Other articles from the time of the homicide indicate that the victim had been indicted for selling crack to an undercover Tyler Police officer and was wanted on several felony warrants.
The investigation also revealed blood in a vehicle that Masters was seen driving at the time of the crime.
However, there were holes in the case and detectives were left to try and find the key in the investigation.
Garmon said the case was an indication that the sheriff's office never stops investigating a homicide.
“A case in Smith County is always being worked and sometimes it's just the little piece of evidence that makes the entire puzzle fit together,” he said.
Garmon said after he was released from jail, Masters left the area and was living under a bridge in the DFW area with a group of homeless people.
It is at that time the man who had been arrested multiple times on drug charges began robbing banks in the Fort Worth area.
“He was arrested and charged with seven bank robberies and sentenced into the federal prison system,” Garmon said.
The chief said he is proud of the work by the cold case unit headed up by Det. Joe Rasco.
“Since the sheriff began this unit in August 2009 we have solved four cold case homicides and we are currently working several others,” he said.
Staff Writer
A man being held in a federal prison in Colorado for seven bank robberies will soon be extradited to Smith County to face murder charges in a 1999 cold case.
Smith County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Bobby Garmon said “good old fashioned” police work was key in finally getting an indictment for murder in the case against 32-year-old Shams Emil Masters.
“We arrested our suspect back in 1999, and a grand jury did indict him, but upon further investigation the case was dismissed by the former district attorney (Jack Skeen Jr.) due to insufficient evidence,” he said.
Masters is charged with murder for the February 1999 death of 18-year-old William Thomas Young, who was found face down in a grove of trees on Cedarwood Circle in the Woodlands Estates subdivision off Old Noonday Road on Feb. 18, 1999 by a man walking his dog.
Detectives at the time determined Young had been dead of a gunshot wound several days before his body was located.
According to a story in 1999, Masters believed Young had stolen several hundred dollars from his home during a Super Bowl party.
The article from 1999 said a friend of Masters said Young would “get what was coming to him.”
Other articles from the time of the homicide indicate that the victim had been indicted for selling crack to an undercover Tyler Police officer and was wanted on several felony warrants.
The investigation also revealed blood in a vehicle that Masters was seen driving at the time of the crime.
However, there were holes in the case and detectives were left to try and find the key in the investigation.
Garmon said the case was an indication that the sheriff's office never stops investigating a homicide.
“A case in Smith County is always being worked and sometimes it's just the little piece of evidence that makes the entire puzzle fit together,” he said.
Garmon said after he was released from jail, Masters left the area and was living under a bridge in the DFW area with a group of homeless people.
It is at that time the man who had been arrested multiple times on drug charges began robbing banks in the Fort Worth area.
“He was arrested and charged with seven bank robberies and sentenced into the federal prison system,” Garmon said.
The chief said he is proud of the work by the cold case unit headed up by Det. Joe Rasco.
“Since the sheriff began this unit in August 2009 we have solved four cold case homicides and we are currently working several others,” he said.
