Houston Update
By ROBERT CROWE and ANITA HASSAN
The last time Oda Soileau tried to take his property back from his ex-wife, sheriff's deputies had to come out to the Lazy Acres mobile home park to stop their fighting.
"Every time I had a confrontation with her, I would lose," Soileau said Monday.
So when he decided to take back the 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis he had given Cathy Deemer, Soileau hired a wrecker driver to do the job.
But Deemer, 53, didn't hesitate to fight with a stranger either. She died Saturday night outside Baytown trying to stop the tow truck from taking her car, Harris County Sheriff's Office investigators said. She was apparently dragged a distance and sustained a serious head injury.
"We didn't get along, that's no secret," said Soileau, 60. "Who intends for something like this to happen? I didn't."
Investigators following an anonymous tip found the wrecker driver at his home about 24 hours after the incident, said Lt. John Martin. The wrecker driver, whom Martin declined to identify, initially denied any involvement, though he later acknowledged the truck was his, Martin said.
"He claims he had no idea she had been struck by the vehicle or injured at all," Martin said.
No charges have been filed against the driver and the case will likely be referred to a grand jury, Martin said.
Wrecker drivers are required to notify the Sheriff's Office before repossessing a vehicle, in case the owner tries to report the repossession as a theft, Martin said. But such advance notification isn't necessary when the owner hires a wrecker to tow his own vehicle, Martin said.
Soileau and Deemer's love-hate relationship spanned four decades and included two tries at marriage that ended in divorce, most recently in 2004. They have two grown children together.
Terri Nichols, Soileau's adopted daughter from another marriage, said Deemer was a very close friend she considered a mother figure. The women often spent time together discussing the Bible.
"She was a good, Christian woman," Nichols said.
The last time Oda Soileau tried to take his property back from his ex-wife, sheriff's deputies had to come out to the Lazy Acres mobile home park to stop their fighting.
"Every time I had a confrontation with her, I would lose," Soileau said Monday.
So when he decided to take back the 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis he had given Cathy Deemer, Soileau hired a wrecker driver to do the job.
But Deemer, 53, didn't hesitate to fight with a stranger either. She died Saturday night outside Baytown trying to stop the tow truck from taking her car, Harris County Sheriff's Office investigators said. She was apparently dragged a distance and sustained a serious head injury.
"We didn't get along, that's no secret," said Soileau, 60. "Who intends for something like this to happen? I didn't."
Investigators following an anonymous tip found the wrecker driver at his home about 24 hours after the incident, said Lt. John Martin. The wrecker driver, whom Martin declined to identify, initially denied any involvement, though he later acknowledged the truck was his, Martin said.
"He claims he had no idea she had been struck by the vehicle or injured at all," Martin said.
No charges have been filed against the driver and the case will likely be referred to a grand jury, Martin said.
Wrecker drivers are required to notify the Sheriff's Office before repossessing a vehicle, in case the owner tries to report the repossession as a theft, Martin said. But such advance notification isn't necessary when the owner hires a wrecker to tow his own vehicle, Martin said.
Soileau and Deemer's love-hate relationship spanned four decades and included two tries at marriage that ended in divorce, most recently in 2004. They have two grown children together.
Terri Nichols, Soileau's adopted daughter from another marriage, said Deemer was a very close friend she considered a mother figure. The women often spent time together discussing the Bible.
"She was a good, Christian woman," Nichols said.
posted by Dave at 10:21 AM
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