Bad Boy From Rosebud by Gary M. Lavergne Read Free Book Online

"Louise" on the glass. 9 In a few hours, hardened police officers would discover the haunting signature.
III
Roy Dale stood about seventy-five yards from the 1955 Ford and watched Kenneth creep closer to the unsuspecting teenagers. Roy went over to the car in time to hear Kenneth tell Louise and the boys to get out or he would shoot them. After taking the boys' wallets, he put all three teenagers into the trunk of the Ford. Kenneth wryly observed, "These boys don't have much money." He then told Roy Dale to get into the Ford. Kenneth drove Roy Dale back to the Dodge and instructed him to follow. Throughout the evening, Roy Dale did as he was told, never thinking to drive away in Kenneth's Dodge. 10
Kenneth led Roy Dale south into the countryside near the Tarrant and Johnson County line near Burleson. They crossed a highway, probably US 81, and proceeded down gravel roads to a cow pasture. Kenneth

 

Page 29
stopped, looked around, then pronounced: "This isn't a good place." They backed out and drove to another, presumably more isolated, field. 11
The sloppiness that put him in prison after his burglaries only a year earlier had taught Kenneth a "valuable" lesson. On this night and for the rest of his criminal career, he was as sophisticated and evidence-conscious as any criminal could be. During the evening of August 6, 1966, he took extraordinary care in deciding where he would commit his crimes. He brought Roy Dale and his teenage captives to a tiny farm-to-market road numbered FM 1017. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond McAlister lived only 400 yards away. Mrs. McAlister later testified that she saw two vehicles pull off the road and into a field at about 10:35 P.M. When another car passed by, the lights of the first two cars were turned off. Although kids used the area to park and neck, on that Saturday Mrs. McAlister was too tired to bother checking it out. 12
According to Roy Dale's statement, Kenneth opened the trunk of the Ford and pulled Louise out by her arm. Without saying a word, Louise slowly exited the Ford as Kenneth ordered Roy Dale to place her in the trunk of the Dodge. Roy Dale did as he was told. Kenneth then looked at Roy Dale and said: "They got a look at me. I'm gonna have to kill them. We can't have any witnesses. I'm gonna have to knock them off." Even then, Roy Dale did not think Kenneth was serious: "I didn't believe him[then] he started shooting."
Robert and Marcus begged to be spared. In vain, they had assured Kenneth that they would say nothing. Each shot seemed to bring Kenneth more pleasure. 13 Roy Dale Green shook with the blast of each round. "He kept shooting and shooting and every time he shot, I jumped," Roy Dale said. He remembered seeing the fire spurt out of the barrel as Kenneth shot Robert in the ear and the forehead. Roy Dale covered his ears and looked away as the killing continued. Then, Kenneth pointed the gun at Marcus and shot him three times, once through the arm as Marcus tried to wave off the volleys. As if to retaliate, Kenneth then grabbed Marcus by the hair, placed the gun against his head and fired the last round. 14
"Good God, Kenneth, what'd you do that for?" Roy Dale asked after the firing finally stopped.
"I had to," Kenneth replied as he looked coolly into Roy Dale's eyes. He seemed calm and collected like he had done nothing wrong. Incredibly, Kenneth got more upset at not being able to close the trunk, even

 

Page 30
after Roy placed one of the boys' legs back inside. Instead of reaching in and repositioning the bodies, Kenneth started the car and backed it up to a fence so that the open trunk would not be easily visible from the road. At Kenneth's instructions, Roy Dale used Marcus's extra shirt to wipe fingerprints off the Ford and flatten out tire tracks left by Kenneth's car. During this crime scene cleansing, Louise Sullivan lay helplessly trapped in the trunk of the Dodge. 15
In the Dodge, Kenneth and Roy Dale traveled further south into Johnson County. Before reaching