David Elliot Penton

Case record: David Elliot Penton

David Elliot Penton was a 5-11, 49-year-old balding man who was interviewed while confined in the Toledo Correctional Institution in Ohio.

Status and sentence

Penton received life sentences for crimes including the abduction and killing of a 9-year-old Ohio girl in 1988 and later pleaded guilty in Texas to capital murder charges involving three Dallas-area girls. His sentence in Ohio was part of his life sentence eligibility for parole in 2027, and after completing his Ohio punishment he was to serve three consecutive life sentences in Texas.

Timeline

• Jan. 19, 1985 — Five-year-old Christi Lynn Meeks was abducted while playing outside her mother’s apartment in Mesquite.
• April 3, 1985 — Christi’s body was found floating in Lake Texoma.
• Feb. 15, 1986 — Christie Diane Proctor, 9, of North Dallas was reported missing by her family and was last seen walking to a friend’s house.
• Nov. 3, 1987 — 3-year-old Roxann Hope Reyes was abducted from behind her mother’s Garland home at the Meadow Terrace Apartments while playing with a friend in the late afternoon.
• April 1988 — Christie Proctor’s body was found in a south Plano field more than 2 years after her disappearance.
• About the same time — David Elliott Penton was arrested in the slaying of Nydra Ross, 9, of Dayton, Ohio.
• May 19, 1988 — The body of Roxann Reyes was found in Murphy, just east of Plano.
• Aug. 15, 1988 — Area detectives acknowledged that Penton was being questioned in the deaths of the 3 Dallas-area girls, but they could not find evidence that he was in Texas at the time of the abduction-slayings.
• May 10, 1990 — Mr. Penton was indicted on charges of kidnapping and killing Nydra Ross.
• 1992 — Mr. Penton was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing Nydra.
• May 21, 2003 — Plano police charged Mr. Penton in the abduction-slayings of Christi Meeks, Christie Proctor and Roxann Reyes, and Collin County authorities said that if Penton was indicted on the charges, they would seek the death penalty.
• June 17, 2003 — A Collin County grand jury indicted Mr. Penton in the abduction-slayings of the 3 girls.
• Aug. 2003 — Mr. Penton was extradited to Texas.
• January 2004 — A jury trial was scheduled in the Reyes case.
• Jan. 6, 2005 — Mr. Penton pleaded guilty to the murders of the 3 Dallas-area girls, and he would remain in prison for life, first finishing his sentence in Ohio before facing his sentence in Texas.
• Wednesday morning (interview) — The interview occurred in a medium-sized room within the Toledo Correctional Institution without bars or a glass barrier and without Penton being chained nor handcuffed, with no guards present.
• Wednesday (trial-related interview) — The Toledo Correctional Institution interview lasted an hour and a half.

Background

David Elliott Penton denied scores of interviews sought by local and national media outlets while confined in 1988, but he granted an interview.

Penton was described as a former mechanic who moved between states in the 1980s. Investigators and court records described him as a troubled man who crisscrossed the country venting rage against children.

Penton was born Feb. 9, 1958, and was raised in Columbus, Ohio, by his mother. His father abandoned both the mother and child.

After graduating high school, Penton joined the U.S. Army in 1977 and specialized as a track vehicle mechanic until 1984. He became known as an expert marksman and a soldier with an excellent record, and his superiors called him “highly motivated.”

In 1980 he was charged with storing alcohol in his foot locker. A few months later he was charged with lying about his marital status to obtain military benefits for which he was not entitled. He was demoted from sergeant to specialist.

While stationed at Ford Hood, Penton faced his first charges of killing a child. A Bell County medical examiner told authorities Penton violently shook his 2-month-old son to death in a “fit of rage,” because the child would not stop crying. Penton pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge and was discharged from the Army.

Penton fled during an appeal of that case and began crossing the nation. He remained on the lam until he was arrested for the murder of a friend’s niece in Ohio three years later.

The offences and victims

Ohio case: Nydra Ross

Penton was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1992 for killing Nydra Ross, a 9-year-old. Nydra Ross disappeared from her aunt’s Columbus home in 1988.

The abduction, rape and murder of 9-year-old Nydra Ross involved her body being found in a creek bed.

Penton admitted to smoking crack and doing other illegal narcotics with the girl’s family members.

Texas cases: three Dallas-area girls

Penton was convicted in Texas for the abduction and killing of three Dallas-area girls: Christi Lynn Meeks (5), Christie Diane Proctor (9), and Roxann Hope Reyes (3).

• Christi Lynn Meeks was kidnapped from her mother’s front yard as she played on Jan. 19, 1985. Her decomposing body was found several months later about 40 miles away in Lake Texoma. She had been strangled and drowned.
• Christie Diane Proctor was kidnapped while walking home in north Dallas in February 1986. Her body was discovered in a field in the Plano area two years later. A medical examiner and forensic evidence said she had been raped and strangled.
• Roxann Reyes was kidnapped while picking wildflowers for her mother near her Garland apartment on Nov. 3, 1987. She was found in Murphy one year later, with evidence suggesting she had been raped and strangled.

Additional victim mentioned: Ara “Niecie” Johnson

Penton was mentioned by authorities as a person of interest in the Big Sandy disappearance of Ara Denise Johnson. Ara Denise Johnson was apparently abducted from her bed on April 2, 1986 and was last seen by her father about 2:30 a.m. the day she disappeared. Her disappearance remained unsolved with no clues or suspects for more than two decades.

It was stated that there was no forced entry into the mobile home in the 300 block of Boulder Street, and the rear door was left open. The bedspread she was sleeping under was also missing from the home, but there were no signs of a struggle, and her parents said they didn’t hear anything unusual.

Investigation and developments

Authorities were investigating whether Penton could also be responsible for the disappearance of Ara “Niecie” Johnson. Detective Freddie Fitzgerald said Penton allegedly mentioned Ara Johnson to fellow inmates, and he said the information brought hope to a case where hope was all but abandoned.

Upshur County Sheriff detectives said fresh information pointed to Penton as a person of interest, and Fitzgerald said they had to talk to him, adding that there was no getting around it. Upshur County Sheriff detectives were described as building a case.

Garland police detective Gary Sweet had spent seven years working cases against Penton. Sweet had interviewed Penton and some of cellmates and other young girls who Penton allegedly attempted to kidnap. Sweet described Penton as intelligent, elusive and cunning.

Sweet stated that Texas authorities were looking at Penton as a suspect in the disappearances of:

• Angelica Gandara, 11, of Temple, missing since July 14, 1985.
• Amber Nicole Crum, 2, of Dallas, missing since Dec. 26, 1983.
• Johnson.

A private investigator named Mark Harper said officials in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia and several other states were also looking at Penton as a possible person of interest.

Harper said Penton was a suspect in the abduction of 6-year-old Shannon Marie Sherrill, who was last seen in Thorntown, Ind., playing hide and seek with friends on Oct. 5, 1986.

Harper was hired by the Sherrill family to investigate the abduction after law enforcement stalled, and he said he wanted every case this monster might have been involved in solved before he died, and that he wanted closure for families.

Fitzgerald said he planned to look at Sweet’s files to prepare for a meeting with Penton, and Fitzgerald said a capital murder charge was not out of the question if she was killed after being abducted from her house against her will.

Arrest and custody

Penton fled during an appeal of his manslaughter case and began crossing the nation until he was arrested in Ohio in 1988. The record states he was apprehended in Ohio in 1988.

After Penton’s arrest in Ohio, Texas authorities learned of Penton and began their own investigation. They were interested in striking similarities between the Ohio and Texas cases, but they could not tie him to the Dallas area crimes.

Penton was extradited to Collin County, Texas in 2003 after cellmates provided new information and after a Collin County grand jury indicted him.

Plea, trial status, and sentencing

Ohio

Penton was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Ohio in 1992 for killing Nydra Ross.

Texas: plea agreement and convictions

Before a jury trial, Penton avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to the capital murder charges levied against him in Texas.

He was convicted and received three concurrent life sentences in January 2005.

It was stated that under the agreement approved Thursday, he would complete his sentence in Ohio, where he would be eligible for parole in 2027, and afterward serve three consecutive life sentences in Texas.

Appeals

The record referenced an appeal in the Bell County manslaughter case where Penton fled.

Statements in interview (verbatim quotes)

During the Toledo Correctional Institution interview, Penton greeted the interviewer and stated:

“Nice to meet you, I am David Penton.”

He described the interview as exclusive:

“This is the first interview I have ever given, so yes this is an exclusive,”

and said:

“I got to thinking about your request and thought maybe it’s time I told my side of the story.”

When asked about the Ohio case he said:

“Due to the pending investigations against me I don’t want to talk about that case.”

When speaking about the Dallas-area girls he said:

“But I did not kill Roxann Reyes, Christie Proctor or Christie Meeks. I only signed the plea agreements because I would be sitting on death row right now in Texas, and here I might have a chance that someone will listen to me.”

He also stated:

“If I had been on the jury if the Texas cases went to trial I would have convicted myself. It was in Collin County, which is a conservative county, and those people would have sent me to death row.”

When Penton was asked about whether he would fight new charges or sign another plea, he replied:

“Do you know the date (of the crime)?”

He added:

“I’m going to trial in the Indiana case regardless, and if they put me on death row then so be it, because I’m better off on death row because someone will listen to me. It’s so frustrating that I want to bang my head, because no one listens to me.”

On denial of being a monster he said loudly:

“I’m not a monster, though I have been called a monster. But I didn’t go around the country killing little kids. You can either accept that or not,”

and said:

“They (the authorities) are working with each other just to clear up cases and I’m in prison and I can’t get out there to clear up my name. Who is going to believe a man convicted of a child murder?”

On solicitation of prostitutes and illegal narcotics he said:

“I’m not going to lie. I was with a lot of prostitutes and some of them could have been underage,”

and:

“But I didn’t fancy little kids like the cops say. It wasn’t so much that I fancied the age as it was about the cleanliness. I mean there were a lot of diseases out there.”

When he said he was not a fugitive when caught he said:

“I was not even a fugitive from justice when they caught me,”

When asked about whether he would fight new charges he also said:

“I’m going to call somebody and tell them everything so I will have a clear conscience.”

When asked whether there would be more than what he had already said he replied:

“No. No more than what you know already. Accept it or reject it — that is up to you.”

When asked what he would be when someone writes the next book he said:

“Oh, absolutely.”

When asked why he was not concerned he said:

“Because there is nothing I can do about it. I’m just a monster, a hideous idiot, a demon from hell that goes around the country killing little kids, and I’ve been labeled that and no one listens to me.”

Additional interview excerpts (verbatim Q&A)

The interview included the following exchanges:

KD: Did you ever rape, try to kidnap, or fantasize about kidnapping little girls? DP: “I’ve already told you no. Here’s the thing: If I did it, then I’d tell you I did it.”

KD: Did you rape and murder Nydra Ross? (Penton was convicted of the murder in Ohio.) DP: “I’m not going to comment on that.”

KD: Why not? You just said you would tell me. DP: “Look, I have 400 agencies investigating me right now, so they’re going to come up and say, “Well, he confessed to this and confessed to that, and let’s just go ahead and bank him.””

KD: So you are saying all these agencies involved and all these people including the Federal Bureau of Investigation have got a conspiracy to keep David Penton behind bars and pin all these cases on him? DP: “Yes. Let me tell you what the FBI told me. They said they were going to remain neutral in the Texas cases. How can they remain neutral? If I did it, then I did it; if I didn’t, then I didn’t.”

KD: Have you ever bragged about killing kids? (Former cellmates have told authorities Penton has bragged about killing at least 50 children.) DP: “Why would I go around here bragging about killing kids? I don’t have to brag about killing so other inmates will leave me alone. I’d just pick up a mop handle and bop them in the head.”

KD: Did you kill Christie Proctor, Christi Meeks or Roxann Reyes? (In 2005, Penton pleaded guilty to capital murder in these three cases.) DP: “No, I did not.”

KD: Did you kill any other kids? DP: “No, I have told you, I didn’t go around killing kids.”

KD: So you are telling me that you have never killed any children, including Nydra Ross? DP: “I didn’t say that. What I’m saying is if I did it, then it did it, and I said I’m not talking about the Ross case.”

KD: But by your admission, through pleading guilty to the Reyes, Meeks and Proctor cases and your two previous convictions, you have killed five kids, right? DP: “Correct.”

KD: Have you ever been to East Texas? DP: “Yes, I have been through there several times. I lived in Texas for five years, but I didn’t know anyone there.”

KD: Where were you on April 2, 1986? DP: “Was that a weekday or a weekend? Because if it was a weekday, I was working in Ohio, and a lot of times I worked on weekends. But yes, I was in Texas in the 1980s. I was stationed there.”

KD: If you are getting that needle in your arm, are you finally going to say… DP: “I’m going to tell them what I’ve done in life before they put that needle in my arm.

KD: Will it be a lot more than what you are saying you have done? DP: “No. No more than what you know already. Accept it or reject it — that is up to you.”

KD: When someone sits down and writes the next book about serial killers, will your name be at the top of the page? DP: “Oh, absolutely.”

KD: Does that give you cause for concern? DP: “No.”

KD: Why not? DP: “Because there is nothing I can do about it. I’m just a monster, a hideous idiot, a demon from hell that goes around the country killing little kids, and I’ve been labeled that and no one listens to me.”

Quotations by officials, investigators, attorneys (verbatim)

Upshur County Sheriff detective Freddie Fitzgerald said:

“We have to talk to him - there is no getting around it,”

and:

“We have to err on the side of caution, but this information brings hope to a case where hope was all but abandoned.”

Upshur County sheriff detective Freddie Fitzgerald also said:

“From the information we are getting we definitely need to talk to him (Penton),”

and:

Lt. David Dickerson said:

“That really interests me because who has ever heard of Big Sandy? And he was in Texas about the same time as her disappearance.”

Gary Sweet was quoted as saying:

“He won’t come right out and admit the crimes, but the inmates all had specific information about each missing girl,”

and:

“He (Penton) has made claims to killing more than 50 children across the states,”

and:

“I personally believe the actual number is between 25 and 30.”

Sweet said:

“It’s my belief that Penton is their guy,”

and:

“I feel pretty certain he is responsible for Ara’s abduction.”

Fitzgerald was quoted:

“Before we go up there to talk to him, we want to make sure we have all the information available to know how to question this individual,”

and:

“It is definitely a possibility because she was abducted out of her house, against her will and if she was killed then it would be a capital murder case,”

and said:

“We will not forget the killer, we will not forget the crime and we will not forget the victims.”

Collin County District Attorney John Roach said:

“The acceptance and prosecution of these cases will serve as a notice to anyone who would abduct and murder our children that we will not forget,”

and:

The interview also included statements from other quoted individuals during the Texas plea discussion:

• Tamela Lopez said:

• Mike Meeks said:

• Edwin King said:

• Gregg Gibbs said:

• Howard Sherrill said:

• Howard Sherrill also added:

• Roxann’s mother, Tamela Lopez, said:

• Laura Proctor said:

• Attorney Edwin King said, when asked about admission versus saving his life:

• Mike Meeks said:

• Greg Davis said:

• Prosecutor Mr. Davis also said:

• Bill Hobson said:

• His attorney Gregg Gibbs said:

• Sweet also said:

“What case can you work that is more important that a child abduction and murder?” “I am a parent and this is a parent’s worst nightmare.”

“In my opinion, he'll never see the ground in Ohio, much less Texas.”

“It's kind of a quiet satisfaction in knowing that we've pursued this thing for so many years and here's a successful conclusion,” “There's still a lot of emotion in this case. But part of me feels that, 'OK, Christi, you can rest easy now.'”

“I think David Penton's confession was honest and "that he killed all three of these murdered girls."”

“I think David Penton was very deserving of the death penalty,” “His crimes were heinous.”

“From what I got today, a guy can plead to anything,” “He wants to save himself from being killed. I'm not even sure at this point that he did it.”

“That's between God, Mr. Penton and three little girls.”

“He can harm no other child. Essentially, he'll die in jail,”

“I won’t ever forgive him,” “but I know she has. I'm just glad he won't be able to hurt another.”

“He added that he was consoled by the idea that Mr. Penton will likely never be free. ”

“there is some sense of closure. I personally would have preferred the death penalty.”

“not rock solid, not bulletproof”

“The plea agreement was a “fair resolution” and called the state's evidence against Mr. Penton "very thin."”

“For 18 months, I've been told this man was going to die. I was told from day one that this was a death penalty case,” “They [prosecutors] are taking the easy way out, in my opinion.”

“The man is a devil. He has no soul. He has no heart,”

Other details

Penton wore a gray prison uniform with inmate number A245242 during the interview.

The interview was conducted without bars, glass barrier, chains, or handcuffs, and without guards present in the medium-sized room with the Ohio State Seal on one wall.

Penton was described as admitting he had signed plea agreements in the murders of Dallas area girls, including Christie Proctor, Christi Meeks and Roxann Reyes, and as admitting to pleading guilty to the violent shaking death of his 2-month-old son Michael James Penton in November 1984.

Authorities described him as claiming to fellow cellmates abducting and killing at least 50 children.

Penton contradicted himself numerous times in the interview, and his moods changed quickly, at times becoming red-faced with anger, tearing up, and then sneering or laughing.