Faryion Wardrip

Identification

• Name: Faryion Wardrip
• TDCJ Number: 999331
• Full name: Wardrip, Faryion Edward
• Date of birth: 03/06/1959
• Gender: Male
• Race: White
• Hair color: Brown
• Height: 6' 5"
• Eye color: Blue
• Native county/state: Native, Washington Indiana
• Native county (as listed): Native

Timeline

• 12/21/1984 — Wardrip committed Burglary of Habitation and Murder at the home of a white female in Denton County (on change of venue from Wichita).
• 12/11/1997 — Released on mandatory supervision.
• 11/09/1999 — Received in case file (Age 40) and related proceedings referenced.
• 11/05/1999 — Appellant was convicted of capital murder.
• 10/03/2001 — Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas delivered its opinion affirming the judgment.
• 2010 — Overturned on appeal; death sentence overturned in 2010.

Background

Wardrip had been on a 35-year sentence from Wichita County for 1 count of murder involving the subject beating and suffocating a 21-year old female. He was released on parole in 1997 and had remarried, taken a job working for a screen and door factory, and became a regular churchgoer, including teaching Sunday school to children at Hamilton Street Church of Christ in his hometown of Olney.

The offence

On 12/21/1984, Wardrip committed Burglary of Habitation and Murder at the home of a white female in Denton County (on change of venue from Wichita). Wardrip used a knife to stab the victim to death after gaining entry. He admitted that on that evening he had been “screaming at the stars” while walking sleeplessly in a residential area in Wichita Falls, Texas. The victim came outside to observe the commotion, which alerted Wardrip to her presence.

Wardrip charged at the victim, who closed the door; however, Wardrip broke the door down. Once inside, he killed the victim for no apparent reason (other than a fit of rage).

Wardrip pleaded guilty after DNA evidence linked him to the murder of the victim as well as three other women.

Victims

Victim 1: Terry Lee Sims

• Victim name: Terry Lee Sims
• Victim type: college student; education major and health care worker
• Age: not stated in the provided material
• Place: found in a friend's bathroom; Wichita Falls; Texas
• Date found: Dec. 20, 1984
• Body details described:
  • The victim was found lying naked on her left side in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor.
  • Her hands were bound tightly behind her back with part of an extension cord tied in four knots.
  • Her body was covered in blood; blood was splattered on the bathroom walls and floor.
  • The living room and front bedroom were in disarray.
  • Blood stains were on the bed sheets and the floor in the front bedroom.
  • Sims’ bloodstained clothes were on the floor in the living room and front bedroom.

Victim 2: Toni Gibbs

• Victim name: Toni Gibbs
• Victim type: nurse
• Place: found in a field in Archer County, near the Wichita County line
• Date found: February 15, 1985
• Body details described:
  • Nude body found in a field in Archer County.
  • Three stab wounds on her back, three stab wounds on her chest, and two defensive wounds on her left forearm and thumb.
• Connection described: Wardrip had known Gibbs because she was a nurse at the hospital where he worked as a janitor.

Victim 3: Debra Taylor

• Victim name: Debra Taylor
• Victim type: Fort Worth homemaker
• Age: 25-year-old (as stated)
• Place: found in a grove of trees; later described as her body found in a field in Fort Worth
• Date found: March 29, 1985
• Cause described: death caused by manual strangulation; blunt-force injuries to her head and face were also described.
• Sexual assault: the medical examiner was unable to determine whether or not Taylor had been sexually assaulted.

Victim 4: Ellen Blau

• Victim name: Ellen Blau
• Victim type: 21-year-old Midwestern State University student
• Age: 21-year-old (as stated)
• Place: found in a field in Wichita County on October 10, 1985
• Cause described: cause of death was “undetermined homicidal violence.”
• Conduct described: Wardrip admitted in his statement that he abducted Blau from a parking lot and forced her to drive down a dirt road; he took her to a field and stripped off her clothes; he did not recall if he raped her; he did not remember how she died.

Victim 5: Tina Kimbrew

• Victim name: Tina Kimbrew
• Victim type: waitress
• Age: 21-year-old (as stated)
• Place: her ransacked apartment in Wichita Falls; body found on the floor of her apartment
• Date found: May 6, 1986
• Body details described:
  • Numerous bruises on her face, neck, and legs.
  • Her nightgown was pulled up above her waist and her underwear was on the floor near her body; however, there was no evidence of recent sexual activity.
  • The doctor who performed the autopsy concluded that Kimbrew was smothered to death.

Investigation

The murders were linked through DNA analysis.

• A county road crew employee found Blau’s body in a field in Wichita County on October 10, 1985.
• Wichita County District Attorney Barry Macha told APB News that Wardrip admitted he killed Terry Lee Sims in 1984 and three other women in 1985.
• Macha also said Wardrip admitted strangling 25-year-old Fort Worth homemaker Debra Taylor, whose body was found in a grove of trees on March 29, 1985, five days after she disappeared.
• Wichita County District Attorney Barry Macha said:
  • “I do expect more re-examination of those files,”
  • “I do expect more re-examination of those files,” (same quote appears as repeated in the material)
  • “Police had been looking at different suspects in all the cases,”
  • “After two suspects were cleared by DNA in the Sims and Gibbs cases all bets were off. I knew we had to start from scratch and see if these cases were related.”
• The APB News report described “old-fashioned police work” and modern DNA analysis.

A detective was sent to where Wardrip worked:

• Wardrip tossed a used coffee cup into a waste basket, which a detective retrieved.
• DNA from Wardrip’s saliva on the cup matched DNA found on Sims and Gibbs, according to Barry Macha.
• In the opinion portion, John Little, an investigator for the Wichita County District Attorney’s Office, began investigating Wardrip as a suspect in the Sims case and obtained a saliva sample in January 1999; Wardrip had already been convicted of the murder of Tina Kimbrew and was out on parole at that time.

Arrest

Wardrip confessed after police responded to a call:

• After Kimbrew’s murder, Wardrip traveled to Galveston, checked into a beachfront hotel, and called the police threatening to commit suicide. He confessed to the murder after the Galveston police responded to his call.

Trial

Offences and plea/conviction referenced

Wardrip was convicted of capital murder after proceedings described as:

• Appellant was convicted on November 5, 1999.
• The legal citation referenced Tex. Penal Code Ann. 19.03(a)(2).

Wardrip pleaded guilty to the capital murder of Terry Sims. The State presented evidence of the offense during the punishment phase.

Evidence described for punishment phase (Sims)

Leza Boone, Sims' friend and co-worker, testified about Sims’ movements:

• Boone and Sims finished working at Bethania Hospital at approximately 11:15 p.m. on the night of December 20, 1984.
• They planned to exchange Christmas gifts at the home of a friend after work, and Sims was to stay at Boone's residence to help her study for her final exam the following day.
• Boone was unexpectedly called to return to the hospital to work the next shift, and she drove Sims to Boone's residence after the Christmas gift exchange.
• Boone dropped Sims off at approximately 12:30 a.m. on December 21, 1984.
• Boone finished her shift at the hospital at approximately 7:15 a.m. and returned to her residence.
• Sims did not answer the door; Boone obtained a key from her landlord who lived two doors down.
• Boone opened the door and noticed that the living room was in disarray.
• Boone yelled Sims’ name and Sims did not respond; Boone ran back to her landlord's residence and told him something was wrong.
• The landlord then entered Boone’s residence and discovered Sims’ dead body.

Dr. Allen Stilwell, forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Sims’ body, testified:

• Sims had eight stab wounds on the front of her chest, three stab wounds on the right side of her back, one stab wound on her left upper arm, and defensive cuts on her hands and fingers.
• Stilwell believed most stab wounds were sustained after the assailant tied her hands behind her back.
• Stilwell testified about bruises on the bridge of her nose, lips, and above the left side of her cheek and eye; these bruises were consistent with being struck by a fist or falling and banging her head on the floor.
• Stilwell testified Sims had additional “tease wounds” inflicted to get her attention.

Forensic findings:

• At least one stab wound caused hemorrhaging when it punctured a major artery, and other stab wounds caused her lungs to collapse, which prevented her from breathing.
• Sims probably died from these injuries within two to four minutes after they were inflicted.
• Forensic test results showed the presence of sperm on the oral and vaginal swabs taken from Sims’ body.
• DNA testing of Wardrip’s blood and saliva samples revealed Wardrip was the only individual who could have contributed the sperm found on Sims’ oral swab.
• Wardrip’s fingerprints matched a bloody fingerprint found on Sims’ tennis shoe.

Wardrip’s statement after his arrest:

• He claimed he was under the influence of “heavy drugs” on the night he murdered Sims.
• He stated he was out walking when he saw Sims.
• He forced his way into the residence and “just ransacked her, just slung her all over the house in a violent rage.”
• He remembered “stripping her down out of anger,” tying her hands behind her back, and stabbing her with a knife, but he did not recall having sex with her.
• He could not remember whether he brought the knife with him or what he did with the knife after he committed the murder.
• He stated that he was “mad at the world” and that his drinking and drug abuse caused him to be paranoid and to have violent outbursts.
• He had the urge to “lash out” at two or three people that evening, but he acted on his urge when he encountered Sims.

Sentencing

The trial judge sentenced Wardrip to death pursuant to the jury’s answers to special issues set forth in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 37.0711.

Deliberateness special issue

Wardrip raised two points of error challenging sufficiency of evidence at the punishment phase. On deliberateness, the court addressed whether the conduct causing death was committed deliberately and with reasonable expectation that death would result. The court held the evidence was sufficient and overruled the point of error.

Future dangerousness special issue

Wardrip also challenged the sufficiency supporting an affirmative answer to the future dangerousness special issue.

In the future-dangerousness discussion, the opinion described admitted murders of four more women in the two years following the murder of Terry Sims, and described evidence for each victim as follows:

• Toni Gibbs: encountered at about six o’clock in the morning, offered a ride, started seeing images of hatred and anger, “started seeing images of hatred and anger” after he got in her car, began “slinging” her around in the car and screaming, forced her to drive down a dirt road, removed her clothing and stabbed her; he did not recall if he had sex with her; left in her car and abandoned it on a street off the side of the freeway.
• Debra Taylor: body found in a field in Fort Worth on March 29, 1985; death caused by manual strangulation; the medical examiner was unable to determine whether she had been sexually assaulted; Wardrip admitted strangling Taylor to death behind a Fort Worth nightclub and disposing of her body in the field.
• Ellen Blau: abducted from a parking lot and forced her to drive down a dirt road; taken to a field; stripped off her clothes; he did not recall if he raped her; he did not remember how she died; stated: “She probably broke her neck because I was slinging her.”
• Tina Kimbrew: body found on the floor of her ransacked apartment in Wichita Falls on May 6, 1986; Kimbrew smothered to death; Wardrip confessed shortly thereafter; he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to thirty-five years; he was released on parole in 1997.

Additional evidence in future dangerousness discussion included:

• A penitentiary packet showing Wardrip’s 1986 conviction and thirty-five year sentence for the murder of Tina Kimbrew.
• Prison disciplinary records showing he was disciplined for creating a disturbance and fighting without a weapon.
• Evidence that Wardrip dropped out of school in the twelfth grade.
• Evidence he was discharged from the Army National Guard after six years due to conduct and willful absences.

Appeals

Wardrip filed a direct appeal. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals addressed the two points of error and affirmed the judgment of the trial court.

• The opinion stated it was delivered October 3, 2001, and it was en banc.
• The opinion text stated:
  • “We will affirm.”
  • “Hence, we hold that the deliberateness special issue may be reviewed for factual sufficiency using the Clewis standard.”
  • “Appellant's first point of error is overruled.”
  • “We affirm the judgment of the trial court.”

Outcome

After resentencing history:

• Wardrip had a death sentence imposed on November 9, 1999.
• The death sentence was overturned in 2010.
• Wardrip was resentenced to life in prison without parole.

Aftermath

The case record included information about parole and later life:

• Wardrip was released on parole in 1997 after serving 11 years of a 35-year sentence.
• He remarried and became a regular churchgoer and Sunday school teacher at Hamilton Street Church of Christ in Olney.
• Investigators used DNA comparisons in later cold-case review, including saliva from a coffee cup after sending a detective to the factory where Wardrip worked.

Other details

Prison record and prior conviction referenced

• TDCJ-ID #439572 on a 35-year sentence from Wichita County for 1 count of murder, involving beating and suffocating a 21-year old female.
• A penitentiary packet was introduced showing the 1986 conviction and thirty-five year sentence for murder of Tina Kimbrew.

Army National Guard / education evidence

• Wardrip dropped out of school in the twelfth grade.
• He was discharged from the Army National Guard after six years due to conduct and willful absences.

Notes included in the appellate opinion (facts stated within the opinion)

• It was stated that “tease wounds” were smaller wounds different than actual stab wounds because they broke the skin and went into soft tissue; one “tease wound” around Sims’ right nipple could have been indicative of some type of sexual activity.
• The opinion notes that future dangerousness review uses the legal sufficiency standard, and the deliberateness special issue may use factual sufficiency under Clewis.
• The opinion described Keeton factors as including the circumstances of the capital offense, calculated nature, forethought and deliberateness, existence of prior criminal record and severity, defendant’s age and personal circumstances, whether acting under duress or domination, psychiatric evidence, and character evidence.
• The opinion addressed Wardrip’s argument about Keeton and whether murders committed after the Sims murder could be considered, stating the Keeton list was not exhaustive and that evidence of later murders was relevant to future dangerousness.