I ended my story about Johnny Meadows, Odessa’s 1971 serial killer, by telling you he got a 99-year-to-life sentence for the murder of Gloria Sue Nix Green, that he died in prison in Polk County during 2000, and was buried in the Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery at Huntsville, Walker County, Texas.
(If you missed the first part of the story, you can hop over to it on Facebook here: or on this blog here.)
No sooner than I had posted that article on Facebook did I learn that there was another chapter to write. Johnny Meadows, the Odessa Serial Killer, is like a gift that just keeps on giving.
Johnny Meadows in 1971
Meadows had been convicted of first degree murder for killing oilfield service company dispatcher, Gloria Sue Nix Green. He had also confessed to the murders of three more women killed or missing in the area in 1972 during the two-year period when Texas had shelved the death penalty. Later, he confessed to more of the murders for a total of seven, and law enforcement believed there were four more murders he was responsible for in Ector or surrounding counties. As it turned out, the common denominator among all eleven women who had disappeared or been murdered around Odessa was Johnny Meadows. He knew each of them or they had crossed paths with Meadows at some point before their deaths.
This information was a part of Meadows’ prison record. Even so, after serving only 18 years of his sentence, the Parole Board decided to let Johnny Meadows out on parole.
Perhaps certain factors caused his early release, like the swelling prison population, and because prison authorities still felt the sting of the Ruiz v. Estelle lawsuit which found Texas prisons to be overcrowded and inhumane. Therefore, in 1990, reducing overcrowding in prisons was a prime objective that played a role in encouraging parole and early release.
Meadows in 1983 (age 46)
Johnny Meadows gained his freedom in 1990 and he was paroled directly to Harris County and hired by a Houston attorney. During the 18 years spent in prison, Meadows had learned a great deal about legal procedures and documentation relating to criminal proceedings. The record is unclear about what type of work Meadows was doing for the attorney, except that he was a “clerk,” and he was provided a set of keys to the office during his employment.
On the morning of June 7, 1993, 58-year-old Johnny Meadows was dressed in business clothes and sported a neatly trimmed beard as he mixed with others conducting business in the Harris County Courthouse. Meadows may have been there to file motions for his boss, or he could have been there watching court proceedings while killing time, but most likely, he was there to troll for a victim. Soon, he came upon a hearing in progress, during which a distraught woman (age 36) was ordered to pay for a hot check she had written plus court costs. The judge told her it had to be paid by a certain date, and if she didn’t take care of it, a warrant for her arrest would be issued. The woman left the courtroom in tears because she had no job and no money to pay back the funds she owed, much less the court costs.
Meadows caught up with the woman and told her not to worry, he could fix the problem. He told her he was an attorney, and she should come by his office after 5:00 that for “orientation.” If all went well, Meadows said he would put her to work so she could get back on her feet.
When the woman showed up at the office, Meadows told her to perform a few tasks on the computer. And then, things turned very bad for this poor woman.
Meadows and another man named Patrick Barbree attacked and raped her, but, thankfully, she left with her life. Four days later, Meadows was at a Houston law school where he approached a woman. He told her he was an attorney and would like to interview her for a job. This time, however, he had the victim meet him in a parking lot where there were woods nearby and he pretended he had a gun in his pocket, took her into the woods, and raped her. This victim escaped with her life as well.
When Meadows was arrested, he had received letterhead and business cards stating his name and “Counselor at Law.” The cards and letterhead were imprinted with a fake phone number and non-existent address. Police investigators believed Meadows had been pretending to be an attorney and charging for legal services.
Johnny Meadows was tried and convicted for the attack and rape that took place in the law office, but not the other event, to my knowledge.
Patrick Barbree was a convenience store worker who Meadows had visited with earlier, before the woman showed up. I get the impression Meadows charged Barbree a fee to come and have his turn with the woman, which Barbree did.
Barbree received a lighter sentence because he testified against Meadows.
Meadows was sentenced to life and was not paroled again; he died in prison five years later.
SOURCES
- Robert Stanton, “Convicted Killer Gets Life in Sex Assault,” January 12, 1995, Houston Post.
- Jennifer Librum, “Rapist who posed as lawyer gets life term,” January 12, 1995, Houston Chronicle.