Earlier this month District Judge Kemper S. Williams sentenced a Montana man to life in prison for the murder of Robert Dale Mooney, whose body was found in Refugio in 1985. After almost 40 years, the long arm of justice is bringing closure to the family of Mooney who lived in Zapata, Texas.
“My grandmother was never the same,” Mooney’s daughter, Kristy, said in a phone call last Friday. “After my father disappeared, my family said it was like a light went out. He was her only son.”
Kristy was 2 years old when her father went missing. She said most of her adulthood has included searching for information about her father’s case. “When Google came out, I started using it to try and find things out.”
While his body was recovered and identified in 1985, it was never released to the family and no charges were filed, according to Timothy Poynter, 24th Judicial District Attorney first assistant.
Mooney, who was 26 years old and had just received a government check, was reported missing from Zapata on August 3,1984. He was last seen in the company of two men.
Kristy said her father had offered to drive the two men to Corpus Christi because he was going there anyway to pick up a check. On the morning of August 3, her father dropped her off with her grandmother, who saw him leave in the company of the two men.
“She was the last person to see my dad alive,' Kristy said.
Later that month, the car owned by Mooney was found in possession of two men – Gordon Parsons and Arnold Huskey – in Panama City, Fl., where they were apprehended.
Gordon and Huskey had escaped from a Wyoming prison on July 29, and while fleeing south had caused the suffocation death of a truck driver in Oregon. The two were extradited to Oregon to stand trial for that murder.
While in Oregon custody, Huskey admitted to knowledge of Mooney’s murder.
The Texas Rangers brought him to Refugio in February 1985, where he led them to Mooney’s body. Huskey maintained that, while he was present when Parsons killed Mooney, he did not participate in the murder or the burial.
According to Poynter, despite law enforcement’s efforts, no charges were ever filed by the district attorney at the time, Wiley Cheatham. Huskey was returned to Oregon to serve out his sentence, along with Parsons.
Kristy said that in 2015 she requested her father’s case file from the district attorney. She was denied because the case had been reopened, but she never heard anything else about it.
After 35 years, Parsons was granted parole by the state of Oregon in 2020, unbeknownst to anyone in Texas. Parsons got a commercial license and drove 18-wheelers in Montana.
Only through the cu- riosity of retired Sheriff Robert Bolcik, of Refugio, did charges for Mooney’s death move forward. Kristy said in December of 2023, Bolcik was changing phones and purging old numbers. He found her number and called to see what had happened with her father’s case.
Kristy said when Bolcik learned about the lack of progress, he called Poynter to ask about the remains recovered in the 1985 investigation. Things moved comparatively quickly after Poynter took the case. The 24th Judicial District Attorney serves three counties: Refugio, Goliad and DeWitt.
On February 12, 2024, a Refugio County Grand Jury indicted Gordon Parsons and Arnold Huskey for the murder of Robert Dale Mooney, based on evidence provided by the Texas Rangers. According to the indictment, Parsons and Huskey caused Mooney’s death by striking him with a hammer.
On June 6, the Texas Rangers located and arrested Parsons in Dodson, Montana, with the assistance of the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office. Dodson residents were shocked to learn that Parsons was involved in two murders. He was extradited to Texas.
On September 11, Parsons plead guilty to the murder of Robert Dale Mooney, followed on October 10 by his sentencing to life in prison. Huskey was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the aggravated kidnapping of Mooney. He remains in custody in Oregon, serving out time on previous charges.
Kristy said that the months since Parsons was apprehended have been some of the most stressful of her life. She and her dad’s sister prepared victim impact statements to present to Parsons and the judge at sentencing.
“It was the hardest thing,” Kristy said. “I had a lot of sleepless nights. We will forever be hurt by this, but finally we can start to heal.”
“If the DA forty years ago had done his job –” Kristy paused. “We are so grateful to Tim (Poynter). He’s not one to give himself credit, but without him my dad would still be sitting on a shelf, in a box, in Refugio.”
Kristy said they had everything they needed for trial all along, it just took someone willing to do their job. “We are not happy with the way things happened. There’s no excuse for it,” she said. “But now it’s a healing time.”
Kristy also expressed gratitude to Texas Ranger Cody Lankford for his service in the case.
The DA’s press release credited the combined service of multiple agencies, including retired Sheriff Robert Bolcik, retired Sheriff Leroy Maoody, Sheriff Raul “Pinky” Gonzalez and the Texas Rangers who “righted this wrong after so many years.”
Kristy said after the sentencing she and her aunt drove to George West where her grandmother, 89-year-old Helen Marshal, lives.
“Seeing my grandmother react – it made it all worth it,” Kristy said. “A sense of relief came over her face. It made all of it – worth it.”
She said her father’s remains are being cremated and will be delivered to her grandmother by a Texas Ranger in about a month, bringing an only son home to his mom after too long a separation.
