Clyde Edwin Hedrick, linked to the Texas Killing Fields cases, died on parole Saturday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
HOUSTON — Clyde Edwin Hedrick, 72, the man long linked to the Texas Killing Fields murders, died while on parole, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed.
Hedrick passed away around 2 p.m. Saturday at a Houston hospital, according to TDCJ officials. He had been released from prison under the state’s Super Intensive Supervision program after serving eight years of a 20-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Ellen Beason, one of the victims found in the remote area south of Houston known as the Texas Killing Fields.
Hedrick was never charged in the deaths of other women found in the area, including 16-year-old Laura Miller, whose murder in the late 1970s sparked a decades-long search for justice. After Laura’s death, her father, Tim Miller, founded Texas EquuSearch to help families of missing persons and dedicated much of his life to seeking answers in these cold cases.
In recent years, Miller had fought to keep Hedrick under the Super Intensive Supervision program, which included GPS monitoring and strict oversight, amid concerns for public safety. Hedrick’s parole terms had been under periodic review by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
We spoke with Miller about Hendrick’s death, who said the case is far from over. He told KHOU 11’s Anayeli Ruiz that a lot of information about the case is yet to come out. He also told us it’s inexcusable that it went on this long.
Miller acknowledged that Hedrick was sick, and while he knows Hedrick can no longer harm anyone, he lamented that families will never know the full truth about what happened to their loved ones.
He also revealed that an investigator had just spoken with Hedrick a day before he died. “I hope the case continues to move forward,” Miller said. “Even with his death, I hope authorities can still prove what I believe — that Clyde was responsible for my daughter and the deaths of other girls.”
Hedrick’s death marks the end of a long chapter in one of the most notorious murder cases in the Houston area. While he was convicted for the death of Beason, the other killings in the Texas Killing Fields remain officially unsolved.
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