Kathy Pinna
Youth Committed In Mutilation Deaths . . .
. . . Due Release Without Criminal Record
HOUSTON (UPI) - Lawrence Strempel, 16, committed to a state reform school in connection with the mutilation slayings of two young brothers, will be eligible for release in two years and will not have a criminal record, according to a Harris County prosecutor. Max Carlson, chief of the district attorney's juvenile division, said Tuesday the state sough to have Strempel certified as an adult for trial but a statement he gave in the case, the principal evidence, was given without his attorney being present. "You cannot use a juvenile's confession unless his lawyer is present" Carlson said. "We can't have a lawyer in the squad cars. Without the confession we didn't have enough to certify him or try him."
After having stipulated the evidence in the case, a procedure similar to a guilty plea in an adult case, Strempel was committed to the Texas Youth Council and sent to the Mountainview State School near Gatesville, Texas. He was committed for his connection with the deaths of Ronald Elliot, 12, and Kenneth Elliott, 11. Ronald's body was found near his north Harris County home November 20, 1973. He had been beaten and castrated. Kenneth's decapitated body was found in the same area May 8. Ron Jackson TYC executive director, said Strempel will be released when he becomes 18 because the council will have no further jurisdiction over him. Normally a juvenile male aged 10 to 17 is tried in juvenile court, however, can order a case transferred to criminal district court and a minor can be tried as an adult, Carlson said.
A judge can order a case transferred if the suspect is accused of violating a felony penal law, if her more than 15 at the time of the offense, or if the court determines the offense is serious enough to warrant transfer. Before this happens, the state must show there is probable cause the juvenile committed the offense. Like an adult given a probated sentence, Strempel will have not criminal record when he is released from TYC control. He will have only a juvenile record which is sealed and can be opened only by order of a juvenile court judge.
- The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Texas) Wednesday, December 18, 1974 on page 10.
HOUSTON (UPI) - Lawrence Strempel, 16, committed to a state reform school in connection with the mutilation slayings of two young brothers, will be eligible for release in two years and will not have a criminal record, according to a Harris County prosecutor. Max Carlson, chief of the district attorney's juvenile division, said Tuesday the state sough to have Strempel certified as an adult for trial but a statement he gave in the case, the principal evidence, was given without his attorney being present. "You cannot use a juvenile's confession unless his lawyer is present" Carlson said. "We can't have a lawyer in the squad cars. Without the confession we didn't have enough to certify him or try him."
After having stipulated the evidence in the case, a procedure similar to a guilty plea in an adult case, Strempel was committed to the Texas Youth Council and sent to the Mountainview State School near Gatesville, Texas. He was committed for his connection with the deaths of Ronald Elliot, 12, and Kenneth Elliott, 11. Ronald's body was found near his north Harris County home November 20, 1973. He had been beaten and castrated. Kenneth's decapitated body was found in the same area May 8. Ron Jackson TYC executive director, said Strempel will be released when he becomes 18 because the council will have no further jurisdiction over him. Normally a juvenile male aged 10 to 17 is tried in juvenile court, however, can order a case transferred to criminal district court and a minor can be tried as an adult, Carlson said.
A judge can order a case transferred if the suspect is accused of violating a felony penal law, if her more than 15 at the time of the offense, or if the court determines the offense is serious enough to warrant transfer. Before this happens, the state must show there is probable cause the juvenile committed the offense. Like an adult given a probated sentence, Strempel will have not criminal record when he is released from TYC control. He will have only a juvenile record which is sealed and can be opened only by order of a juvenile court judge.
- The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Texas) Wednesday, December 18, 1974 on page 10.
