Daniel Pinna
Patterson ex pleads guilty
Former wife of slain man admits to prior knowledge of murder plot
Lisa Dawn Urick, who knew that her ex-husband Gary (Pat) Patterson was flying off to his death when he went to El Paso in May 1997 on what he thought was an excellent career opportunity, pleaded guilty Friday to misprision of a felony.
The 35-year-old Urick, who already is serving a two-year state jail term for violating probation, faces up to three years in federal prison after her guilty plea in Waco's U.S. District Court to knowing about the plot to kill her ex-husband and not reporting it to authorities.
Urick, the mother of Patterson's 7-year-old daughter, will be sentenced in a few months by U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr., who could order her federal prison term to run consecutively with her state sentence.
Urick's father, Sam L. Urick, and his business associate, Theodore Donald Young, have been charged with arranging the 33-year-old Patterson's death by luring him to El Paso on a prospective job offer.
Federal officials have said that Young, who allegedly posed as a representative from a Fortune 500 company from Florida, picked up Patterson at the airport in El Paso and drove him to a deserted area about 20 miles east of the city, where Sam Urick reportedly was waiting to slowly beat him to death.
After federal, state and local officials tracked Young to Honduras, where Texas Rangers arrested him in August, Young told authorities where to recover Patterson's body, officials have said.
Sam Urick, who eluded authorities for several months, was arrested near Los Angeles in late July. Charges remain pending against him and Young.
Patterson, a draftsman for Brazos Environmental and Engineering Services, and Lisa Urick were married from July 1984 to October 1992. After their divorce, Lisa Urick moved with their daughter to several cities in Texas and to Louisiana, California and Alaska. She admitted in depositions that she moved so frequently to make it difficult for Patterson to have visitation with his daughter, Crystal.
She disappeared with Crystal in September 1994, forcing Patterson and his parents to hire a private investigator. He tracked them to several states, before arranging for Lisa Urick's arrest in August 1996 in Oregon on charges of interference with child custody.
In January 1995, while he was still searching for his daughter and ex-wife, Patterson returned to court and won custody of Crystal after Lisa Urick failed to show up for the hearing.
Urick was placed on probation in April 1997 and ordered to pay Patterson about $14,000 to reimburse him the cost of hiring the private investigator. Judge George Allen of Waco's 54th State District Court revoked her probation in June because she failed to pay court costs and other fees relating to her probation and sentenced her to two years in a state jail.
Court records filed Friday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston indicate that Lisa Urick reportedly helped her mother, Garlyn Urick, destroy business records that linked Sam Urick to Young after Patterson was killed.
Johnston declined comment when asked if investigators are pursuing possible charges against Garlyn Urick, who did not attend her daughter's hearing Friday.
Officials have said that Sam Urick provided support to his daughter while she was in hiding from Patterson. He also shipped trucks to Young while he was in hiding in Honduras so Young could sell them and have a means of support while he was a federal fugitive, federal and stat authorities said.
Young was convicted in a $26 million mail fraud scam in South Carolina, but did not report to prison to start serving his 51-month sentence as ordered. He had been a federal fugitive since February 1995.
Patterson's daughter has been living with his parents in Speegleville since he disappeared. D.C. and Ruby Patterson, who attended Friday's hearing with Gary Patterson's sister, Brenda, declined comment after Urick's guilty plea.
- Tommy Witherspoon Waco Tribune-Herald Saturday September 12th 1998
Lisa Dawn Urick, who knew that her ex-husband Gary (Pat) Patterson was flying off to his death when he went to El Paso in May 1997 on what he thought was an excellent career opportunity, pleaded guilty Friday to misprision of a felony.
The 35-year-old Urick, who already is serving a two-year state jail term for violating probation, faces up to three years in federal prison after her guilty plea in Waco's U.S. District Court to knowing about the plot to kill her ex-husband and not reporting it to authorities.
Urick, the mother of Patterson's 7-year-old daughter, will be sentenced in a few months by U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr., who could order her federal prison term to run consecutively with her state sentence.
Urick's father, Sam L. Urick, and his business associate, Theodore Donald Young, have been charged with arranging the 33-year-old Patterson's death by luring him to El Paso on a prospective job offer.
Federal officials have said that Young, who allegedly posed as a representative from a Fortune 500 company from Florida, picked up Patterson at the airport in El Paso and drove him to a deserted area about 20 miles east of the city, where Sam Urick reportedly was waiting to slowly beat him to death.
After federal, state and local officials tracked Young to Honduras, where Texas Rangers arrested him in August, Young told authorities where to recover Patterson's body, officials have said.
Sam Urick, who eluded authorities for several months, was arrested near Los Angeles in late July. Charges remain pending against him and Young.
Patterson, a draftsman for Brazos Environmental and Engineering Services, and Lisa Urick were married from July 1984 to October 1992. After their divorce, Lisa Urick moved with their daughter to several cities in Texas and to Louisiana, California and Alaska. She admitted in depositions that she moved so frequently to make it difficult for Patterson to have visitation with his daughter, Crystal.
She disappeared with Crystal in September 1994, forcing Patterson and his parents to hire a private investigator. He tracked them to several states, before arranging for Lisa Urick's arrest in August 1996 in Oregon on charges of interference with child custody.
In January 1995, while he was still searching for his daughter and ex-wife, Patterson returned to court and won custody of Crystal after Lisa Urick failed to show up for the hearing.
Urick was placed on probation in April 1997 and ordered to pay Patterson about $14,000 to reimburse him the cost of hiring the private investigator. Judge George Allen of Waco's 54th State District Court revoked her probation in June because she failed to pay court costs and other fees relating to her probation and sentenced her to two years in a state jail.
Court records filed Friday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston indicate that Lisa Urick reportedly helped her mother, Garlyn Urick, destroy business records that linked Sam Urick to Young after Patterson was killed.
Johnston declined comment when asked if investigators are pursuing possible charges against Garlyn Urick, who did not attend her daughter's hearing Friday.
Officials have said that Sam Urick provided support to his daughter while she was in hiding from Patterson. He also shipped trucks to Young while he was in hiding in Honduras so Young could sell them and have a means of support while he was a federal fugitive, federal and stat authorities said.
Young was convicted in a $26 million mail fraud scam in South Carolina, but did not report to prison to start serving his 51-month sentence as ordered. He had been a federal fugitive since February 1995.
Patterson's daughter has been living with his parents in Speegleville since he disappeared. D.C. and Ruby Patterson, who attended Friday's hearing with Gary Patterson's sister, Brenda, declined comment after Urick's guilty plea.
- Tommy Witherspoon Waco Tribune-Herald Saturday September 12th 1998
