Post by Joanna on Apr 21, 2015 18:11:47 GMT -5
Who Killed Elsa Nickell?
PANHANDLE, Tex. – Sprawled across the bed, the petite 24-year-old brunette lay lifeless, her radio playing on that hot summer day. There were visible bruises on her face and neck. In the kitchen were two unwashed wine glasses. Life would never be the same for many in Panhandle after Sunday, July 13, 1969.
Just the day before, Panhandle Police Chief Sam Teague had dropped by Elsa Romo Nickell’s home at 610 Maple Street to pick up his sons, Sam and Dan, and chatted with Elsa briefly while the boys finished mowing her lawn. As always, she offered them an ice cold Coca-Cola and a piece of candy. Teague had no inkling of the events that would transpire just hours later.
Elsa was a well-liked 24-year-old secretary who worked for Panhandle attorney Marshall Sherwood. Just four days before her death, she had started paperwork to file for divorce from Bill Nickell, her husband of nearly six years.
Elsa’s younger brother, Jesse Romo, came by twice that Sunday to check on his sister and the second time walked around to the back. The screen was latched, but the back door was open. There was no answer when he called her name, so Jesse cut the screen and went inside. There, to his horror, his sister lay dead, a pillow covering her face.
Carson County Sheriff John Nunn was the first to arrive on the scene. When he arrived, well-meaning neighbors had already cleaned up Elsa, changed her gown and the bedding and vacuumed the floor, not wanting her to be seen or photographed in the condition in which she was found. One woman washed the two wine glasses that had been left on the kitchen counter.
Teague, who was visiting his sister and brother-in law, arrived at the scene a few hours later. He was upset when he discovered the scene had been compromised and evidence destroyed. Prior to moving to Panhandle, Teague had worked for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado, west of Denver. The county was known to have the best solved murder rate in the US at that time. He knew what needed to be done to preserve a crime scene and gather evidence. It had been many years since there had been a murder in Panhandle, and protocol for handling a murder scene had not been followed.
Teague investigated as best as he could under the circumstances. A few hairs were discovered, so he went about fingerprinting and taking hair samples from anyone who could have possibly had a motive. Polygraph tests were administered. Bill Nickell, initially a suspect, was cleared of any involvement in the crime by the first test.
Some witnesses claimed to have seen a black car with “lots of chrome” in the driveway the night Mrs. Nickell was murdered. There was also a mysterious woman identified simply as “Mrs. G,” who wrote a letter. Police finally tracked her down and she provided some pertinent information, but it was not enough to crack the case.
The homicide shook the small town to its core. There were numerous break-ins, prowlers and scares that left everyone on edge. After many months of fear, an additional police officer was hired and lighting was added to dark streets, but the case grew cold. A disheartened Teague moved on to another job in another town.
According to Diane Teague Isch, Teague’s daughter, it was something he carried with him for the remainder of his life. “Dad said he was pretty sure it was one of two people who committed the crime, but wouldn’t tell anyone who the two people were,” she said. “He even said he was pretty sure which of the two was guilty, but there was nothing he could do about it.” Isch also said an FBI agent interviewed her father in the mid-1980s about the case, “but he still wouldn’t tell any of us what transpired.”
The Nickells bought the house at 610 Maple early in 1969. After Elsa and Bill separated, she was known for her work at the Children’s Home, where she would make arrangements to take one or two girls home for the weekend, so she could cook and make things for them.
Sheryl Sherwood Oliver, Marshall Sherwood’s daughter, remembered Elsa fondly. “I remember how much she loved and doted on me,” she said. “We would bake cookies. I thought she was so beautiful and she wore the most fashionable shoes. As a 4-year-old, my mother’s shoes were way too big for me, but Elsa’s fit me perfectly.” She also remembered how devastated her dad was when he was considered a suspect. A polygraph cleared him – he “passed with flying colors,” she insisted.
Oliver also remembered her dad taking the family to Amarillo the day Elsa was killed. They bought a bucket of chicken and had a picnic on the walking bridge at Amarillo College, where her father nervously stared all around for a very long time. She found out later it was because he thought someone might be after him. As a child, she never quite knew what became of Elsa, but when Oliver brought mentioned her one evening at dinner when she was in her teens, her father finally told her what happened. Her parents spoke fondly of Elsa and were heartbroken that her murder was never solved. Oliver said Elsa was one person who had a great impact on her – in life as well as in death.
In 2013, a person came forward and the Panhandle Police Department and Carson County Sheriff’s office were provided some previously unknown information on the 44-year-old case and they reopened the unsolved murder. Sheriff Loren Brand said he and Police Chief Sace Hardman have made some progress toward solving the crime. “We’ve had success in locating potential witnesses or sources of information from 1969 and have finally been able to establish both motive and opportunity concerning the murder of Elsa Nickell,” Brand said. “We needed to establish why anyone would want to kill the victim, who may have wanted Elsa Nickell dead, and also who would have had the opportunity to commit the crime. “Chief Hardman and I feel that we’ve been able to find a lot of pieces to an old puzzle, but we still have a long way to go,” he said.
If you have any information, even if you feel it is insignificant, call Brand at 806-537-3511, Hardman at 806-537-3225, or contact Amarillo Crime Stoppers at 806-374-4400.
Source: Margie Braidfoot, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, April 6, 2015.
