O’HAIR MYSTERY THICKENS

Officials are for the first time saying that noted atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair is dead. O’Hair vanished in August 1995 from her home in Austin, Texas, along with her son Jon Garth Murray, and granddaughter Robin Murray — whom she had adopted. Also missing was $500,000 in gold coins. There is suspicion that the three were murdered by several men, including David Waters, O’Hair’s former office manager, in an effort to steal more than a half million dollars from an organization headed by O’Hair.

The Internal Revenue Service announced its findings based upon several pieces of circumstantial evidence and from information from confidential sources. Officials believe the bodies of O’Hair and her two family members were placed in barrels and buried on a ranch near San Antonio. However, two searches of the property by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents yielded neither the barrels nor the remains. Waters has not been formally charged with murder in connection with the disappearances.

Waters, a murder convict, is on probation for embezzling over $50,000 from O’Hair’s atheist organizations for which he worked in 1993 and 1994. The IRS also named Danny Fry in the conspiracy. Fry’s dismembered body was found in Texas two days after the O’Hair family’s disappearance.

A third man, Gary Karr, a former cellmate of Waters, who is currently in a Detroit prison, is said to have confessed to his participation in the murders of O’Hair and her family. However, a news article in the Dallas Observer disputes that claim. “Karr’s lawyer attacked this and other FBI statements about Karr implicating himself in four Texas homicides as exaggerations of the record,” the Dallas newspaper reported. A fourth person also was named, but his suspected involvement in the murders was not detailed.

Waters, in an affidavit, also challenges the conclusions of the government authorities. “One fact that seems to have gotten lost in all this is that the O’Hairs have been sighted dozens of times since 1995. Considering the number of sightings involved and the odds against them all being cases of mistaken identity, I think it is more likely that the O’Hairs are alive and well and enjoying this immensely,” Waters wrote in his declaration.

—MKG

© 1999 - PFO. All rights reserved by Personal Freedom Outreach. This article may not be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission. Reproduction is prohibited, except for portions intended for personal use and non-commercial purposes. For reproduction permission contact: Personal Freedom Outreach, P.O. Box 26062, Saint Louis, Missouri 63136.