Sunday, December 28, 1997
Family still waiting for justice
By TANYA EISERER / Abilene Reporter-News
Nearly a year after former Abilenian Daniel "Indio"
Nephew was killed in a gang-related shooting in Roswell, N.M.,
his ex-wife says she is still waiting for justice.
"Because of his murder, we have four kids, a grandchild
and two women who are trying to understand why this happened --
why somebody would think his life was so worthless that they would
shoot him down in the streets of Roswell," said Rose Nephew,
his ex-wife and an Abilene resident. "He was no pillar of
society. He was no saint. He may not have meant a lot to the world,
but he meant a lot to us."
Nephew, 39, also nicknamed the "Preacher Man," was
gunned down in front of his teen-aged son last New Year's Eve.
A suspect has been identified but never charged in the homicide.
Rose and her children -- Thereasa, 12; Daniel, 16; and Anna,
18 -- are frustrated by what Rose said is lack of action by the
Roswell police.
"Nothing has been handled," Rose said. "There
hasn't been any form of justice."
Roswell police detective Albert Hill said, however, he just
doesn't have the probable cause for an arrest.
Hill, who is retiring Jan. 1, said, "I'm leaving this
job with two homicides where I haven't arrested anybody. I know
who did it in both cases.
"But until somebody will get up and testify, you're up
the creek."
A checkered past
Nephew was raised on an Indian reservation in Arizona.
"He was abandoned by his mother at two (years old), and
he witnessed the murder-suicide of his grandparents at seven,"
Rose said. "Then he went into foster care."
As a young man, Nephew had many run-ins with the law, including
a stint in an Arizona prison in the late-1980s, when he became
a Christian, Rose said.
After his release, Nephew and his family moved to Abilene,
and he opened a landscaping business. A motorcycle enthusiast,
he was one of the founders of the local Harley Owners Group.
Nephew attended a local Baptist church, parking his Harley
Davidson out front as a signal to other bikers. Though he couldn't
read music, the long-haired biker wrote spiritual songs and played
guitar.
"My father practically used to run an orphanage,"
said Anna. "Anybody who had problems at home (could stay
here)."
Both Anna and Daniel remember their father could be a tough
task master. One time, they sneaked out and returned drunk. Instead
of grounding them, Nephew used a creative form of punishment to
make his point.
"We had to stay up all night cleaning," his daughter
said.
Leaving Abilene
Nephew and his son left Abilene about three years ago when
he and Rose separated. They were divorced several months before
his death, his ex-wife said.
"We had a lot of marital disagreements," Rose said.
"The love wasn't gone. We just couldn't seem to pull it together,
but that didn't change what we felt for each other. There just
isn't another person like him. He was quite a unique guy."
The father and son lived in Denver and San Angelo before ending
up in Roswell in mid-1996 when their car broke down.
Nephew and Daniel moved into an apartment near St. Peter's
Catholic Church, where he volunteered in the soup kitchen and
food pantry. He also befriended the neighborhood's gang members.
"He would take them into his home," said Rosemary
Smith, coordinator of the Good Samaritan program at the church.
"He would feed them and keep them off the street."
"He seemed like a really nice guy," Smith added.
"I knew that he had a checkered background, but he seemed
like he was trying to straighten himself out. Some people have
said he was part of (the gang activity), but I don't believe it."
Detective Hill, however, has a different perspective on Nephew's
motives.
"I think what he was doing was he was associating with
both gangs to keep his kid from getting in trouble," Hill
said. "You can't do that. There's just no in-between. He
was trying to play both ends against the middle and he lost."
A day of death
On Dec. 31 a group of gang members came to the Nephews' residence
and started making gang signs at several juveniles at the home.
Hill said that about 6 p.m. Nephew, his son and the juveniles
left the residence and began walking to a nearby New Year's Eve
party.
As the group walked through a parking lot, a gray, older-model
Riviera or Monte Carlo pulled into the lot. Witnesses told police
the vehicle was the same one that had been around the Nephew residence
earlier, Hill said.
"They pulled out the gun and pointed it at us," Daniel
said.
The car circled the block, and Nephew walked over to talk to
its occupants.
"He said, 'Man, it's New Year's,' " Daniel said.
"He said, 'Let it be a peaceful night. Go along about your
business. We don't want no trouble tonight.' "
Two men got out of the vehicle, words were exchanged, and a
fight broke out. Several gunshots were fired from inside the vehicle.
Nephew suffered several gunshot wounds to the chest area and died
at the scene, Hill said. He was the only person hit.
"My father told me that you can see the sparkle fade from
a dying person's eyes," Daniel said. "I saw that in
my father's eyes when he hit the ground. I went crazy."
Before police arrived, Daniel and a couple of his friends fled
in search of a gun.
"I wanted revenge," he said. "I knew he was
dead."
Roswell police notified one of Nephew's sisters of his death,
but not Rose Nephew because they were divorced, Hill explained.
Police also couldn't find Daniel, who later called his mother
to tell her of his father's death. Rose and Raelene Blair, the
mother of Nephew's three-year-old son, Donovan, rushed to Roswell
and found him at the Nephew residence.
"I believe Daniel and his friends acted out of fear, anger
and confusion," Rose explained.
For several days, Daniel refused to talk to police detectives,
Hill said.
"This case would have been solved the night it happened
if his son hadn't run off," the detective said.
Three other juveniles, who witnessed the murder, also were
brought in for questioning. But the gang members' code of silence
prevented police from getting much information, he said.
What's more, the 21-year-old suspect now has an alibi placing
him in another town. Police also did a Crime Stoppers re-enactment
in March and offered a $1,000 reward.
"If $1,000 won't draw them out of the woods, then nothing
will," Hill said.
The Nephew family also has set up an account at First American
Bank in Abilene to collect money to offer as a reward.
In June, Hill and his sergeant flew to Abilene to interview
Daniel again.
"I got nothing out of him," Hill said. "I got
zilch out of it."
Hill showed Daniel a photo lineup, but he was unable to point
out his father's murderer.
"I know what he looks like," Daniel said. "I
know his name. If I could see him in person, I would know him."
Hill also said Daniel, who admits to having been a gang associate,
told him he would not testify in court.
"He may be reluctant (to testify), but he would follow
through on it," Rose said.
Part of the problem, she said, is that therapists have diagnosed
Daniel with suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome related
to witnessing his father's murder.
Still no closure
Nearly a year later, Nephew's family still mourns his loss.
On what would have been Nephew's 40th birthday, the family erected
a wooden cross in his memory.
"He had protected (the gang members)," Rose said.
"He had to get them out of the gangs. He died for them."
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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