Man accused in 2003 killing arraigned

link William Hadix

A man accused of killing J.C. Tucker in 2003 was arraigned Monday morning in Judge Fred Van Soelen’s courtroom and remains held without bond at the Curry County jail.

William Hadix, 67, pleaded not guilty Monday morning, his defense attorney Gary Mitchell said.

“Obviously our plea was made in good faith,” Mitchell said. “Our position is he didn’t do what he’s accused of. We’re at the beginning of our case and our investigation, and once I get all that information we’ll be prepared to go to trial, but it’s going to take a while.”

Mitchell, who has a handful of months to prepare his defense, said the state has had several years to build a case and evidence against Hadix.

“We’re going to do everything we can to get ready as rapidly as we can, but it’s a daunting task when the state has had entire police departments, the district attorney’s office, the sheriff working on this case for all these years, and we’re supposed to get it ready in a matter of weeks or months,” Mitchell said. “It’s impossible if you do it correctly. And the case is so old, to track some of these people down is really a problem.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover said they expect Hadix to go to trial in May or June.

“Right now, the pretrial conference has been set for January 19, and the case will take at least that long if not longer to try,” Stover said. “Couple that with the fact Gary Mitchell tends to have a very busy schedule, most likely the time would be around summer 2016 is when we’re looking for that trial to happen.”

Stover said Mitchell had indicated he would try to file for a change in bond, but as of Monday afternoon it had not happened.

Stover said Hadix was extradited from Illinois to stand trial, and when he arrived suffered a heart attack “or heart-attack like event.”

Stover said Hadix was taken to a hospital in Amarillo and has since been medically cleared for trial.

Hadix faces one count of first-degree murder; two counts of armed robbery and three counts of tampering with evidence.

Authorities allege Hadix killed Tucker, shooting him three times and stealing more than $2,500 from him at Tucker Auto Sales and Tucker Self-Storage.