Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1969: Murder suspects Dennis and Penny Carlton testified they saw two people running away from the Portales drug store where Elbert Muncy had been killed, but said they were not involved in the slaying.
The Carltons said they just happened to be driving past the store on their way home that evening of Aug. 18, 1968.
Dennis Carlton said the men he saw running were "not acting normally," and so he stopped his car behind the rear door of the drug store and rang the bell. When he received no answer, he broke into the store, then left when he saw blood on the floor, he testified.
He told the court he did not initially tell police that he'd entered the store because he did not want them to know he'd broken in.
On Jan. 17, 1969, the jury reported it was unable to make a decision in the case. The Carltons were tried again in June of 1969 and found guilty of second-degree murder. An appeal resulted in a third trial, at which the Carltons were again found guilty of second-degree murder.
The Carltons were sentenced to 10- to 50-year prison sentences, but were both paroled in the 1970s.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact him at:
