Bonnie Harkey murder by stepson and grandson over family fortune

''' INGÅR EJ I AVTAL ''' Pictured here is: Bonnie Harkey with husband Riley The plot was hatched, a dreadful plot that featured family rivalries, betrayal and murder. It could easily have been an episode of the family drama Dallas Ð but this Texan saga ended with one family member dead and two other behind bars. Family matriarch Bonnie Harkey was the Queen of the County Ð and she had a firm grip on her powerful family's fortune. This epic tale of greed and betrayal is set not in Dallas, but in San Saba, a tiny town in the Texas hill country and it stars a family that learned how to make money grow on trees, pecan trees. At the heart of the matter, a feud fueled by a lust for land, stoked by a battle of generations. And front and center, the life and times the of the matriarch, Bonnie Harkey, who controlled a family fortune a century in the making. Now 85 Bonnie was getting frail and needed a full time caretaker. But on March 25, 2012, the caretaker Karen Johnson was found dead just inside the door of BonnieÕs home, while the head of the family was missing. Cops began a search for Bonnie but had no luck finding her in any of the surrounding orchards. Then they got a tip Ð the last person to see her alive was grandson Carl Pressley. Carl, who had been adopted by BonnieÕs daughter Connie, was always in trouble and Bonnie was forever bailing him out. Police caught up with him and he finally broke down and admitted he murdered his grandmother Ð and took them to her body, lying in a shallow creek close to his trailer. But the story didnÕt end there. While Carl and his girlfriend Lillian King sat behind bars waiting for their trials they pointed the finger at another family member. They claimed BonnieÕs stepson Bruce had paid Carl $500 to kill his grandmother Ð with the promise of another $55,000 once Bruce had inherited the estate. Bruce denied it but it took a jury just one hour to convict him of murder. Both Bruce and Carl were given life in prison while Lillian received 45 *** Local Caption *** 07183064