TX: Feud (over range financing?) leads to murder charge

Status
Not open for further replies.

Greybeard

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
1,255
Location
Denton County Texas
I did not readily locate, so please pardon/merge if already posted.

09:28 PM CDT on Friday, June 22, 2007

By JAY PARSONS and MATTHEW HAAG / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected], [email protected]

On June 6, David Honish e-mailed his younger brother Mark a clear message: "You don't roar at me and wag your finger in my face EVER AGAIN IN THIS LIFETIME [expletive]!" according to police records.

ROBERT FLAGG / WFAA-TV
A police officer on routine patrol found David Honish, 52, dead in his white Ford F-150 pickup truck around 11 p.m. Thursday. The engine was still running. "There will be severe consequences for noncompliance," he went on to write.

At 11:31 Thursday night, a Flower Mound police officer on routine patrol found David Honish's white Ford F-150 pickup parked along the dimly lit dirt shoulder of U.S. Highway 377 at FM1171. Its engine was running, and the headlights were on.

Officer Chris Carroll walked up to the pickup, expecting to find that the driver needed help.

Inside, the officer found a man slumped over the steering wheel with a gunshot wound in the face. The dead man was David Honish, a 52-year-old peace activist from Denton. Next to him was a printout of the e-mail exchange with his 44-year-old brother, police said.

Investigators from the Denton County sheriff's office and the Texas Rangers arrived and made a cast of northbound tire tracks near the pickup's driver-side door.

Meanwhile, Flower Mound police Capt. Richard Brooks called David Honish's ex-wife, "who stated that the victim and his brother Mark Honish do not like each other and have been feuding for some time," according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Also Online
Video: WFAA-TV's Jackie Hyland reports

His opinions: Read letters Mr. Honish sent to the Denton Record-Chronicle
Texas Ranger Tracy Murphree and sheriff's Deputy Larry Kish drove to a cul-de-sac called Woodlands Court in nearby Trophy Club. As they arrived, a black Ford pickup was pulling out of the driveway. The only clean spot on the truck was the driver's side door – "the likely place where blood would have fallen," according to the affidavit. The door appeared to have been wiped down, authorities said.

Ranger Murphree approached the driver, who identified himself as Mark Honish, records show. Mr. Honish said he was leaving for work as an airline pilot. The ranger told Mr. Honish that his brother had been shot and killed.

Mr. Honish replied: "He has been threatening me, but you probably know that from looking at the e-mail in his truck," according to the affidavit. Ranger Murphree never told him the victim was shot in the truck, the affidavit says.

The ranger noticed six drops of blood on the driver's side of the truck's running board, mud on a tail pipe that matched mud from the crime scene and a tire tread pattern that matched the cast, arrest documents show.

The investigators arrested Mark Honish and charged him with his brother's murder. Mr. Honish was being held Friday in Flower Mound Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Mark Honish
"That's like something on TV," said Larry Libscomb, who leases land in Roanoke to Mark Honish for a temporary shooting range while a permanent one is being built. "He's just as normal as you and me. I hope he didn't do it."

It's unclear what the brothers had feuded over, and police would not speculate on a motive. The men's relatives and Mark Honish's ex-wife could not be reached for comment Friday.

David Honish's ex-wife wouldn't shed any light on a possible motive.

"I was horrified, just horrified," said Michelle Boslet, who lives in Pennsylvania "I have a daughter by him and it's been a hard day. He's a good person. I haven't seen David for a long time. I really, really can't say anything and don't really want to."

Shooting range
Mark Honish is the president of the Tactical Edge shooting range – touted as the nation's largest at 40,000 square feet – scheduled to open this year in Roanoke. The city approved the project in 2003, but it was delayed because of a lack of funds.

David Honish's role in the business was not clear, but he appeared to be involved. Tactical Edge vice president Paul Wolf did not return phone messages Friday.

David Honish
On the Web site Aubreyturner.org, David Honish wrote in 2003 about the pair's plan to start the gun range: "Long story short, we need $400K in private investment to qualify for the loans to make this happen. Will work out the details with my brother & have info on it in the near future for you."

An Army veteran, David Honish was the driving force for the North Texas Veterans for Peace, which often gathered on an overpass near the University of North Texas campus, said Bernie Jezercak, the group's financial officer.

"He was a very fine individual," said Mr. Jezercak, who had known Mr. Honish for about six years. "He was usually our frontman."

The group last met Memorial Day weekend, and Mr. Honish was there as always, he said.

"He was his usual jovial and insightful self," said Mr. Jezercak, who added that Mr. Honish was known to be opinionated.

Dan Burnam, coordinator for Peace Activist Denton, said Mr. Honish was not a member of the Denton group, but that they met in 2003 at a demonstration and had reconnected at several "peace actions" in the past few years.

In October, Mr. Honish was among about 40 people who demonstrated against torture and the war in Iraq outside the office of U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess in Lewisville. They were part of the local version of "The World Can't Wait" campaign, a North American movement protesting Bush administration policies.

Mr. Burnam said he received an e-mail from Mr. Honish on Wednesday with the subject line "Reasons not to re-enlist" in which he had talked about opening the gun range with his brother.

Brothers' backgrounds

U.S. 377 and FM1171, Flower Mound Mark Honish had owned a company called Blackhawk Air Services between 1997 and 2002, according to state records. He recently worked for Basin Aviation, a Midland-based company that provides charter flights. A company official said Mr. Honish worked sporadically.

Mark Honish's only previous criminal history appears to be a September 2005 arrest in Dallas County on a weapon possession charge, which was later dismissed by a grand jury.

In the June 6 e-mail – only a portion of which police released – David Honish blames his brother for "stupidity and your ongoing felony possession of firearms," without further explanation.

David Honish had been arrested twice on charges of weapon possession in Denton County. A 2006 incident was dismissed.

In May, he was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 80 hours of community service for a January incident in Denton. A police officer found David Honish, wearing "army-style clothing," standing behind a building with a "ninja kubaton," a heavy metal object made to be held in a fist with spikes extending from the knuckles, according to court records.

Court papers state that a witness told police Mr. Honish had been crouching behind bushes at an apartment complex and appeared to be window peeping, which Mr. Honish denied.

Staff writer Emily Tsao and Donna Fielder of the Denton Record-Chronicle contributed to this report.
 
if the evidence is as stated, I don't see how this could be anything but an obviously enraged brother. Sounds like the cops got an easy one.
 
Last edited:
Well, that should lessen your competition for a while, Greybeard. If as stated, we don't need those sorts of folks running a range in this area at all.

I am not sure why you think the dispute might have been over financing. The article specifically said police were uncertain on the reason for the feuding. The only relevant information connected to the actual crime is the released portion of the email where
David Honish blames his brother for "stupidity and your ongoing felony possession of firearms," without further explanation.

...which is funny because both brothers had been arrested on weapons charges.

The connection to finances goes back to 2003 where they said they needed $400K.

The original story link...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ound/stories/062307dnmetactivist.38522c2.html
 
Quote: "I am not sure why you think the dispute might have been over financing."

Others previously surmised the same (from texaschlforum.com):

KBCraig
Senior Member

Joined: 06 May 2005
Posts: 2680
Location: Texarkana
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:37 pm Post subject:

I heard the news report today on the radio, on TSN News. They said both brothers were "gun enthusiasts".

I have a hunch this may all boil down to financing the Tactical Edge facility.

Kevin

-------------------------------------

Quote: "The connection to finances goes back to 2003 where they said they needed $400K."

Yep, and that was just to qualify to borrow much, much more at the time. Construction costs (steel and concrete in particular) have gone ballistic in recent years, even for those with a realistic business plan. http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/11/20/story4.html And "co-founder" is/was?

Again, not sure which gun forum it was (nor of his handle), but I seem to recall seeing within the last few months where one of these guys had just got a membership at a local pistol club (Dallas?) and was thinking, "Now that seems a little odd for someone who's been promoting lifetime memberships at a supposedly-under-construction range ..."
 
What a mess.

My in-laws live in Roanoke. Last time I was down there, my FIL showed me where the range was going to be built and he told me that it was approved.

Bad deal all around. That area could use a nice indoor range and gun store.

The airline world is pretty small, so if Mark Honish is a pilot, he won't be for long.

ETA: Mark Honish isn't an airline pilot according to the rest of the article. Also, it sounds like both men were a little off kilter.
 
Others previously surmised the same (from texaschlforum.com):

Okay, so you think this may be over financing because others think so, but do they have any better information?

Having a "hunch" it is over financing is a valid shot in the dark. Money matters are a common criminal theme, as are sex and interpresonal conflict (including power). Either of those could be a valid hunch as well. I just didn't see anything in the article provided or the Denton Record Chronicle that would substantiate the shooting being due to finances.
 
Strange.
On Wednesday night I received an email from Tactical Edge giving a status update on the new range.
While the timeframe for breaking ground on our premier shooting facility has taken longer than expected, we want to let everyone know that the project is still moving forward. City, county, and state approvals have been completed along with the purchase of our land. We are now working on the final steps of the construction loan and look forward to breaking ground as soon as this is completed. Stay tuned for further updates via our website.
 
One of many opinion letters (by the victim) to Denton Record Chronicle ...

--------------------------------

Taxpayers stuck again? (Dec. 26, 2006)

The taxpayers of Denton should know that they may get stuck with the bill for the incompetence of the outgoing district attorney and local police. They have violated their oaths to uphold Texas law.

On June 17, 2005, Gov. Perry signed HB 823 into law, taking effect Sept. 1, 2005. The amendment clarified existing law on possession of a handgun in your car.

The new law states five conditions to determine lawful or unlawful carry. If a person is in a private vehicle, not engaged in any offense higher than a Class C misdemeanor, not otherwise prohibited by law from fire arms possession, not a criminal street gang member and not carrying in plain view, then you may possess a loaded handgun in your car.

It seems that the local gendarmes have ignored the law as written. Instead they prefer to enforce "the old law."

This has the same legal standing as preferring to hang horse thieves from the nearest tree would have. There is no "old law." There is only the law, and it was amended 16 months ago.

Local officials should comply with the law as written to avoid the cost of false arrest and malicious-prosecution litigation that may result from their ignorance.

Hopefully, the new incoming district attorney will honor his oath to uphold the law, rather than pretend to make up his own laws.

David Honish, Denton

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ound/stories/062307dnmetactivist.38522c2.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...stories/062307dnmethonishletters.457d819.html
 
Little local newspaper (The News Connection) hit the mailbox today. Article by Stephen Webster said that, contrary to prior reports, David died from two gunshot wounds (also one to neck).

Remains transported to Picha Funeral Home in Lake Belton, Wisconsin. No memorial services announced for Denton County.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top