The Collin County Observer

Texas death row inmate set to die for murder of Brazilian couple in Plano

Monday, March 1, 2010
The Dallas Morning News / Associated Press

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Michael Sigala was on probation for robbery and allowed to leave a Dallas-area substance abuse treatment center for the day to look for a job. Instead, he violently ended the lives of a newlywed Brazilian couple and ended up on death row.

Sigala, 32, was set for execution Tuesday evening for the death of Kleber Santos, 28, a Brazilian engineer whose wife also was killed in an attack nearly a decade ago at their Plano apartment

Sigala would be the third Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year and the first of four scheduled to die this month in the nation's most active death penalty state.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to review his case and no new appeals were in the courts Monday.

Sigala, of Plano, was condemned for the fatal shooting of Santos, whose job brought him to Texas in January 2000, a month after he was married. His wife, Lilian, remained in Brazil to continue her veterinary studies at the University of Sao Paulo and was visiting her husband during a school break that August.

Evidence showed the 25-year-old woman was raped and also fatally shot several hours after her husband was killed. Their wedding rings were among items taken in the attack. Sigala also was charged with her slaying but was not tried.

read the rest of the article at The Dallas Morning News....

UPDATE (March 2):

The Associated Press reported that Michael Sigala was executed in Huntsville at 6:20 PM CST. He is the third person executed in Texas this year.

From the AP story in the Houston Chronicle:

"During his final statement, Sigala asked for forgiveness from the slain couple's relatives who attended the execution."

"'I have no reason for why I did it,' Sigala said. 'I don't understand why I did it. I hope that you can live the rest of your lives without hate.'

"Relatives of Kleber Santos and his wife, Lilian, did not speak with reporters afterward, but the parents of both victims issued statements saying they were grateful justice had been done.

"'For many people facing such tragedy, life would be worthless. For us, however, we have faith and we find meaning in an eternal life that our merciful God will provide us. We really believe that we will meet our dear son and daughter-in-law one day in heaven,' Jonas and Lizete Santos, Kleber Santos' parents, said in their statement."

Bill

History center in McKinney fighting to survive

Monday, March 1, 2010
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

Vicki Day is trying to preserve the museum that preserves Collin County.

The 28-year-old North Texas History Center in downtown McKinney could close because of a sharp cut in county funding and private donations, said Day, executive director.

"We are in serious jeopardy of running out of money shortly," she said.

The museum took an unexpected financial hit when Collin County commissioners slashed its funding from $134,950 in fiscal 2009 to $32,000 this year, Day said.

"I was so surprised," she said.

Commissioners say they told Day last year the museum needed to become self-sufficient through private fundraising.

It had been receiving far greater county funding than other historical organizations, said County Judge Keith Self, who heads the Commissioners Court.

"The North Texas History Center is a wonderful organization, but they are just one of many historical organizations in the county," he said.

Commissioner Jerry Hoagland said the county had to focus limited funding on core functions, such as building roads and operating courts and the jail.

"These are tough economic times," he said. "You have to make cuts that are not always popular with people."

Civil War event

The history center had hoped a Civil War re-enactment last November at Myers Park in McKinney would raise $50,000. Instead, the event lost $7,000, worsening the museum's outlook, Day said.

Attendance didn't meet projections, and recent heavy rains prevented people from parking on the grounds, she said. As a result, organizers had to rent buses to take people to and from the park. In addition, insurance costs to hold the event exceeded expectations, Day said.

Commissioner Joe Jaynes, who took part in the Civil War re-enactment, voted against cutting the museum's funding. He said another year of higher county funding might have helped the center hold a successful Civil War event.

"Those re-enactments can basically be a cash cow, but you need three or four years to get it going," Jaynes said.

In search of help

Day said the history center may seek money from the city of McKinney, which currently does not provide funds. It may also approach the county commissioners again, she said.

"It's worth the county getting involved to help us survive," she said. "We've got a collection that is very unique."

About 8,000 students a year from Collin and surrounding counties visit the North Texas History Center, Day said.

On Friday, two fifth-grade classes from Daffron Elementary School in Plano attended and saw a Civil War exhibit.

"It's wonderful," said Cindy Burns, one of the teachers. "We teach the Civil War in school, and this really gives them the opportunity to see how it affected their ancestors."

The museum is housed in an old post office, built in 1911, at Virginia Parkway and Chestnut Street, a block off the square in downtown McKinney. It has exhibits with photographs and a variety of artifacts on the main floor and in the basement.

Upcoming rally

The museum has tried to sell memberships and get corporate sponsors for exhibits, but had little success, Day said. It receives revenue from school field trips, ticket sales and gift shop purchases.

The history center is holding a "Save the Museum" rally on its front steps on Saturday. It's also having a dinner and lecture on March 27 with Arch Bonnema, a Collin County resident who funded an expedition to Iran in search of Noah's ark. Tickets are $75.

"This could make a world of difference for us," Day said. "We hope we can clear about $7,000."

Jaynes said he hopes the museum can remain open. Although he supports it, he doesn't believe county commissioners will approve any additional funding.

"The court has let its will be known," Jaynes said.

link to the article at The Dallas Morning News....

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The Observer comments:

My wife and I went to see the "Reluctant Confederate" exhibit at the NTHS last Saturday.

The building is a real jewel, and the exhibit was interesting and informative. Anyone interested in the history of their community will be entertained and educated by a trip to the North Texas History Center.

Bill

Note to Joe Jaynes -- put your Confederate uniform back on before the next court and fight a little harder for these guys. They deserve our support.

Bill

Election day is only one day away and the candidates are busy slinging barbs at each other as to who stood where, who gave to who's campaign and who spent money on campaign consultants.

Meanwhile real issues, involving real people are little debated or even discussed.

I haven't seen any substantial discussion of the Collin County Toll Road Authority and the county's Outer Loop.
Bill

It was in May of 2008, when the commissioners court met at Murphy City Hall in a meeting that was supposed to "take the court on the road", but which instead made two decisions that had great impact on the county. In executive session that night, the court approved a law suit against their Auditor. The suit eventually cost the citizens over $350,000.

But also that night, the commissioners voted to rescind an agreement made with Denton County and the NTTA on the alignment of the future expansion of the Dallas North Tollway. The commissioners wanted the road, and its subsequent commercial development, not on the county line, but completely in Collin County. They also began to make plans to create a county toll road authority to develop the extension of the Dallas North Tollway.

A few months later, the Collin County Toll Road Authority was born. It's mission was to secure financing for the DNT extension and to finance and build what Collin County called their "Outer Loop".

The Outer Loop is a segment of a regional "Loop 9" originally conceived as the DFW bypass along the Trans Texas Corridor. This huge loop road will, when and if built, completely encircle Dallas and Fort Worth. The Collin County portion begin at the DNT on the Denton county line and would run north of McKinney before turning south to end at the Rockwall County line.

The Collin County Commissioners, facing rapid growth in their own county, were clearly frustrated with the slow pace of development of the regional loop. They decided to go it alone at a cost of $4 billion. They had no idea how to pay for such a huge project, but they hoped that the county's rapid growth would attract a public-private partnership that would finance and operate the Outer Loop for toll revenue.

They didn't count on the recession, the killing of the Trans Texas Corridor, or the fact that no one, not even the Spanish giant Cintra, was going to write a check for $4 billion to build a super highway to connect Melissa to Royce City.

Their insistence on forming their own toll authority, their attempt to hijack the DNT extension, and their perceived reluctance to work in a regional manner also frustrated those local partners whose cooperation was needed to make the road economically possible. At a State Senate hearing, Dallas' Republican Senator John Carona told Keith Self, "I don't think Collin County plays nice lately. "I don't think they have a regional concern, but only for provincial Collin County."

Denton County Judge Mary Horn scolded the commissioners with, "I think you should honor your county's agreements." Denton Commissioner Andy Eads told the press that, "I was very disappointed. Everyone represents their own jurisdiction, but we also have to wear the hat of regionalism."

The NTTA, reacting to the takeover of the DNT extension garnered support in the legislature for a bill that would have required the county to get the NTTA's permission to build any toll road in Collin County. The chairman of the NTTA board, a Collin County appointee, told the commissioners, "We're not going to make a political decision. We're going to make the right decision for the agency."

Frantic, last minute backtracking by the county allowed for a compromise where Collin County gave up any claim to the DNT, and the bill was dropped.

The commissioners, in going it alone, likely slowed any opportunity for regional cooperation with Denton and Rockwall Counties. Cooperation with both counties is critical. To make the Loop economically viable, it needs to connect more than small towns here - it needs to go west in Denton County to I-35 and South through Rockwall to I-30.

However, even though no financing of the construction of the Outer Loop is in place (nor likely to be anytime soon), the commissioners court believes that it is important to acquire the needed land for the Loop's right of way. Their reasoning is that over time, the land will become more expensive, and as vacant land fills it will be harder to plot a path across the county.

The county has the cash. $7 million was set aside for the road back in the 2007 budget. So the land acquisition plan, especially on the northern leg of the loop, has gone forward - with or without the acquiescence of local land owners.

For the last year, the county has been using its power of Eminent Domain to force the purchase of at least 7 different properties without the consent of the sellers.

In today's court session, the commissioners will vote to "lend" (against future toll revenue) the Collin County Toll Road Authority $6 million to pay for these condemned properties.

For a road that may never be built, at least not in our lifetime.

Bill

Update March 1, 2010:

The Commissioners Court agreed in today's meeting to lend their Toll Road Authority the money. The only discussion was on a suggestion by Jerry Hoagland that the county charge the CCTRA interest on the funds.

Then, meeting as the Collin County Toll Road Authority, the commissioners voted without discussion to spend the money to close the condemnation sales.

I was interested to see that the Chairman of the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation issued a not-so-veiled threat today to the CCTRA. On his blog, Senator John Carona's spokesman wrote, "The compromise language between the Collin County Toll Authority and the North Texas Tollway Authority was ultimately removed from legislation. As a result, Senator Carona is observing how the relationship progresses over the interim, and depending on that outcome, may proceed with appropriate legislation in the 82nd session."

He's telling Self and company to "play nice".

Bill