Only in Texas

After a great visit there this summer, I was thinking about maybe moving to Galveston.

GALVESTON, Texas - Eccentric New York millionaire Robert Durst, who said he accidentally killed a hot-tempered neighbor in self-defense and then dismembered the body in a panic, was found innocent Tuesday of murder.

...Jurors deliberated over five days, following nearly six weeks of testimony, before deciding that the real estate heir did not murder 71-year-old Morris Black, who lived across the hall from him in a low-rent apartment building.

Durst, 60, who is under suspicion in two other killings and who posed for a time as a mute woman, testified in his own defense for nearly four days.

...Durst moved to Galveston disguised as a woman to escape scrutiny in New York after an investigation was reopened into the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen. He was also wanted for questioning in the 2000 shooting death of a friend, writer Susan Berman, who was set to be questioned about his missing wife.

...He insisted that Black was shot accidentally during a struggle over a gun, and said he used two saws and an ax to cut up the body. The victim's head has never been found.

...When he learned police had found some of Black's remains, Durst said he fled to New Orleans with five pounds of marijuana and more than $500,000 in cash.

He returned to Galveston and was arrested. He posted bail and fled, and was captured six weeks later in Pennsylvania...when he tried to shoplift a $5 sandwich even though he had $500 in his pocket.

...Durst appeared stunned when he heard the verdict from state District Judge Susan Criss...

Well, yeah. It's not like he's in Savannah or anything.

This just adds some weight to the plus side, because, hey, by comparison I would be considered damned sane. And the gulf water is so nice.

"From the very beginning of this trial, the defense told us a story and they stuck to their guns all the way through," [a juror] said. "I did not believe everything they said, but every time they told us a story they were consistent in what was said."

Now you understand how Bush is in the White House.

Prosecutor Kurt Sistrunk said he was dismayed and disappointed with the jury's decision but retained his confidence in the jury system.

These people are great. Galveston here I come.

....you do what you want....you will anyway.

Where do you suppose that head is?