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A Murder In Texas Dr. John Hill Rate Topic: -----

#1 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 8:24 AM

Does anyone remember this 1981 true story/film and does anyone know what ever became of the doctor? If I recall the film leaves you hanging. The film also took a peek at River Oaks society. Sam Elliott as the Dr., Katherine Ross the mistress, Farrah Fawcett the wife.

There must be many people out there that knew the real people? Wonder if the mansion is still there? Photo anyone? Comments?

A Murder In Texas

True story of plastic surgeon who was suspected of causing the death of his first wife, the daughter of a wealthy member of Houston society. The doctor then marries his mistress, whom he had been keeping during his marriage. His former father-in-law, convinced that his daughter was murdered determines to see the doctor punished.

This post has been edited by Vertigo58: Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 8:25 AM

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#2 User is offline   musicman 

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Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 9:01 AM

blood and money was the tommy thompson book on the same incident. i believe it is on kirby still.
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#3 User is offline   Dan the Man 

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Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 9:39 PM

The house is still there, but it's a little difficult to see because of the thick hedge around it. It is on the Northeast corner of Kirby and Brentwood.

This post has been edited by Dan the Man: Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 9:40 PM

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#4 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Friday, March 23, 2007 at 3:46 PM

View PostDan the Man, on Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 @ 10:39pm, said:

The house is still there, but it's a little difficult to see because of the thick hedge around it. It is on the Northeast corner of Kirby and Brentwood.


Now, I'm going to have to be a stereotypical tourist and check it out. I should really have placed this thread on "Historical Houston" I guess? I couldnt find a photo on Google either.

I cannot beleive more members haven't responded. Maybe the age group is younger than I realize. Oh well thanks for the great response.
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#5 User is offline   2fatcats 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 7:07 AM

Does anyone remember this 1981 true story/film and does anyone know what ever became of the doctor? <<Vertigo58


I saw the movie and read the book. Dr. Hill was shot to death on the front steps of his River Oaks Mansion while still involved in the legal entanglements concerning his wife's death. He had poisoned her, and her father, oilman Ash Robinson was pushing to get him indicted. He was killed by a supposed robber who conveniently shot him as he opened the door. The house is still there, (I look at it every time I drive by it) LOL, and also down the street is Ash Robinsons house on Kirby. The book Murder In Texas, was actually written with the assistance of Dr. Hill's second wife Ann Kurth, who after a time came to believe that he was trying to kill her also.
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#6 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 9:09 AM

View Post2fatcats, on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 @ 7:07am, said:

Does anyone remember this 1981 true story/film and does anyone know what ever became of the doctor? <<Vertigo58

Murder in Texas was written by Ann Kurth Hill, who was Dr. John Hill's second wife. It's a completely self-serving version of the events and it over-inflates Ann Kurth's position in the saga. She came along and married Hill after his first wife Joan Hill died, or was murdered. It was never decided.

Hill was brought to trial on charges of causing his wife Joan's death by neglecting her health problems. Ann Kurth caused a mistrial when she tried to testify for the state that Hill also tried to kill her. Prosecutors were surprised by that because it was the first time they'd ever heard it. She'd never told it to prosecutors or to the the grand jury. Then Hill himself was murdered before he could be retried, and that's the second half of the Hill saga. Prosecutors always suspected that Joan Hill's father Ash Robinson paid to have him killed but they couldn't prove it.

Kurth's book is just awful, which makes it perfect fodder for the TV movie it became.

If you want the full true and unvarnished story of Dr John Hill and his wife's death, find a copy of Blood and Money by Tommy Thompson. Beyond the story it tells, Thompson's clipped style of writing, and his book's huge success, are credited with launching the modern genre of realistic crime reporting. All of a sudden every crime reporter in the country started emulating that style. We take it for granted now.

This post has been edited by FilioScotia: Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 9:19 AM

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#7 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 12:49 PM

Joan Hill (not a great photo)

Posted Image
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#8 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 2:11 PM

View Postisuredid, on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 @ 12:49pm, said:

Joan Hill (not a great photo)
Posted Image

Plastic surgeon Dr. John Hill's wife Joan was big in the local "horsey set". She died suddenly in 1969, and her father, oilman Ash Robinson, was convinced that Hill killed her by poisoning her. Robinson pressured prosecutors to indict him, but there was no evidence of murder. They finally indicted Hill on the rarely used charge of "murder by omission"; which meant he was accused of killing her by not getting treatment in time to save her.

By the time the trial began two years later, Hill had remarried and divorced Ann Kurth, the exwife of a well known lawyer whose name still adorns a well known local law firm. She also thought Hill killed Joan, so she agreed to testify against him.

She was also a drama queen who went out of control on the witness stand. Prosecutors wanted to establish that Hill was prone to violence, and Kurth was testifying about their frequent fights. When she suddenly blurted out that Hill tried to choke her one night, and told her that he killed Joan, the defense called for a mistrial and got it. It seems that she'd never thought to mention that incident in any of her pretrial testimony to the grand jury or in her meetings with prosecutors.

The retrial was set for the next year, during which time Hill married again. One night in 1972 he answered the door at his house in River Oaks and was shot dead. Police suspected Ash Robinson was behind it but they could never find enough evidence to take to a grand jury.

They tracked down two women, Marcia McKittrick, a prostitute who drove the getaway car, and Lilla Paulus, an acquaintance of Ash Robinson, and even proved that Paulus hired the gunman. But they could never connect the dots and connect Robinson to the shooting. Old Ash covered his tracks very very well.

Just about everybody connected with this case is dead now, including the shooter, Bobby Vandiver. He was caught in east Texas, but shot and killed by police before he could be brought to trial.

Ash Robinson died in Florida in 1987. Here's a link to a longer and well written backgrounder on this story from the Laredo Times in 1999. http://lmtonline.com...0319/pagea6.pdf

This post has been edited by FilioScotia: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 7:08 AM

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#9 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 6:17 PM

Joan Hill kept her horses at the Cyandy Stables which were on S. Gessner close to the bayou. Back then this was beyond the city limits and, more or less out in the country. Houston was a much different place then. The pace was much slower, the city much smaller, and there was still plenty of greenspace even in the inner city.
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#10 User is offline   2fatcats 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 9:41 PM

Kurth's book is just awful, which makes it perfect fodder for the TV movie it became. <<FilioScotia

I have to agree with you that it was awful and probably written strictly to get Kurth some cash. The Thompson book was very good and was the first of the two I had read on the subject. The whole thing was quite a story, as any scandal might be, and I am sure the citizens of River Oaks had a lot to say about it behind closed doors. Funny how things always seem more interesting when it happens to someone well known, as though they were above reproach unlike the rest of us.
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#11 User is offline   nm5k 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 10:29 PM

View PostFilioScotia, on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 @ 3:11pm, said:

One night in 1972 he answered the door at his house in River Oaks and was shot dead.


Actually, Bobby Vandiver had already broken into the front door when Hills son
answered the door. He and Hills mother had been waiting for the Hills to return
from a trip from the west coast. Bobby Vandiver knocked on the door, and the
son answered it, and he forced his way into the house where he tied the two up.
Then the Hills drove up, and the wife went up to the door first. Vandiver tried to
pull her into the house, but then John Hill came up behind her and got her away
some how. She then ran off across the yard to a neighbors. He then got into a
skuffle with Bobby Vandiver and Vandiver won by shooting him about three times
I think before Hill went down. Anyway, Vandiver was the one that actually
answered the door.
The Hills were on the outside fixing to come in the house.
One thing I often wonder about... I wonder what happened to John Hills
music room he was so nuts over. It was supposed to be one wang doodler
of a music room. Louis Erath built all the speakers, etc.. Was supposed to be miles
of wiring. The furnishings were supposed to be pretty up town too.. Kinda like
being at a baby music hall or something..
As far as I'm concerned, "Blood and Money" is the only book worth reading about
it. The rest are all later copycats, or ways to cash in by certain participants
of the tale..
Blood and Money gives a pretty good glimpse of what life in Houston was like
in the 50's 60's, if you had a Texas size bank account. It mentions various
people, places, ect.
MK
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#12 User is offline   2fatcats 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 11:07 PM

One thing I often wonder about... I wonder what happened to John Hills
music room he was so nuts over. It was supposed to be one wang doodler
of a music room. Lous Erath built all the speakers, etc.. Was supposed to be miles
of wiring. The furnishings were supposed to be pretty up town too.. Kinda like
being at a baby music hall or something..<<nm5k

Wasn't that music 'room' actually supposed to have been an addition to the house? If you look at the house from the Kirby side, you can see what looks like an addition toward the back and I always thought that might be the music room. The house is on a pretty small lot and sits at an odd angle to the street so it's hard to tell.
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#13 User is offline   dbigtex56 

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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 11:27 PM

View Postnm5k, on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 @ 9:29pm, said:

Louis Erath built all the speakers, etc.

(apologies for going off-topic)
A friend just bought a pair of Erath speakers, and I did a little research for him. As a Houstonian, Erath probably deserves his own HAIF thread - he's considered to be a genius in the audiophile world.
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#14 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:05 PM

In 1985 I was driving through Montrose (I lived there) when I saw someone putting an old kitchen table on the curb. I think the table is from the 30s or 40s and has a white enameled metal top and a wooden base. It was in perfect shape except the paint was peeling badly.
I grabbed the table and took it home to scrape off the paint and re-paint it. The table had one drawer in the middle and when I took the drawer out it was lined with an old Houston Chronicle from the 1960s. There was an article in that section on Joan Hill and her equestrienne exploits. It was strange to read that article knowing where her future was heading in a few short years. I believe her favorite horse was called "Beloved Belinda".
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#15 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:14 PM

I found these quotes with Google:

Five-time world champion equestrian Joan Robinson dazzled the staid sport by riding her gray mare wearing a gray riding outfit exactly matching her steed's coat. "When Joan Robinson rides Beloved Belinda, it is one of the most achingly beautiful sights in the world," wrote one newspaperman in the 1950s.

A newspaperman wrote, "When Joan Robinson rides Beloved Belinda it is a poem, a waltz, it is the sculpture of Rodin and the painting of Cezanne. My goosepimples get goosepimples."

This post has been edited by isuredid: Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:39 PM

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#16 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Monday, March 26, 2007 at 7:34 AM

View Postisuredid, on Sunday, March 25th, 2007 @ 1:14pm, said:

A newspaperman wrote, "When Joan Robinson rides Beloved Belinda it is a poem, a waltz, it is the sculpture of Rodin and the painting of Cezanne. My goosepimples get goosepimples."


It has been so long since I saw the film but,

Do you guys recall at the very end of the made for TV movie. Some character (or couple) in the movie are on a vacation somewhere in Mexico (I think) and they glance at some man wearing dark glasses and speaking to another person and they lock eyes, then the mysterious man turns away?

Is this not to assume or suggest that Dr J Hill was presumed to have had an imposter buried in his grave and he snuck out of the US to assume another identiy?

Serious though, this contradicts the book or is that also in the book? Gotta know... :ph34r: The film just leaves one hanging...
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#17 User is offline   texianjoe 

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Posted Monday, March 26, 2007 at 8:00 AM

View PostVertigo58, on Monday, March 26th, 2007 @ 7:34am, said:

A newspaperman wrote, "When Joan Robinson rides Beloved Belinda it is a poem, a waltz, it is the sculpture of Rodin and the painting of Cezanne. My goosepimples get goosepimples."


It has been so long since I saw the film but,

Do you guys recall at the very end of the made for TV movie. Some character (or couple) in the movie are on a vacation somewhere in Mexico (I think) and they glance at some man wearing dark glasses and speaking to another person and they lock eyes, then the mysterious man turns away?

Is this not to assume or suggest that Dr J Hill was presumed to have had an imposter buried in his grave and he snuck out of the US to assume another identiy?

Serious though, this contradicts the book or is that also in the book? Gotta know... :ph34r: The film just leaves one hanging...


I remember that. In the true spirit of Ken Lay, Elvis and other conspiracies, many thought he had someone killed and buried in his grave. Him being a prominent plastic surgeon used his contacts in Mexico to change his appearance and his identity.

I guess he lives on a tropical island with Lay, Elvis, Emilia Earhardt and the Roswell alien.

isuredid, your right Houston was a different place then. Pin Oak Stables were right off Fournace I think in the middle of what is now the Gallariea Area.

joe
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#18 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Monday, March 26, 2007 at 8:01 AM

Wasn't that music 'room' actually supposed to have been an addition to the house?

I believe -- but I'm not a hundred percent certain -- that the famous "music room" was built as a second floor to Hill's detached multi-car garage.

As for the precise sequence of events on the night Hill was shot and killed at his home, my thanks to nm5k for setting me straight on all those details. The result was the same though. Hill was dead dead dead.

This post has been edited by FilioScotia: Monday, March 26, 2007 at 9:11 AM

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#19 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Monday, March 26, 2007 at 8:34 AM

View PostFilioScotia, on Monday, March 26th, 2007 @ 9:01am, said:

Wasn't that music 'room' actually supposed to have been an addition to the house?

I believe -- but I'm not a hundred percent certain -- that the famous "music room" was built as a second floor to Hill's detached several-car garage.

As for the precise sequence of events on the night Hill was shot and killed at his home, my thanks to nm5k for setting me straight on all that. The result was the same though. Hill was dead dead dead.


All great responses everyone, now I can remove him from my "All time Super Rats" list. Not to shift topics but now Scott Peterson is at the top of the list. Joey Buttafucco 2nd, etc.
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#20 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Monday, March 26, 2007 at 11:49 AM

Pin Oak Stables were right off Fournace I think in the middle of what is now the Gallariea Area.

joe
[/quote]


Pin Oak Stables was where Home Depot is now at 610 and 59. I can still see it in my mind's eye. My mom used to work at the Community Chest (United Way) and some of her friends who still worked there would give her tickets sometimes. I remember getting to and from the grandstands was usually a muddy affair. They later moved the "Pin Oak Charity Horse Show" to the Astrohall, but it wasn't the same and didn't last. I'm not sure it would have lasted anyway. It belonged to another time.
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#21 User is offline   Native Montrosian 

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Posted Monday, March 26, 2007 at 12:41 PM

Wow, one of my major childhood memories....I went to a private school with Dr. Hill's son Robert called West Briar - long closed; was on Fountainview and became Academy Hall before it was torn down. A lot of the students went to the funeral, which was at the church located where the Montrose branch library is now. I remember that my mom & other parents were furious because the news crews were there filming the students as we were leaving, which they thought was disrespectful. I recall Robert's stepmom Connie teaching some cheers to the cheerleaders in the cafeteria - she was very sweet, almost shy, and my mom thought she was lovely.

My mom & I had fun picking apart the movie which portrayed the school as being very big & modern - it was in an old church with 4 blue temporary buildings in the back and had maybe 100 students in grades K-8, and certainly no school buses. I left in 6th grade when an opening at the Lutheran school near our house came up - mom certainly didn't mind not driving 59 to Chimney Rock at 7 AM twice a day anymore. :P I don't know how long they stayed open after I left; made new friends and moved on.
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#22 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Monday, March 26, 2007 at 1:06 PM

View Postisuredid, on Monday, March 26th, 2007 @ 11:49am, said:

Pin Oak Stables were right off Fournace I think in the middle of what is now the Gallariea Area.

joe
Pin Oak Stables was where Home Depot is now at 610 and 59. I can still see it in my mind's eye. My mom used to work at the Community Chest (United Way) and some of her friends who still worked there would give her tickets sometimes. I remember getting to and from the grandstands was usually a muddy affair. They later moved the "Pin Oak Charity Horse Show" to the Astrohall, but it wasn't the same and didn't last. I'm not sure it would have lasted anyway. It belonged to another time.



I see that I was wrong (again!). They are still having the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy
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#23 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 7:07 AM

View PostNative Montrosian, on Monday, March 26th, 2007 @ 12:41pm, said:

Wow, one of my major childhood memories....I went to a private school with Dr. Hill's son Robert.

You may be interested to know that Robert Hill is now 46 years old, and he lives on the east coast where he's a prosecuting attorney. He won't talk about the murder case, nor will he reveal where he lives because he wants privacy.

Here's that link to a 1999 story about the Hill saga in the Laredo Times.
http://lmtonline.com...0319/pagea6.pdf

This post has been edited by FilioScotia: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 7:09 AM

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#24 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 7:42 AM

View PostFilioScotia, on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 @ 8:07am, said:

You may be interested to know that Robert Hill is now 46 years old, and he lives on the east coast where he's a prosecuting attorney. He won't talk about the murder case, nor will he reveal where he lives because he wants privacy.

Here's that link to a 1999 story about the Hill saga in the Laredo Times.
http://lmtonline.com...0319/pagea6.pdf


Couldn't blame him one bit.

I happened to be at a neighboring house (about 2 blocks away) and this is what made me wonder if anyone could recall the whole story of the Hill case. The neighbors I know were too young to know so I felt compelled to ask Haif crew. I knew all of you would be a great source. Thanks everyone, more mysteries solved! :)
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#25 User is offline   EastEnd Susan 

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Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 7:54 AM

[quote name='Vertigo58' date='Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 @ 7:24am' post='155630']
Does anyone remember this 1981 true story/film and does anyone know what ever became of the doctor? If I recall the film leaves you hanging. The film also took a peek at River Oaks society. Sam Elliott as the Dr., Katherine Ross the mistress, Farrah Fawcett the wife.

There must be many people out there that knew the real people? Wonder if the mansion is still there? Photo anyone? Comments?


I was reading about this on a page from Vanderbilt University. They say she might have died from Toxic Shock Syndrome back before they knew what it was.

This post has been edited by EastEnd Susan: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 8:02 AM

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#26 User is offline   nm5k 

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Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 1:33 PM

[quote name='EastEnd Susan' date='Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 @ 8:54am' post='156921']
[quote name='Vertigo58' date='Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 @ 7:24am' post='155630']
Does anyone remember this 1981 true story/film and does anyone know what ever became of the doctor? If I recall the film leaves you hanging. The film also took a peek at River Oaks society. Sam Elliott as the Dr., Katherine Ross the mistress, Farrah Fawcett the wife.

I think that movie is a joke though basically... Blood and Money is more accurate as far as the people, etc..

>There must be many people out there that knew the real people? Wonder if the mansion is still there? Photo anyone? Comments?

I never knew the Hills. I have met one participant of the tale though. I met Dick Krueger once when I
worked on his air conditioner quite a few years ago. He was one of Joan Robinsons ex boyfriends back
when he sang at the Shamrock.
I didn't mention anything about it when I met him. But I knew it had to be the same person...
The age was right, where he lived, and at that time he played piano at funerals I think.
I would have asked him about it, but I fiqured it was none of my business...So I didn't.
I'm almost sure it was him though.
Yes, the house is still there, except I haven't seen it in a while. It's easy to spot, as it's on a
corner, and the house is at right angles to most the others on the block. It used to have
kind of a old south plantation look to it, with pillars, etc, if I remember right.
Ash Robinsons old house is a little farther north up Kirby I think. There is a pix of the
house in "Blood and Money". I wouldn't be surprised if the house looks different now
though.. Paint, any remodeling, etc..
MK
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#27 User is offline   Native Montrosian 

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Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 12:36 PM

Quote

You may be interested to know that Robert Hill is now 46 years old, and he lives on the east coast where he's a prosecuting attorney. He won't talk about the murder case, nor will he reveal where he lives because he wants privacy.


Thanks for the update! Last I heard of him was in 1984 when he was working on John Glenn's Presidential campaign. He grew up to be quite nice-looking, but I thought he would; kind of had a vaguely McCauley Culkin look when he was 12. Of course, since he was an older man a grade ahead, I had no chance. :lol: But he was very nice - didn't torment us younger kids like some of his buddies.
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#28 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Monday, June 4, 2007 at 6:55 PM

This is one of the last public photos taken of John Hill and Joan Robinson Hill shortly before she died:

Posted Image
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#29 User is offline   nm5k 

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Posted Monday, June 4, 2007 at 9:16 PM

View Postisuredid, on Monday, June 4th, 2007 @ 7:55pm, said:

This is one of the last public photos taken of John Hill and Joan Robinson Hill shortly before she died:

Posted Image


I'd never seen that pix... Wonder where it was taken.. I think the last public place they
were out together was the "wild game" dinner thing that they went to a few days before she
got sick. But they also went to quite a few other places.. They were regulars at the "Stables"
in those years. Probably a few other places too.. They also showed up at various musical
functions.. BTW, I may be way off base, but judging from the description of the dress they
buried her in, in "blood and money" , it's possible the dress she is wearing in that picture may
well be the dress she was buried in. Not sure though.. Matches the overall description though..
Of course, can't see the color. If it's gold, that may well be it..
MK
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#30 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 7:14 AM

Ironically, there are younger residents living near the old mansion now that have no idea this event ever happened so close to them. I was at a barbecue a few blocks away and these people were like Oh really this happended here in River Oaks? How long ago was that? :wacko:

I drove by the near corner the other day and couldn't recall the exact adress (someone listed it above somewhere). I did see a big home with tall shrubs and vines. Maybe thats how they rather keep it. Can't blame em I guess. Sure wish they would replay the film. Good or bad I want to see it again. Last saw it on TV about 20 years ago?
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#31 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 9:34 AM

View Postnm5k, on Monday, June 4th, 2007 @ 9:16pm, said:

I'd never seen that pix... Wonder where it was taken.. I think the last public place they
were out together was the "wild game" dinner thing that they went to a few days before she
got sick. But they also went to quite a few other places.. They were regulars at the "Stables"
in those years. Probably a few other places too.. They also showed up at various musical
functions.. BTW, I may be way off base, but judging from the description of the dress they
buried her in, in "blood and money" , it's possible the dress she is wearing in that picture may
well be the dress she was buried in. Not sure though.. Matches the overall description though..
Of course, can't see the color. If it's gold, that may well be it..
MK



The picture was taken at a black tie gala for the opening of Niemann-Marcus benefiting the Texas Heart Association. John played in the orchestra that night. The orchestra was called "The Heartbeats" and was made up entirely of doctors.
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#32 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 4:31 PM

View Postisuredid, on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 @ 9:34am, said:

The orchestra was called "The Heartbeats" and was made up entirely of doctors.

It sure was. Dr. Denton Cooley played string bass, and equally noted cardiologist Dr. Grady Hallman played trumpet, I think. About a dozen other Texas Medical Center doctors alternated in and out on various instruments.

These guys were very good musicians, and played at any number of notable public and private events. They even cut a record sometime in the 70s.

I saw them one July 4th in the gazebo at Sam Houston Park. They recruited about a dozen other musicians from around the medical center and did patriotic music for a couple of hours.

It's an interesting phenomenon that many doctors are also accomplished musicians. The Texas Medical Center has a performing orchestra right now that's made up almost entirely of doctors, nurses and medical students.

They even have their own website. http://www.doctorsorchestrahouston.org/pre.../p2_articleid/2

My own sister in law -- A BCOM graduate who studied under some guy named DeBakey -- was a surgeon for 35 years and a professional quality flutist in her spare time. She's now retired from medicine, and she makes her living performing flute with orchestras and teaching it at the college level.

This post has been edited by FilioScotia: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 7:08 AM

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#33 User is offline   nm5k 

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Posted Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 10:10 PM

I'm pretty sure I saw 4-5 of them play at Johnston Jr. High at a
school concert. In fact, I think one of them may well have been John
Hill. That was in 1970-71.
John Hill , along with a few of the others played a lot of schools.
I don't know if he was still a member when Joan Hill died.
He was kicked out of the band at the time of the "Kurth"
affair, due to some of the wives complaining about him
showing up in public with her, while still married to Joan.
He still played his other gigs though.. The schools, etc..
Now that I think back on it, I'm fairly sure one of the guys
I saw playing at the school was most likely John Hill.
MK
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#34 User is offline   Don Julio 

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Posted Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 9:57 PM

View PostFilioScotia, on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 @ 4:31pm, said:

It sure was. Dr. Denton Cooley played string bass, and equally noted cardiologist Dr. Grady Hallman played trumpet, I think. About a dozen other Texas Medical Center doctors alternated in and out on various instruments.

These guys were very good musicians, and played at any number of notable public and private events. They even cut a record sometime in the 70s.

It's an interesting phenomenon that many doctors are also accomplished musicians. The Texas Medical Center has a performing orchestra right now that's made up almost entirely of doctors, nurses and medical students.


The Heartbeats album dates from the late '60s. They made it when John Hill was still in the band; he is pictured on the cover.

What is it about doctors and music, anyway?
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#35 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 7:24 AM

View PostDon Julio, on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 @ 9:57pm, said:

The Heartbeats album dates from the late '60s. They made it when John Hill was still in the band; he is pictured on the cover.

What is it about doctors and music, anyway?


I can only imagine that if we consider the stressful positions they find themselves in, there has to be some kind of outlet. Music is probably one of the best I can think of. :)
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#36 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 8:57 AM

View PostVertigo58, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 7:24am, said:

I can only imagine that if we consider the stressful positions they find themselves in, there has to be some kind of outlet. Music is probably one of the best I can think of. :)

They grew up studying music and one instrument or another, but somewhere along the line they chose medicine over pursuing a music career. You're right about doctors using music as an outlet for the stresses they face every day, but not for Dr. John Hill.

Hill was a plastic surgeon, and an accomplished pianist who could play popular or classical. Tommy Thompson wrote in Blood and Money that Hill kept a grand piano in his office suite in the old Hermann Professional Building. He used it to serenade rich middle-aged women, to soften them up so he could use his enormous personal charm to persuade them to get plastic surgery. It's how he got rich.
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#37 User is offline   musicman 

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Posted Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 9:14 AM

View PostVertigo58, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 7:24am, said:

I can only imagine that if we consider the stressful positions they find themselves in, there has to be some kind of outlet. Music is probably one of the best I can think of. :)

kind of like the astronaut band Max Q, if you don't join and relieve that stress you may get the urge to wear a diaper.
The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. -- Ronald Reagan
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill

Willomena Slater goin ghetto on Betty Suarez..."come on girl, i'm black and you're mexican. let's not talk around it like a couple of dull white people"
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#38 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 10:27 AM

View Postmusicman, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 9:14am, said:

kind of like the astronaut band Max Q, if you don't join and relieve that stress you may get the urge to wear a diaper.


So instead of saying he "went Postal" we can say he "Spaced out" :lol:

a gymnist would have "flipped out", etc.
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#39 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 2:09 PM

View PostVertigo58, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 10:27am, said:

So instead of saying he "went Postal" we can say he "Spaced out" :lol: a gymnist would have "flipped out", etc.

And a hair stylist would have "wigged" out? Come on let's keep it going.
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#40 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 2:25 PM

View PostFilioScotia, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 2:09pm, said:

And a hair stylist would have "wigged" out? Come on let's keep it going.


a sleepwalker could be "trippin"

Mind-reader "psyched-out"

Big Bird "flew the coop"
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#41 User is offline   FilioScotia 

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Posted Friday, June 8, 2007 at 4:16 PM

View PostVertigo58, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 2:25pm, said:

a sleepwalker could be "trippin out"
Mind-reader "psyched-out"
Big Bird "flew the coop"

Don't forget the dog-walker who "pooped" out. Or the basketball player with diarrhea who "dribbled" out. Sorry. I seem to be stuck in the bathroom.
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#42 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Friday, June 8, 2007 at 5:30 PM

Posted Image
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#43 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Friday, June 8, 2007 at 6:13 PM

Posted Image
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#44 User is offline   plumber2 

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Posted Friday, June 8, 2007 at 7:56 PM

The house they used to depict the Hill mansion in the "Murder in Texas" made for TV movie was actually on South MacGregor. It was only used for driveway and still shots. I'm sure all the interior scenes were filmed in Hollywood.
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#45 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Monday, June 11, 2007 at 7:13 AM

View Postplumber2, on Friday, June 8th, 2007 @ 7:56pm, said:

The house they used to depict the Hill mansion in the "Murder in Texas" made for TV movie was actually on South MacGregor. It was only used for driveway and still shots. I'm sure all the interior scenes were filmed in Hollywood.


Very interesting to know and those pictures above are more interesting.

Mrs Hill looks so much like actress Cybill Sheperd, except no Moonlighting going on here. :blush:
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#46 User is offline   johnfinley 

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Posted Monday, June 11, 2007 at 10:23 AM

Vertigo, I thought she looked like Cybil as well. I just didn't want to say anything about it. I wonder what house on S. Macgregor was used?
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#47 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Monday, June 11, 2007 at 12:58 PM

View Postjohnfinley, on Monday, June 11th, 2007 @ 10:23am, said:

Vertigo, I thought she looked like Cybil as well. I just didn't want to say anything about it. I wonder what house on S. Macgregor was used?


http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...post&id=240

Wouldn't be surprised it it were the ill-fated Wright Morrow Estate that was discussed in another topic of its recent destruction. MacGregor area has or had numerous beauties such as this one. The address for the estate was listed as 3028 S MacGregor. Its now in the landfill. -_-

This post has been edited by Vertigo58: Monday, June 11, 2007 at 1:01 PM

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#48 User is offline   mkultra25 

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Posted Monday, June 11, 2007 at 5:02 PM

View Postisuredid, on Friday, June 8th, 2007 @ 5:30pm, said:

Posted Image


If I'm reading the edge that got cut off here correctly, Ash Robinson's house was at 1029 Kirby. I've admired that distinctive, low-slung mod for years, but I never knew he'd lived there. HCAD says it was built in 1960 and remodeled in 2000 - anyone know if the remodeling substantially changed its appearance, or does it still look the way it did in the 60s?
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#49 User is offline   isuredid 

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Posted Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 10:56 AM

View Postmkultra25, on Monday, June 11th, 2007 @ 5:02pm, said:

If I'm reading the edge that got cut off here correctly, Ash Robinson's house was at 1029 Kirby. I've admired that distinctive, low-slung mod for years, but I never knew he'd lived there. HCAD says it was built in 1960 and remodeled in 2000 - anyone know if the remodeling substantially changed its appearance, or does it still look the way it did in the 60s?


1029 Kirby is correct, but I have no memory of the house from the 60s. They mention that Joan operated Chastworth Farm on Riceville Road. Riceville Road became S. Gessner. I don't know what year the name changed. The Chatsworth Farm became Cyandy Stables. I think part of that land is still vacant, but probably not for long.
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#50 User is offline   Vertigo58 

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Posted Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 12:33 PM

Please see beginning of this topic. The Kirby adress is listed, we were just commenting on the films use of another location for shots of the real house. The original home is still there on Kirby. Lets not get confused sorry, scusi mi'. :P

Lets try to find out how to get the movie. Worth seeing.
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