Windsor Plaza Shopping Center On Richmond Ave.

[lolasma]

Just saw the obit for George Ballas, inventor of the original Weed Eater, in the Chronicle and have so many memories of working in Windsor Plaza at Midtown Office Supply in the 70s. Midtown was in the middle of the strip and Mr Ballas opened his Weed Eater shop at the end nearest Sage Ave. Mr Ballas formerly owned Dance City USA but had sold it and was Rogelio Rodriguez Dance Studio. In about 1976 or 1977 a woman was shot getting out of her car going into the exercise studio in the dance studio. I went to work at 8am and after seeing the covered body near the curb found out from another employee who was in the store at the time - but did not actually see it, that the woman had been shot getting out of her car by 2 men that had been waiting in the parking lot. They drove by, shot her and drove on. I remember they left the body in the same position for 4-5 hours before finally removing it. There was some suspicion that the woman shot had been mistaken for another woman with same type car that was going to the same exercise class. After a couple of days there wasn't anymore said about the murder.

However, years later the police started saying that it was done by 2 men from I think Florida who were hired gunmen and that as many as 10 or 11 more murders at that time were associated with them. All victims were connected in some way and knew each other...but then the story dropped again.

Curious if anyone knows anymore about this story.....

[lolasma]

Just saw the obit for George Ballas, inventor of the original Weed Eater, in the Chronicle and have so many memories of working in Windsor Plaza at Midtown Office Supply in the 70s. Midtown was in the middle of the strip and Mr Ballas opened his Weed Eater shop at the end nearest Sage Ave. Mr Ballas formerly owned Dance City USA but had sold it and was Rogelio Rodriguez Dance Studio. In about 1976 or 1977 a woman was shot getting out of her car going into the exercise studio in the dance studio. I went to work at 8am and after seeing the covered body near the curb found out from another employee who was in the store at the time - but did not actually see it, that the woman had been shot getting out of her car by 2 men that had been waiting in the parking lot. They drove by, shot her and drove on. I remember they left the body in the same position for 4-5 hours before finally removing it. There was some suspicion that the woman shot had been mistaken for another woman with same type car that was going to the same exercise class. After a couple of days there wasn't anymore said about the murder.

However, years later the police started saying that it was done by 2 men from I think Florida who were hired gunmen and that as many as 10 or 11 more murders at that time were associated with them. All victims were connected in some way and knew each other...but then the story dropped again.

Curious if anyone knows anymore about this story.....

[Riomar]

The woman who was murdered in front of the exercise studio that was next to Dance City USA was Elizabeth Etter or “Edder” I’m not sure of the spelling, but she was the wife of a Houston doctor. I arrived just minutes after it happened, sometime around nine AM. I saw her lying next to her car as I was driving down Richmond Ave. It was in the early spring of 1977, I believe. I looked over and saw someone lying on the ground along side the drivers side of her car that was parked horizontally, right in front of the exercise studio next to Dance City. Someone lying on the ground at 9 AM on a weekday morning was easily spotted from Richmond Ave, because

The Windsor Plaza parking lot was almost deserted during the night in those days, few people parked there overnight. I drove immediately over to the scene. She’d been getting out of her car for her exercise class when two men parked close by in the opposite direction, shot her out of their window and sped off. We knew this because there was one eye witness, a young woman who’d driven up behind her, going to the same exercise class. I never heard any more about it until sometime in the 1980’s when either the Houston Post or Chronicle ran a feature entitled “Who killed Elizabeth Etter/Edder” – it was the most amazing story,

The investigative reporter listed MANY people who’d died strangely. seems like it was like 12 or more, all very oddly and they all were linked together in some way. Each had died such a strange death, or had been murdered and the murder was yet unsolved. And they all knew each other either socially or professionally!

The story went on to say an elderly couple came forward a year after her murder reporting that their son who lived close to Windsor Plaza had been gunned down in the same fashion, And although Houston police were aware of his murder, they hadn’t told police of their fears. They said they’d been afraid to come forward before with the information that their son had known/was connected, in some way to the murdered woman in the parking lot.

So far this is all I can find and for all I know this could even be from you. I did discover from death records that the name is Etter and it was 1977, Possibly. (at least this is the only name that pops up for the time period. No Etter pops up for '76 and only one Edder pops up and it is the wrong first name and for '77 there is no Edder, but the only Etter is Elizabeth. This is what brought me to the conclusion that it was Elizabeth Etter in 1977). I am still looking and will hopefully find something soon.

[Firedahli]

My father was a friend of Dr. Richard Etter, and his wife Liz( Elizabeth). He was a Professional Dog Handler,and showed for them. I can't remember what type of dogs they had. What I do know was Liz, and Betty Moore went to their Jazzercise class. After class Liz was gunned down. The Dog Show world became mum. Not a inkling of what happened to Mrs. Etter. I was living in Houston at the time,and the murder seemed to just disappear from the news. I do believe Dr.Etter was involved somehow. That deduction did not come from my parents, but I knew very good friend of Liz Etter whom was tight lipped, but slipped one day that her husband was involved.

[txakitalady]

The story of Liz's murder was totally bizarre and was covered in sevral articles by the newspapers.  Dr. Etter was a dentist, and was having an affair with one of his patients, who was a murderess.  She was involved in several strange deaths--of her original fiancee or boyfriend.  It all culminated with some kind of shoot-out in Pasadena at her house between her, a boyfriend, and some other men.  When the police began untying the threads of her life, they realized that she was probably responsible for Liz's murder.  I believe she and Dr. Etter married not long after the murder.  

[Earl D. Musick]

Reading the speculations and rumors regarding the murder of Elizabeth "Liz" Mallery Etter were extremely interesting, but contained a lot of incorrect information. Mrs. Etter's murder is still an unsolved Houston homicide. Dr. Richard Etter, a board certified allergist, later married a person of interest in his wife's death. Liz was murdered on May 18, 1977. The girlfriend was Nancy Lynn Schnack Etter who was later charged and convicted in the murder of David Holder in South Houston, Texas. Nancy was a person of interest in other suspicious deaths, but only 3 of the strange deaths were ruled as murders. Nancy's ex-boyfriend, Ronnie Lee Harrell was murdered as he got out of his Corvette at his town house at 500 North Post Oak Lane, on May 19, 1976. A year later Liz was murdered as she got out of her car. Dr. Etter was a co-signer for the loan on Harrell's Corvette. Harrell's murder is also an unsolved Houston homicide. The murder of David Holder in South Houston occurred on July 27, 1978, and was cleared with Nancy's arrest and conviction. The jury sentenced her to 50 years in prison. Several police agencies conducted detailed investigations with success only in the David Holder murder. 

[Highrise Tower]

Aerial photograph of the old Windsor Plaza Shopping Center On Richmond Ave. Date is said to be 1960.

A few race tracks were located across the street somewhere? Was that a multifamily complex in the bottom right corner?