TERRELL, Texas — The four original suspects arrested in connection with the September 3, 2006, execution-style murders of Pizza Hut employees Stephen Dale Mitchelltree and Patricia Oferosky in Terrell have now been convicted and sentenced in the case — nearly 16 years later.
TERRELL, Texas — The four original suspects arrested in connection with the September 3, 2006, execution-style murders of Pizza Hut employees Stephen Dale Mitchelltree and Patricia Oferosky in Terrell have now been convicted and sentenced in the case — nearly 16 years later.
On September 3, 2006, Oferosky and Mitchelltree were nearing the end of their shift when police say they were shot to death, their bodies discovered later.
Then-current and former Pizza Hut employees Bianca Newman, Justin Prox, Darius Hubbard, and Anthony Holliman were all originally arrested in the case. But, at an examining trial conducted by a Kaufman County Justice of the Peace, the court concluded there was no probable cause to hold the suspects and they were subsequently released.
"During the initial investigation, there were no fingerprints, DNA or weapons recovered at the scene, but many man hours went into interviewing witnesses, running down leads, and continuing to gather other evidence at the scene of the crime," read a statement from the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office today, in announcing the convictions.
The case would go cold, however, and added to the Texas Rangers Top 12 Cold Case Investigations.
Throughout the years, the Terrell Police Department says they continued to pursue the investigation of the case and, in 2020, Terrell Police Department Detectives D. Ballard and C. Seabolt actively re-opened the case with assistance from Texas Ranger Chad Matlock.
On the morning of Friday, May 1, 2020, a Kaufman County Grand Jury convened, heard new evidence in the case, and subsequently handed down indictments for all four suspects — again charging them with two counts each of capital murder.
Moments after those indictments were handed down, Kaufman County 86th District Court Judge Casey Blair signed capias warrants for their arrests and multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Rangers and members of the Terrell-Forney SWAT team, began making arrests.
By early Saturday morning, May 2, 2020, law enforcement confirmed to inForney.com, at the time, that all four were in custody.
Hubbard, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records obtained by inForney.com, was 10 years into a 20-year sentence at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas, for engaging in organized criminal activity, at the time. He was parole eligible on July 5, 2020, according to those records, but he was placed on a hold, according to prosecutors.
In 2006, police said possible motives in the case were revenge and robbery as Hubbard had recently been fired from Pizza Hut.
Holliman, a little over two years after the Pizza Hut slayings, was sentenced in Cleveland, Ohio, to seven years in prison for attempted murder and felonious assault. He was released in November 2014, according Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction records.
“Our office always believed we had the right suspects and the citizens of Kaufman County spoke when they indicted these suspected,” Chief Ken McKeown said of the convictions.
According to the district attorney's office, with agreement from the victims' families, the four defendants entered into plea agreements on Juen 17, 2022.
Newman was ultimately convicted on two counts of robbery, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced to five years on each charge, to be served concurrently, with 731 days time served. She was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $357 in court costs.
Holliman was also convicted on two counts of robbery and sentenced to three years in prison, with 843 days time served, to be served concurrent with prior sentencing.
Prox was convicted on one count of capital murder with intentional murder during a robbery and sentenced to 10 years in prison, with time served, and one count of murder with a 10 year sentence to be served concurrently. He was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $362 in court costs.
Hubbard was convicted on one count of capital murder with intentional murder during a robbery and sentenced to six years, with 453 days time served, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $362 in court costs.
"Our offices would like to personally thank the Mitchelltree and Oferosky families for continuing to work with law enforcement and we want to acknowledge the loss of their loved ones," stated District Attorney Erleigh Wiley. "The senseless murders of two good people, Stephen and Patricia, is a loss for their families, but justice has been served by the convictions of these 4 individuals that took innocent lives."
The District Attorney's Office thanked the Terrell Police Department and Ranger Matlock for their assistance in the investigation.
The prosecution was led by the Criminal Trial Chief, Marc Moffitt, with the assistance of Investigators Walter Hughey and Mike Holley, and paralegal Amanda Morris in the trial preparation.