[NI0468] Marriage license purchased and recorded in Deaf Smith Co., Hereford, TX.
[NI0469] Marriage license purchased and recorded in Deaf Smith Co., Hereford, TX.
[NI0477] Marriage license purchased and recorded in Deaf Smith Co., Hereford, TX.
[NI0536] Lived in Hereford, TX, Amarillo, TX and then in Buena Vista, CO from 1964.
[NI0558] Graduate: Tech U Florida, Aug, 1977
[NI0561]
Mark Swatzell's Murderer's Trial
By Mark Reynolds
Times-Union staff writer
A 22-year-old Jacksonville man was convicted Saturday night in the 1998 murder and robbery of a pizza delivery man who police said begged for his life before he was slain outside the Baymeadows business where he earned money to support his family. As his mother fought to control her emotions on the heels of a weeklong trial, Robert Quesnel, was told that the jury had found him guilty of first-degree murder, an offense punishable by death.
Quesnel also was convicted of robbery and the jury determined that he had been "in possession of a firearm" when he committed both offenses. His conviction came about 8:30 p.m., following hours of deliberations at Duval County Circuit Court.
The case has garnered special attention since police charged both Quesnel and another man, Johnny Levy, saying that the homicide victim was chased and begged for his life before he died.
Swatzell, 30, had worked for the Domino's chain for more than 10 years to support his wife and child. At about 3 a.m., Mark Swatzell, and another employee, had just closed down the business, Baymeadows Domino's Pizza shop. They were approached by Quesnel and Levy in the parking lot and were robbed of a cellular phone and a bag of money before Swatzell attempted to flee. Quesnel, who fled to a car hidden in a nearby apartment complex and left the scene, now faces the death penalty phase of his trial.
He expressed little emotion, but periodically glanced toward his mother.
Levy, who testified against him earlier this week, pleaded guilty last year to charges of second-degree murder and armed robbery.
[NI0563]
Graduated 1978 from Amarillo Junior College.
Graduated 1980 from Texas A & M with B.S in Electrical Engineering.
Moved to Houston, TX in 1980 as Project Manager for Fisk Electric.
Moved to Dallas, TX in 1985 as Vice President of Electrical Engineering for Walter Cash & Partners.
Joined Carter & Burgess consulting engineers in 1989 as MEP Manager for the Dallas office.
Moved to Fort Worth, TX in 1995 to join the corporate office of Carter & Burgess.
Joined ThinkSpark, Inc. database consultants in 1998.
[NI0564]
Franklin was working at Attebury's Grain Elevator, just east of Amarillo, TX. Marcena and Franklin also lived in the residence at the elevator. I was working in the office at the time Marcena was expecting the arrival of Michelle. On the day of December 1, 1960, Franklin phoned me in the office from his residence. Marcena was ready to go to the hospital, and he thought the trip would be more comfortable for her in my big old Nash Ambassador, rather than in their Volkswagen. I drove the short distance to their residence.
It was evident that Marcena's labor was advanced. While Franklin helped Marcena into the car, I grabbed a couple of bathtowels. I drove while Franklin rode in the back seat with Marcena. From the sounds coming from the backseat, it was clear that we didn't have a lot of time to make it to Northwest Texas Hospital. I hoped that my speeding down Third Street would attract a police officer that would
give us escort; but, it did not. When I was at the intersection of Polk Street (Amarillo's main street) and Third, I heard Michelle cry! At that point, I slowed -- no need to hurry now. Franklin had kept his "cool" while delivering Michelle. However, when the hospital staff asked their questions to check Marcena and Michelle into the hospital, he couldn't remember what was needed, so I furnished the answers. Michelle's birth didn't even make it into the news. There were three babies born in cars that day, so another birth apparently wasn't noteworthy.
That evening I put on my pajamas early and was watching TV after I got Shirleen to bed. A wrap came at the door. It was a couple of police officers who wanted to know whose car was out front. (I had not yet cleaned up the backseat from the earlier events.) Told them it was my car. They said they wanted to come in and talk to me. Not having on a robe, I said I would get a robe and let them in. They
wanted immediate entry, which I refused. While getting my robe, I heard the running footsteps of a man going around to the back of the house. So I suppose they thought I was going to hightail it out the
backdoor!
I let them in. Their questioning was getting hostile. They threatened to take me into the police station, even though I had explained that I had a baby asleep. I decided to pull back the drape and look out front and I was amazed to see the street was full of police cars and flashing red lights. I also noted there was another car besides mine in the front of the house. I explained to them which one was my car and told them I had no idea whose car the other one was. Their tenor continued to be tough. I decided at that point to tell them that my brother, Art Fields, was on the Amarillo Police force. Apparently they knew him, and confirmed it. The confrontation cooled.
I then was told that the other car had been involved in a liquor store robbery earlier that evening, and had been abandoned in front of our house....and they hadn't even noticed the state of the backseat of my
car; and I didn't complicate things by telling them.
Michelle's birth date is one that I'll never forget!
Coeta (Fields) Mills
[NI0653] Marriage license purchased and recorded in Deaf Smith Co., Hereford, TX.
[NI0661] Farmer; later with telephone company.