Rare trial in decades-long Texas Killing Fields investigation
A Galveston County jury on Thursday sentenced James Dolphs Elmore Jr. to 20 years in prison for his role in the cocaine-related death of 16-year-old Laura Miller, whose body was found in 1986 in the area southeast of Houston known as the “Texas Killing Fields.” The sentence was the maximum available, and it came a day after the jury convicted Elmore, 61, of manslaughter. Elmore was accused of preparing the dose of cocaine that killed Miller.
The case centers on a rural field off a desolate dirt road in League City, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) southeast of Houston, within the stretch of land along Interstate 45 that has come to be called the Texas Killing Fields. Miller was one of four people whose bodies were found in that field between 1984 and 1991.
The broader Texas Killing Fields investigation has examined the deaths of more than 30 girls and young women whose bodies have been recovered in the area since the 1970s. Investigators believe multiple people may be responsible for those deaths.
The conviction came in a rare trial related to the Texas Killing Fields case. Elmore was arrested earlier this year and accused of preparing the dose of cocaine that killed Miller.
The Texas Killing Fields have inspired books, movies, and a Netflix documentary about the case.