Bodies Found at Sam Donaldson’s Ranch

ABC News РTeen Arrested After Three Bodies Found at Sam Donaldson̢۪s Ranch

The bodies of a ranch foreman, his wife and her daughter were discovered on a New Mexico ranch owned by ABC newsman Sam Donaldson, and the man’s 14-year-old son was later arrested, authorities said. The bodies of Delbert “Paul” Posey, his wife Tryone Posey and her daughter Maralea Schmid were found Tuesday on Donaldson’s remote ranch north of Hondo, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department said. Sheriff Tom Sullivan said investigators arrested the teenager, Cody Posey, at a friend’s house. He was being held under a state youthful offender law on three open counts of murder and four counts of evidence tampering. The boy was expected to appear in court Thursday. Donaldson and his wife cooperated in the investigation and were never considered suspects, Sullivan said.

“Jan and I are so very, very sorry about the loss of these fine people,” Donaldson said in a statement. “We hired Paul Posey as our foreman on October 1, 2001. He and Tryone — and for that matter, the two youngsters — worked as a team in an effort to make our ranch a successful operation.”

How bizarre–and tragic.

Via Memeorandum

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.