FORT WORTH -- In his videotaped confession, John "Johnny" Hummel told investigators that he killed his family because he wanted to be single to pursue a woman he met at a convenience store in Joshua.
On Tuesday, jurors heard from that woman, who acknowledged that she was not happy about being involved in a capital murder trial.The 27-year-old woman, who is not being identified for fear of retribution, testified that she had sex one time with Hummel in a moment of weakness Dec. 10, 2009.In the following days, she said, Hummel told her his wife was pregnant."I told him not to talk to me, not to text me anymore," she testified.But Hummel was persistent."He said that he wasn't in love with" his wife, the woman testified. "But he didn't say he was going to leave."The woman said she made it clear to Hummel that they could be only friends, but on the night of Dec. 17, 2009, she allowed him to drop by her apartment, where she had made a birthday dinner for her 6-year-old daughter.The woman said that was the last time she saw Hummel -- until Tuesday, when she identified him seated at the defense table.Prosecutors Miles Brissette and Bob Gill contend that, after Hummel left her house that night, he went into the kitchen of his Kennedale home and, after thinking about it for a while, decided to kill his family and burn down their house with their bodies inside. Hummel is accused of killing his pregnant wife, Joy; his disabled father-in-law, Clyde Bedford; and his 5-year-old daughter, Jodi.If convicted of capital murder, Hummel will face the death penalty.The woman testified during the seventh day of testimony in the trial in state District Judge Ruben Gonzalez's court. She told the jury that she met Hummel in fall 2009 while she was working as a clerk at a Joshua convenience store.She said Hummel came in daily, dressed in his security guard uniform and wearing Axe cologne. He always bought gas and cigarettes and, eventually, they struck up a friendship and exchanged phone numbers.From that point forward, she said, they exchanged hundreds of text messages and dozens of phone calls, including some that were sexual in nature. But, she said, the sex at her apartment was just a "one-time thing.""I was under a lot of stress, going through a divorce, worried about losing my daughter," she said. "My boyfriend and I were arguing."Afterward, she said, she made it clear that she and Hummel did not have a future together."I indicated to John that we were friends and that he was married and I had a boyfriend," the woman said.But later, under cross-examination by Larry Moore -- who is defending Hummel with Fred Cummings and Pam Fernandez -- the woman acknowledged that maybe she had sent Hummel mixed signals, particularly since they had continued sending sexual text messages."It was conflicting, but we were just having fun," the woman said.On Dec. 16, 2009, the woman said, she and Hummel exchanged numerous text messages, mostly about her divorce being finalized that day."I let him know that I had won -- my daughter would be staying with me and it was over," she said.The next day, she said, Hummel dropped by her apartment for her daughter's birthday.She said he stayed about 30 minutes and read her daughter a children's book titled It Could Have Been Worse.The woman testified that she next tried to text Hummel on Dec. 19, 2009, but that he didn't respond. She later saw on the news that Hummel's house had burned down and that his family had died.She said she didn't know he was suspected of killing them until Brissette showed up at her house several days later."I was shocked," she said.The trial continues today.Melody McDonald, 817-390-7386
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