Suspect in 1997 UNT student homicide faces death penalty in Oklahoma slaying

A Texas convict who led authorities to the body of a University of North Texas student last seen in 1997 faces the death penalty at his upcoming murder trial in another case in Oklahoma, according to an Oklahoma newspaper report.

In a hearing earlier this month in Oklahoma City, William Reece, 58, of Houston, was notified that he faces the death penalty if convicted in the 1997 killing of Tiffany Johnston in Bethany, Okla., The Oklahoman reported.

The trial is scheduled for Oct. 18 in Oklahoma City.

Reece is a suspect in some of Texas’ oldest cold cases including that of of UNT honor student Kelli Cox of Farmers Branch. He’s also a suspect in two other Texas killings in 1997.

He’s been in a Texas prison since 1998 on an aggravated kidnapping charge.

In April 2016, Reece directed authorities to skeletal remains buried at a site in Brazoria County, in a pasture off Texas 288 near Rosharon.

Dental records confirmed that the bones were those of Cox.

Denton police said Tuesday a murder charge has not been filed against Reece in the Cox slaying.

Earlier this month in a hearing, an Oklahoma County prosecutor presented a legal document on justifications for a death sentence. They included the fact that Reece had been convicted in the past of a violent felony, he killed to avoid arrest, he was a “continuing threat to society,” and Johnston’s “murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel,” according to the newspaper.

Reece is accused of strangling Johnston, who was 19 and a newlywed, after abducting her on July 26, 1997, from a car wash in Bethany, according to The Oklahoman. Her partially nude body was found the next day in tall weeds in Yukon, just south of Interstate 40.

He was charged in September 2015 after DNA evidence linked him to the case.

In the Denton case, Cox disappeared July 15, 1997, after taking a tour of the Denton Jail with her UNT criminology class. She called her boyfriend about noon and when he arrived to meet her, he found only her car.

Cox had a 19-month-old daughter, who was a student at UNT last year.

Reece also is a suspect in the killings of Jessica Cain, 17, of La Marque and Laura Smither, 12, of Friendswood, Texas prosecutors have said.

Cain went missing in August 1997 after attending a cast party where she had celebrated her performance in a high school musical. Her dad’s pickup was found on the route to her Tiki Island home.

In early 2016, Reece guided authorities to locations near Houston. Prosecutors told Reece they would not seek the death penalty if Jessica Cain were found. He led them to a pasture in Brazoria County where human remains were found March 18. Medical examiners later identified the remains as those of Cain.

Reece is also a suspect in Smither’s killing in April 1997.

Smither disappeared while jogging, and her body was found a month later in Pasadena.

Shortly after the slayings in 1997, Reece was sentenced to 60 years in prison in 1998 for an aggravated kidnapping in Harris County, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records. While in prison, he was also sentenced to three years for theft in Brazoria County.

Last year, Reece waived extradition and was taken to Oklahoma to stand trial in the Johnston slaying.

Reece was in the Oklahoma County Jail on Tuesday in Oklahoma City with no bond.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Suspect in 1997 UNT student homicide faces death penalty in Oklahoma slaying."