Husband convicted of murder in 1985 Fort Worth case

A 59-year-old Fort Worth man was convicted Thursday evening of a murder committed in 1985.

Paul Christopher Ervin was found guilty of killing his wife, Linda Ervin, who was 26 and the mother of three sons when she was strangled on June 19, 1985.

Ervin’s defense attorneys presented no witnesses. In their closing arguments Thursday, they told jurors that the real killer is still out there and that law enforcement officials are shirking their duty by not going after the guilty party.

During the trial this week, prosecutors presented evidence that Ervin killed his wife sometime during the day and returned later to arrange the house in the 4700 block of Richardson Street to make it look as though she was killed during a burglary.

The jury began deliberating about 5:30 p.m. and returned with the verdict about 7:30 p.m. The punishment phase of the trial will begin at 8:45 a.m. Friday.

The maximum sentence for a murder conviction is life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Ervin was arrested in the case in 1985, but a grand jury declined to indict him. But in August 2013, Ervin was arrested again after detectives obtained DNA evidence linking him to the death.

Defense attorney Mike Heiskell said investigators had virtually the same evidence today that they had in 1985 when the grand jury decided to no-bill his client.

Prosecutors were trying to persuade the jury that the burglary was fake, Heiskell and his co-counsel, David Patin said. But they ignored that a blue steel Smith and Wesson revolver and a cassette tape player were reported stolen, ignored that Ervin had reported two previous burglaries at the same address and ignored the damage that was done to the residence in the burglary, Heiskell said.

The DNA under the dead woman’s fingernail clippings meant nothing, Heiskell said. Paul and Linda Ervin were married, and people should expect his DNA and fingerprints to be found over everything, Heiskell said.

“They are building a bridge,” Patin said. “This bridge has to be used to get beyond a reasonable doubt. They attempted to build this bridge but they have not completed it. This case is saturated with doubt.”

Tarrant County prosecutors Sean Colston and Rhett Parham presented a history of violence against Linda Ervin.

One of Linda Ervin’s three sons, Dewayne Jones, testified Wednesday that about four months before his mother was fatally strangled, Paul Ervin viciously attacked and tortured her.

Linda Ervin told police and medical personnel that on Feb. 27, 1985, Paul Ervin tied her up in the bathroom with pieces of extension cord, burned her legs and face, violated her with a cucumber and then choked her, according to testimony from another son, Gus Hayes.

Apparently Ervin believed she had been unfaithful, according to JPS Health network records.

Jones told the jury that about 10 days after that attack, Paul Ervin came to their house and apologized to the brothers.

“I said, ‘Mama, I thought you said he jumped on you,’ ” Jones testified. “Paul Ervin replied, ‘Ain’t nobody jumped on nobody.’ ”

Ervin then said that he planned to marry his mother, Jones testified.

“I didn’t understand it,” Jones said. “I didn’t understand how she could like someone who treated her like that.”

Soon after reporting the assault, Linda Ervin fled with her children to Liberty, a town about 43 miles northeast of Houston, where they had family. But she came back to Fort Worth after staying only a few days, according to the sons’ testimony.

Linda Ervin was afraid of her husband, Colston said.

“Why strangle her? To let her know he’s in control,” Colston said. “Why tie her up? To let her know he’s in control. This is the kind of animal we are dealing with.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 8:29 PM with the headline "Husband convicted of murder in 1985 Fort Worth case."