{"id":469197,"date":"2022-06-30T17:44:26","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T14:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/serial-killer-william-reece-pleads-guilty-to-cold-case-murders\/"},"modified":"2022-06-30T17:44:26","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T14:44:26","slug":"serial-killer-william-reece-pleads-guilty-to-cold-case-murders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/serial-killer-william-reece-pleads-guilty-to-cold-case-murders\/","title":{"rendered":"#Serial killer William Reece pleads guilty to cold-case murders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41013ecf4f4\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41013ecf4f4\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/serial-killer-william-reece-pleads-guilty-to-cold-case-murders\/#%E2%80%9CSerial_killer_William_Reece_pleads_guilty_to_cold-case_murders%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Serial killer William Reece pleads guilty to cold-case murders&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CSerial_killer_William_Reece_pleads_guilty_to_cold-case_murders%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Serial killer William Reece pleads guilty to cold-case murders&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>A serial killer already on death row in Oklahoma pleaded guilty Wednesday to three cold-case murders in Texas and was sentenced to life in prison.<\/p>\n<p>William Lewis Reece, 62, first pleaded guilty in a courtroom in Galveston in the 1997 slayings of 12-year-old Laura Smither and 17-year-old Jessica Cain.<\/p>\n<p>He was then transferred to nearby Angleton to enter a guilty plea in the dis<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>earance and murder of 20-year-old Kelli Cox.<\/p>\n<p>In each of the three cases, Reece received a life sentence, which he cannot appeal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-five years is an awfully long time to be waiting for justice and there were a number of years in there where we truly didn\u2019t think we\u2019d ever see this day,\u201d said Laura Smither\u2019s mother, Gay Smither, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2022\/06\/29\/william-lewis-reece-expected-to-plead-guilty-to-murders-of-3-houston-area-women-wednesday\/\">according to KPRC.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Reece was serving a 60-year prison sentence for the 1998 Texas kidnapping of Sandra Sapaugh in 2016 when he began cooperating with investigations of the other cases.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/smither.jpg?w=968\" alt=\"Laura Smither, 12, was found murdered in south Houston in April 1997, two weeks after she failed to return from a morning jog. \" class=\"wp-image-22865853\" width=\"618\" height=\"653\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/smither.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1234 1236w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/smither.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=926 927w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/smither.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=618 618w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/smither.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=309 309w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/smither.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\"\/><figcaption>Laura Smither, 12, was found murdered in south Houston in April 1997, two weeks after she failed to return from a morning jog. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Family Handout<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/kellicox-1.jpg?w=819\" alt=\"Kelli Cox, a 20-year-old student, was last seen alive in Denton, Texas, in July 1997.\" class=\"wp-image-22866058\" width=\"618\" height=\"772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/kellicox-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1236 1236w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/kellicox-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=926 927w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/kellicox-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=618 618w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/kellicox-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=309 309w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/kellicox-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\"\/><figcaption>Kelli Cox, a 20-year-old student, was last seen alive in Denton, Texas, in July 1997.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Family Handout<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"796\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/cain.jpg?w=796\" alt=\"In Aug. 1997, Jessica Cain, 17, went to a party and never came home. \" class=\"wp-image-22865859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/cain.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1592 1592w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/cain.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1194 1194w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/cain.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=796 796w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/cain.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=398 398w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/cain.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\"\/><figcaption>In August 1997, Jessica Cain, 17, went to a party and never came home. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Family Handout<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2021, he was sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnson in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n<p>Reece carried out the killing spree in Texas and Oklahoma over a five-month period in 1997, after he had already served 10 years in Oklahoma state prison for raping two women.<\/p>\n<p>Smither failed to return from a morning jog in Friendswood in April 1997. Her remains were found more than two weeks later about 30 miles away in a retention pond in south Houston. <\/p>\n<p>On July 15, 1997, Kelli Cox, a 20-year-old criminology student at the University of North Texas, was leaving a tour of a Denton jail when she discovered she had locked her keys in her car, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/news\/serial-killer-william-reece-pleads-guilty-to-3-texas-girl-murders\">reported Fox 26. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cox walked to a nearby gas station to call her boyfriend. She was never seen alive again, leaving behind a young daughter.<\/p>\n<p>Just two weeks later in Bethany, Oklahoma, Tiffany Johnston, a 19-year-old newlywed, was abducted from a carwash. Her body was discovered the following day in a field in Yukon. She had been raped and strangled. <\/p>\n<p>In August 1997, Jessica Cain went to a party to celebrate her performance in a high school musical. Her truck was later found abandoned near her home on Tiki Island, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>In October of that year, Reece was arrested for the aggravated kidnapping of Sapaugh. He was convicted of that crime in 1998 and sentenced to 60 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>While he was serving his term in Texas, investigators in Oklahoma linked Reece to Johnston\u2019s rape and murder and charged him in that case.<\/p>\n<p>Hoping to secure a more lenient sentence, Reece began talking to the authorities and confessed to the murders in Texas after getting a promise from a Ranger that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"789\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/johnston.jpg?w=789\" alt=\"Reece is on death row in Oklahoma for the murder of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnson.\" class=\"wp-image-22865869\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/johnston.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1578 1578w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/johnston.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1184 1183w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/johnston.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=789 789w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/johnston.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=395 394w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/johnston.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 789px) 100vw, 789px\"\/><figcaption>Reece is on death row in Oklahoma for the murder of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnson.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Family Handout<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the spring of 2016, Reece led cops to Cain\u2019s remains in a pasture in south Houston, and to Cox\u2019s remains in rural Brazoria County.<\/p>\n<p>In court Wednesday, some of the victims\u2019 relatives gave emotional impact statements, describing the anguish of their loss.  <\/p>\n<p>Gay Smither, Laura\u2019s mother, thanked her daughter\u2019s killer for telling the truth about what happened and told him she forgave him, after languishing in \u201ca prison of anger and rage.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"754\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reececourt.jpg?w=754\" alt=\"Reece, pictured arriving in Texas court Wednesday, was sentenced to life in prison.\" class=\"wp-image-22865914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reececourt.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1508 1508w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reececourt.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1131 1131w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reececourt.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=754 754w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reececourt.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=377 377w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reececourt.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 754px) 100vw, 754px\"\/><figcaption>Reece arrives in Texas court on June 29, 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"761\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reecemug.jpg?w=761\" alt=\"Reece had gone on the 5-month-long murderous rampage in 1997 after previously serving 10 years for raping two women. \" class=\"wp-image-22865880\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reecemug.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1522 1522w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reecemug.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1142 1141w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reecemug.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=761 761w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reecemug.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=381 380w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/reecemug.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px\"\/><figcaption>Reece had gone on the five-month-long murderous rampage in 1997 after previously serving 10 years for raping two women. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Alexis Bynum, Cox\u2019s daughter, was just 19 months old when her mother was murdered. She said she had spent years searching for her missing mom. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the day we\u2019re able to shut the chapter on this part of it and not have to worry about him hurting anyone else,\u201d Bynum said.<\/p>\n<p><em>With Post wires<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/30\/serial-killer-william-reece-pleads-guilty-to-cold-case-murders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Serial killer William Reece pleads guilty to cold-case murders&#8221; A serial killer already on death row in Oklahoma pleaded guilty Wednesday to three cold-case murders in Texas and was sentenced to life in prison. William Lewis Reece, 62, first pleaded guilty in a courtroom in Galveston in the 1997 slayings of 12-year-old Laura Smither and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":469198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/comp2-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[130853,87424,88151,70595,15092,77275,6474],"class_list":["post-469197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-30-22","tag-cold-cases","tag-death-row","tag-murders","tag-oklahoma","tag-serial-killers","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}