Bio

Billy George Hughes Jr. was born on January 28, 1952. Texas Department of Criminal Justice records list his native county as Baldwin County, Alabama, and his native state as Alabama. TDCJ also listed his education level as 12th grade and his prior occupations as farmer and laborer. The same record stated that he had no prior prison record when he was received by the Texas prison system in 1976.

Before the murder of Trooper Mark Frederick, Hughes had already been involved in criminal conduct that later became important during the punishment phase of his capital murder trial. Court records describe a federal extortion conviction involving bomb threats made to radio and television stations. Those threats included claims that two children had been kidnapped and a demand for $100,000. Hughes was on probation for that federal offense at the time of Frederick’s murder.

In the months before the shooting, Hughes traveled through several states while using stolen checks and stolen credit cards. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later noted that he had been traveling across the country for months and living through stolen and forged checks and stolen credit cards. The court also stated that he was driving a rental vehicle that should have been returned more than two months earlier and that he had changed the license plates.

Evidence presented at the punishment phase also described Hughes’ possession of weapons and ammunition during that period. Court records stated that the vehicle’s trunk contained firearms and ammunition, including a sawed-off shotgun. Other evidence presented by the State included written plans to rob a bank using firearms. These details were used by prosecutors to argue that Hughes had been engaged in a wider pattern of criminal activity before the fatal traffic stop.

Murder Story

On the evening of April 4, 1976, Billy George Hughes checked into a Days Inn Motel in Brookshire, Texas, west of Houston. He used a stolen credit card. When the motel clerk confronted him about the card, she saw a gun on his bed and left the room to notify motel security. Hughes then left the motel and drove west on Interstate 10.

Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers Mark Frederick and Jack Reichert responded to a dispatcher’s report about a man in a similar vehicle who had tried to use a stolen credit card. The troopers located the 1975 Ford LTD Hughes was driving and followed it on Interstate 10 near Sealy, Texas. After the vehicle exited the highway, Trooper Frederick activated the patrol car’s overhead lights, and Hughes pulled over on the shoulder of the exit ramp.

Trooper Frederick got out of the patrol car and walked toward the driver’s side of Hughes’ vehicle. Trooper Reichert followed behind him. As Frederick approached the car, Reichert heard a muffled gunshot and saw Frederick react to being hit. Hughes immediately drove away from the traffic stop while Reichert fired at the fleeing vehicle. Frederick was later declared dead while being transported by ambulance to Sealy Medical Center.

After the shooting, other DPS troopers found Hughes’ abandoned vehicle about three miles from the scene. The car had bullet damage, and officers found a holster and a Days Inn room key inside. A search of the vehicle also revealed several weapons and ammunition, including a loaded .30-caliber carbine, a loaded sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, a .300 Magnum rifle, extra ammunition, and a Halloween mask.

A large manhunt followed. TDCJ records state that as many as 500 law enforcement officers were involved in the search. About two-and-a-half days after the shooting, Texas Ranger Ray Scholton received a report of a possible suspect about six miles south of Sealy. Scholton went to the area by helicopter and spotted Hughes hiding under a mesquite tree in a pasture.

As the helicopter hovered near the ground, Hughes pointed a gun toward it. Ranger Scholton pointed his weapon at Hughes, and Hughes then dropped his gun and was taken into custody. TDCJ records state that Hughes had a loaded 9mm handgun with him when he was captured. Court records later stated that ballistics evidence connected the firearm recovered at the time of his capture to Trooper Frederick’s death.

Hughes was indicted in Austin County, Texas, for the capital murder of Mark A. Frederick, a peace officer acting in the lawful discharge of duty. The case was later tried in Matagorda County after a change of venue. On September 16, 1976, a jury found Hughes guilty of capital murder, and he was sentenced to death.

That first conviction did not remain final. On March 18, 1987, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Hughes post-conviction relief and reversed the conviction because a prospective juror had been improperly excluded. The case was then returned for a new trial.

Hughes was retried in Matagorda County in 1988. On June 9, 1988, a jury again convicted him of capital murder for killing Trooper Frederick. After the punishment phase, he was again sentenced to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the second conviction and death sentence on April 13, 1994, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on May 15, 1995.

Hughes continued filing appeals and habeas petitions. In 1998, the federal district court denied his habeas petition and vacated a stay of execution. In 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit also denied relief, leaving the conviction and sentence in place.

While on death row, Hughes became known for his religious studies and artwork. Reports after his execution stated that he earned two college degrees and produced cartoons while incarcerated. These details were part of later public coverage, but they did not change the legal outcome of the case.

Billy George Hughes Jr. was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, on January 24, 2000. He was 47 years old.