Devoe headed back to Texas to face five murder charges

By CHRIS PORTER • Daily Tribune Staff

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. - Family members of accused mass murderer Paul G. Devoe III claim the 44-year-old Burnet County construction worker wasn’t in his right mind when he reportedly killed six people during a cross-country spree Aug. 24-25.

Glenda Purcell isn’t buying that theory, however.

“I think it’s a cop-out,” said Purcell. “I think it’s another lie.”

The Marble Falls massage therapist dated Devoe for five months before obtaining a protective order against him. She was also a target of Devoe’s rage when he opened fire in O’Neill’s Sports Tavern Aug. 24, according to court documents.

Purcell said she hopes her ex-boyfriend receives the death penalty for the killings.

“I hope he gets what he deserves,” she said.

A New York judge Monday signed an extradition order for Devoe, meaning he could be brought back to Texas later this week.

Charged in MFalls death

Burnet County authorities have charged Devoe with the murder of Marble Falls bartender Michael Jay Allred, 41. Officials in Travis County have charged him with the shooting deaths of his 46-year-old ex-girlfriend Paula Griffith; her 15-year-old daughter Haley Marie Faulkner; 17-year-old Danielle Hensley; and Griffith’s boyfriend, 48-year-old Jay Feltner. Pennsylvania state police have also charged Devoe with the slaying of 81-year-old Betty Jane Dehart, whose vehicle was found outside the Long Island home where Devoe was arrested Aug. 26.

Burnet County District Attorney Sam Oatman said his office will work with Travis County authorities as both agencies prepare to try Devoe for the murders.

“We have already made plans with Travis County; they’ll house him in their jail,” Oatman said Monday. “They also agreed to do the extradition for us.”

While Oatman said it’s not known which county will try the New York native first, both are counting on information gathered by law officers in Texas, New York and Pennsylvania to lay out their case against Devoe.

“I don’t think there’s really anything that’s planned, as far as who tries him first,” Oatman said. “I don’t know how long Travis County will take to get their case together, but they’ll need the information that we have, like his prior criminal record. All of his information will be important to everybody.”

Burnet County authorities will have full access to Devoe while he’s in the Travis County Jail, Oatman added.

“We can get a bench warrant to get him up here, if we need to,” he said.

Devoe’s uncle, Ed Nelson, said his nephew suffered from several psychological and physical maladies prior to the killings, including a rattlesnake bite he received a few days before the shootings.

“We feel it’s a psychological stupor he was in,” Nelson said.

Purcell disagreed with the family’s assessment.

“Everything he ever told me was a lie,” she said. “If he’d have been bitten by a rattlesnake, he’d be dead. He did not like doctors, he refused to go. I guarantee you, he did not get bitten.”

Family members are hoping for leniency from potential jury members in Texas, which maintains the busiest execution schedule in the United States.

“My brother is not an animal,” said Steven Devoe. “He’s mentally disturbed in the head. I wish the people in Texas would take this into consideration: Spare his life. Don’t kill the man.”

Devoe’s mother, Diana O’Connell, said her son called her saying, “Mom, I’m in trouble. I’m on the run.”

“He was not in a right mind,” said O’Connell, adding that Devoe also called his sister and told her, “I’m in trouble.”

Court documents say Devoe tried to kill Purcell in O’Neill’s bar before turning the gun on Allred. After the shooting, police say he went to Griffith’s Jonestown home, where he shot four people before stealing a car, according to a Travis County affidavit. That car was later found outside Dehart’s home in Greencastle, Pa., where police say Devoe dumped the vehicle before killing Dehart and taking her car to Long Island, where he was later arrested at a friend’s house.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

chris@thepicayune.com

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Devoe headed back to Texas to face
five murder charges