Buckland found guilty of murder

BY SETH GREEN • Daily Tribune Staff

AUSTIN - A Travis County man has been found guilty of murder in the death of his ex-wife, a former Burnet resident fatally beaten with a hammer nearly four years ago.

Gary Jackson Buckland, 48, waived his right this week to a jury trial in the Nov. 9, 2003, slaying of 47-year-old Robin Buckland, who had worked at the Marble Falls Wal-Mart and as a carrier for The Picayune, the sister publication to The Daily Tribune.

The verdict was delivered Tuesday by 167th state District Judge Mike Lynch. The first-degree murder charge carries a punishment of five to 99 years or life in prison. Lynch is scheduled to sentence Buckland at 9 a.m. Friday.

According to a report from the Texas Council on Family Violence, the couple were married 18 years before divorcing. Officials said Robin Buckland was beaten to death with a hammer as she slept, and after the initial attack, she was dragged outside her ex-husband’s Spicewood-area home and struck on the neck to make sure she was dead.

Gary Buckland testified during the punishment phase Tuesday, despite warnings from Lynch that in doing so, he relinquished his constitutional right not to testify against himself.

“My medication was making me sick,” he said. “I was throwing it up every time I took it.”

Buckland said he had hallucinations, and added that updated prescriptions made him “feel fine.”

During closing arguments, defense attorney Jon Evans said Buckland had never been convicted of a crime before the death of his ex-wife, and he had no record of violence during his time in jail.

“I’ve had four years to think about what happened,” Buckland said. “I realize all I had to do was call an ambulance, and it would have been just fine.”

At the time of his ex-wife’s slaying, Buckland believed the victim was poisoning him, he told the court.

“I lost my best friend that night,” he said.

Buckland said at his trial he told his mother what he had done and hid in nearby bushes. After his arrest, Buckland was held in the Travis County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

According to the Nov. 14, 2003, issue of the River Cities Tribune, Travis County Sheriff’s Deputy Roger Wade said on the night of the slaying, the original call to authorities only asked for emergency medical assistance in the Spicewood area.

“The call we got was just EMS needed at Whitney Drive,” Wade said.

EMS personnel found Robin Buckland dead outside the residence.

According to the story, Robin Buckland worked at Pace Bend Park in Travis County, and she would often stay at her former husband’s residence so she wouldn’t have to commute all the way to and from Burnet.

She was a carrier at one time for The Picayune, according to former publisher Kathy Kasparek. She also worked for Wal-Mart, Kasparek said, and was active in the Burnet High School Band Boosters. Kasparek said Gary Buckland was a Vietnam War veteran.

Funeral services for Robin Buckland were held Nov. 12, 2003 in Burnet.

seth@thepicayune.com

Back to main page

Buckland found guilty of murder