Killing MFalls bartender accident, Devoe claims

NEW YORK (AP) - A Burnet County man accused of a murderous cross-country killing spree that left six dead claims the shooting of a bartender in Marble Falls was an accident.

Paul Devoe III, 44, also says he doesn’t remember gunning down five of the victims and “never meant to hurt anybody,” a newspaper reported Wednesday.

A rattlesnake bite affected his state of mind, he adds.

“All I hear is screams,” Devoe told the Long Island newspaper Newsday in an interview at the Suffolk County jail in Riverhead, N.Y.

Devoe is accused of shooting Michael Jay Allred, 41, of Kingsland, in the chest as the bartender tried to talk him into surrendering his weapon at O’Neill’s Sports Tavern in Marble Falls Aug. 24. According to court records, Devoe went into the bar to kill an ex-girlfriend, but she escaped.

That shooting, police said, set off a blood-soaked rampage that claimed the lives of five others, including four more in Texas.

After spending much of his life on New York’s Long Island, Devoe moved to Texas several years ago, authorities said. Devoe was arrested last month after U.S. marshals tracked him to a friend’s house on eastern Long Island.

Devoe is also charged with fatally shooting ex-girlfriend Paula Griffith, 46, and three others at a home in Jonestown near Austin in late August. Police said the final victim was killed in Pennsylvania.

A New York judge has ordered his extradition to Texas to face charges.

Burnet County District Attorney Sam Oatman said Devoe will be held in the Travis County Jail until he can be tried.

Devoe could face trials in Burnet and Travis counties, officials said.

“I don’t think there’s really anything that’s planned, as far as who tries him first,” Oatman told The Daily Tribune in an earlier interview. “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.”

During an interview Tuesday, Devoe buried his face in his hands and wept as he recalled the events leading up to his arrest.

“I don’t know,” Devoe replied when asked if he was responsible for killing Griffith, her boyfriend, daughter and her daughter’s friend. “If I am, I know I didn’t mean it. I cared a lot about them.”

Devoe said he went to Griffith’s house because she was the one person he thought he could turn to after his gun accidentally went off in a Marble Falls bar fight, killing the bartender. Of the six slayings he is accused of, he said he only remembers the bar shooting and he says that was unintentional.

After leaving Griffin’s house, he said he drove through several states to Pennsylvania, drinking all the way. Authorities say he killed an elderly woman there to steal her car.

“I am truly sorry for what I did and the people I hurt,” he said. “I never meant to hurt anybody in any shape or form. I don’t know what happened.”

Police said previously that Devoe confessed to the shooting death of 81-year-old Betty Jane Dehart in Pennsylvania.

Devoe allegedly told investigators he pulled off Interstate 81 because of mechanical trouble with the station wagon stolen from Jonestown he had been driving. He found Dehart alone, sitting on the front porch of her Greencastle home, authorities said.

He said he pulled out a handgun and chased the retired seamstress into the house, where she ran to the bedroom and covered her face with her arms, according to his arrest affidavit. Afraid that her screams would alert neighbors, Devoe said he shot her once, police said.

He allegedly stole car keys and $6 to $8 from Dehart’s purse, moved his belongings into her vehicle, and drove away.

Long history of drinking

Devoe’s other ex-girlfriend Glenda Purcell told The Daily Tribune the underemployed carpenter had a long history of drinking, volatile behavior and abuse.

Purcell said she was the target of Devoe’s rage during a family violence episode June 15.

“I had a broken nose, rib and a broken spine. He hurt me pretty bad,” Purcell said.

Purcell eventually applied for a protective order against Devoe, which was granted in August. Despite the order, she said Devoe still drove past her house and called her frequently.

“I reported that to the police every time he called, but they never arrested him,” she said.

Devoe’s relatives said he had psychological problems and suggested a reaction to snake bite medication may have set him off.

However, Devoe told Newsday that doctors prescribed the medication, but he never took it. Instead, he said, he went on a drinking binge. He said he had been bitten sometime in the week before the shootings.

“That’s when everything went bad,” Devoe said.

Purcell earlier this week said she didn’t believe Devoe’s family’s claims about the rattlesnake bite, adding a long-held distrust of doctors likely would have prevented him from going to the hospital after a bite.

“I guarantee you, he was not bitten,” she said. “It’s a cop-out. Everything he ever told me was a lie.”

Staff Writer Chris Porter contributed to this story.

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Killing MFalls bartender accident,
Devoe claims