Dalpha Lorene Jester, a 64-year-old blind woman, was brutally murdered on September 27, 1986, in Lancaster, Texas. She was killed alongside her 37-year-old daughter, Donna Sue Jester, and their 20-year-old lodger, Laura Lee Owen. The three women suffered multiple hatchet wounds to their heads and faces. The murder weapon was later found washed and wrapped in a towel in a bathroom sink.
The investigation quickly pointed to David Martin Long, a transient who had been staying at the Jester
home. Donna Jester’s diary revealed that she had picked up Long while he was hitchhiking and invited him to stay in exchange for household repairs. Long later confessed that he killed the women because he was "tired of hearing" them bicker. He first attacked Donna with the hatchet before turning on Dalpha Lorene Jester. Laura Owen was murdered when she returned home and walked in on the killings.
Long had been arrested for drunken driving in Buffalo, Texas, on the same night of the murders. He was found driving Donna Jester’s stolen car and was described as "crazed," ranting about Jesus and God, and banging his head against a police car. Despite his erratic behavior and a previous DWI conviction, he was released from jail without posting bond. While in custody, he bragged to inmates about killing three women, but authorities dismissed his claims as drunken ranting.
A month after the murders, Long was arrested in Austin, Texas, when police found him intoxicated in the back seat of a car. He initially gave a false name, but a fingerprint technician recognized his prints and linked him to the triple homicide. Upon his arrest, Long dictated and signed a confession, admitting that the murders stemmed from an argument with Donna Jester over his drinking and his relationship with Laura Owen. He stated that he killed Dalpha Lorene Jester because she knew his name and murdered Laura Owen because she walked in during the attack.
Long was charged with capital murder and convicted in 1987. He later confessed to two additional murders: the 1978 killing of a gas station attendant in California and the 1983 arson-related death of his former boss in Texas. However, he was only prosecuted for the triple homicide in Lancaster. Long requested the death penalty, fearing he would kill again. He was executed by lethal injection on December 8, 1999.
