Daniel Joe Hittle: Murders in Minnesota and Texas
Background
Daniel Joe Hittle was an American murderer whose known crimes occurred sixteen years apart in Minnesota and Texas. He was born on March 1, 1950, in Perry County, Indiana, and was adopted by Henry and Margaret Hittle. The family later lived on a farm near Motley, Minnesota. Hittle has been described as a serial killer, spree killer, and mass murderer because he killed two people in 1973 and was later accused of killing five people during a single violent rampage in 1989.
People who knew Hittle described him as quiet at times but dangerously violent when angry or intoxicated. Accounts of his adult life also described unstable relationships, drug abuse, and threatening behavior. His first known murders were committed against the adoptive parents who had raised him.
The 1973 Murders in Minnesota
On April 4, 1973, Hittle became involved in a confrontation with Henry and Margaret Hittle at their home near Motley, in Cass County, Minnesota. Reports connected the argument to damage allegedly caused by the family dog scratching Hittle's truck. During the dispute, Hittle killed both of his adoptive parents.
Hittle was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder. Under a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. He received two concurrent thirty-year prison sentences, meaning that both sentences were served at the same time rather than consecutively. He was sent to the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Stillwater.
Despite the length of his sentence, Hittle was paroled in 1984 after approximately eleven years in prison. He was permitted to relocate to Texas, where he eventually settled in the Dallas area. His release later became a major point of public criticism after he committed another series of killings.
The November 1989 Rampage
By 1989, Hittle was involved in a bitter dispute with Mary Goss, a thirty-nine-year-old woman whom court testimony described as his drug supplier. Goss had reportedly accused Hittle of damaging her property and had previously caused him to be arrested. Their conflict continued during a period in which Hittle was regularly using drugs and experiencing problems in his personal life.
On November 15, 1989, Hittle left his home carrying a loaded 20-gauge shotgun. While driving through Garland, Texas, he was stopped for speeding by Garland police officer Gerald Ray Walker. Walker was a forty-eight-year-old officer and a seventeen-year veteran of the department. Hittle apparently feared that Walker would discover the shotgun inside his vehicle. He fired at Walker at close range, striking him in the chest, and then drove away. Walker died from the wound.
Before Hittle escaped, Walker had transmitted identifying information about Hittle's vehicle. An off-duty firefighter who encountered the wounded officer also used Walker's police radio to call for help. This allowed other officers to begin searching for Hittle almost immediately.
Hittle continued to the residence associated with Mary Goss in Dallas. He forced his way inside and opened fire. Mary Goss, Richard Joseph Cook Jr., and Raymond Scott Gregg were killed in the house. Hittle then reloaded the shotgun and shot Goss's four-year-old daughter, Christy Condon. Christy survived long enough to be transported to a hospital, but her injuries caused irreversible brain damage. She was declared brain dead, and she died on November 17, 1989, after life support was withdrawn.
Victims
- Margaret E. Hittle, 45 — Killed on April 4, 1973, at the Hittle family home near Motley, Cass County, Minnesota. She was Daniel Hittle's adoptive mother.
- Henry John Hittle, 46 — Killed on April 4, 1973, at the family home near Motley, Cass County, Minnesota. He was Daniel Hittle's adoptive father.
- Gerald Ray Walker, 48 — Shot and killed on November 15, 1989, during a traffic stop in Garland, Dallas County, Texas. He was a veteran officer with the Garland Police Department.
- Mary A. Goss, 39 — Shot and killed on November 15, 1989, at a residence in Dallas, Texas. She had been involved in an ongoing dispute with Hittle.
- Richard Joseph Cook Jr., 36 — Shot and killed on November 15, 1989, inside the same Dallas residence. He was identified as Goss's boyfriend or close companion.
- Raymond Scott Gregg, 19 — Shot and killed on November 15, 1989, inside the Dallas residence while visiting Goss.
- Christy B. Condon, 4 — Shot at the Dallas residence on November 15, 1989. She was taken to a hospital and died on November 17, 1989, after being declared brain dead.
Capture and Prosecution
Police located Hittle after the shootings and pursued his vehicle. His truck eventually crashed or was forced from the road. Hittle fired at pursuing officers before surrendering after his ammunition was exhausted. He was arrested on November 15, 1989, and initially faced several charges connected to the murders and his attacks on police.
Texas prosecutors tried Hittle for the capital murder of Officer Gerald Walker. Witnesses and physical evidence connected him to the shooting, and the prosecution also presented evidence concerning the remaining deaths. In August 1990, a jury convicted Hittle of Walker's murder and sentenced him to death. Because he had already received a death sentence, authorities did not conduct separate murder trials for the deaths of Goss, Cook, Gregg, and Condon.
Appeals and Execution
Hittle spent approximately ten years on Texas death row. His attorneys filed state and federal appeals challenging his conviction and sentence, but the courts upheld the verdict. The United States Supreme Court declined to intervene in his case.
Daniel Joe Hittle was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas, on December 6, 2000. He was fifty years old. His execution ended a case that had begun with the murders of his adoptive parents in Minnesota and concluded with the deaths of five more people during the 1989 Texas rampage.
