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First person convicted in Bastrop murder

Three others are awaiting trial for the stabbing murder of Shawn Patrick Reilly

By Miguel Liscano

Friday, June 16, 2006

Harold Maurice Hunter says he thought his friend William Reily was joking last summer when he said Shawn Patrick Reilly should "go away permanently," according to a sworn statement he provided Bastrop County sheriff's office investigators.

A few weeks later, on July 4, passersby found Shawn Reilly's decomposing body in a rural part of Bastrop County. Investigators weren't sure who the person was or what had happened to him. Then, in August, the Austin Police Department received a tip and passed it along to Bastrop County investigators. The tipster said Hunter, 49, William Reily, 46, his nephew James Aaron Reily, 28, and James Andrew Bonee, 25, had killed Shawn Reilly and that the unidentified body probably was him, Bastrop County prosecutor Greg Gilleland said.

All eventually were charged with murder, and Hunter was convicted Wednesday in state District Court and sentenced to 99 years in prison that same day. Bonee and William Reily are in Bastrop County Jail awaiting trial. James Aaron Reily has pleaded guilty to the murder and, along with Hunter, gave investigators a tale of a friendship that turned sour, according to statements they provided to investigators.

"It was an assassination," Gilleland said.

William Reily met Shawn Reilly while they were in Kimble County Jail. About two weeks after Reily got out of jail in May 2005, he drove to Junction to bring Shawn Reilly back to Bastrop County to work for him in his auto shop, Hunter said in his statement.

Hunter said that William Reily ran a drug business from his auto shop and that after a few weeks, Reily was afraid Shawn Reilly would talk to the wrong person about the business.

Gilleland said Reily mostly ran marijuana and cocaine out of the shop. In late May, Reily threw a party at his home and was upset with Shawn Reilly because he "was running his mouth" and upsetting some women at the party. That night, Hunter said, Shawn Reilly got into a scuffle with James Reily. The next day, Hunter said, Reily first mentioned wanting Shawn Reilly killed. "The next day after the fight, Bill said Shawn had to go away permanently," Hunter said in the statement. "When Bill said that, I at first thought he was joking, but after he kept talking about it for the next three days, I knew he wanted Shawn terminated (meaning killed)."

Hunter said he tried to convince Reily that it would be better to send Shawn Reilly back to Junction but said Reily had made up his mind: "Bill said Shawn knew too much about his drug business and we couldn't let him go."

A few days later, Hunter said William Reily sent him, James Reily, Bonee and Shawn Reilly — who all worked or hung out at the shop — to his ranch near Smithville. The plan was to convince Shawn Reilly that they were doing work on the ranch but to stab him to death when they got there.

They'd hatched the plan at the auto shop while Shawn Reilly was in the other room, Hunter said.

At the ranch, Hunter said he, James Reily and Bonee grabbed Shawn Reilly after he got wind of the plan and ran about 10 feet. That's when Hunter said he stabbed Shawn Reilly in the neck.

"He kept telling us, 'I'm not a snitch, I'm not a snitch,' " Hunter said. Hunter said they left Reilly in a pasture and William Reily, James Reily and Bonee moved him a few days later.

Then in July, the passersby found Shawn Reilly's body. "This was one of those cases where the body was discovered and it was a situation where we didn't know who it was," Bastrop County District Attorney Bryan Goertz said. "So we basically had an unidentified body, which just consisted of bones."

After the tipster suggested it was Shawn Reilly's body, investigators found two of his sisters from his native California and matched his DNA with theirs. Bastrop County sheriff's office investigator Clarence Yarbrough said the four men were arrested a short time later. All except for Bonee confessed to taking part in the killing, Yarbrough said.

"They were pretty consistent," Yarbrough said.

Sam Damon, Hunter's attorney, would not comment.

"I really don't have a statement that would help Harold at this point," Damon said.

An attorney for James Bonee could not be located. James Reily's attorney, Chris Dillon, confirmed that his client was awaiting sentencing but would not comment further.