Exclusive! New Evidence Identifies the Person Who Signed John Sullivan's Will and it Wasn't Ray Zapata

SAN ANGELO, TX — New evidence was introduced that suggests the prosecution got it all wrong about John Sullivan's will in the case of John Stacy Young. Young currently is serving 11 years in the state pen for forgery, among other charges related to the theft of the estate of the late John Sullivan, a loathed man who was accused of preying on little boys before he was found dead in his home in June 2014.

Katie Rae Hartman swears she watched her ex-husband Chris Hartman forge John Sullivan’s will in an affidavit filed by John Young’s attorneys December 8 in a motion for a new trial.  

John Stacy Young was convicted by a jury of two counts of forgery, and one count of theft and one of money laundering in November and sentenced to 11 years in prison.  Ray Zapata was convicted of forgery of Sullivan's will in an earlier trial and sentenced to six months in jail.  Zapata is appealing his conviction.  

Young’s attorneys, Frank Sellers and Dan Hurley, filed a motion for a new trial and a motion in arrest of judgment which includes the affidavit sworn to under oath by Chris Hartman’s ex-wife.  Hartman was granted total immunity by the state for his testimony in Young’s trial. 

Testimony revealed that John Sullivan was found dead by Ray Zapata who was his bail bondsman at the time.  Young was Sullivan’s attorney in an online solicitation of a minor and possession of child pornography case.  Young hired Hartman to probate Sullivan’s will.

On the day Sullivan died, Zapata, Hartman and Young exchanged a combined 30 phone calls.  Zapata took a prayer book from Sullivan’s house and within days Zapata produced a will that was handwritten in the back of that prayer book.  The will left Sullivan’s $8 million estate to his attorney, John Young.  

The will was probated within 14 days of his death.  Young had Sullivan’s remains cremated.  

Katie Hartman’s sworn affidavit states, “I was in Chris Hartman’s office and witnessed him writing in a book that looked a lot like a bible.  Ray Zapata was in the office at the same time. I do not know if Ray knew what was going on.  I think Ray Zapata is kind of ignorant.”  

“I witnessed Chris Hartman hand write a will for John Sullivan and sign John Sullivan’s name to that will.”  

Katie Hartman said she never came forward because she was in fear of Chris Hartman.  She stated he told her, “I know people. I know how to hide a body.” She said she reached out to the Tom Green County District Attorney’s office trying to reach Texas Ranger Nick Hanna before the end of the trial when she read that Chris Hartman was granted immunity for his testimony.  She said Hanna told her it was too late.

Also contained in the defense attorney’s motion is that the jury foreperson committed misconduct by withholding material information during jury selection.  The attorneys assert that the jury foreperson did not disclose that her daughter had been the victim of a sexual offense and the jury acquitted the person accused of the alleged sexual offense.  Because of that, the defense argued that the jury foreperson was biased against attorneys, and John Young was a defense attorney.

The motion for a new trial also includes that defense counsel was constitutionally ineffective.

It was filed with the 119th District Court.  A District court judge must rule on the motion before January 22, 2018, the statutory time limit for a decision on whether or not to grant a new trial.