Three Arrested and Charged in Capital Murder of Abilene Man from 2016

ABILIENE, TEXAS – On Monday, three suspects were arrested and charged in the capital murder of a 31-year-old Abilene man.

On Aug. 2, 2016, Jones County Deputies found Ronald Michael Varner’s body lying on CR 347 in southern Jones County.

After Texas Rangers were called to help with the investigation, it was determined that Varner had been shot multiple times.

Verner was found with gunshot wounds to his left lower back, left forearm, right chest, left chest and right side of his head, KTXS referenced from court documents.

The three suspects are, Michael Dean Pine, 37, Euella Lousie Cooper, 37, and Olyvia Lee Jackson, 25.

KTXS also reported that a fourth man, Matthew Thomas Struble, 24, admitted to being involved in Varner’s death. However, Stuble has not been arrested as of 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The case is being prosecuted as a capital murder because it took place during the course of a kidnapping, according to the Taylor County District Attorney’s Office.

The crime scene was located southeast of Hawley, west of Lake Fort Phantom and north Abilene.

Struble recalled to investigators seeing Varner tied up and sitting on the floor naked at the home of Pine and Cooper on the 1500 block of Sycamore St. He confirmed this instance took place one day prior to the murder.

Struble explained that Cooper told him [Varner] “needed to be killed and that they couldn’t turn him loose because they would be arrested for kidnapping,” the new source reported form Struble’s arrest warrant. Additional documents also showed that Cooper handed Struble a gun.

In addition, Struble said he and Jackson drove out to a country road in Jones County “where Struble shot Varner multiple times,” until he fell on the ground.” Struble recalled that Jackson shot Varner in the head after he fell to the ground.

After leaving the murder scene, Struble and Jackson drove to the motel at Grape and I-20. They met up with Pine who ordered them to take a shower, and to put their clothes in a trash bag to be disposed of, the court documents stated.

Jackson told police that she and Struble were the only two at the scene of the murder. She also confessed to shooting Varner in the head.

The victim’s girlfriend told investigators that Varner had called her the night of Aug. 1 and said that he had been tied up and beaten, however, he said the suspects were going to release him. She recalled hearing a man in background say, “We’re taking you home.”

The girlfriend had been to the Cooper and Pines house earlier that day because Varner was supposed to be house sitting there. She recalled knocking on the door, but nobody answered. She told investigators that he never made it home after the phone call.

Additionally, a witness’s testimony recalled seeing Varner on top of another man, striking him, a few days earlier. They said the altercation happened at the home of Cooper and Pine, which all four suspects were present for.

The witness also recalled that Jackson and Struble came to her house the day before the victim was found dead. Varner was sitting in the car, however, he didn’t come inside the house. In addition, the witness told investigators that Cooper, Jackson and Pine came to her house that evening looking for ammunition.  

Pine, Jackson, and Cooper were booked into the Taylor County Jail on Monday. Pine and Jackson’s bonds were $100,000 each, and Copper’s bond totaled $148,000.