Three indicted in murder case

Three of the five suspects arrested this summer in the July 4 shooting death of 31-year-old Hidi Gower were indicted for capital murder by the Lampasas County Grand Jury last week.

The victim's husband, Donald Dean Gower, 39, of Copperas Cove was arrested July 10 in Manhattan, Kan., and extradited from Riley County Jail in Kansas to Lampasas. He remains jailed on a $1.25 million bond.

Mrs. Gower, a Copperas Cove resident murdered at the Kempner VFW in east Lampasas County, was the victim of a murder-for-hire plot instigated by her husband, according to law officials.

Gower was picked up by officers at a motel in Manhattan, where officials said he was in Kansas to attend his wife's funeral.

Of the five arrested, one was from Lampasas: Chaka Romain Johnson, 32, who also was indicted last week. He remains in the Lampasas jail on a $250,000 bond, lowered from the original $1 million after his arrest.

Johnson was released from the Texas Department of Corrections less than a week before the murder.

Copperas Cove resident John Robert Martinez, 27, who was jailed on a $1 million bond, is still in jail. He also was indicted by the grand jury.

Two other suspects, Copperas Cove residents Jeremiah John Ellison, 25, and Regina Edwards- Sample, 25, have since bonded out of jail. Ellison, who had a $500,000 bond, was released Oct. 17 after his bond was lowered to $10,000.

Ms. Edwards-Sample had her bond lowered to $2,500 and was released after making bond Sept. 7. Her bond originally was set at $500,000.

Neither Ellison nor Ms. Edwards- Sample were on the recent grand jury docket.

The murder investigation was conducted by Sheriff's Investigator David Thorpe, Major Crimes Task Force Investigators John Seery and Charlie Boswell, and Texas Ranger Jesse Ramos.

Officers from multiple agencies also assisted in the case and the investigation.

They recovered a vast amount of evidence, including the gun believed to be the murder weapon. They also seized several vehicles used during commission of the crime.

Officials learned that Gower had planned to hire someone to kill his wife so he could collect on an insurance policy his wife held.