Chaka Johnson Lampasas County and District Attorney Larry W. Allison has received notice that the Third Court of Appeals in Austin affirmed the conviction of Lampasas resident Chaka Romain Johnson for the capital murder of 31-year-old Hidi Gower on July 4, 2007, at the Kempner VFW.

Texas Ranger Jesse Ramos was in charge of the investigation.

Mrs. Gower, a Copperas Cove resident, was found in the parking lot of the VFW after she had been shot three times by Johnson, as the trial record indicates, with a .45- caliber pistol that later was found in the trunk of an accomplice’s vehicle.

Mrs. Gower was the victim of a murder-for-hire plot instigated by her husband.

Johnson appealed his conviction, raising four issues, including a factual and legal insufficiency of evidence.

The Court of Appeals made a thorough search of the trial record and found the evidence to be adequate to support the conviction both legally and factually, said Allison.

A third issue was the court’s failure to instruct the jury that Regina Edwards was an accomplice.

Although it was brought out in the murder trial that Ms. Edwards had knowledge of conversations about plans to kill Mrs. Gower, the record indicates she did not participate in the offense itself and testified that she thought those involved in the plot were never serious about following through with their plans.

Johnson also had argued that the court erred by failing to excuse a potential juror for cause. This point, according to the appellate court, was never developed on the record and nothing was preserved for review, said Allison.

Donald Dean Gower, the victim’s husband, also was convicted of capital murder. Jeremiah John Ellison and John Robert Martinez were convicted as accomplices of the murder.

Gower’s conviction is still being reviewed by the Third Court of Criminal Appeals. Martinez and Ellison did not appeal their convictions.