Jail note advises ‘stick to’ the story

Siblings’ writings show ebb in trust

— Letters written in jail between two brothers accused of murdering a Fort Smith woman in Oklahoma depict a lovehate relationship shaped by their independent fears of spending the rest of their lives in prison.

The tone of the correspondence between Elvis Thacker and Johnathen Thacker suggests that, at least initially, Elvis had an unspoken control over Johnathen, who is 11 months younger. Both are 24.

The pair used terms of endearment like “Bubba,” “Superman” and “Batman” in letters they wrote while in the Sebastian County jail in late 2010 and 2011.

At that time, they faced charges in the rape of a 40-year-old Fort Smith woman and the stabbing of a Fort Smith police detective. The officer was reportedly stabbed when authorities tried to question the brothers at their apartment. During the Sept. 15, 2010, attack on the detective, Elvis was shot twice by the injured officer’s partner and spent six weeks in the hospital.

Elvis and Johnathen each pleaded guilty in August 2011 to kidnapping charges in the woman’s assault, and were sentenced to 30 years and 25 years in prison, respectively. In the same plea bargain, Elvis received an additional 30 years for attempted capital murder related to the police stabbing; Johnathen got 25 years forattempted first-degree murder.

Their letters are in the case file at Sebastian County Circuit Court.

Until August, both were serving time in the Arkansas Department of Correction. But that month, they were transferred to LeFlore County, Okla., to face murder charges in the Sept. 13, 2010, death of Briana Ault. Her body was found naked in a Pocola, Okla., pond.

On Sept. 16, 2010, the day after the Thackers’ arrests in the rape case and the Fort Smith officer’s stabbing, Johnathen told two agents from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation that Elvis had tried to drown Ault, but “she kept raising her head for air,” so he cut her throat. Johnathen has denied any participation in Ault’s death, according to an affidavit filed along with the murder charges against the two.

In questioning by Fort Smith detectives, Johnathen stated several times that “he knew he should have stopped Elvis from doing what he did,” a record of the interview says.

“He indicated that Elvis had some sort of control over him and he was afraid to cross him in any way,” the report says.

Court records show that Elvis has admitted twice that he killed Ault - once after he was shot and waiting for an ambulance, and again on Oct. 8, 2010, while being interviewed by a detective at the hospital.

In Oklahoma on Friday, both Thackers were additionally charged with forcible sodomy. Johnathen Thacker’s next court appearance, his preliminary hearing, is set for Feb. 21 in LeFlore County Circuit Court.

Elvis is undergoing an evaluation to determine whether he suffers from a mental defect that would prevent him from assisting in his defense.

BROTHERLY LOVE

Elvis and Johnathen are among six siblings - four boys and two girls - with the same mother and father. Elvis has a young daughter who lives with her mother. While he doesn’t see her, the letters he and Johnathen wrote to each other in jail indicate that he relies heavily on his family for moral support.

In several of their early letters, Elvis stressed the importance of keeping their storiesstraight.

“If we stick to tha story I said in my last letter we got it beat,” Elvis said on Nov. 15, 2010.

“I know ur scared so am I but we can beat these charges okay,” he said.

In his reply, Johnathen said: “I know what our story is OK I am gonna stick to it OK don’t worry.”

Johnathen counted the days until their next court appearance and told Elvis that he hoped they’d be handcuffed together in court. When he was visited by family members, he encouraged them to check in on Elvis and to send Elvis money for phone cards and commissary items.

In a letter dated Nov. 18, 2010, Johnathen pleaded with Elvis to obey the jail guards so they wouldn’t get in any more trouble.

“I want u to know brother I can’t watch out for in here like i could when we was on the outside,” Johnathen said. Then later: “please be good you gotta understand your pitbull attitude isn’t gonna work in here we can’t get any more charges we are in enough s* already.”

Elvis boasted to Johnathen in a letter he wrote on Thanksgiving Day 2010 that he was sprayed with pepper spray and was shocked for cursing at a guard.

“I just stood their the other inmates brag & talk about it in the hall by my cell its funny But the guards are scared of me they chain and shackle me now and hold tazers on me wen I go out of my cell HAHA,” Elvis wrote. He also bragged about urinating on the walls in the area where he was being held. Elvis mentioned that he had shaved his head and wanted his little brother to do the same. He ended more than one letter with “We ride together, we die together Bad Boys 4 Life.”

PLACING BLAME

At some point, trust between the brothers waned.

In a Dec. 4, 2010, Johnathen wrote to Elvis, “I heard you made a statement against me saying I helped you drown her at first you better not try to take me down with you [because] this is your fault we are here.

“I tried to stop you but you wouldn’t Its your fault I am here now You better get me out Elvis You better confess to it all let me go free,” Johnathen wrote.

In another letter to Elvis on Elvis’ Dec. 7 birthday, Johnathen reiterated: “I guess you don’t care about me like I thought you do. you don’t love me you just don’t want to go to prison alone.”

In a letter that Elvis wrote on the same day, he said: “I didn’t put u here, I never told the cops what they needed to charge u with. u did & they wouldn’t been able to prove it cuz they were just interviewing u when they were talking to u stupid.

“do you have any brains to figure that out,” he wrote.

Several letters later, on Dec. 16, Johnathen wrote, “Elvis even as kids you always lied you never would take responsibility for anything you did.”

Elvis developed some health problems in jail stemming from his gunshot wounds and was hospitalized in late December 2010 and early January 2011. When he returned to jail and again began corresponding with his brother, his sentiments leaned toward melancholy.

“I really wish I could see u & hear ur voice,” he said. He ended the letter with “I love u Bubba u help me deal with being locked up ur my hero & I thank u for being my brother my friend I love you, Johnathen.”

By January 2011, Johnathen suspected that jail officials were intercepting their letters. He wrote, “they are photo copying every letter we are writing to each other you are incriminating yourself and trying to imply I have something to do with your case so don’t imply its we or us

“I will always love u as a brother but i will not take the fall for something I did not do. Its not us against the world anymore we are grown not kids Its not like we are telling mom stories trying to cover one another,” he said.

Johnathen added: “If you can’t stop writing me about your case then stop writing me because you are sending the wrong message. I can’t get you out of trouble anymore.”

In the file is one last, short letter from Elvis, dated Feb. 8, 2011. In it he said he’d heard that Johnathen would be testifying against him. Elvis wrote, “I won’t be writing anymore OK.”

Toward the end of the letter, he wrote, “Whatever happens happens. I don’t care because I have nobody in this world.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 17 on 11/18/2012

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