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Dallas Real Estate Agent Arrested For Murder – Update

Jay Thayer Williams works for William Davis Realty. Or shall I say, worked. A call up there to office manager Bill Jordan — who was not in the office — revealed that Mr. Williams no longer works for the company and his name has been removed from the company website.

Dallas Real Estate Agent Arrested For Murder?

So reports Steve Thompson but for the life of me, I cannot find any record of Jay Thayer Williams having a Texas real estate license. The murder took place in Fort Worth in 1986 — I recall reading about it and being concerned — the killer left the victim with two small children scampering alone in the house. Developing.

Crime: Staged and Open Houses

Update to my earlier posting on crime at open houses and staged builder’s homes: talked to Cliff Ellman and Jane Mills today of  Spiffi Decor – home stagers extraordinaire — and they tell me they are not putting one lick of furniture or accessory outdoors — not on the front porch, not on the patio — because those items are 100% guaranteed to disappear.

Dallas Security Alarm Permits — What’s My Number?

This applies to new homeowners as well as those who have had a security alarm registered with the Dallas Police Department. In October, DPD changed computer systems, and the new system has changed all alarm permit numbers. This is significant because Dallas is a “No Valid Permit, No Response” city —  alarm companies must have the correct permit number when they try to dispatch an alarm. If they don’t, the police can refuse to respond. And if DPD has changed your permit number without your knowledge and your alarm goes off, well, too bad. Just hand over your valueables to the crooks.

A friend called DPS today (214-670-3438) and learned that her alarm permit number has indeed been changed – found it rather comical that the clerk asked for her old number to find the new one — then realized it was no longer in the system.  If you’ve just moved into a home or are considering a home with an alarm system, be sure you check on the permit number which you may want to change anyhow when the house changes ownership.

‘Course, as my son says, the very best alarm system is made by Smith & Wesson!

Only One Liter of Livet In Texas

My husband likes Scotch whiskey. My future son-in-law also likes Scotch whiskey. We were in Mexico this weekend, and Dr. V was intrigued by the value of the Scotch at the duty-free shops. (Get the connection? He’s part Scottish; not only does he like bargains on his liquor, he saves ketchup packets and will squirt them into the fridge ketchup container annually.) Told we could legally take home 4 liters of Scotch whiskey, he snagged 4 liters at the duty-free store in Cabo and hauled ‘em home on the plane. Imagine our surprise when we passed through customs, our purchases clearly marked on the travel forms, to learn that the state of Texas will not allow more than 2 liters of liquor into this state from Mexico — one liter per person. As the customs agent told us, if we were connecting on to another flight to another state, we would have paid a small tariff and gone on our merry. The agents further told me that TABC recently cracked down on them for not being tough enough on Texas liquor law violations. “Do you see any TABC officials here?” asked the customs agent. His message: Texas was asking the feds to do their work, and they did not like it. Well yes, I agreed, I’d certainly rather have you guys checking for drugs and bombs, the really bad stuff, not two liters of Glen Livet.  (So, um, can I have my booze and go home now?) Frustrated as they were, no shirking their jobs: $100 worth of Glen Livet was confiscated and poured down a sink at DFW. And we were not the only alcoholics dumb dumbs. Walking into the “serious” customs area, I saw piles of neatly packaged liquor bottles and knew we were in for it.

So I ask: why is Texas so weird about limiting liters of liquor? Why isn’t TABC policing throngs of tourists bringing home bargain booze from Mexico? Why force the U.S. Customs agents to diddle with dumping confiscated liquor down the drain at DFW and let them focus on TRUE contraband. And where do the drain lines at D/FW end up?

My best line during the fiasco: could you at least give it to a homeless person?

Update: Geis Tragedy

Josh Hixson at People Newspapers has spent the holiday tracking the tragic December 19 slayings of Virginia Cook realtor Jeanmarie Geis and her two children, Matthew and Sydney. Here is a dramatic update.

Virginia Cook Agent Declined To Discuss Robbery

John Hixson at Park Cities People files this story — he contacted Jeanmarie Tolle Geis after her December 6 robbery.

Massacre On Blairview Drive: Virginia Cook Realtor and Children

Virginia Cook agent Jeanmarie Tolle Geis was murdered in her home this morning along with her two children, Sidney and Mattew, age 4 and 8. This is the same agent who was robbed in the Virginia Cook Preston Center parking lot on December 6 by two men wearing ski masks, who took her computer and wedding ring, according to Virginia Cook. Mrs. Geis and her husband, Frank Geis, also a Virginia Cook agent, had been harassed and beaten in their North Dallas home on two separate occasions since the initial December 6 robbery. Mr. Geis was at the hospital having stitches removed from one of those attacks when his wife and children were shot to death in the 7200 block of Blairview Drive this morning.

On the morning of December 13, the attackers broke into the home and beat both Mr. and Mrs. Geis — the children were staying with their grandparents.

“They came to the house in the morning, viciously beat him and took out all his teeth with a mallet,” says one source. Mrs. Geis was also sexally assaulted. She was home alone the following day, in her driveway, when the attackers returned to sexually harass and beat her again — a neighbor helped scare them away.

Mrs. Geis’ father, the late Mark Stenson Tolle, was a prominent local state district judge who presided over the Darlie Routier case. There is speculation that this brutal, vicious attack was somehow in retaliation for a sentence her father handed down during his career.

UPDATE: I am now told that the sequence of attacks went like this: Dec. 6, Mrs. Geis robbed in the Virginia Cook parking lot; Dec. 13, both Mr. and Mrs. Geis attacked in their home on Blairview; Dec. 14, Mrs. Geis attacked while in the driveway of her mothers’ home (her father, Judge Tolle, died in September of 2007); the murder this morning. I am also told that during one of the attacks, Mrs. Geis was told: “Your family made my family’s life a living hell, now I’m going to do the same to your’s.”

Clarification: I Was Not Mugged At NorthPark

Apparently a rumor is circulating via email that I was mugged at NorthPark in early November — not true. I did receive an email from a friend who said she had her purse snatched at NorthPark and I posted, reminding us all to be careful, not show off the bling when out and about. MSNBC also reported a purse-snatching at NorthPark. NorthPark’s confused publicity director called me, and I have asked for the facts on their crime stats and security cameras in the parking garages. Information forthcoming. I do know that my father-in-law was walking in the parking lot near Nordstroms at about 5:30 p.m. on November 24 — I was inside Macy’s with my mother-in-law, shopping, oblivious. NorthPark security spotted him and promptly asked if he needed help. They also called my husband, who called me to ask why I had abandoned his dad. So based on a personal experience I would say the security guys at NorthPark are really doing their job. As for me, not mugged, horse-hair still intact!

If You Want To Do Something About Dallas’ Stolen Dog Problem…

Mark Cuban Accused of Insider Trading

Frontburner asks if this means he’ll have to sell the Mavericks. I ask, will he have to sell his home? (Love me that Texas Homestead law.) That is, homes properties. I did not know he owned all this land near Northwest Highway and Douglas. A reader pointed out that what he has done is no different than what Martha Stewart did, but I have to say this: I think Martha got a raw deal, especially in light of all the shenanigans those big Wall Street players have pulled that we are just now unearthing. Three words for you, SEC: Credit-Default Swaps.�

OMG: The Intruder Said He Has Aids?

Good reason, I guess, to get my CHL. What a mess! We’ve got such a huge deductible it probably would not even begin to cover the crime scene cleanup…

Jewelry Theft at Stanley Korshak Valet

You’ve got to wonder if these thieves were trying to find something to wear to the swanky opening of the Joule Hotel Friday night. This is a stone’s throw, of course, from the Ritz residences.

More Takes On The Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Move

From Zillow who says look for a cut in interest rates this week… (but will even that help sales??? It’s a credit crunch… low rates for a select few who can jump through the lenders’ higher hoops…) and Forbes., also positive but no mention of rate cuts. Full disclosure: I own Fannie Mae shares and can kiss them goodbye.  Forbes says “no accounting wrongdoing” but that the companies may have overstated their capital resources. If you or I overstate income or Real Estate values on a financial statement, that is considered illegal. These people had a fiduciary duty to shareholders. And as a shareholder about to lose money, it pains me further to learn that Freddie’s former CEO could walk with millions, as the Wall Street Journal reported –

“At Fannie, Herb Allison, who formerly served as chairman of the investment company TIAA-CREF, succeeds Daniel Mudd. Freddie’s chief executive, Richard Syron, was succeeded by David Moffett, who has been vice chairman and chief financial officer of U.S. Bancorp.

Potentially, Mr. Syron could walk away with an exit package totaling as much as $15 million, said David Schmidt, a senior consultant at James F. Reda & Associates LLC, a compensation consulting concern in New York. That includes a pension and deferred compensation, about $3.7 million in severance pay and a possible payment of $8.8 million to compensate for forfeiting recent equity grants. A Freddie spokesman said Mr. Syron had said he doesn’t “anticipate receiving nearly that much.”

What severance pay? Take that pension and pay back shareholders! Ask me, neither should get a penny.

Watch Your Back at LBJ & Preston