Dateline: June 6, 2002

Sources say dead man's wallet stolen

Donley County Attorney Pro Tem Kaye Messer filed charges on a Hereford man Tuesday for allegedly stealing the wallet of the engineer killed in last week’s train wreck.

Antonio Valle, Jr., age 36, faces a Class A misdemeanor for stealing the wallet of G.D. Shelby of Lubbock. Valle is employed by Messer Construction Co. (no relation to the county attorney), the company working to clean up the wreckage two miles west of Clarendon.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Department says two eyewitnesses saw Valle pick up Shelby’s wallet after his body was removed. The witnesses say they observed Valle put the wallet in his pocket and that he did not turn it over to a supervisor. The wallet contained $753.

The sheriff’s office was assisted in its investigation by Railroad Agent G.W. Lane.

Messer said she intends to do everything she can to convict Valle.

“I’ll prosecute this case to the fullest because it’s pretty disgusting,” she said.