Update on the 1984 Cold Case

Tim Poynter, Assistant District Attorney for Refugio County in Texas, contacted the Phillips County News last week with an update on the case involving Gordon Parsons.

Parsons pleaded guilty to the murder of a Zapata man, whose body was found in Refugio County almost 40 years ago.

Parsons entered a guilty plea at a monthly court update for the murder of Robert Mooney. He will be sentenced October 10th.

Mooney’s body wasn’t found in Refugio County until February 5, 1985. He had been murdered on August 3, 1984.

He was arrested by Texas Rangers who came to Malta in June 2024 when they had located Parsons living in Dodson, Montana, and had been for some time.

At the time of his arrest Parsons, was on parole after serving 35 years for another murder in Oregon. He had escaped a prison in Wyoming when the murder was committed.

A trial date which had been set for November is now vacated.