BOUND IN SILENCE:

by

Christena Stephens

True Crime / Texas History / Nonfiction

Publisher: Stoney Creek Publishing

Page Count: 286 pages

Publication Date: February 26, 2024

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Synopsis

On a nearly moonless night in October 1943, a single gunshot rang out in Littlefield, Texas. A prominent Texas doctor and his wife were found bound, shot, beaten, and murdered. The only witness: their five-year-old daughter, who was bound to silence and refused to speak about what happened for 70 years.

The heinous crime remains unsolved. For years, the courts tried to convict one suspect, but forensic evidence contradicted the prosecution’s case. Investigators, including the famed Texas Rangers, failed to bring anyone to justice.

Eight decades later, the questions linger over the plains of the Texas Panhandle: who killed the Hunts and why?

Author and historian Christena Stephens spent more than a decade researching the Hunt murders, re-examining every twist and turn in the legal process, uncovering new evidence, and drawing new conclusions about who might have been responsible. She also convinced Jo Ann Hunt to break 70 years of silence and tell her story for the first time. Armed with Jo Ann’s account, Stephens takes the reader back to that deadly night and through the years of trauma that followed.

Why did the criminal justice system repeatedly fail to bring anyone to justice? What could have scared a 5-year-old girl into a lifetime of silence? What did investigators miss? And most importantly, who killed Roy and Mae Hunt?

Bound in Silence is a true crime tour-de-force, a meticulously researched, impeccably told tale of unsolved murder on the High Plains.

Stoney Creek Publishing

Review

I cannot even imagine how much work went into capturing all of the details of this case and background information from the 1940s, before and after.

While I am not a true crime guru, I am fascinated by actual crimes and how things were investigated when the advances we have today are nonexistent. The author provides a comprehensive timeline to guide us in the events leading up to the murder and beyond. She also provided a list of those involved in the case and their role at the beginning of the book. This is helpful to keep everyone straight in my mind.

As I read this book, I felt like I was walking in the author’s shoes. She visited several of the locations from the murder, and the photos of the buildings and people helped me picture this small town in West Texas. I could feel her frustration at how things were handled and that there was no good conclusion to this crime.

I also feel for the daughters left behind and what they experienced that night and after. To not really talk about it had to have been hard, and to never know the truth.

This could have been made into a fantastic fictional novel. While it would have been based on facts, the tale could have been adapted to the author’s supposition of what could have happened since the evidence is not there despite the many court cases trying to get to the truth.

The book does not read like fiction (as some non-fiction novels might), but there is a wealth of information from the research the author compiled about this crime. Perhaps another reader will take up the challenge and try to uncover what happened. The truth may never be revealed. It is a puzzle still waiting to be solved.

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Christena Stephens is a native Texan growing up amongst cotton fields and spending time exploring the nature of the Llano Estacado. After earning two Master of Science degrees, she started a project to preserve a historic Texas ranch, thus began her interest in history, research, and writing. She did not intend to be a historian but was mentored by the best Texas historians. Several of her writings have been published in anthologies, along with her photographs. In science and history, truths need to be accurately told. That is her mission-truth and authenticity. She still resides on the Llano Estacado, enjoying sunsets and chance porcupine encounters. She is an ardent advocate of wildlife conservation, and her heart belongs to her dogs.

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