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Note: August 5, 1964 Funeral rites for Doyle Kesterson, 22, were held at 10 a.m. today in the First Baptist Church, the Rev. Marvin Knox of the Key Heights Baptist Church officiating. Burial will be in the Ardmore, OK, cemetery at 10 a.m. Thursday under direction of Boxwell Bros. Funeral Directors of Perryton. Mr. Kesterson died from a .22 caliber bullet wound in the head Saturday night. His wife Betty 21, has been charged with murder with malice and will appear Thursday before the Ochiltree County Grand Jury. Mr. Kesterson was employed by the McKinley Oil Field Service Co. Surviving are two sons, his parents, a brother and three sisters.
from genealogy trails.com Contributed by Christine Walters
Amarillo Globe-Times 3 Aug 1964 Perryton - A young Perryton mother of two, expecting a third child early next year, today was held without bond in the slaying Saturday night of her husband. Mrs. Betty Kesterson 21, told Perryton police she killed her husband Doyle, 22, with a single bullet from a 22 caliber pistol in a fit of anger. She said she went home and got the gun when she found her husband in a downtown cafe eating steak after she and her two young sons had dined at home on beans and potatoes. The shooting occurred about 9 p.m. Mrs. Kesterson gave police a signed statement admitting the shooting. She was charged with murder with malice. I wanted to scare him real bad - not kill him" Mrs. Kesterson told police. After returning downtown with the pistol, she waited in her car outside the cafe until her husband emerged and then beckoned to him to come to the car. Mrs. Kesterson told police she didn't remember cocking the pistol, but it went off the bullet striking her husband in the head. He was dead when Perryton Policeman Bill Mills arrived at the scene a few seconds later. Kesterson was born Feb. 22, 1942 at Pecan Grove Oklahoma. He and his wife had lived in Perryton about three years. Their home was at 805 S. Eaton Street. Kesterson was employed by the McKinley Oil Field Service Co. He was a member of the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Ardmore OK. Survivors include sons, Philip Rufus, 2 and Richard Eugene, 1, his father Joe D. Kesterson of Tom OK; his mother Mrs. Dovie Mae Kesterson of Madill OK; a brother Eugene Kesterson of Madill OK; and three sisters, Glenda Mae Kesterson of Madill, Mrs. John LaFevers of Dallas and Mrs. Marie Westbrook of Perryton. Funeral services for Kesterson are pending with Boxwell Bros. Funeral Directors of Perryton. Amarillo Glove TImes May 12, 1965 Perryton - Following the selection of the 12th juror at 2 p.m. Tuesday, testimony for the state began in the murder trial of Mrs. Betty Kesterson charged with the August 1964 shooting death of her husband. Testimony was to resume at 10:30 a.m. today in the 34th District Court with Judge Max Boyer presiding. The four witnesses appearing Tuesday were Orchiltree County Sheriff Ray Phagan, Don Reynolds and Bill Mills, Perryton city policeman and Hobart Buxton who was eating dinner with Doyle Kesterson before he was killed. Kesterson, 22 was shot in the head with a .22 caliber pistol while eating in a downtown charged with murder with malice. She told officers at the time of her arrest that she was made at her husband for eating steak and potatoes at the cafe while she and the children were dining on beans at home. Jurors are Mrs. Doyle King, Mrs. O.C. Rickard, Mrs. Dewey Allen, Mrs. Keith Flowers, Mrs. Harold Cochran, Dale Hoover, Herman Hargrove, Ward McPherson, Lloyd Morgan, John Sammons, W.R. Greever and Joe Watson. 13 May 1965 Mrs. Betty Kesterson, 21, was sentenced to 25 years in the state penitentiary for women late Wednesday night after an 84th District court jury found her guilty of the August 1964 shooting death of her husband Judge Max Boyer pronouced sentence. The seven-man, five-woman jury returned its verdict about 10:35 p.m. after an hour and 20 minutes of deliberation. The jury heard summations and retired to deliberate the case at 9:15 p.m. During summations, the jury heard the prosecution ask for a prison sentence and the defense ask for a suspended sentence. In brief testimony Wednesday, Mrs. Kesterson stated that the shooting was accidental, that she only intended to scare her husband with the gun. She said she pulled the gun from her glove compartment and Kestrson was shot as they struggled for the gun. Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Hickey, parents of the defendant, testified for the defense. Character witnesses were Dr. E. Burns Gray, C.W. Foote and Ralph McElvain. Prosecution witnesses were Marie Westbrook, sister-in-law to the defendant, Mrs. Ethyl Milstead, waitress in the Rhodes Charcoal Grill; Robert Buxton, who was eating with Kesterson and was a witness to the shooting; Ochiltree County Sheriff Ray Phagan; police officers Don Reynolds and Olan Mills; Dr. Eugene Waide and Mrs. Lowell McKinley. When she ws first arrested officers said Mrs. Kesterson stated she was made at her husband for eating steak and potatoes and the children were eating beans at home. Bill McConnell of Amarillo was defense attorney and Bob Calloway of Borger was prosecuting attorney.
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