Background – I sold a house and we put away a few CD’s in the local bank to prepare to take up our dream of building an RV Park and extreme golf course on that beautiful land of running water and river fun. Here is where hindsight is 20/20. I wish I had not talked Robert into staying and giving up a chance to move to Tennessee. I reasoned that no other land was as beautiful or had as much flowing water as our little Brazos Rock Road. Surely the Salters and the dirty cops who protected them were not that big of a threat. I will never be so stupid ever again. There is no land beautiful enough to lose your husband and best friend over anywhere on this earth. Trust me on that one. I’ve learned the hard way. Now back to the narrative. Robert worked at a job until Brookes (the banker) told him to quit and go get the RV Park and golf course in by the end of September. We had the money.

Situation #14 – On August 5th and 22nd Brookes and the bank appraiser came to Brazos Rock Road. On the 5th we were appraising tracts 1 through 3 next door to Salter. Brookes noticed Salter was raising turkeys and went to the fence to look at their pen. Roger was already watching us through the trees, and he went off the deep end. Roger started pacing wildly up and down the fence line staring at us openly as we walked through the property and examined the house. I got a sticker in my toe and I stopped to remove it to let Brookes and his appraiser talk business privately. Roger accosted me the moment those two men walked out of earshot. Roger was Charles Manson wild-eyed crazy. I mean the kind of crazy where you see white all around the eye. Super crazy!


To make this photo of Charles Manson look like Roger Salter you only need gray the hair and put on a pair of circular wire-framed glasses. The resemblance is remarkable.

Roger asked me if I was Bette like he wasn’t sure of my identity. He started yelling, “come and get me”, “quit talking about me”, and “I’m right here lets tangle”. It was all a bunch of paranoid fantasy nonsense and gibberish. I told Roger to go get some professional help before it was too late. I told everyone else Roger absolutely convinced me that he had gone totally stark-raving mad. Roger had become a fiend who was most likely very dangerous. The schizophrenia from the meth had taken over his life and there was no reality or sanity left. The following paragraph is by Dr. Kathryn Wells on the “Medical Aspects of Methamphetamine Abuse”. It describes Roger and his family perfectly.

“Methamphetamine users offer display multiple behavior changes. These individuals are frequently violent, bizarre acting, excessively anxious, confused and unable to sleep. Psychotic features are very common as an effect of this drug as well. These individuals can show paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions, homicidal thoughts, suicidal thoughts, and out of control rages. These behavioral changes can persist for years after drug use is discontinued. An acute methamphetamine psychosis has been described in the medical literature. This is characterized by extreme paranoia, well-formed delusions, hypersensitivity to environmental stimuli, stereotyped “tweaking” behaviors, panic, extreme fearlessness, and a high potential for violence.”


On August 22nd, Brookes and the appraiser are at tracts 7 & 8. Once again, Roger dances the fence line being a paranoid crazy man exactly as the Dr. describes. He does not verbally accost anyone this time because tracts 5 & 6 separate Roger from the appraisal party. Irene was there and told me she agreed with me. Roger had become Charles Manson crazy. Roger was acting in an extra dangerous and unpredictable manner that was more violent than he had been in the past.

Incidents # 11 – The entire month of August is full of threats and shootings aimed at many people and coming from the Salter family. Robert & Irene started work on the RV Park land at 930. Robert was on the big tractor cutting down the 12-foot tall grass while Irene followed with a Cub Cadet mower to finish the lawn. Roger stood on his side of the fence holding a carbine rifle. That night Roger fired shots over the head of Sam’s son Brendan when he went to tract 6 to go fishing. A few days after Brendan is shot at, Robert & Irene find an injured Mississippi Kite. Irene came to get the truck to bring the big beautiful raptor back to a rescue team. Theresa Salter blocks the road in front of Irene and tells her, “You’re a dead bitch.” It took Irene days to calm down. Before Irene calms down from Theresa’s threat, Roger with the rifle and another man with a pistol stand on the fence line and empty their weapons over Robert and Irene’s heads as they mow. Roger shot off a full 30 round magazine, the other guy emptied his pistol, and they ran into their trailer to hide. None of us ever stepped onto Salter property. None of us shot at anyone or anything on Salter property. Roger was standing on his fence line shooting at anyone who entered our property. No one threatened Roger in any way. Our goal was to get the first phase of the RV Park up and running. The contractor’s were hired and the earthworks had a deadline to meet. It doesn’t help if the mad man two properties down shoots at everybody that comes to the property while his wife stops them in the street to threaten them.

Situation #15 – We go to the bank to see Brookes when the appraiser’s report is ready. Brookes is offended by Roger’s behavior. He thinks Roger thought that he was DEA. Brookes is the cowboy gentleman type who is always starched and fine looking. I can see where a paranoid Roger would think Brookes is a narc. Brookes is a member of a group called the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse. Brookes spoke with Sheriff Fowler about our Salter drug problem on Brazos Rock Road at the Posse meeting before we met with him. Brookes had a business card from a man Sheriff Fowler introduced as a man who would “lie in the grass”. During our meeting Brookes sent this man an email. We again offered to let law enforcement use our trailer at 930 and us pay the bills if they needed it to gather evidence.

It is flashback time again. Let’s go back to the beginning (and the whole way through) where Roger keeps bragging he is protected by the law and untouchable. We were hoping since Brookes (a Posse Member) was reporting the problems directly to the sheriff things would be different. Maybe someone would investigate and ask a few simple questions. We could not have been any more wrong in our hopes.

Incident #12 – In only a couple of days we had our answer. The violence escalated! In typical fashion the Salters retaliated against us for telling the PCSO about their illegal business. On August 29, 2008, a few days after Brookes emails the PCSO about the drugs, a member of the Salter family catches Robert on the road alone and attempts to kill him. Arlen Terry Salter (Roger’s brother) blocked the road in front of Robert on his tractor and shot him with a carbine rifle similar to the one Roger had used to shoot at people all month. Robert still carries the bullet, as it could not be removed.