Frank McFarland Executed For Terry Lynn Hokanson Murder

Frank McFarland was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Terry Lynn Hokanson

According to court documents Frank McFarland would leave a club with Terry Lynn Hokanson. The young woman would later be sexually assaulted and stabbed nearly eighty times causing her death. McFarland had been convicted of sexual assault as a juvenile

Frank McFarland would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Frank McFarland would be executed by lethal injection on April 29 1998

Frank McFarland Photos

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Frank McFarland Case

On the afternoon of February 1, 1988, the victim went to work at a bar in Arlington. Appellant and a friend of *829 his, Michael Ryan Wilson, were also at the club on this day. At some point in the afternoon, the two men had a drink sent over to the victim. Later, a waitress introduced the victim to the two men. Appellant, Wilson, the victim, and a waitress made plans to go to another bar together later that evening, although the waitress canceled her part of the arrangement.

Around 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. that evening, the victim went home to change and eat dinner before going out. Several employees of the second bar remember seeing a woman, who fit the description of the victim, arrive alone between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. They also recalled her leaving shortly thereafter with two men. Her car was found in the parking lot the next morning.

Approximately 10:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m. that evening, three teenage boys were walking by a public park when they heard a scream. One stood on a nearby bench to look for the police and saw a car driving away. As the boys continued walking, they noticed someone stumbling in a “kind of drunk manner.” As they got closer to the figure, they realized the figure was a woman. When they reached her, they noticed that she had blood on her face. One of the boys asked if she needed help, to which she replied that she did. The other boy immediately ran to the nearest house to call for help. The victim told the boys that she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed.

While the one boy was away, a police officer happened upon the scene. The boys told the officer that the victim said that she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed. As the officer approached the victim, he could see that she had blood on her face, jacket, and shirt, and her hand was cut to the bone. The officer tried to question the victim as much as possible. The victim told him that “[t]hey raped and stabbed me.” The officer elicited further information that the two assailants were white men and that the victim had met them at the club where she worked. The officer could not later remember the name of the club, but he was subsequently placed under hypnosis, at which time that information was elicited. When the paramedics arrived, the victim also told them that she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed. The victim died about 3:00 a.m.

A search of the area where the victim was found turned up her purse, shoes, watch, and one earring in a pool of blood at the top of the hill. Additionally, a five hundred foot trail of blood led from where the victim’s belongings were found to where she had been discovered. An autopsy revealed that the victim had been stabbed by at least two different types of knives or knife-like weapons. The examination also revealed evidence of sexual intercourse, but was inconclusive as to whether the victim had been sexually assaulted.

At trial, Wilson’s girlfriend, Rachael Revill, testified that on the night in question, appellant and Wilson arrived at her apartment. They had left the apartment together in appellant’s car earlier that evening and were now returning together. Revill noticed that Wilson’s pants appeared to be stained with blood and appellant appeared to have a gash on his hand. After Wilson showered, changed, and gathered his bloodstained clothing, the two men again left. Wilson returned about fifteen minutes later without appellant. Revill said Wilson was surrounded by a “burning odor.” Wilson later told his girlfriend that he had burned his clothes because they had blood on them. He also explained that he and appellant had “had to get rid of a girl” because she knew too much about their drug business. Wilson insisted that appellant had actually killed the victim.

At a later time, appellant again picked Wilson up from Revill’s apartment and they went to the club where the victim had worked on the day she was killed. Appellant asked a waitress if any detectives had asked anything about him or Wilson. The waitress observed scratch marks down appellant’s cheek. Subsequently, Wilson contacted an acquaintance of his and appellant’s, Mark Noblett. He told Noblett that he and appellant had been to a club with the victim and that later, appellant sexually *830 assaulted and stabbed the victim. Wilson also told Noblett that he was afraid of appellant and wanted Noblett to approach the police on his behalf. The two men agreed to meet to next day, but Wilson never showed.

On March 11, 1988, Wilson was found dead in Weatherford. Four days later, Revill contacted the police and told them of Wilson’s confession to her on the night of the victim’s murder. Warrants were then issued to obtain blood, saliva, and hair samples from appellant and to impound and search his automobile. The search of appellant’s vehicle uncovered hairs which proved to be microscopically similar to those found in a Rabbit coat of the type that the victim was wearing the night she was killed. A scarf was also discovered on which was found a pubic hair microscopically similar to the victim’s. Finally, the police recovered an earring which was not distinguishable from the earring found at the scene of the murder. A DNA analysis of the semen recovered from the victim’s body and found on her clothes did not eliminate appellant as a donor, although it did conclusively establish that, if Wilson was a donor, he was not the sole donor.

https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/1992/71016-4.html

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