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GRAHAM, Texas - Investigators have recovered a weapon and other evidence in the death of Leah Donnice Martin, 22, a Graford woman reported missing from Graham in May.

Affidavits obtained Thursday by the Times Record News show that law enforcement officials are in possession of a sawed-off shotgun reportedly handled by two men arrested in Martin’s death.

Ross Earl Hellams, 42, and Billy Ray Minkley Jr., 42, have both been arrested in connection with the case.

Martin, a single mother of a 2-year-old child, was reported missing by her family in late May. Her remains were found in a makeshift grave early this month after officials executed a search warrant on a rural property outside of Graham.

RELATED: Human remains belong to missing Graford woman

According to affidavits filed in the case, Hellams came to a friend on May 30 and told him that he planned on disposing of a brown paper bag containing clothes and a sawed-off shotgun. The friend, whose name the Times Record News chose not to disclose, reportedly told Hellams not to throw the gun away because he “did not want a child getting ahold” of it.

The friend then reportedly took the gun, a sawed-off Remington .12-gauge with black tape around the handle, from Hellams and called police.

Officials seized the firearm and brought Hellams in for questioning. The affidavit says he admitted to being in possession of the shotgun, but that he got it from another man, Minkley.

During a June 22 interview with police, Hellams reportedly said he obtained the gun in May from Minkley. Hellams further told interviewers that Minkley rented a backhoe and brought it to his property in rural Young County, where he buried something.

It was on Hellams’ property where investigators found Martin’s body buried in a shallow grave. Investigators have accused him of using the backhoe to bury the woman.

Police reportedly obtained records from Mike’s West Side Rental showing that Minkley rented a backhoe on May 30, one day after Martin went missing.

RELATED: Father of deceased Graford woman 'couldn't have asked for a better kid'

When Minkley was interviewed by investigators, he told them that he had seen and kept at his home the shotgun seized by police, but he never gave it to Hellams. It’s unclear whether he answered questions about the backhoe rental or Martin’s disappearance.

Affidavits also reveal that Martin received threatening phone calls on at least two occasions in the days leading up to her disappearance and death. Leah Martin’s father, Billy Martin, told police that he had listened to one of the calls, though the affidavit does not detail its subject matter.

Both Hellams and Minkley are felons, making it illegal for them to possess a firearm.

Hellams is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Minkley is charged with tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a prohibited weapon.

No one has been charged with murder.

Both were being held at Young County Jail on Thursday.



SO...... WHERE'S The COVER-UP ???

A minor point is that I had to got to the Wichita Falls newspaper to get this article. The Graham paper has few details in a very few articles. The reason is not so obvious unless you know some things about Graham Tx.

First... before the Fracking boom, Graham historically ranked first in the Nation in "Millionaires per capita" for towns of 10,000 population. Most of that wealth is held by four founding families who have inter married for generations, and have tremendous clout in the City and County.

A guy I went to school with married into one of these families, I'll call him J.B..

The day after the lady's body was discovered, J.B. locked his office door from the inside and blew his brains out with a handgun.

THAT didn't make the paper, either.

Now, they've had the guy who buried the body in jail for weeks and charged him with minor crimes.

Sheriff's Deputies ain't saying ANYTHING about this deal to ANYBODY.

But the family of the murdered woman was very active during the time she was missing, putting up posters all over N.Tx., with her picture and offering a reward.

Gotta wonder what sort of negotiations MIGHT be taking place between them and J.B.'s inlaws.

Sounds like Washington D.C.

That has the makings of a novel--dust off your printer and get to typing!

I thought he was drunk and watching an episode of dallas

Actually, Ben, the way those four families became so wealthy and prominent - according to local legend - would make a good novel itself.

A couple of miles downstream from the confluence of the Salt Fork and the Clear Fork of the Brazos, there is a nondescript little hill still called "Sam Bass Mountain".

After a bank robbery, a posse closed in on Sam and his gang just before dark at the little hill. They got local settlers to help form a picket line around the base of the hill. [this much is a matter of historical record]

Come daylight, they rushed the hill to find Sam long gone. He had escaped thru the picket line during the night.

Not long afterward, four men who had adjacent spots on the line started buying up lots of land around the area. Some of the better oilfields in N Texas were discovered under that land.

J B's wife is four generations down from one of those four on the picket line.

As far as writing a novel about Leah Martin's murder....... I don't know that I'll live long enough to learn the whole story.

ROTFFLMFAO !

Gene, at anytime when you were learning learning these stories did you get an ur grew to buy car insurance or go get a burger and fries?

I be "Mr. Williams" to you, Kid.

Who's drinking?

Fuggin autocorrect on the phone