Victim’s landlord charged in 2006 ‘Lady of the Lake’ murder case, Texas cops say

BUCHANAN DAM, Texas — A Texas landlord has been charged with the murder of a female tenant found at the bottom of a lake in 2006.

Jimmy Don Wolfenbarger, 57, of Lubbock, was indicted May 3 on a single count of murder in the death of Holly Marie Simmons, 45, of Buchanan Dam. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Simmons, a mother of four, was last seen alive as she dropped her then-17-year-old daughter off at her school bus stop the morning of Nov. 27, 2006.

When the teen returned from school, Simmons was nowhere to be found.

“Her purse, her cellphone, her car were at the house when her daughter came home that afternoon, but she was missing at the time,” Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn told Austin’s KXAN in a 2015 report on the case.

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Her daughter reported her missing the following morning.

“For years, investigators with the Llano County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers worked this case, trying to bring closure,” a news release from the Texas DPS stated. “Immediately following Simmons’ disappearance, her house on Cortez Trail was thoroughly examined for evidence. Neighbors, co-workers and associates were also interviewed by investigators.”

Without detailing what the evidence was, Blackburn said there were signs in Simmons’ mobile home of a violent struggle.

“We don’t think she left the house alive,” the sheriff said.

Watch KXAN’s 2015 report below.

Years passed without a trace of Simmons. In 2015, her siblings recalled those endless days of worry.

“The not knowing was the worst,” Deborah Sherwood told the NBC affiliate.

The case went cold until July 7, 2009, when Llano County deputies and Texas Rangers were called to the nearby Inks Lake, where a recreational diver had made a startling discovery 18 feet below the water’s surface.

The diver had found a small aluminum jon boat submerged at the bottom of the lake, under the Highway 29 bridge, Rangers and Sheriff’s Office officials said.

“Simmons’ body was in the bottom of the boat. Concrete bags had been placed over her, which had become waterlogged and hardened,” the DPS news release stated.

According to KXAN, Simmons’ body was cemented in about 600 pounds of concrete.

Blackburn said while he believed one person could have been responsible for killing Simmons, he believed it took more than one suspect to dispose of her body. In 2015, the sheriff said an unidentified person bought the boat at a yard sale about a month before Simmons vanished.

It took months after the diver’s discovery for authorities to positively identify the remains as belonging to Simmons, who became known in the community as the “Lady of the Lake.”

“Identification was made by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office from dental records, and the death was ruled a homicide,” Llano County Sheriff’s Office officials said.

Simmons had been strangled, authorities said. KXAN reported this week that the indictment in the case indicated she was killed with “a wire, cord or similar ligature.”

“No one deserves to die like Holly Simmons did,” Blackburn said in 2015.

A year after Blackburn’s interview, in 2016, the Texas Rangers’ Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program decided to take a fresh look at the Simmons case. A five-year investigation led back to Wolfenbarger.

“Wolfenbarger, Simmons’ landlord, lived near her home in an RV park at the time,” the Texas Rangers said. “He often had disputes with Simmons regarding one of her two daughters.”

The nature of those disputes was not disclosed.

Wolfenbarger turned himself in Wednesday at the Lubbock County Jail, according to Llano County authorities. He was released after posting a $2 million bond and turning in his passport.

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Sherwood and her brother, Paul Wishman, told KXAN they are “relieved” to see an arrest in their sister’s slaying after nearly 15 years. Their mother would call detectives once a month, every month, over that time span to get updates on her daughter’s case.

“There was always that little glimmer of hope that it would happen,” Wishman said.

Sherwood said Wolfenbarger had been the main suspect in the homicide for 15 years, but the family had always been told there wasn’t enough evidence to make an arrest. It was not immediately clear what had changed.

It was also unclear if authorities had tied him to the boat in which Simmons’ body was found.

She and her brother expressed disappointment that Wolfenbarger was allowed to be released on bond.

“I don’t think he should have ever been able to have bond. He should be behind bars,” Wishman told the station. “Hopefully he doesn’t get away, and hopefully they’ve got a good case, and justice will be served for her, her kids, her grandkids and the rest of the family.”

In a statement posted Thursday on a Facebook page titled “Justice for Holly Simmons,” the slain woman’s children thanked everyone for their support but asked for time to process the news of the arrest.

“Between the anger and pain, and finally being able to take a breath, we as siblings can finally say we are getting justice for our mother,” the statement read.

Cox Media Group