Walker Railey
{{short description|American Methodist minister}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Walker Railey
| image =
| caption =
| module = {{Infobox officeholder|embed=yes
| office = Senior pastor of First United Methodist Church
|term_start = 1980
|term_end = 1987
|predecessor =
|successor = }}
| alt =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|06|25}}
| birth_place = Owensboro, Kentucky, United States
| death_date =
| death_place =
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| profession =
| religion = Christianity
| denomination = Methodism
| church = First United Methodist Church
| spouses = {{ubl|{{marriage|Margaret Ellen "Peggy" Nicolai|August 1971|February 1997|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|Donna Berry |April 1998}}}}
| children = 2
| education = Southern Methodist University
| ordination =
| congregations =
| signature =
| website =
}}
Walker Railey (born June 25, 1947) is an American former religious minister who was the senior pastor of the Dallas-based First United Methodist Church. He was tried for the attempted murder of his wife; although acquitted in criminal court, a civil court awarded an $18 million judgment against him.
Early life
Railey was born on June 25, 1947,{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/14/us/in-a-city-of-strong-churches-a-fall-from-grace-reverberates.html|date=June 14, 1987|title=In A City of Strong Churches, a Fall From Grace Reverberates|first=Thomas C.|last=Hayes}} in Owensboro, Kentucky, the oldest of three children{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-01-mn-180-story.html|title=The Railey Case : The Brutal Attack on the Popular Pastor’s Wife and His Suicide Attempt Became Dallas’ Most Haunting and Sensational Mystery in a Decade|date=January 1, 1989|last=Cochran|first=Mike|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}} born to sheet metal worker Chester{{cite news|newspaper=Texas Monthly|first=Lawrence|last=Wright|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-sins-of-walker-railey/|title=The Sins of Walker Railey|date=January 1988}}{{cite news|newspaper=D Magazine|url=https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1987/october/the-silent-spring-of-walker-railey/|title=The Silent Spring of Walker Railey|date=October 1987|last=Shropshire|first=Mike}} and his wife Virginia (née Bennett).{{cite book|title=Deliver Us from Evil|first=Mike|last=Cochran|year=1990|publisher=Penguin|page=11|isbn=9780425123515}} While both his parents were alcoholics, Railey abstained from drinking or smoking.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVE4nuQkflIC|title=Texas Justice, Bought and Paid For|first=Mona D.|last=Sizer|page=192|publisher=Taylor Trade Publications|isbn=9781556227912}} He wrote and delivered his first sermon at the age of 17 and majored in history at the Western Kentucky University. After studying for a year at the Vanderbilt Divinity School, Railey moved to Dallas to attend the Perkins Theological Seminary at Southern Methodist University (SMU). In August 1971, he married musician Margaret Ellen "Peggy" (née Nicolai; born October 7, 1948), who was also studying at SMU.{{cite news|newspaper=The Dallas Morning News|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2012/01/01/peggy-raileys-death-a-turning-point-for-one-of-dallas-most-notorious-crimes/|date=December 31, 2011|title=Peggy Railey’s death a turning point for one of Dallas’ most notorious crimes}}
Career
Railey completed his doctoral studies in ministry in 1973, and went on to minister in Oklahoma. In 1980, he was appointed as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Dallas, known as the "nation's mother church of Methodism" and where he had previously served as an associate pastor. In 1984, he led the North Texas Conference delegation to the quadrennial global conference of the United Methodist Church. Although "short, balding and physically unimposing", Railey was a charismatic speaker whose leadership led to a rise in church membership. Railey reportedly earned $100,000 a year as senior pastor.{{cite news|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/walker-railey/|title=Walker Railey|date=September 2001|first=Michael|last=Hall|newspaper=Texas Hall}} He frequently preached against racism, which apparently led to his receiving death threats from white supremacists; during his Easter sermon on April 19, 1987, Railey wore a bulletproof vest, based upon the advice of his security detail. However, subsequent investigations by the FBI suggested that Railey had written the anonymous threats himself.{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/17/us/former-dallas-pastor-acquitted-charges-trying-choke-his-wife-death.html|title=Former Dallas Pastor Is Acquitted of Charges of Trying to Choke His Wife to Death|first=Sam Howe|last=Verhovek|date=April 17, 1993}}
Legal history
=Background=
At 12:43 a.m. on April 22, 1987, Railey called the police to inform them that he had found his wife comatose in their home garage in Lake Highlands, Dallas. She was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital, where doctors determined that she had been choked and was experiencing hypoxia. According to detective Stan McNear, who led the investigation of her case, Walker Railey was "oddly serene" at the hospital; he initially claimed that he had been at the Southern Methodist University library at the time of the assault, but later stated that he had actually been with his paramour, clinical psychologist Lucy Goodrich Papillon. Led to believe that Peggy Railey had been attacked by white supremacists, hundreds of Railey's supporters gathered outside the hospital in the weekend. On April 30, Railey unsuccessfully attempted suicide by drug overdose at the hospital, writing in his suicide note that "there is a demon inside my soul ... (who) has finally gotten the upper hand". In July 1987, Railey testified before a grand jury and cited his Fifth Amendment rights some 43 times.{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/04/06/the-preachers-fall-from-grace/ef65a8c0-6aef-4d0b-bd9a-5e3bab3d31f7/|title=The Preacher's Fall From Grace|date=April 6, 1993|first=Elizabeth|last=Hudson}} After resigning from the church in early September 1987{{cite news|newspaper=Texas Monthly|last=Jubera|first=Drew|title=A Cross to Bear|page=107|date=October 1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RioEAAAAMBAJ}} and granting his friends John and Diane Yarrington custody of his children, Ryan (born 1981) and Megan (born 1983), Railey moved to California with Papillon in November 1987.{{cite news|newspaper=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/40ca729affdf20929a15a5b16458723d|title=Ex-Minister, Cleared of Attack on Wife, Files For Bankruptcy, Divorce|date=May 13, 1993}} In around 1991, he joined the Los Angeles-based Immanuel Presbyterian Church as executive administrator.{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 26, 1992|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/26/us/ex-minister-indicted-in-a-choking-attack-on-his-wife-in-1985.html|title=Ex-Minister Indicted In a Choking Attack On His Wife in 1985}}
=Civil trial=
In 1988, Bill and Billie Jo Nicolai, the parents of Peggy Railey, filed a civil lawsuit against Walker Railey, who refused to respond. The trial lasted for a day, with judge John Whittington awarding $18 million in damages to the family.{{cite news|date=March 20, 1989|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/03/20/Railey-served-with-subpoena-to-give-deposition-Tuesday/1155606373200/|title=Railey served with subpoena to give deposition Tuesday|newspaper=United Press International}} However, Railey declared bankruptcy and the settlement was set aside;{{cite news|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2011/12/28/peggy-railey-victim-in-lurid-dallas-scandal-dies-almost-25-years-after-brutal-attack-that-silenced-her/|title=Peggy Railey, victim in lurid Dallas scandal, dies almost 25 years after brutal attack that silenced her|date=December 27, 2011|newspaper=The Dallas Morning News}} in February 1997, with both parties agreed that Railey would divorce his wife and pay her a fortnightly alimony for twenty years.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/10/us/minister-settles-suit-accusing-him-of-attack-that-put-wife-in-coma.html|title=Minister Settles Suit Accusing Him of Attack That Put Wife in Coma|date=February 10, 1997|newspaper=The New York Times}}
=Criminal trial=
Although Railey remained the only suspect in his wife's attempted murder, no charges were brought against him by the police due to insufficient evidence. However, in August 1992, with the emergence of DNA evidence, Railey was arrested and officially charged with the attempted murder of his wife.{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/03/25/Testimony-begins-in-attempted-murder-trial-of-Texas-ex-minister/5873733035600/|title=Testimony begins in attempted murder trial of Texas ex-minister|date=March 25, 1993|newspaper=United Press International}} The criminal trial of Walker Railey began on March 23, 1993.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-16-mn-23583-story.html|title=Jury Weighs Charge That Ex-Pastor Tried to Kill Wife|first=J. Michael|last=Kennedy|date=April 16, 1993|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}} Judge Pat McDowell presided over the trial, which was relocated from Dallas to San Antonio in response to the extensive media coverage that it received. The full proceedings were broadcast on cable television channel Court TV, which achieved its highest ratings in Dallas during the trial. On April 17, 1993, the jury, which comprised seven women and three men, found Railey not guilty of all charges.
=Aftermath=
In October 1993, Railey gave an unpaid speech at a nursing home in Reseda, Los Angeles, in which he bemoaned that "every time a religious scandal hits the headlines, the stock of clergy goes down."{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first=Jack|last=Cheevers|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-21-me-48060-story.html|title=Cleared in Attack on Wife, Ex-Minister Speaks Out|date=October 21, 1993}} He broke up with Papillon by the end of 1996 and married widow Donna Berry in April 1998. Peggy Railey remained incapacitated for the rest of her life; on December 25, 2011, at the age of 63, she died in a nursing home in Tyler, Texas.
References
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Category:Christianity in Texas
Category:People from Owensboro, Kentucky
Category:Perkins School of Theology alumni
Category:Western Kentucky University alumni