Texas Oil Heir Cullen Davis Dies at 93

Davis, whose oil-based fortune once made him one of the wealthiest people in the country, died at his home in Colleyville, a Fort Worth suburb. His son Trey Davis announced his death on November 9. Cullen Davis had maintained his innocence in the cases that drew national attention in the 1970s.

In August 1976, as Davis was divorcing his second wife, Priscilla, a gunman killed her 12-year-old daughter, Andrea Wilborn, and her boyfriend, Stan Farr, at the family’s Fort Worth mansion. Priscilla Davis and visitor Gus “Bubba” Gavrel Jr. were wounded and survived. The three survivors identified Davis as the shooter.

Davis was tried for Wilborn’s murder. His first trial ended in a mistrial over juror misconduct; a second trial ended with his acquittal in 1977. The 13-week proceeding was moved to Amarillo and was called the costliest murder trial ever held in Texas. His oil empire was valued at $400 million at the time.

Nine months after the acquittal, Davis was charged with soliciting a hitman to kill 15 people, including the divorce judge and the shooting’s survivors. He was acquitted in that case too. The mansion shootings later inspired books and true-crime programs, as well as the 1995 television miniseries “Texas Justice.”

Davis’s oil business faltered during the industry downturn of the 1980s, and his company went bankrupt. Trey Davis recalled that his father became a Christian in 1981 and said faith changed him. Priscilla Davis died of breast cancer in 2001.