Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1976: John Burton, 42, of Clovis, a trusty at a state prison, had escaped.
The fugitive was accused of kidnapping six people, including a state police officer, in efforts to remain free.
None of the hostages had been injured.
Burton’s father told the Clovis News-Journal his son had been happy with no problems, other than, “the courts denied him the 48-hour per month furlough that was promised him when he went to Springer.”
John Burton Sr. said he’d like to tell his son, “that I love him and that I’d love for him to give himself up. No matter what’s been done ... it’s not worth your life.”
The younger Burton was serving time for an armed robbery in Portales.
He was captured one day later after he used the police officer’s gun to shoot himself in the chest at a farmhouse west of Melrose.
Clovis hospital officials said he was expected to recover.
1956: “Yours to Keep,” a film about a typical American family wanting everything and getting nowhere, was available for civic groups and Parent-Teacher Associations to show.
The film, a comedy, had been shown in Clovis schools “to encourage people to save money,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:
www.highplainsyesterdays.com
