Jury Weighs Charge That Ex-Pastor Tried to Kill Wife

In these parts, when they talk about waiting for the verdict, they are not referring to the Rodney G. King case. The strange and celebrated attempted-murder trial of ex-minister Walker Railey has gone to the jury in San Antonio.

Is he the cold, calculating pastor who tried to strangle his wife after she discovered his extramarital affair, as the prosecution charges, or is he a victim of coincidence?

In Dallas, where Railey once lived, the attempted strangulation of Margaret (Peggy) Railey ranks as one of the most infamous events of the ‘80s.

By Railey’s account, he found his comatose wife in their Dallas garage on the night of April 27, 1987, after he returned from studying at the Southern Methodist University library. She has remained in a vegetative state since then, unable to name the person who attempted to choke her to death.

Railey showed police some threatening letters he and his wife recently had received anonymously.

But almost from the beginning, Walker Railey was the prime suspect in the attempted murder.

In the years before Peggy Railey was attacked, her husband was one of the most well-known clergymen in the city. As pastor of the First United Methodist Church, he was thought of as the church’s savior and one of Dallas’ emerging civic leaders. Charismatic in the pulpit, Railey seemed destined for great things.

But then came the attempted strangulation, and Railey’s life did an about-face. Ten days later, he attempted to commit suicide.

Then it came to light that he was having an affair with Lucy Papillon, a psychologist and daughter of a Methodist bishop.

Railey divorced his comatose wife, gave up custody of his two children and moved to California, where he continued to see Papillon and did a number of odd jobs--delivering phone books, driving a forklift, processing escrow papers--before taking a position as executive director of Los Angeles’ Immanuel Presbyterian Church.

In the meantime, Railey did not contest a civil suit filed by his mother-in-law, Billie Jo Nicolai, and was ordered to pay her $18 million for “intentionally, knowingly, maliciously and brutally” trying to kill his wife. Then, last August, Railey was arrested by Los Angeles police and led from the church in handcuffs. After all those years, criminal charges were filed against him.

At the time of the arrest, the Dallas district attorney’s office said the charges were filed after a re-evaluation of the evidence and because new evidence had been uncovered. The trial began March 23 in San Antonio, moved there from Dallas because of the notoriety of the case. The entire proceedings have been broadcast daily on the cable channel Court TV. A channel spokesman said it was the most-watched daytime cable program in Dallas and surrounding cities for a week.

Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses as they tried to circumstantially prove that Railey was guilty.

There was testimony about the threatening letters to the Raileys. The prosecution contended that the letters were produced on the typewriter at Railey’s church. An FBI agent said a DNA examination of the envelopes showed that the saliva was consistent with Railey’s genetic makeup.

For the defense, Papillon testified that she believed that her former lover was incapable of violence. Three other witnesses testified on Railey’s behalf.

Railey, his voice sometimes cracking, took the stand and asserted: “I did not strangle my wife. I do not know who strangled my wife.”

He admitted for the first time that he lied to police about his activities the night his wife was attacked but insisted he did so to hide a liaison with Papillon.

In the closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors painted a scenario in which Railey’s wife may have discovered the affair and summoned her husband home from the library to discuss it.

Railey faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.