Cop shot in cold blood

You can find Midlothian, Texas, on a good map.
The town of 7,000 is located about 25 miles south of Dallas.
Not that much happens in Midlothian, but in 1987, the town fathers realized that drug dealers, so prevalent in Dallas, had found a new market among the youth of their community, particularly among the students of Midlothian high school.
Although the Just Say No program initiated by President Ronald Reagan's wife, Nancy, was well entrenched in the high school, it was common knowledge that marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines were being used almost openly at the high school.
The town council, in conjunction with the police, decided an undercover agent would be placed in the high school to ferret out the source of the drugs.
George William Raffield was 21 years old, but looked 17.
It was he who was picked to be the undercover agent posing as a Midlothian student. George was working as a police dispatcher in the small town of Red Oak when he was summoned for the job.
He spent a month training with the narcotics section of the Dallas Police Force. In preparation for the sensitive assignment, Raffield underwent a name change. He became George Moore.
George was given a cover story. He had come to Midlothian from Temple, Texas, and was living with an uncle.
He would be visiting his girlfriend back in Temple most weekends. He would also be purchasing drugs for resale in his hometown.
In reality, George had never been in Temple, but he spent several days there so he could answer questions about the town if he was queried by his anticipated new friends.
Authorities saw to it that George was equipped with a set of marks from Temple high school, then enrolled as a Grade 12 student in Midlothian.
To add to the authenticity and to avoid leaks in his cover, no teachers at Midlothian were told of the undercover agent in their midst.
George Moore didn't smoke or drink, but he was taught how to drag on marijuana without inhaling.
He shaved his moustache. He was issued an old truck, supposedly belonging to his uncle.
Police would always know he was at school when they saw the truck in the high school parking lot. George was instructed to check in with the police by telephone each night.
George Moore was prepared. He went back to school and gradually made new friends. Greg Knighten and George became buddies after George learned Knighten could score drugs.
When Knighten went into Dallas to score, George would ask him to pick up some weed for him, too. At night, George would turn over his purchases to the local police chief. He soon learned the names of the contacts in Dallas. This information was also passed along to police.
Good friends Jonathan Jobe and Richard Goeglein got to know the new kid in town.
They liked George Moore. He seemed nice enough with his snappy 1986 GMC pickup and his willingness to chip in on weed purchases.
As the months passed, things just didn't add up when it came to George Moore. Little things.
George didn't blast his stereo in the truck like the other kids. He seemed to be always flush with money. He was often asked to his friends' homes, but he never had any friends over to his uncle's house.
He always bought dope but was reluctant to light up.
Maybe, Cynthia Fedrick, Knighten's friend, was the first to put the finger on George Moore. She didn't like him right from the beginning. When her hot stereo was confiscated by police right after George and the boys had been to her apartment, she was sure he was a narc.
Toward the end of October, on a Texas football Friday, Greg ran into Jonathan and Richard. He had become convinced that George Moore was a narc and someone had to do something about it.
He told them that his contacts in Dallas had been arrested and that Cynthia's stolen stereo had been picked up by police. In fact, it was Cynthia who had suggested to him that something drastic had to be done about George before he had all of them behind bars.
Jonathan agreed. Something had to be done. A good beating should do the trick. Greg thought that more serious action had to be taken. He asked his two friends to come over to his house that evening. When they showed up, Greg produced a .38-calibre pistol belonging to his father. He begged Jonathan to come in on the scheme to eliminate the narc. Gradually, Jonathan agreed. So did Richard.
The die was cast. Greg and Richard would get George Moore to pick them up. They would drive out to the countryside. Jonathan would pick them up in his truck after the job was done.
That same night, George drove up to Greg's house and leaned on his horn.
Greg and Richard joined him in the GMC. Jonathan went out the back door with instructions to pick up his friends on Road 875.
George drove the pickup down the road. He and his friends decided to pull up in a pasture, open the doors, blast the stereo and get out of the vehicle. They sat on the tailgate, like ordinary teenagers passing the time.
They listened to the music. It was pleasant out there on that clear fall night. One of the boys said, "George, would you go turn up the music?'' George dropped off the tailgate and started walking toward the open door of his truck.
Three shots pierced the night air. The first struck George in the back of the head. The second grazed his head. The last shot missed its target. George was dead before the third shot was fired. Greg reached down and took his wallet.
Just before 8 o'clock, the boys walked down the pasture road to 875. There they met Jonathan as scheduled. They drove to Cynthia's apartment. On the way they opened George's wallet. It contained $18.
Cynthia took over. She burned George's driver's licence and threw his wallet into a trash can. Later, Jonathan and Richard drove to Jonathan's home. Richard phoned a girlfriend and told her the whole story.
He was a little surprised when she told him that Greg had often bragged about what he was going to do about the narc at school.
That very night, others who had been partying at Cynthia's, heard that George Moore had been shot.
In fact, the more Richard listened, the more he realized that his friends all over town were humming with the news of the shooting.
Richard was scared sick. He hadn't pulled the trigger, but he had witnessed the cold-blooded killing. Jonathan rationalized. He hadn't really taken part.
He had only picked up his friends. Yet he had known about the plan and had done nothing.
Neither boy slept well that night.
Police officials were concerned. George Moore hadn't made his routine call that night. When an undercover officer disappears, there is every reason for concern.
By dawn the following morning, a massive search was underway for the missing officer. Men on horseback, on foot and in vehicles searched the small town and surrounding prairie. When the sun broke through next morning, helicopters were brought in to assist in the search.
George's body was found lying where he was shot. It didn't take a Sherlock Holmes to learn the identities of the boys who had taken his life.
Since the murder took place, all four in on the plot to murder George Moore have been tried, found guilty and sentenced.
Jonathan Jobe was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. He served two years and is now free. Greg Knighten and Richard Goeglein were sentenced to 40 to 45 years each.
Cynthia Fedrick was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to eight years imprisonment but served only a year and a half before being released.
Today, Midlothian chief of police Roy Vaughn, who hired George Raffield, states, "Our community recognized the fact that we had a problem and decided to do something about it. George Raffield was a fine young man, a dedicated officer who planned to make police work his career.
Since his tragic death, there have been many positive changes in our community.''
George Raffield was buried with full police honours. A scholarship in his name is awarded each year at Midlothian high school.