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FACTS EXCLUSIVE: Murder suspect — I did it
Published July 14, 2007
ANGLETON — A man accused of killing a Pearland flight attendant confessed to going to a known gay bar to pick out a target, then going home with him and stabbing him with a knife.
Terry Mark Mangum, 26, of Cypress was arrested in June on a murder charge and was indicted Thursday by a Brazoria County grand jury.
He is accused of killing Kenneth Cummings Jr., 46, in Cummings’ Pearland home June 5, then cleaning up the blood and driving to a ranch owned by Mangum’s grandfather outside Poteet to bury his body.
When told about his indictment, Mangum told The Facts through a pane of glass and a phone in a stall at the county detention center that he would plead guilty to the charges against him.
“I did it,” he said. “Bottom line is I stabbed him in the head with a knife.”
Cummings’ remains were found burned and buried at the ranch and later positively identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office.
Contacted through Brazoria County sheriff’s officials, Mangum agreed to the face-to-face interview with The Facts at the county detention center Friday.
Mangum, who sounded energetic and upbeat, said he met Cummings at a bar in Houston that is a known hangout for homosexual men, and that he was carrying out God’s judgment and “sacrificing” Cummings’ body.
Mangum said it was “my belief of God judging him,” and Cummings “just happened to be the one that I bumped into.”
Asked if he was targeting Cummings because he was a homosexual, Mangum said, “that was the goal.”
Mangum did not specify for what he targeted Cummings, but he did say what he did was “righteous.” He said further, “I believe I’m Elijah out of the Bible.”
Elijah is a prophet noted in the Bible for challenging false idol worship and warning the ancient Israeli King Ahab of a severe drought.
Mangum’s statements to The Facts contradicted what he has told police, Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne said.
“Mr. Mangum has never denied he had met Mr. Cummings,” Yenne said. “He has denied to police killing Mr. Cummings.”
Speaking in a conversational tone, Mangum made it a point to say he was not homosexual.Mangum had told police he was looking at homosexual men at gay bars because he believed they had more money and could meet some of his expenses to attend a welding school, Yenne said. He did not tell police he specifically targeted Cummings for murder, she said.
When contacted by The Facts about Mangum’s confession, Cummings’ father, Kenneth Cummings Sr. of Texas City, asked if stabbing his son in the head would be “enough to knock him out?”
Cummings then declined to comment about his son’s death.
“In view of the fact that there’s going to be a trial, I don’t think I should say anything,” he said.
Cummings Sr. has told Houston media that his son was a peacemaker and that he was saving up money for his 4-year-old niece and 18-month-old nephew to attend college.
Pearland Police Detective Jon Matherne, who investigated Cummings’ disappearance, also said he did not want to comment about the case, except to say he was glad Mangum finally admitted to killing Cummings.
“The important thing here is Kenneth Cummings’ family has the satisfaction that he’s at least owned up to what he’s done,” Matherne said.
Mangum told police in interviews that he followed Cummings to his home to drink and that Cummings had given Mangum his wallet and allowed him to use his credit cards. The Houston Chronicle has reported Mangum used Cummings’ credit cards at various convenience stores in San Antonio and Schulenburg, both along Interstate 10 and between San Antonio and Houston, to purchase sodas, hydrogen peroxide and cigarettes.
Because Mangum indicated he killed Cummings because of his sexual orientation, Yenne said she would seek a hate crime enhancement to Mangum’s murder charge.
“I go with what I absolutely know the evidence will show,” Yenne said.
Yenne said she would not seek to refile Mangum’s indictment in order to pursue a capital murder charge. If a defendant has a hate crime enhancement, officials are not as likely to grant parole, Yenne said.
“This would seriously affect his ability to receive parole,” she said.
Mangum also has been charged with tampering with evidence and possessing and fraudulent use of identifying information. Those charges are based on allegations he used Cummings’ credit cards during the drive to dispose of Cummings’ body and that he cleaned up Cummings’ home after the murder, police said.
Pearland police searched Cummings’ home in Pearland after he was reported missing in June and found many blood remnants that could only be found with what police called an “alternative light source” and chemical agents, court documents state. They also found broken pieces of glass and many items that had been “disturbed,” indicating signs of a struggle, court documents state.
Police then searched Mangum’s home and found a bloody sock and found cleaning agents inside his truck. Mangum also had Cummings’ wallet, credit cards and checkbook when his home was searched, court documents state. Police also noted Mangum had several cuts on his thumbs, court documents state.
Mangum admitted to The Facts that he took and used Cummings’ credit cards.
When asked why he hid Cummings’ body at his grandfather’s land in Poteet when he felt he was “righteous” in killing him, Mangum said, “I didn’t know where else to go.”
At the time of the interview with The Facts, Mangum did not have an attorney, Yenne said. A judge appointed Angleton attorney Perry Stevens as his attorney Friday afternoon. Stevens could not be reached for comment about the case late Friday.
Defendants who are arrested and have not specifically applied for an attorney usually are given one after they are indicted, Yenne said. However, at any time after they are arrested, a defendant can fill out paperwork for indigent status, she said.
“If Mr. Mangum had requested counsel, counsel would have been appointed to him in a timely manner,” she said.
Mangum was being held Friday on $500,000 bond.
John Tompkins covers the Brazoria County Courthouse for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.
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