An Inconvenient Hero: Tony Dawayne Adams

February 3, 1979 – Vidor, Texas.  Vidor Detective Lieutenant Sam Kitrell had been working overtime since January 30^th, when New Mexico truckers James Hinchey and Rex Patrick Atencio were found stabbed to the death in the chest inside their bloody cab.  Hinchey’s son Eldon, who had been sleeping in the back, was the only witness.  Awakened by an argument, Eldon knew the killer to be a hitchhiker who had joined them at a Lake Charles truck stop.  Working non-stop for two days, Kitrell had located and arrested the hitchhiker, 17 year old Tony Dawayne Adams, who had fled back to Vinton, Louisiana and hidden out in a hotel room.  But on February 3rd, as Adams sat secure in the Orange County Jail, Kitrell got the first of the news that would change his case:  James Hinchey wasn’t James Hinchey and Eldon wasn’t his son.  And in less than two weeks, Tony Dawayne Adams would walk out of court, a free man, even though the police didn’t believe him and his story changed conveniently with the identity of Hinchey.  But the reality of who James Hinchey really was changed Tony Adams from a brutal murderer to a vigilante hero, and ultimately a free man.

*Trigger Warning – This podcast contains allegations of sexual assault.*

Episode Notes

Adams at Age 17 on his release

Hinchey’s True Identity Revealed – https://www.newspapers.com/article/austin-american-statesman-2379/164555270/

Report on Adams Initial Arrest in Slayings – https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-angelo-standard-times-hinchey/164555624/

Article on Plea Bargain – https://www.newspapers.com/article/victoria-advocate-21679/164555527/

Article on Adams 2009 Arrest – https://www.newspapers.com/article/bryan-college-station-eagle/164559175/

Tony Dawayne Adams TDCJ Profile https://inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/viewDetail.action?sid=02600438

GoFundMe for widow of Eldon Call  https://www.gofundme.com/f/eldons-final-expenses

Adams Arrest Photo in 2009

Eldon Call in Jail after Murders