Arresting development

At press time, paroled killer Michael Lee Davis, also known as Walter Waldhauser Jr., was being held in the Collin County Jail without bail.

In the 1970s, Waldhauser arranged the contract murders of four Houston residents, including a 14-month-old boy. Though Waldhauser was convicted of three counts of capital murder and received three 30-year sentences, he was paroled in 1990 after serving less than 10 years in prison.

As recently reported in the Dallas Observer ["Death Merchant," October 22], Waldhauser then changed his name and made a new life in Dallas. He joined at least two other ex-convicts at a company called Southwest Viatical.

A viatical company purchases the life-insurance policies of the HIV-positive for pennies on the dollar, then collects the full insurance benefit when the client dies.

Following the story in the Observer and in the Observer's sister paper, the Houston Press, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles found that Waldhauser/Davis had violated the terms of his release, apparently by associating with known felons. Last Friday, police apprehended Waldhauser/ Davis at his home in Plano.

--Steve McVicker