First of two parts:

West Texas has had its share of notorious criminals through the years, but none of them were surrounded by more mystery and myth than convicted murderer Johnny Meadows.

Those who dealt with him after he was brought to justice in 1972 were convinced Meadows was a serial killer. They believed he could have claimed dozens of victims, although officially and legally he was convicted only of a single homicide. In fact, the man confessed to at least four killings, but escaped prosecution on three cases thanks to a sympathetic judge.

But he was far from your average criminal. Meadows created a climate of fear and apprehension that was unusual in rough-and-tumble West Texas.

During this time, a number of women were slain and Meadows eventually would become a suspect in all of the cases.

It started when Ann Smith, 65-year-old owner of a Monahans motel was robbed and shot twice in the face on Nov. 5, 1968. Next to die was Linda Cougat, 24, the divorced mother of a 4-year-old boy. Cougat vanished from an Odessa laundromat on Oct. 19, 1968. Her body was found in an Odessa pasture Dec. 10, 1968. She had been strangled with a nylon stocking.

Then Eula Mae Miller, a 26-year-old go-go dancer, was found stabbed to death in her Odessa apartment July 16, 1970. That was followed by the disappearance of Nancy Mitchell, 27, from her Kermit home Sept. 15, 1970. Her children were found sleeping in their beds. Her body was discovered June 4, 1971, in a secluded spot east of Kermit. She had been stabbed to death.

A pattern emerged when Ruth Maynard, 24, disappeared Jan. 9, 1971. Her body turned up in a pasture two miles from where Cougat's body was found. She, too, had a nylon stocking around her neck.

But the most publicized case came when Gloria Sue Nix Green, 26, disappeared from her job at a well service business on Kermit Highway on June 17, 1971. She had left her shoes and purse behind. Her car was still parked outside.

By happenstance, Meadows became a suspect. Plumbers on a service call at a southside nightclub saw the story in the Odessa American about Green's disappearance and contacted authorities. Seems they heard a woman scream inside the club on East Murphy Street. That's when a man identified as Meadows, who worked at the club, came to the door and explained that he and his wife were having a fight. The plumbers said the woman came to the door, but Meadows dragged her back inside.

At that point, Ector County Sheriff Slim Gabrel, known far and wide as the toughest of lawmen, got on the case like an intrepid bloodhound.

At this point in the story, I have to inject a bit of first person. On July 12, 1971, less than a month after Green vanished and six months before her body would be found, I became the Odessa American's police reporter. It was frustrating covering the continuing saga because we knew Meadows was the prime suspect, but he hadn't been charged. He had been questioned for two days after the plumbers gave their statement and released for lack of evidence.

Gabrel wanted desperately to find Green's body to prove a murder had occurred. So he organized groups of volunteers and deputies to search areas around the Petrochemical Complex. Some days, he'd just go out on his own to scour the countryside in search of the body. I'd write an occasional brief to update readers on Gabrel's quest, but there were no startling developments.

Next week, a break in the Green disappearance opens a Pandora's box of crime.