The KHOU-TV Collection - Sam Hoover Trial (1964)

Duration: 7:56

Year Published: 1964

Sound: sound

Description: This unedited news footage from Houston’s KHOU captures courtroom scenes from the 1964 criminal trial of Sam Hoover, a defense attorney and former mayor of Pasadena. Witness testimony began on July 28. The verdict was read on August 5. Hoover was charged in connection to the March 11 armed robbery of the River Oaks home of Mr. and Mrs. Mair Schepps. The couple and their child’s governess were beaten and tortured during the robbery. Hoover was accused of planning and directing the crime over the telephone. His alleged accomplices were John Oscar Young, Samuel Spivey, and Calvin Sellers. John Oscar Young implicated Hoover’s involvement to the police, also telling law enforcement that Hoover was in possession of property stolen during the January 9 burglary of a Corrigan’s Jewelry store. Police recovered two large diamonds, later identified by the Schepps, and a .44 caliber revolver from Hoover’s residence. Young’s signed confession was used as evidence against Hoover, while Spivey turned state’s evidence in exchange for immunity. The jury found Hoover guilty of multiple counts and sentenced him to 60 years. He was released in 1981, after serving 14 years for the robbery and two years for income tax fraud. Hoover returned to prison in 1984 on another theft charge. He died in 1992.