Mark Bethel found guilty of capital murder by Lubbock jury

A Buffalo Springs Lake man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a Lubbock County jury on Friday found him guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend and her lover six years ago.

Jurors in the 140th District Court deliberated for about two hours before returning with their verdict finding 59-year-old Mark Bethel guilty of capital murder in the October 2015 slayings of Jessica Payton, 35, and Shawn Summers, 37.

The charge stems from a Lubbock County Sheriff's Office investigation that began on Oct. 31, 2015, when deputies found Summers' body in a burning SUV near East Loop 289 and 19th Street.

Payton, who was Mark Bethel's girlfriend, was found the next day after a fisherman spotted a body wrapped in a comforter in a spill way near CR 7300 and CR 3600. However, investigators believe Payton, who suffered four gunshot wounds to the head, was shot and killed on Oct. 28, 2015.

Prosecutor Barron Slack in his closing argument told jurors the evidence and testimony in the case showed that Mark Bethel was guilty of both murders and trying to cover up the crime.

"Most of the evidence was designed to prevent you from doing that which you are about to do: convict Mark Bethel of capital murder because he is responsible for those murders," he said.

Meanwhile, defense attorneys argued that investigators began looking at their client as guilty as soon as Payton's body was found and prosecutors have shoehorned evidence to fit their narrative.

Prosecutors presented evidence during trial that they believed showed Bethel and his cousin, 46-year-old David Bethel, conspired to kill Payton and Summers after Mark Bethel found out that Payton was cheating on him with Summers.

Prosecutors built their case around testimony from David Bethel's girlfriend, Kris Thoeny, who told jurors she overheard the cousins talk about killing the two.

She told jurors David Bethel told her that he helped dispose of Payton's body after Mark Bethel killed her.

Payton's phone records show she used the cell phone tower near Buffalo Springs Lake on the day of her death.

Jurors heard from Ted McClaine, who said he was certain that afternoon he heard four gunshots come from Bethel's home which was about 600 feet across the lake from his home.

Thoeny admitted to sending Summers text messages that promised sexual favors in order to lure him to an area near the intersection of 86th Street and Ash Avenue, where Bethel was waiting in ambush. She told jurors David Bethel threatened to kill her if she didn't help set up Summers.

Jurors heard Summers' 911 call reporting that he'd been shot and his location, which turned out to be near the trailer home Bethel and Thoeny lived.

David Bethel is serving a 40-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in March 2019 to a count of murder in connection with Summers' slaying.

Jurors heard an interview between Lubbock County Sheriff's investigators and Bethel who said he shot Summers who was driving his sister's SUV, then pushed him over to the front passenger seat and drove away, passing by as Lubbock County Sheriff's deputies were responding to Summers' call.

Bethel told investigators he drove Summers' SUV to an area east of Loop 289 and 19th Street, shot Summers a final time in the head and set the SUV on fire.

During the interview, Bethel told investigators that he walked back into town after.

However, Lubbock police Det. Darren Lindley, who analyzed Bethel's cellphone data, found that Mark Bethel and David Bethel's cellphone were connecting to cell phone towers near where Summers' was found.

Thoeny also told jurors that she called Mark Bethel that night to tell him where David Bethel was.

Defense attorneys argued to jurors that there were enough inconsistencies in the state's case to show reasonable doubt.

They said Thoeny had never made her statements about hearing their client confess to killing Payton until six years later. They said their client's time cards showed he was clocked in at work when Payton was believed to have been murdered, according to a witnesses statement in 2015. However, during the trial, the witness said the gunshots he believed he heard might have rung out earlier that day.

Defense attorneys argued that investigators began looking into the case with biased eyes, believing that Mark Bethel was already guilty, despite their client being cooperative when he spoke with investigators three days after Payton's body was found.

During the seven-hour interview, which defense attorneys described as an interrogation, Bethel could be heard telling investigators that he didn't know what happened to Payton or Summers. He said he hadn't recently seen his ex-girlfriend, whose name he appeared to forget, saying, "I didn't really love her, I kind of liked her."

However, investigators would later find text messages Bethel sent Payton telling her how much he loved her. "Love you forever and a day," one message states. "Thinking of you every second of the day," another states.

There were also messages that indicated how angry he was with her when she left him.

"What comes around goes around," "You might not be so lucky getting away next time," the texts state.

The messages also show the two planned to meet in the days leading up to her death.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Mark Bethel found guilty of murder of Jessica Payton, Shawn Summers