By Valerie Wigglesworth
Dallas Morning News
COLLIN COUNTY, Texas—A double-murder conviction for 86-year-old Paul Tanner Sr. — convicted of killing his own son and grandson — may have put a tragic exclamation point on the sad trials of a once-thriving Collin County family.
A frail-looking Tanner sat slumped in his wheelchair, bowing his head slightly as the guilty verdicts were read Tuesday after nearly seven hours of jury deliberation. The punishment phase of the trial took just minutes before District Judge Ray Wheless imposed a life sentence for the violent slayings.
Prosecutors said the former millionaire shot 59-year-old Paul Alexander Tanner Jr., who was also known as Alex, and 23-year-old Ryan Dawson Tanner because he was going broke and didn’t want them to live in poverty. Their decomposed bodies were found May 17, 2013, in a home the three men shared in the small town of Fairview, located along Highway 75 between Allen and McKinney.
Defense attorneys said they don’t believe the state proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt and plan to appeal.
Evidence at the trial — which was delayed for two weeks because of Tanner’s health problems — indicated that the family had been traveling down a rocky road that included a host of financial troubles, drug abuse and internal strife.
Making and losing millions
Paul Tanner Sr. was a businessman who worked 18-hour days in ventures that ranged from real estate to a cosmetics line to, most recently, a gold and silver trading company. The family made millions — and lost millions — several times over.
The elder Tanner made headlines in the 1990s with his bid to bring the NFL to Las Vegas by buying the Los Angeles Rams and building the world’s largest stadium for them in Vegas. The deal never came to fruition.
Brenda Tanner testified during the trial that she didn’t get along well with her estranged husband, Alex Tanner, or his father. She described Paul Tanner Sr. as a loving man who could also be very controlling and critical.
She recalled him agreeing with her once when she joked that he’d love to be dictator of the world.
“Was he joking?” the prosecution asked.
“No,” she testified.
She told jurors that she’d been separated from Alex Tanner for about 10 years. And though she didn’t have many details on the family’s finances, she testified that by 2013, “every penny counted.”
The family’s real estate company TFF Inc. had filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and again in 2011. A family friend testified to lending the elder Tanner several thousand dollars to help with household expenses.
The Tanners had also put up their Fairview property — valued at more than $1.5 million — as collateral on a business venture that went south. Court records show the family was being evicted at the time of the murders.
At the same time, the elder Tanner was in failing health. He’d had four different pacemakers within a year due to complications, and his heart functioned at about 20 percent. His son was not only his business partner but also his best friend and caregiver, according to testimony.
Drug problems
Tanner’s grandson, however, had a drug problem. Ryan Tanner’s text messages, which were detailed during trial, often revolved around buying drugs and getting money for drugs. He also stole items from relatives, according to testimony.
Fairview police were no strangers to the family’s rural property on Red Oak Lane. Defense attorneys referenced at least 18 calls to police between 2003 and 2013. Reasons ranged from vandalism to theft to trespass.
In 2005, Ryan’s 23-year-old brother, Trey, died after being electrocuted by a wire surrounding his marijuana farm on the property. His death was ruled an accident. Ashley Tanner testified that she didn’t believe that, though she had no proof anyone else was involved in her brother’s death.
Two months before the killings, Alex Tanner called 911 over the behavior of his son, Ryan. “
He was very aggressive,” Alex Tanner said during the recorded call as he asked for police help. “I need them out here now.”
Ryan Tanner wound up in rehab. He was taking methadone to reduce his withdrawal symptoms from heroin and was trying to get clean. The medical examiner found traces of methadone in his system during the autopsy.
Paul Tanner Sr. “couldn’t stand what his grandson was and tried to wipe his legacy off the map,” prosecutor Thomas Ashworth told the court.
Ashley Tanner testified about her grandfather’s odd behavior after the killings. She was surprised when he showed up alone at her house one night to drop off some of her late grandmother’s jewelry. Her father normally did all the driving for his dad, she testified.
But she couldn’t reconcile her image of a loving grandfather whose family meant everything with the description in court of a cold-blooded killer who fatally shot his own flesh and blood at close range.
Health issues
Tanner denied the killings Monday when he took the stand in his own behalf. His testimony was peppered with frequent “I don’t knows” and long silences. “I’m really sick,” he responded at one point during cross-examination.
His poor health took a prominent role during the trial. His former home nurse, Wendy Senko, testified that he used a walker and would not have been physically able to climb the stairs to the second-floor bedroom where his grandson was found face down with two gunshot wounds to the back of his head.
Bank surveillance videos from the week of the murders showed Tanner walking around unassisted as he withdrew several thousand dollars during two separate visits. He told his personal banker he came alone because his son wasn’t feeling well.
Senko was the sole witness to testify during the sentencing hearing. She asked the judge for leniency because of Tanner’s fragile health. He has been housed in the Collin County Detention Center’s infirmary since his arrest more than three years ago.
Wheless ordered a two-week break in the trial after Tanner struck his head on the way to court July 15 and needed to be taken to the hospital for evaluation. He was sent to the hospital again Tuesday for several hours after a second fall while in custody during jury deliberations.
“It’s difficult to understand why Paul Tanner did what he did,” Ashworth said.
But the prosecutor requested a life sentence for the elderly defendant for one simple reason. “Both were innocent victims.”