NEWS

Family pours their pain out in courtroom as guilty plea is made in murder

Published

11 years ago

01/13/2016

bowienews

Scott Cambre

In an emotionally charged hearing Monday, Scott Cambre pled guilty to the Oct. 31, 2014 murder of Wesley Brooks and was sentenced to 45 years in state prison.

Dressed in jail black and white stripes, and shackled hand and foot, Cambre, 29, quietly entered the plea confessing he shot the 28-year-old Bowie man and then attempted to dispose of the body in a burn pit behind his house.

District Attorney Paige Williams said the sentence was suitable for the case considering all the factors adding, “it is my job to seek justice not just confinement.”

The DA said the defendant had no criminal history and was a veteran, which were other contributing factors. Williams said the late Lt. Rick Beckham of the Bowie Police Department built a strong case, but it also would have been difficult to move forward without the lead detective as the key witness.

“Taking it all into consideration, 45 years is appropriate. He will have to serve a minimum of half his time before he is considered for parole, which would be about 22 and a half years, including the time served credit,” said Williams.

Wesley Brooks

The reading of the victim impact statements was heart-wrenching as anger, pain and loss poured from Brooks’ sisters, wife and mother.

Angela Garcia, Brooks’ oldest sister and one of three siblings, broke down several times during her statement, “we were three and now we are two, thank you Scott,” said Garcia.

Paula Terry, mother of Wesley Brooks, walked to the witness stand carrying a framed photo of her son and glared out to Scott Cambre, exclaiming he had taken her only son.

“It is inconceivable what you did. You have no compassion. You knew what you were doing, it was a horrific and gruesome act.”

Read the full story in the mid-week News.

COUNTY LIFE

Montague County sees 56.1% voter turnout in midterms

Published

36 minutes ago

11/05/2026

bowienews

Montague County voters joined the rest of the state with a tremendous turnout in Tuesday’s elections.
The elections administration office reported with all 10 precincts counted a turnout of 56.01% or 8,732 casting ballots. There are 15,591 registered voters in the county.
While there were no county contested races, there were two city council and two school board elections.
The Bowie City Council has three places on the ballot. Laura Sproles, incumbent, was not challenged for her place two.
Levi Bailey won the precinct one seat with 925 votes. Valerie Thomerson received 328 votes.
In precinct three, Terry Gunter won with 1,027 votes and Glenda Durham was second with 383

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

NEWS

Nocona teen dies after apolice chase

Published

43 minutes ago

11/05/2026

bowienews

A 15-year-old Nocona boy was killed in a crash following a law enforcement pursuit just after midnight on Nov. 1.
Sgt. Aaron Brandle, public information officer with the Montague County Sheriff’s office, said the crash occurred on Nov. 1 at around 12:21 a.m.
The vehicle in the pursuit crashed in the 3600 block of Cardwell Road in Montague County. The juvenile was the sole occupant of the vehicle and was ejected as a result of the crash.
The release states responding law enforcement personnel immediately initiated life-saving measures at the scene. The juvenile was subsequently transported to Nocona General Hospital, where despite continued life-saving efforts, he was pronounced deceased.

While the authorities have not publicly identified the deceased, several community efforts have been launched to assist the family of AR “Mando” Alcantar, a sophomore at Nocona High School. Students and staff also have taken steps to remember the popular young man.

A Gofundme account also has been sent up under the name Small Town, Big Hearts – Help support the Alcantar Family. It was organized by Kelsey Cabrera.

(Top photo – AR “Mando” Alcantar)

Read the full report in the Thursday Bowie News.

The Bowie News staff apologizes for the error in spelling of the the young man’ s name in the print edition. It stated “Mondo” and that was incorrect. We did not find the error until after press time.