Jury selection to begin soon in David Denson capital murder case

Apr. 15—Jury selection in the capital murder trial of David Wayne Denson is set to begin in May in Houston County.

Authorities allege Denson, 29, killed his aunt, Faye Lynn Paul, 79, of Crockett, in 2020. Paul's body has never been recovered.

Houston County District Attorney Donna Gordon Kaspar said she will seek the death penalty.

It was decided Friday, by Steven Evans and Josh Liles, Denson's attorneys, along with Kaspar and 3rd District Court Judge Mark Calhoon, that the first call for jurors will occur April 30 and the interview process will begin May 16.

Kaspar said they will be doing individual questioning and it will take two weeks or more to seat a jury. Kaspar said the trial will begin once jury selection is complete.

A Houston County grand jury indicted Denson in March 2021 on charges of capital murder in the disappearance of his aunt.

The search for Paul began in early February 2020, after friends and neighbors had not seen her for several days.

Paul was with Denson on Feb. 12, 2020, at a Walmart in Crockett. Two days earlier, Denson had been released from jail after receiving 10 years probation for burglary.

In a state and nationwide investigation, officers with the Crockett Police Department and Texas Rangers followed up with multiple witnesses, collected a couple hundred items of evidence and video evidence.

In previous statements, Crockett Police Chief Clayton Smith said several areas, including the Neches and Trinity rivers, were searched for Paul's body.

Police arrested Denson in Alamosa, Colorado, on felony charges of violating probation in late February 2020. At the time, police were not investigating him for the murder of his aunt, though they had sought him for questioning in her disappearance.

Denson was extradited and brought back to Crockett.

He was officially charged with Paul's death in July 2020.