Peggy Railey Dies 25 Years After Attack That Led to Texas Minister's Arrest

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Peggy Railey, the former wife of prominent Dallas minister Walker Railey, died Monday night in Tyler, Texas, at the age of 63. She had been in a vegetative state for nearly 25 years and never recovered from the violent attack that left her in that condition.

The case, in which Peggy Railey was assaulted at her Dallas-area home in April 1987, leaving her convulsing and near death on her garage door after someone chocked her with a cord, has never been solved, The Associated Press reported.

The former minister of Dallas' First United Methodist Church initially shared with police that he discovered his wife at 12:40 a.m. after returning that night from doing research at Southern Methodist University (SMU). Their two children, 5-year-old Ryan and 2-year-old Megan were unharmed inside the house.

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Railey was later declared the main suspect, and was accused of trying to kill his wife so that he could marry his lover, Lucy Papillion, also a former minister at First United Methodist, without having to face a divorce and risk his church standing.

The minister was described as a "rising star" at the 6,000-member church, but had to resign from his position amidst the scandal. After receiving threatening letters, he delivered his last sermon at the church, on Easter Sunday, in a bulletproof vest.

Apparently, a week after the attack, he even tried to commit suicide. He had locked himself in a hospital suite when a security guard found him unconscious, with empty pill bottles around him and a note that talked of a "lifelong battle with the demon inside my soul." He wrote that this demon made him do things he did not want to do, and had finally "gotten the upper hand."

In 1988, a civil judgment ruled that he had "intentionally, knowingly, maliciously, and brutally attempted to strangle his wife" and had used a false alibi. Four years later, when his trial for attempted murder began, evidence from Railey's cellphone showed that he was not at the SMU campus as he had claimed, but nearer his home on the night of the attack.

Although Walker Railey admitted that he had lied to police, he said he was only trying to cover up his affair with Papillon, and was innocent of the murder. He also testified that his suicide note referred to the guilt he felt over not being there for his family. In the end, he was acquitted of the charges.

The former Dallas minister surrendered custody of his children and moved to California with Papillion, whom he married less than two weeks after divorcing from his former wife in 1998.

Peggy Railey never recovered from the attack, and had been staying in a nursing home in East Texas when she passed away Monday. She is said to have required constant care, had no muscle control, and was awake intermittently, making noises and cries.

Walker Railey shared with The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview Tuesday his reaction to the news: "I'm grateful that Peggy's medical struggles have finally come to an end."

"She suffered a long time," he added.

Dallas-Fort Worth news station WFAA-TV rereleased a retrospective from 1990 that covered the case: