Texas authorities solve 1982 murder case

Authorities in east-central Texas say they’ve solved the case of an area high school student’s murder after more than 35 years.

McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said Wednesday that Axtell-area native Talmadge Wayne Wood was the man who beat and shot 17-year-old Beth Bramlett to death in 1982. Wood died in 2014 at the age of 74.

Investigators learned Bramlett began walking home sometime after midnight from a party she attended with Wood’s daughter. Investigators believe Wood saw Bramlett on the roadway and picked her up.

McNamara says a fisherman discovered Bramlett’s body on abandoned railroad tracks outside Axtell.

The sheriff says he met with Bramlett’s family to tell them about the solved case. He says Bramlett’s mother told him she was thankful the team “never gave up.”