# Billie Sol Estes Dead at 88 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429 "2013-05-15T17:35:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/1 "2013-05-15T17:35:20Z")
Story [here](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/us/billie-sol-estes-texas-con-man-dies-at-88.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0). I used to know Billie Sol’s nephew in Texas. We drove down to El Paso once in 1980 to visit Billie Sol when he was being held in a minimum-security prison outside the city at the time, so I met him. Nice guy to talk to, I remember. Was up front about having been caught fair and square and cautioned not to do as he did. Then later I heard he seemed to be getting mixed up in new “deals.” RIP, Billie Sol. You were quite a character. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/2 "2013-05-15T18:02:02Z")
So having met the guy, did you get the sense that he believed what he said about the JFK assassination, or was it just self-promotion? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/3 "2013-05-15T18:05:45Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > So having met the guy, did you get the sense that he believed what he said about the JFK assassination, or was it just self-promotion? He didn’t say anything about that to me. His nephew, who seemed pretty close to him, believed anything Billie Sol said was 100% self-promotion. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/4 "2013-05-15T18:07:41Z")
He didn’t need to say anything to you directly; I was asking what your opinion was given your general impression of him. The nephew’s word seems to be directive here, though. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/5 "2013-05-15T18:12:40Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > He didn’t need to say anything to you directly; I was asking what your opinion was given your general impression of him. > > The nephew’s word seems to be directive here, though. He just seemed like a nice old guy, definitely the uncle type and close to the same age I am now. It was minimum security, so he sat at a table with us. It wasn’t through a wire or glass or anything like that. A very relaxed setting. I’d be surprised if any of the Kennedy stuff he said turned out somehow to be true. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/6 "2013-05-15T18:14:28Z")
His glasses are back in style. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/7 "2013-05-15T18:17:28Z")
I used to get beat up for wearing glasses like that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/8 "2013-05-15T18:29:29Z")
I followed the link within the link to the part of the local competing newspaper bringing the fraud to light. That was pretty interesting – the paper was being crushed by Billy Sol’s own paper, which he started when the existing paper refused to back him for local office. And then it turned around and bit him on the ass. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/9 "2013-05-15T18:32:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I used to get beat up for wearing glasses like that. ☹ That was because of that piece of white adhesive tape you had across the bridge. I remember you. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/10 "2013-05-16T01:32:02Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That was because of that piece of white adhesive tape you had across the bridge. I remember you. I’m sure that the pocket protectors didn’t help, either. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/11 "2013-05-16T01:37:35Z")
Billy Sol Estes That boy really cooks Hey Billy, Billy Hey Billy, Billy, Billy He had one shining purpose And two sets of books… ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/12 "2013-05-16T03:10:50Z")
Oh, what have you done, Billie Sol, Billie Sol, Oh, what have you done, Charming Billie? You took almost every cent From the U.S. Government, Which you spent on fertilizer, Which is silly. – Allan Sherman ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/13 "2013-05-16T03:32:01Z")
My father represented Billie Sol on a criminal charge that he ultimately got dismissed after some extensive investigation. Billie Sol referred to my dad as “the only trial lawyer to ever spring me.” Quite a character indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/14 "2013-05-16T03:38:42Z")
I seem to recall in the early days of CNN – maybe not CNN itself but a related Turner Network channel? – there was a hokey comedy set in the fictional Billie Sol Estes High School in Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/15 "2013-05-16T04:45:54Z")
I would have expected that he would have died a long time ago, since his big notoriety was during the LBJ era in the 1960s ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/16 "2013-05-16T06:41:50Z")
He’s one of the few people to have songs written specifically about him. I like this one. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K-Wt7FEy9To/hqdefault.jpg "Chad Mitchell Trio - The Ides of Texas sample") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Wt7FEy9To) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billie-sol-estes-dead-at-88/658429/17 "2013-05-16T13:20:38Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I would have expected that he would have died a long time ago, since his big notoriety was during the LBJ era in the 1960s Yeah, they were dangerous times. The dinosaurs got most everyone.