Public Information Office 210 S. McDonald Street Suite 626 McKinney, Texas 75069 www.collincountytx.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 27, 2006

Collin County Criminal District Attorney announces life sentence in cold murder case

(McKinney, TX) – Collin County Criminal District Attorney John Roach has announced that Odis McDonald, 45, has pleaded guilty and received a life sentence today for the murder of Betty Ingram in Copeville, Texas. Thirty-five-year-old Betty Ingram of Copeville was strangled to death in her home on the morning of July 17th, 1987 as she was preparing to go to work.

“The murder of Betty Ingram was the 10th cold murder case investigated by my office since I became district attorney in 2003,” Mr. Roach said. “We made arrests in all 10 cases and obtained convictions in nine of them, while one is awaiting trial.”

In addition to the investigative effort, the district attorney’s office placed two large billboards in the Copeville area, established a tip hotline, and publicized a $5,000 reward offered by Ms. Ingram’s parents for information leading to a conviction for the crime.

“In the end, it was tenacity and hard work by the Collin County Criminal District Attorney’s cold case unit and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, especially the sheriff’s meticulous preservation of the physical evidence recovered at the scene of the crime.”

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