Walker Railey

Walker Railey (born June 25, 1947) is an American former religious minister who was the senior pastor of the Dallas-based First United Methodist Church. He was tried for the attempted murder of his wife; although acquitted in criminal court, a civil court awarded an $18 million judgment against him.

Early life Railey was born on June 25, 1947, in Owensboro, Kentucky, the oldest of three children born to sheet metal worker Chester and his wife Virginia (née Bennett). While both his parents were alcoholics, Railey abstained from drinking or smoking. He wrote and delivered his first sermon at the age of 17 and majored in history at the Western Kentucky University.

Career Railey completed his doctoral studies in ministry in 1973, and went on to minister in Oklahoma. In 1980, he was appointed as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Dallas, known as the "nation's mother church of Methodism" and where he had previously served as an associate pastor. He frequently preached against racism, which apparently led to his receiving death threats from white supremacists; during his Easter sermon on April 19, 1987, Railey wore a bulletproof vest, based upon the advice of his security detail.

Legal history Background At 12:43 a.m. on April 22, 1987, Railey called the police to inform them that he had found his wife comatose in their home garage in Lake Highlands, Dallas. After resigning from the church in early September 1987 and granting his friends John and Diane Yarrington custody of his children, Ryan (born 1981) and Megan (born 1983), In around 1991, he joined the Los Angeles-based Immanuel Presbyterian Church as executive administrator.

Civil trial In 1988, Bill and Billie Jo Nicolai, the parents of Peggy Railey, filed a civil lawsuit against Walker Railey, who refused to respond. The trial lasted for a day, with judge John Whittington awarding $18 million in damages to the family. However, Railey declared bankruptcy and the settlement was set aside; in February 1997, with both parties agreed that Railey would divorce his wife and pay her a fortnightly alimony for twenty years.

Criminal trial Although Railey remained the only suspect in his wife's attempted murder, no charges were brought against him by the police due to insufficient evidence. However, in August 1992, with the emergence of DNA evidence, Railey was arrested and officially charged with the attempted murder of his wife. The criminal trial of Walker Railey began on March 23, 1993. Judge Pat McDowell presided over the trial, He broke up with Papillon by the end of 1996 and married widow Donna Berry in April 1998. Peggy Railey remained incapacitated for the rest of her life; on December 25, 2011, at the age of 63, she died in a nursing home in Tyler, Texas.