Inmate Confesses to 1986 Murders of Mother, Daughter

Port Arthur police say a lot of hard work by investigators, and a jailhouse confession, have helped them solve the murders of a mother and daughter that took place more than two decades ago, and the victims' family traveled to Southeast Texas on Friday to talk about the case.

59 year old Tommy Lee Stewart was already sentenced to life in prison for an unrelated murder. He's also serving a 30 year sentence for a Jefferson County kidnapping.

Port Arthur police investigators say late last year, they learned that DNA samples they had preserved from Willette Hudson's clothing linked Stewart to her September, 1986 murder.

Investigators questioned Stewart in the Mark Stiles Prison in Jefferson County, and on January 4 he confessed to killing the woman.

The body of 18 year old Willette Hudson was found bound inside a loft in her family's home on Colorado Street in Port Arthur.

She was strangled by a child's Easy Bake Oven cord.

Investigators say Stewart also confessed to killing Willette Hudson's mother, Myrtle. The 34 year old woman disappeared on the same day Willette's father found her body. Stewart told investigators he dumped Myrtle Hudson's body in a remote location on Pleasure Island.

Police say late last week they took Stewart to Pleasure Island and he led them to an area where they found some of Myrtle Hudson's remains.

The family and authorities agreed not to pursue charges in the mother's murder, because Stewart already has a life sentence.

As to why he did it, district attorney's investigators say it was a robbery that turned into a murder.

Family members drove to Port Arthur from Marshall, Texas to hear more about the investigation from police.