Donaldson indicted for murder

Royce Duane Donaldson, 49, of Moran was taken into custody last Friday, Dec. 14 after he was indicted on separate charges by a local grand jury and by a federal grand jury in Abilene.

Donaldson was originally arrested last summer after the death of 52-year-old George Henry Mark, although the only charge at that time was “felon in possession of a firearm.”

Last Wednesday’s Shackelford County grand jury charged Donaldson with first degree murder. He appeared before Justice of the Peace James Breeden on Sunday and a $500,000 bond was set.

Because he was a convicted felon, the Moran man was also indicted in Taylor County by a federal grand jury for unlawful possession of a firearm.

According to Shackelford County sheriff Ed Miller, Donaldson was transferred to the U.S. Marshal service on Tuesday and will go before a federal magistrate on the firearms charge in the next few days.

Miller did not know on Tuesday where Donaldson was being held, but said that he will eventually come back to the Shackelford County jail.

It is also not known whether he will be tried first on the local charge or the federal charge.

“He will go to trial first with whatever court system is ready first,” said Miller. “It will probably be a year for the state trial; the federal trial could be sooner.”

The sheriff said that the case was presented to the county grand jury by local officers, assisted by Texas Rangers, who helped with the investigation.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives handled the federal case, he said.

The murder indictment resulted from the investigation of Mark’s June 18 death. He died after being shot in the chest at a Moran home. The incident was  first reported as an “accidental shooting,” according to Miller.

Donaldson was arrested at the scene on charges of a felon in possession of a firearm. Bail was set at $10,000 and Donaldson bonded out until he was rearrested last week.