Man Charged With Murder

Robert Earl Souter, 49, former band director at R. L. Turner High School and Perry DeWitt Junior High School in Carrollton, was charged Wednesday with murdering his wife.
Souter, who resigned from the schools last spring to become a sales an for a detergent firm, was accused of beating his wife, Louise, 35, during an argument, Aug 7 at their home, 1509 Ross in Carrollton.
On Aug 9, Mrs. Souter's mother, Mrs. Beulah Camp of Marlow, Okla., came to Carrollton and took Mrs. Souter back to Oklahoma with her, according to Carrolton Police Chief Bill Cooper.
Mrs. Souter died there Aug. 24.
Cooper said Mrs. Camp, suspicious about the cause of her daughters death, hired a pathologist from Wichita Falls to perform an autopsy. The results showed Mrs. Souter died of "trauma and cerebral edema" apparently resulting from a beating, he said.
Mrs. Camp notified the sheriff's office in Duncan Okla., which in turn notified Cooper and Dallas County Sheriff Bill Decker. They arrested Souter at his home earlier this week.
In addition to the murder charge, Souter also was charged with passing worthless checks.
Souter has been with the Carrollton schools 12 years prior to his resignation.

The Dallas Morning News - September 8, 1966