| Taxi driver accused of capital murder found dead of a heart attack 04/10/2001 Associated Press AUSTIN – An Austin taxi driver who faced two capital murder charges has died in his Travis County jail cell, authorities said Monday.
A medical examiner determined Wayne Lambert Jr., 54, who was charged last year in the deaths of two customers, died after suffering a heart attack.
Jailers found Lambert's body when they delivered his breakfast Monday.
Ray Bass, Lambert's attorney, said his client had become increasingly stressed. Lambert's wife had recently filed for divorce, and he had shed 90 pounds from his 290-pound frame since his arrest, Bass said.
Lambert, who had worked for Roy's Taxi Inc., was awaiting trial in the deaths of Lance Hughes, 29, and Kevin MacDonald, 23, police said. Hughes died of gunshot wounds at the scene; MacDonald died a short time later at an Austin hospital.
Lambert told police he had picked up the two men, and they became belligerent. According to a police affidavit obtained after the slayings, Lambert had pulled over and a fight followed.
Before MacDonald died, police said he told them Lambert had challenged Hughes to a fight and that Lambert had threatened to tell police that they had tried to rob him.
Police said Lambert had a permit to carry a concealed handgun.
|
