Search continues for Agy’s killer 27 years later

On the evening of April 5, 1995, at approximately 11 pm, Liberty County Sheriff’s Deputy Wilburn Junior “Will” Agy was murdered while working an extra job in a video store on Fondren Rd. in Houston.

To this day, his killer has not been apprehended, and the case has grown cold.

Two masked gunmen entered the store that night while Agy had his back to the door. One of the suspects shoved him to the floor, then shot him in the back of the head, ending his life, his career and shattering his family’s hopes and dreams.

“Agy turned part way around, and the suspect grabbed him and forced him to the floor and then shot him once in the head,” said Tom Ladd, a sergeant with the Houston Police Department at the time.

The suspects went on to rob the cash register and apparently took Agy’s 9mm service weapon, a Smith and Wesson, before fleeing the scene on foot.

Two little girls lost their father, and a wife lost her husband because of the brutal act of a criminal.

“This is a tragic loss to the community, to his family, and his coworkers,” said former Sheriff O.J. Stewart at the time of Agy’s death.

At the time of the incident, Houston police were working hard to locate the suspects, with officers even volunteering to work the case in their off-hours, said an April 9, l996 edition of The Vindicator.

A composite was made of one of the suspects in 1996, but it produced no viable leads.

Now, some 27 years later, the Agy family and Operation Blue Remembrance are working to reopen the case or at least provide some more information so that his killer may be brought to justice.

Ali Agy-Bechtel, Will’s daughter, was able to contact a forensic analyst at the Houston Police Department, and he agreed to work on an age progression composite based on the original done on August 9, 1996.

The suspect is listed as a Black Male with a medium to muscular build. He was reported to be in his 20’s and stand 5’10” to 6’ tall. He would, at the time, likely have lived in the Fondren St. area.

At the time of Deputy Agy’s death, there were about $35,000 in rewards.

Now the Agy family and OBR have announced that an updated version of the man’s image as he would appear today is available to the public in hopes of locating the killer.

Who is Operation Blue Remembrance, and how did they get involved?

OBR is a non-profit organization based in Texas, with chapters in six other states. The board of directors comprises retired or former police officers, their families, or prior police civilian employees.

The organization was formed in 2020 and serves to assist police families in any way possible.

Operation Blue Remembrance is currently visiting the gravesites of all Texas officers’ that died in the line of duty (as well as those in other chapter states), providing headstones where the officer does not have one, providing a burial plot if needed, and assisting the families of slain police officers in any way possible.

“When Ali came to us asking about an age progression composite, we eagerly decided to assist in this endeavor,” said OBR President Bert Sims, a retired peace officer.

OBR has made this cold case just another focal point of its mission to deliver peace of mind to the families of fallen officers.

“Someone out there knows something. They know some tidbit of information that may bust this case wide open. We are calling upon you to come forward with that information,” Sims concluded.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713- 222-TIPS.