Larry Neil White died Tuesday morning, according to an announcement by the Ector County District Attorney's Office.
White was accused in the shooting deaths of three Odessa police officers, Cpl. Abel Marquez, Cpl. Scott Gardner and Cpl. Arlie Jones Jr., on Sept. 8, 2007, outside his 2912 Ventura Ave. house.
The officers were responding to a 9-1-1 call from his wife, Judy White, at his home when he surprised them by firing with his shotgun. Jones and Gardner were pronounced dead at the scene and Marquez died days later at University Medical Center in Lubbock. After raising funds for almost three years, in September 2010 police unveiled a memorial to the fallen officers in front of the Odessa Police Department.
White was transported to Medical Center Hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
He was indicted on three capital murder charges and three attempted capital murder charges in December 2007 and faced the death penalty in the case.
In May 2009, Judge Denn Whalen set the trial date for January 2010.
But in November 2009, Whalen granted a 60-day continuance request for White because his attorneys asserted he had some medical issues that required special attention and would take his concentration away from helping in his own defense.
Then in February 2010, Whalen moved the trial to Howard County, granting a change of venue request by the defense attorneys, Ray Fivecoat and Woody Leverett, because they said he could not receive a fair trial in Ector County.
At that point, the trial had been indefinitely postponed. District Attorney Bobby Bland maintained the state would be ready to prosecute the case whenever it was set.
Months later, White's health became an issue.
The 62-year-old White was treated for stomach cancer in 2006, although that cancer went into remission.
Court filings in April 2010 revealed that White had recurrent cancer, and his doctor determined he required chemotherapy. The documents showed that his cancer, which confirmed reports of his deteriorating health, had slowed the court proceedings.
However, Whalen set a trial date for Aug. 17, 2010.
A June report by White's doctor, Dr. Renuka Borra, changed that when she said White had between eight and 16 months to live if his chemotherapy was successful. The cancer had spread from his esophagus into his right lung and at least one lymph node.
Borra said he couldn't sit at a table or chair for more than one hour per day.
After another status hearing in July 2010, Whalen postponed the trial from the August date, setting another status hearing for December 2010 to see if the next round of chemotherapy helped.
In that hearing, White's status seemed much better than in July, as Borra said he gained weight and was much more aware of the things going on around him. The defense attorneys still maintained they were not ready for trial because White wasn't able to spend much time preparing with them.
Whalen told the attorneys in the case to prepare for an April trial. As the date came closer, it appeared White was going to see the courtroom in the first week of May.
That didn't happen as a March hearing revealed that White had become too sick to take his cancer treatment and lost about 23 pounds in the four months since his previous hearing.
Whalen indefinitely postponed the trial.
During the next several months, White was transported to Medical Center Hospital for around-the-clock treatment, and in his final weeks, refused to eat.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
