Calcasieu Judge To Allow Evidence From Other Missing Persons Cases In Vail Trial

A 74-year-old Calcasieu Parish man accused of killing his wife 50 years ago will now have to defend himself against evidence in two other cases involving missing women thanks to a judge's ruling.

William Felix Vail told investigators his wife, Mary Horton Vail, drowned in the Calcasieu River while they were running trotlines. KATC-TV 3 reported he was arrested at the time of her death, but a grand jury refused to indict him.

The television station also reported Vail is believed to be the last person to have seen alive two other missing women, Sharon Hensley who went missing in 1973 and Annette Craver Vail--his second wife--who went missing in 1984.

Defense attorneys argued no one could prove Hensley or Annette Vail were actually dead and that there was no evidence tying William Vail to their disappearances. Prosecutors said they could make their case through circumstantial evidence.