It has been nearly 15 years since a gunman in Atascosa County made a bogus 911 call to lure police to his home so he could he kill them.
Two deputies and a Department of Public Safety trooper were killed in the Atascosa ambush; two officers and a civilian were also wounded in the attack on law enforcement officers.
The gunman, Jeremiah Engleton, killed himself during a standoff with dozens of officers.
This summer the man who pleaded guilty to helping Engleton plan the attack will come up for parole.
"They rolled up to a call and they were ambushed, they were set up," Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said, recalling the deadly ambush. "These officers were ambushed for no reason at all just because they wanted to kill a police officer."
Atascosa County deputies Thomas Monse and Mark Stephenson, and DPS Trooper Terry Miller were murdered on Oct. 12, 1999, when they responded to a 911 call at Engleton's home.
Monse had arrested Engelton earlier that day for assaulting his wife, but he was bailed out of jail by his friend and roommate Kenneth Vodochodsky.
Upset about the arrest, Englenton allegedly planned his revenge with Vodochodsky by his side.
"They went and bought the ammunition, they planned it all and according to (Vodochodsky) he was not there when the officers were murdered," Soward said. "There's (a) significant amount of evidence that shows there were two individuals present during the ambush and we recovered evidence to support that."
In the wake of the ambush Vodochodsky was convicted and sentenced to death for his role in helping Engleton plan the attack.
In 2004 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Vodochodsky's conviction for murder and his death sentence based on weak evidence. Rather than face another trial, in 2006 he agreed to plead guilty to murder in exchange for a 30-year sentence.
This summer Vodochodsky will be eligible for parole, but Soward and the rest of the community plan to fight it.
"It's too fresh in everybody's minds still and no one around here thinks he should be getting out yet," Soward said.
After being contacted by one of the widows of the slain deputies, Soward drafted a letter protesting Vodochodsky's parole and has made it available to anyone who wants to sign it. He said so far several hundred citizens have signed the letter and sent it to the parole board.
"It's just a community effort to show that the people here in Atascosa County do not think he should be paroled at this time," Soward said. "What we would like to see is Kenneth Vodochodsky remain in prison for as long as legally possible."
If you live in Atascosa County you can pick up a copy of that protest letter at the sheriff's office or click here. You do not have to be a resident of Atascosa County to sign the letter.