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Ex-husband may face death penalty after Plano mom’s murder
By Josh Hixson, Staff Writer
The ex-husband of a Plano woman will be tried for the death penalty after allegedly beating and stabbing her to death and leaving her remains in a highway median.
Collin County District Attorney John Roach announced Monday he plans to seek the death penalty in the capital-murder case of Curtis Lee Armstrong, 37, of Dayton.
Armstrong was indicted last week for allegedly stabbing and beating his ex-wife, Jennifer McCallum, 35, to death with one or more objects, including a knife, while robbing her apartment May 3, according to Collin County Court records.
Armstrong was declared indigent by the court, and Attorney Tom D’Amore was appointed Armstrong’s public defender.
D’amore — who has prosecuted almost a dozen capital murder cases in his 19 years with the Dallas County District Attorney’s office, before starting a private practice — said he has met with Armstrong and is reviewing the state’s evidence.
“At this point we are just trying to gather information,” D’Amore said. “In this case or any other case, there are always two sides. I have been in death penalty cases before as a prosecutor, so I know what they entail.”
D’amore said his lack of experience as a defense attorney in capital murder cases may become an issue as the case proceeds.
“In a case like this, it has been my experience that judges appoint very experienced lawyers to act as lawyers in a capital murder case because of the seriousness of the charges,” D’Amore said.
Armstrong and McCallum had an ongoing custody battle over their six-year-old daughter after their divorce in 2003, according to court records.
While in custody, Armstrong passed a note to a jailer detailing where McCallum’s remains could be located, according to a Freestone County Sheriff’s report.
Police found McCallum’s body covered in lime and brush in Freestone County near mile marker 187 in the median of Interstate 45.
Armstrong is being detained at Collin County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Contact Josh Hixson at jhixson@acnpapers.com
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