Slaying of East Texas B&B owner unravels a private world

MOUNT VERNON, Texas – Maybe Robert Whiteside was angry, busy inside his bed-and-breakfast or lost in a creative binge at the jewelry workshop, but it still wasn't like him to ignore Warren Butler's calls. Mount Vernon, after all, was not a

Warren, Robert's 54-year-old partner, had left Mount Vernon on a late October Monday in 2006, driving 110 miles to Dallas, where he planned to spend four days. Robert promised he'd call on Tuesday morning, Halloween. He hadn't.

Most likely, Warren concluded with some irritation, he was sealed inside the studio behind The Veranda Bed & Breakfast, withdrawn in the jewelry that won him wide renown in those years before he'd forsaken Dallas for 68 acres of East Texas pine, oak and sweet gum.

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