<p>In a jailhouse interview, Dryman detailed how he invented a whole new life, with a new family, an Arizona wedding chapel business — and even volunteer work for local civic clubs. “They just forgot about me,” said Dryman, in his first interview since being caught and sent back to the prison he last left in the 1960s. “I was a prominent member of the community.”<br /><br />That is, until the grandson of the man he shot six times in the back came looking.<br />Dryman had been one step ahead of the law since 1951 when he avoided the hangman’s noose. Less than 20 years later he was out on parole. He skipped out and evaded authorities for four decades. After a while he even forgot about hiding. Now the 79-year-old Dryman is back behind bars, likely for what remains of his life. He was caught only after his long-ago victim’s grandson got curious and started poking around.<br />Dryman was hitching a ride from cafe owner Clarence Pellett on a cold and snowy day in 1951 when he pulled a gun and ordered Pellett out of his own car and began firing.<br />Dryman does not deny the crime — just that he’s not the same man today. He has been Victor Houston for decades. At the time of the murder, he was going by yet another name: Frank Valentine. “That kid, Frank Valentine, he just exploded,” Dryman says of his crime. “I didn’t shoot that man in the back. That wild kid did.” <br /><br />Wounds remain<br />Many in the Pellett family do remember the murder. A dozen descendants showed up at the parole hearing when Dryman was rearrested to testify against his release, saying the killing had forever changed the history of the family. They said as kids they lived in fear of hitchhikers — even in fear of Dryman. <br /><br />Pellett only learned the details of the case last year after cleaning out boxes of old newspaper clippings. His own parents never talked about the murder. He began a quest to learn more, compiling old records, court transcripts, arrest records for Dryman’s petty crimes prior to the shooting — all of which he used to track down his grandfather’s killer.<br />Pellett said he was driven by an intense curiosity, and would now like to meet Dryman to fill in holes in the story that he may chronicle in a book.</p>
<p>In a jailhouse interview, Dryman detailed how he invented a whole new life, with a new family, an Arizona wedding chapel business — and even volunteer work for local civic clubs. “They just forgot about me,” said Dryman, in his first interview since being caught and sent back to the prison he last left in the 1960s. “I was a prominent member of the community.”<br /><br />That is, until the grandson of the man he shot six times in the back came looking.<br />Dryman had been one step ahead of the law since 1951 when he avoided the hangman’s noose. Less than 20 years later he was out on parole. He skipped out and evaded authorities for four decades. After a while he even forgot about hiding. Now the 79-year-old Dryman is back behind bars, likely for what remains of his life. He was caught only after his long-ago victim’s grandson got curious and started poking around.<br />Dryman was hitching a ride from cafe owner Clarence Pellett on a cold and snowy day in 1951 when he pulled a gun and ordered Pellett out of his own car and began firing.<br />Dryman does not deny the crime — just that he’s not the same man today. He has been Victor Houston for decades. At the time of the murder, he was going by yet another name: Frank Valentine. “That kid, Frank Valentine, he just exploded,” Dryman says of his crime. “I didn’t shoot that man in the back. That wild kid did.” <br /><br />Wounds remain<br />Many in the Pellett family do remember the murder. A dozen descendants showed up at the parole hearing when Dryman was rearrested to testify against his release, saying the killing had forever changed the history of the family. They said as kids they lived in fear of hitchhikers — even in fear of Dryman. <br /><br />Pellett only learned the details of the case last year after cleaning out boxes of old newspaper clippings. His own parents never talked about the murder. He began a quest to learn more, compiling old records, court transcripts, arrest records for Dryman’s petty crimes prior to the shooting — all of which he used to track down his grandfather’s killer.<br />Pellett said he was driven by an intense curiosity, and would now like to meet Dryman to fill in holes in the story that he may chronicle in a book.</p>