The Calcasieu Public Defenders Office is investigating whether Felix Vail has the funds to pay for his own defense.

Vail is charged with second-degree murder in the 1962 death of his wife, Mary Horton Vail, whose body was pulled from the Calcasieu River. He claimed she drowned while they were running trotlines.

Fourteenth Judicial District Court Judge Robert Wyatt said he requested an indigency hearing Wednesday because the local PDO is “extremely strapped for funds.”

In testimony from previous court hearings, it was said that Vail has $20,000 in the bank, receives $1,000 a month from the sale of a house in Oklahoma City and owns a piece of property in Canyon Lake, Texas, which was deeded to him.

Wyatt asked Vail if he could afford to pay for his own defense.

“I don’t believe I can,” Vail said.

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(Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman