Bank Texas Robber Pleads Guilty

LONGVIEW — A year after his parole following 32 years in prison for capital murder, Randall L. Wikert spent 34 hours on the run from local law enforcement in late October after he robbed Bank Texas. The Kilgore News Herald reports that on Friday, 44 days after his arrest, Wikert � his parole revoked � pleaded guilty in the case and accepted a 20-year prison sentence.

Shortly after noon Oct. 22, Wikert entered the bank in the Gateway Travel Center on State Hwy. 42 near Interstate 20 and demanded cash, a small knife concealed in his clothing. Likely robbing the bank to fund a drug habit, authorities report, Wikert took an undisclosed amount of money and fled the bank on foot toward the interstate, eluding a multi-agency manhunt that afternoon. Through the next evening, Wikert’s trail stretched from Kilgore to Longview and ultimately to Hawkins, where he was apprehended by a Department of Public Safety trooper.

Kilgore Police Department Det. Trae Portwood turned Wikert’s case-file over to the Gregg County District Attorney’s Office in early November. As of Friday morning, �He pleaded guilty and accepted the DA’s offer of 20 years,� KPD Assistant Chief Roman Roberson said. �He’s already on life parole for the other charge he had. I don’t see him getting out of prison anytime soon.�