Son, daughter push for highway named in memory of slain father
By: Tommy Witherspoon, wacotrib.com
J.R. Vicha was 11 when Billie Wayne Coble killed Vicha’s father and grandparents, tied him up with three of his cousins and kidnapped Vicha’s aunt.
At 40, the Waco attorney and former prosecutor has already lived longer than his father, Waco police Sgt. Bobby Vicha. The respected and well-liked 18-year police veteran was 39 when Coble ambushed him in the garage of his Axtell home and shot and killed him. Coble’s August 1989 killing spree also included Bobby Vicha’s parents, Robert and Zelda Vicha, who lived just down the road.
Coble’s three-decade stint on death row likely will come to an end next week with his execution, scheduled for Feb. 28. Vicha and his family have waited almost 30 years for Coble’s execution, which they say should have been carried out years ago.
