18 years later, friend arrested in cold case death of 20-year-old Texas woman

Christopher Ax of Gainesville is charged with capital murder in the 1997 death of Sarah Dougherty, a 20-year-old movie store employee. (Cooke County Sheriff's Office) Christopher Ax of Gainesville is charged with capital murder in the 1997 death of Sarah Dougherty, a 20-year-old movie store employee. (Cooke County Sheriff's Office) Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 18 years later, friend arrested in cold case death of 20-year-old Texas woman 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A Gainesville man has been indicted on a capital murder charge in an 18-year-old case.

Christopher Ax, 38, was indicted Wednesday in the March, 1997, death of 20-year-old Shebaniah Sarah Dougherty, according to Cooke County Sheriff Terry Gilbert.

Ax, who was arrested June 5 on the capital murder charge, was in the Cooke County Jail on Friday on $1 million bond. His attorney could not be immediately reached Friday for comment.

According to the arrest warrant, the Cooke County Sheriff's Department asked Texas Ranger James B. Holland earlier this year to assist in investigating the death of Dougherty, whose body was discovered March 30, 1997. An autopsy at the time determined she had been strangled.

As stated in the 33-page arrest warrant, Dougherty didn't come home March 28, 1997, after getting off work at the Movie Store in Gainesville. The next day her parents reported her missing to the Gainesville Police Department. On March 29, 1997, her car was found abandoned within a block of the Movie Store.

In a statement, Gilbert said Dougherty's body was found March 30, 1997, near an abandoned residence on what was then called Cooper's Crossing Road near County Road No. 218.

According to the arrest warrant, her body was found with some of her clothing removed. Despite an exhaustive search of the area, investigators never found her car keys or purse, believed to contain her identification, wallet and a small amount of cash.

In January of this year, the Cooke County Sheriff's Department reactivated the case in a combined effort with the Texas Rangers unsolved crimes investigation team, the Cooke County District Attorney's Office, the Gainesville Police Department, and Cooke County Constable Precinct 1 Office, Gilbert said in a news release.

After months of interviews, Ax eventually confessed, Gilbert said.

On March 26 of this year, Holland interviewed Dougherty's mother, who said her daughter was a "good girl that did not date, drink or use drugs." She said her daughter had a crush on a guy with "beautiful blue eyes."

The victim's sister told the Texas ranger that Sarah Dougherty had never kissed a boy, did not have a boyfriend but liked a boy named Chris Thomas, later determined to be Christopher Ax, the arrest warrant stated.

Norwood said Ax left town after Sarah's death and joined the army. He had recently returned to town and told Levi that he left because he was afraid he would be a suspect in Sarah's murder.

On April 9, Holland interviewed one of Cougherty's coworkers, who described her as a "pretty but simple girl that did not drink, do drugs or have a boyfriend."

Another coworker said Dougherty was very shy and very religious and liked a guy named Chris, whose last name she didn't know.

On April 20, Holland interviewed Ax, who told the investigator he had known Sarah as long as he could remember. At the time of her death, Ax lived about three blocks from the Movie Store and saw her almost every day on his way home from work, according to the arrest warrant.

Ax told Holland he didn't have sex with Dougherty and that they were just friends. When she was reported missing, he helped her father look for her.

Ax said he stayed in town until May 1998 when he went into the military.

Over the next month, Holland had several conversations with Ax. In the last one, a phone call on May 29, Ax said that, if he did anything to hurt Dougherty, it would have been self-defense.

He told the ranger he had been thinking about something but wasn't sure if was a memory or vivid imagination."

"You know like I said, 'If I did the crime I'm gonna do the time.' I have no issue with that," Ax told Holland, according to the arrest warrant. "This is about remembering for me what happened."