Lubbock Man Sentenced to Death
for Murder of Texas Tech Librarian
A jury in Lubbock, Texas, convicted 31-year-old Vaughn Ross of double homicide September 23 in the deaths of Texas Tech University Associate Dean of Libraries Douglas Birdsall and Viola Ross McVade, an 18-year-old local woman, in January 2001. The following day, the jury chose the death sentence over life imprisonment.
Prosecutors say the murders took place because of an ongoing argument between Ross and McVade, who was his girlfriend’s sister, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported September 24. Birdsall was killed because he was with McVade, whom he had met that night.
Texas Tech University dedicated a sculpture to Birdsall at the university library September 25. Titled Windsong II, the steel-and-sheet-metal artwork was created by Michael Masse and stands seven feet tall. During his tenure at the library, Birdsall created an Art in the Library Committee, and often recommended purchases and donated artwork.
Posted September 30, 2002.
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