LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) -
It is a case that an Angelina
County assistant district attorney called bizarre.
A Lufkin woman bought a
pre-paid phone in someone else's name, and then sent herself threatening text
messages from that phone - a crime that actually got the victim arrested. East
Texas News talked with the victim and another woman who said that the suspect
did the same thing to her.
"This was incredibly bizarre to
me," Lane Thompson, an Angelina County prosecutor said.
Bizarre was the only word Thompson
could find to describe what Barbera Borderlon did to Lois Hale and Susan Summers.
Borderlon was found guilty of
fabricating evidence by paying for a pre-paid cell phone in someone else's name,
and then sending threatening text messages from it to her herself. Her punishment
wound up being 10 years probation and 6 months in jail.
Hale and Summers spent time in
jail after Borderlon accused them of sending the messages.
Both Hale and Summers told the
East Texas News that their time in the Angelina County Jail was not just a physical
ordeal; it was an emotional one as well.
"Not just for me but for
my whole family, for my daughter and all my close family that was involved in
this," Hale said.
"It's something you just don't
dream of ever happening to you," Summers said. "And it tore my life apart."
The accusations cost both women
their jobs and a large amount of money.
When asked if she was worried
that Borderlon might try something like this again, Hale said, "Yes. I think
she probably will because this is not the first game."
But how can you prevent something like this?
"I honestly don't know how you
would ever prevent something like this," Thompson said.
"Just be careful of who
you get involved with," Summers said. "Just because you think you know them
does not mean you know what they are capable of."
"Just be careful who you choose
as friends because you really don't know anyone, I guess," Hale said.
Those are words of advice we
can all live by.
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