State may ease restrictions for one of Houston's most infamous killers

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - There’s not one person in the state’s criminal justice system that ever thought releasing 49-year-old David Port was a good idea.

“He never got one positive vote during umpteenth amount of times that he was reviewed for parole,” said crime victims advocate Andy Kahan.

That could be because Port’s crime was so shocking.

“He was mad at his daddy” Barbara Schatz told us in 2011.

That’s the only reason the then 17-year-old David Port gave for killing Schatz’s 23-year-old daughter Debra Sue Schatz. She was a Houston mail carrier and didn’t know David Port from Adam.

“The girl that was supposed to deliver the mail that day got sick she took over,” said Debra Sue’s brother Alfred Schatz.

Delivering the mail to the upscale Port house would literally be the last thing Debra Sue Schatz would ever do.
Port gunned down the pretty blonde and dumped her body in a creek.

“And because Port was convicted between 1977 and 1987 he was coming out no ifs ands or buts,” Kahan said.

In June of 2014 Port had to be released because of the state’s old mandatory release law.

“So he essentially served 27 years of a 75 year sentence,” said Kahan.

Debra Sue’s mother knew the day would come when Port would be a free man. She died before seeing that happen. Here’s what she told us in 2011.

“If I see him I think I’d kill him myself still yet today,” Barbara Schatz said.

Now parole officials are reviewing Port to decide if they should remove him from their highest form of supervision and take off his electronic monitoring device.

“I’ve seen this happen before,” Kahan said. “I’m not going to let this happen under my watch.”     

If you'd like to make your opinion known about the parole review process, email victim.svc@tdcj.texas.gov and use reference number #394228.