Four businesses in Amarillo’s Chase Tower reached confidential legal settlements with 10 plaintiffs on sex-abuse allegations with millionaire and former Cadillac Ranch owner Stanley Marsh 3, according to the Amarillo Globe-News.
Marsh became embroiled in the lawsuits and felony criminal indictments over the allegations in the last 15 months of his life before he died in June at age 77. At two other similar suits against Marsh are pending.
The now-settled lawsuits involved Marsh, son Stanley Marsh IV, wife Wendy Marsh and longtime Marsh associate David Weir. The 10 men accused Marsh of paying them to do sex acts in his Chase Tower office when they were minors, and that the other defendants failed to act and stop the abuse.
“I am proud I could help these young men close this painful chapter in their lives,” Anthony Buzbee, a Houston attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “It took a lot of courage for those first few boys to stand up and tell the truth about what was going on in the Chase Tower.” […]
“There will always be those who are willing to criticize and blame these young men rather than accept that this outrageous conduct was going on right under the noses of the so-called establishment of Amarillo,” Buzbee said. “Unlike the armchair quarterbacks who are ignorant of all the facts, I saw all of the evidence and will always admire these young men and the courage they exhibited.”
Marsh was indicted after Amarillo police conducted a search warrant of his office, where they seized dozens of envelopes of erectile-dysfunction pills, signed confidentiality agreements, two computers, couch cushion covers and a photo of a nude male, according to warrant documents.
Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels of the Ant Farm art group came up with the concept of Cadillac Ranch, which is 10 Cadillacs nose-down in a field west of Amarillo along Route 66. The art installation, built in 1974, was commissioned and owned by Marsh for many years. It became one of the most popular tourist attractions in Amarillo and Route 66.
Marsh lost control and ownership of Cadillac Ranch by 2011 after being incapacitated by a series of strokes. Weir took over much of Marsh’s affairs, although it’s still not clear who actually owns the art installation. A statement by Buzbee in 2013 clearly indicated Marsh no longer owned Cadillac Ranch. A later story reported the land Cadillac Ranch sits on is part of a trust, and that Art Farm will maintain it.
At one point, Buzbee advocated tearing down Cadillac Ranch, but that sentiment cooled quickly. Unless the trust or the Ant Farm dissolves, Cadillac Ranch will stay indefinitely.
(Image of Cadillac Ranch by Dennis Frank via Flickr)