Federal Judge, Wife, Maid Bound and Robbed

AUSTIN, Tex. — An appeals court judge once nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court was tied up and robbed along with his wife and maid, police said Thursday.

Homer Thornberry, 85, was not injured in the incident but his wife, Marian Thornberry, 78, was treated for three broken bones in her leg. The maid was not injured in the robbery Wednesday.

The thief took an undetermined amount of cash and jewelry. A police spokesman said the Thornberrys were likely targeted because of their age, not because of the judge’s service on the bench.

Thornberry, a senior judge on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, had close ties to former President Lyndon B. Johnson and is a well-known figure in Texas politics. Johnson appointed him to the appeals court in 1965.

In 1968, Johnson nominated Thornberry to fill the Supreme Court seat held by Abe Fortas, whom Johnson had nominated to succeed Earl Warren as chief justice. Thornberry’s nomination died when the Senate blocked Fortas’ nomination as chief justice.