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WWII Ace Fires Attorney; Hearing Halted, Reschuduled

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By BILLY TOWNSEND, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

BARTOW - Byron Hileman limped back into the courtroom after a brief conference with his client, 86-year-old flying ace-turned-felon Abner Aust.

Hileman, a veteran Polk County defense lawyer, looked toward the gallery and shook his head at two of Aust's friends, who hired him. "He's impossible. I'm sorry."

Looking on, from different spots in the courtroom, were Brenda Aust and Doris Maddox, Aust's second and third wives. A bailiff had separated the two women because they were talking too much. They'd come to urge a judge to send Aust back to prison for 15 years for violating his probation by soliciting someone to kill Brenda Aust.

The drama began to unfold before Judge Randall McDonald took the bench in the saga of Aust, a retired Air Force colonel who shot down Japanese warplanes over Tokyo during World War II.

Tuesday's hearing was supposed to determine whether Aust would return to state prison for 15 years, the sentence the state is seeking. But as McDonald and the court soon learned, Aust had just fired Hileman, so the sentencing hearing was delayed again.

For now, Aust will remain the oldest inmate in the Polk County Jail.

Hileman, speaking for Aust, told the judge Aust didn't think Hileman, who had a toe amputated the week before, was paying enough attention to him.

Hileman also told the judge that no psychological examination had been performed on Aust because he had refused to pay for it.

Hileman had hoped to use that evaluation to argue that Aust no longer is a threat to anyone and "to suggest to the court a remedy somewhat less harsh than what the state is proposing."

Instead, McDonald allowed Hileman to honor Aust's request that he withdraw. The judge gave Aust 60 days to find a new lawyer, and Aust, who has an Air Force pension, said he has written letters to three candidates.

Aust has been incarcerated since 2000, when he was convicted of solicitation of arson for trying to have a fire set in Brenda Aust's house, which used to be Aust's house.

In 2002, Aust was convicted of solicitation of murder while in prison in the Panhandle after offering to pay a convict or the convict's brother to kill his ex-wife, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say the second conviction violated the probation of his first conviction. He was returned to Polk County to answer for that charge.

Aust, his friends and supporters say no one was harmed and he's not a threat. They suggest his difficult divorce from Brenda Aust led him to lash out verbally.

Brenda Aust attended Tuesday's hearing but stormed out afterward. She said coverage of the case has put her in danger.

Aust's third wife, Doris Maddox, described Aust as a dangerous man.

"My life and Brenda's and our families are in danger," Maddox said.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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