HOUSTON (AP) — Houston lawyer Richard "Racehorse" Haynes, famed for his flamboyant but successful trial defenses of wealthy clients in some of Texas' most notorious murder cases, has died at age 90.

Family spokesman Chris Tritico said Haynes died early Friday at his home in Trinity, Texas.

Haynes achieved fame for his defense of wealthy Houston plastic surgeon John Hill in the death of Hill's socialite wife. Investigators said Joan Robinson Hill died after eating an eclair secretly laced with E. coli bacteria. The trial ended in a hung jury, but Hill was later shot dead at his mansion.

Haynes later won the acquittal of Fort Worth oilman Cullen Davis, the first billionaire to be indicted for murder in the United States. He was accused in the deaths of his estranged wife's daughter and boyfriend.

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