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An empty building now sits where the former Big P’s Ultimate BBQ Shack once operated. -
Shilts
A former Sour Lake restaurant owner, in jail custody as of press time, is facing several active warrants according to a probable cause affidavit for his arrest, accusing the businessman of multiple allegations of fraud and deception – now committed in mutiple states.
According to a statement from the Sour Lake Police Department (SLPD) issuing the arrest warrant, Peter Eugene Shilts, 49, of Beaumont, was arrested Jan. 30 by the Beaumont Police Department on the charge of theft of property up to $30,000; Hardin County Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Mark Ames set Shilts’ bond at $350,000.
The Texas barbecuer, as so stated in the SLPD affidavit, arrived in the Lone Star State with a host of active criminal allegations on his tail. SLPD discovered Shilts possesses several active warrants in Wisconsin from: Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appearworthless checks; Douglas County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appearworthless checks; Oneida County Sheriff’s Office for a probation violation; and Morton County Sheriff’s Office (North Dakota) for failure to appeartheft by deception. Additional data detailed Shilts’ many non-traffic violations (2001, 2002, 2016) in Wisconsin, as well. And, the Jamestown Sun in North Dakota reported Nov. 29, 2008 court proceeding that Shilts, then in custody at the James River Correctional Center, was charged with theft of property.
An online search of Shilts’ history reveals a total of 26 former addresses, including 11 in Wisconsin, seven in Minnesota, four in North Dakota, and one each in Louisiana and Oregon. Most recently, Shilts operated as owner of Big P’s Ultimate BBQ Shack at 600 State Highway 105, which opened Oct. 29, 2021, with no local DBA filed, according to the Hardin County Clerk’s Office. Shilts reportedly resides now in the 7700 block of Easley Drive in Beaumont. New state, new name Shilts may have left behind the colder climate of the United States’ northern assets, but, as alleged by Texans claiming fraud by the former restaurateur, the accused scammer is still a purveyor of criminality.
According to the SLPD probable cause affidavit, on Nov. 8, 2023, Hailey Bennett and Jodie Butler, both business owners in Sour Lake, advised Police Chief Aaron Burleson that they put together a fundraiser for Shilts, who claimed he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Shilts, a customer of Bennett’s at The Shave Shack, a local barbershop, allegedly told her that he was diagnosed with cancer early in 2023. What he didn’t tell her was his name, however. According to a GoFundMe account page organized by Bennett in April 2023, the man known as “Big P” was diagnosed with neuroendocrine, a growing cancer that formed three tumors in his small intestines and one in the colon. Bennett said that, when she set up the GoFundMe account with a goal of $25,000, the beneficiary asked her to record his name as “Pete S. aka Big P.” He also requested that his military career be kept private as, “He didn’t want his kids to know he was a killer.”
When the community was called on to assist with medical costs and the like by participating in a fundraising benefit held Oct. 28, 2023, in Sour Lake, Bennett became suspicious of the cancer patient’s participation, including his suggestion to have all checks written through someone other than himself.
“He wanted to run the show,” Butler added, with both women growing more concerned as the benefit neared and “some chatter” began circulating that Big P did not have cancer and had scammed another woman in town. “But what could we do? We had everything planned.”
The benefit included a car show, food trucks, BBQ plates, a live and silent auction, live music and a bouncy house for children, according to Butler, the owner of Southern Mess Nutrition. Butler noted that the benefit held near her business raised more than $22,000. They handed Big P more than $13,000 in cash and checks; the GoFundMe account received $2,875; and Big P said he took in $7,500 on his credit card machine.
Then, Butler and Bennett learned the alleged cancer patient’s real name – which was nothing like what they were led to believe.
“A lot of people knew him as Pete but didn’t know his last name,” said Butler.
After learning via an open-source records search posting on social media that Shilts was burdened with extensive criminal history, and the Sour Lake fundraisers were likely scams, the women went to the police.
Fake name, fake cancer diagnosis
“Everyone knew him by ‘Big P,’” Butler said, adding that Shilts was also known by another name, too. “People just knew he had a Facebook page under Axel Courville. He told me the ‘P’ stood for Pete because his first son was named after him.”
Invoking the family name of the Southeast Texas Courville barbecue dynasty, the self-proclaimed “Big P” likewise advised investigating law enforcement officer and Burleson that his real name was “Axel Courville,” as he touts himself on social media as a Courville “pitmaster.”
Burleson said he discovered what Shilts’ real name was before the benefit even though a Texas Department of Public Safety records search showed nothing on any of Shilts’ aliases.
“Now he had my interest,” Burleson said. “I then ran him on a private website that we use and that’s where everything popped up.”
Burleson reported making contact with Shilts on Dec. 5, 2023, regarding the open SLPD investigation for theft. The chief asked to see medical bill receipts because Shilts posted on his social media account that he had paid out $100,000.
Shilts told Burleson that he would provide the receipts after his doctor’s appointment with “Dr. Lee” on Dec. 21, 2023, at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Jan. 3, Burleson reported calls to Shilts’ cell phone concerning the promised receipts were forwarded to voicemail; texts messages regarding the same went unanswered. The chief contacted the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to inquire if Shilts, or his alias, was a past or current patient. According to Monica Arevalos, an associate risk manager for Legal Services at M.D. Anderson, there was no record.
In the affidavit, Burleson stated Shilts does not have cancer or a medical condition; the lawman instead believes that Shilts unlawfully appropriated property with intent to deprive the owners of property.
“With his past criminal record and history, I believe the defendant is a con artist,” Burleson swore in the affidavit for Shilts’ arrest, adding that the defendant is also a “flight risk” and is likely to flee the area to avoid criminal prosecution due to fleeing previous states for similar crimes.
“The case is still under investigation and we have enough to present to the District Attorney’s Office and the grand jury,” Burleson said. “We want to see if we can get him indicted.”
The Hardin County grand jury is next scheduled to meet Thursday, Feb. 29.
“We are going to get an enhancement and we're filing for a state-jail felony based off of what we have because there were some senior citizens that donated after Shilts told them he had cancer,” said Burleson, who also noted the total amount of money scammed could be higher. “They actually donated on several occasions during and after the benefit. One person gave him several thousand dollars.”
Burleson said there is a potential for more charges being filed against Shilts. The chief noted that he recently met with officials from the Texas Department of Health and Human Service and discovered Shilts received government assistance.
“The way I see him is that he’s a soulless manipulator with an empathy chip missing,” Burleson remarked. “That’s what he is because he took advantage of the good citizens of Sour Lake who came out to support him, then basically slapped them in the face.”
A week before his arrest, Shilts sold most of his equipment from the restaurant.
“We didn't want this to happen to someone else,” Butler said of the decision she and Bennett made to pursue criminal charges. “The whole reason we did it to begin with was to help his children because they pulled on our heartstrings.”
“He gave the right people a sad story,” Bennett added. According to Burleson,
Shilts is married with at least nine children.