Sheriff Winston Hoyt is a fictional law enforcement officer and a side character in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series.
He is associated with the continuity of the 2003 reboot series and appeared in the 2006 prequel film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. He was played by actor Lew Temple.
Biography[]
Hoyt was a sheriff in Travis County, Texas in the 1960s. When a drought in 1969 caused all of the land to dry up and die, most of the townsfolk left, including members of the Travis County Sheriff's Department.
By July of that year, Winston Hoyt was the only law enforcement left in town, and even he had plans to pack up and move to Michigan.
Sheriff Hoyt responded to an incident at the Lee Bros. Meat Processing Plant, where he found that the mentally disturbed Thomas Hewitt had just murdered the slaughterhouse supervisor.
He went to the Hewitt residence and spoke to Charlie Hewitt about his "retarded nephew", and asked him to accompany him in finding him to finesse the situation, which Charlie agreed to, and the two rode out in Hoyt's squad car.
During the drive, the two engaged in cordial conversation. Hoyt began speaking at length about a story a friend had told him about how one could "bring a horse to organism just by using your finger".
He then brought up the fact to Hewitt that he was moving to Michigan in a week. He then went on about Charlie did a poor job in raising "that retard", to which Hewitt solemnly replied, "He ain't retarded. He's misunderstood."
They eventually spotted Tommy walking down the side of the road with a chainsaw in his hand. Hoyt stopped the vehicle and approached him, commanding him to put the weapon down.
Charile kills Hoyt.
When Tommy refused to comply, Hoyt leveled his service revolver at him. Charlie Hewitt grabbed a riot shotgun from the squad car and walked up to them. He said, "I think we got a problem, sheriff", and then shoots Hoyt point-blank in the face. Leaning down to inspect his work, he then commented, "Shit, I just killed the whole fuckin' sheriff's department!".
He then dipped his finger in blood that had spattered on Hoyt's badge and tasted it. He took the dead man's watch and uniform and went home. Charlie Hewitt decided that he was literally the new sheriff in town.
He assumed the alias of Hoyt and told the rest of his family to refer to him by that name from now on.
Charlie Hewitt continued to operate as the unofficial sheriff of Travis County for the next four years until his death in 1973.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Winston Hoyt was created by director Jonathan Liebesman and screenwriters Sheldon Turner & David J. Schow.
- Sheriff Winston Hoyt is the third character to die in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. He is the second male character to die in the film, and the first victim of Charlie Hewitt.
- Apparently, Sheriff Hoyt did not know the difference between "organism" and "orgasm".
- Actor Lew Temple, who portrays Hoyt, also played a security guard at the Smith's Grove Sanitarium in the 2007 remake of Halloween.
- Sheriff Hoyt's service pistol is a nickel plated Colt model 1873 Single Action Army Revolver.