See Photos. All the doors and windows were locked. Holik's last known telephone conversation occurred at 3:30 p.m. on November 15, 2001, and her computer had been shut down at 3:59 p.m. the same day. Cain v. State, 958 S.W.2d 404, 407 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). After raiding his home on November 21, 2001, police brought Russo in for questioning. It does not appear that appellant challenges the validity of this warrant or its execution. doorstep of patrick russo, a man matching the description of the mysterious stranger seen in diane holi k's neighborhood the day of the murder. A composite drawing of the man was prepared by an artist with directions from one of the homeowners. Several accesses were on November 13, 2001, two days before the Holik murder. Cranford had just gotten her children down for a nap. Holiks wrists had been bound, and there were marks around her neck indicating strangulation by ligature, meaning a garrote such as a cord or rope. Prosecutors said Russo posed as someone looking to buy a home to get into Diane Holik's house in November 2001. Appellant relies chiefly upon United States v. Carey, 172 F.3d 1268 (10th Cir.1999), perhaps the preeminent case on computer searches at the time of the trial. This inference is not negated by evidence of an alternative motive that a jury could rationally disregard. We conclude from all the evidence that a rational jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt all the essential elements of capital murder, including the aggravating element of robbery involving the timely formed intent to steal. Richard will be eligible for parole in 2044. 1998, no. Tex.R. Would love your thoughts, please comment. The record reflects that the police were able to learn from Joe Schwaleberg of Generic Systems, Inc., who operated the necrobabes.com Web site, that on February 28, 2001, Janet Russo paid for a six-month subscription to this erotic asphyxiation Web site, and that on July 21, 2001, Tony Russo paid for a six-month subscription to the same Web site. FindLaw.com Free, trusted legal information for consumers and legal professionals, SuperLawyers.com Directory of U.S. attorneys with the exclusive Super Lawyers rating, Abogado.com The #1 Spanish-language legal website for consumers, LawInfo.com Nationwide attorney directory and legal consumer resources. In his eighth point of error, appellant contends that the trial judge erred in the admission of a hearsay statement. Appellant's brief, however, relates to several statements by the witness Cynthia Barajas. See Tex.R. In fact, appellant did not request that the court reporter's record be included in the appellate record. Appellant's known fingerprints matched the prints on the black-and-white flyer and prints on the flyer box in Tammy Cranford's yard. Police Blotter: Necrobabes.com leads to murder conviction There were no positive hits on these terms. Before conducting any examination of the computers, the police obtained a search warrant to search the files on the computers for names, telephone numbers, ledger receipts, addresses, and other documentary evidence pertaining to sale and distribution of controlled substances. Id. ref'd), the court held that proof of murder coupled with evidence of a contemporaneous theft from the victim is enough to enable a jury to rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder occurred during the course of a robbery and that the accused had the intent to rob at the time of the murder. ref'd). Akia Eggleston went missing in Baltimore, Maryland in May of 2017. She opened the front door for them. The State offered and did eliminate certain parts of the testimony of Melody Blount and Tammy Tayman. The Gray court concluded that under the circumstances, it was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment for the special agent, in his routine preliminary file review, to open the JPG file, and to cease the search and obtain another warrant after viewing the nature of the material. State's Exhibit 621 was also generated by Rector and showed Internet activity on the computer on April 27, 2001, with the user-profile of a Patrick Russo and with the use of the AOL (America Online) engine to search for a subject associated to asphyx. To this exhibit, appellant expressed no objection. This exhibit is not before us for consideration of its relevancy. Patrick Anthony Russo, Diane Holiks Killer: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Appellant was released after 8:00 a.m. on November 21, 2001. Subsequently in the conversation, Barajas recalled that Holik panicked when she realized that she did not have her engagement ring and said, Oh, my God. Barajas heard retreating foot steps after Holik put the phone down. He compared the samples with known DNA samples from the victim, the appellant, the victim's fianc, and a male coworker. Patrick Russo in Texas. The jury is the sole judge of the facts, the credibility of the witnesses, and the weight to be given the evidence. Karena Rosario, Faith Hedgepeths Roommate: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Monsters Among Us: Patrick Anthony Russo http://t.co/g0QBNPm7ut via @mylifeofcrime, Vonne Monai (@VonneMonai) April 9, 2013. Before his arrest, Russo worked as a worship leader and music director at New Life In Christ Church in Bastrop, Texas. Id. @DatelineNBC https://t.co/JEoZIjMREd, Robert Maxwell (@RMaxwellKXAN) September 22, 2016. Holik explained why she was late in calling Barajas and added: This guy just left. Holik said that she planned to meet with the man and his wife the following Saturday to show her house. On October 20, 2003, appellant filed written objections to the remoteness of the testimony of certain designated witnesses citing, Texas Rules of Evidence 401 and 402. Seven years of Dateline's Missing in America: 156 still missing - NBC News Although the man had given different names to homeowners, police produced a composite drawing and published it in a local newspaper. >> but an odd coincidence. The State may prove its entire case by circumstantial evidence alone if it proves all the elements of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. ref'd) (finding no abuse of discretion in admission of prior statement by murder victim that he intended to go to defendant's shop); see Green v. State, 839 S.W.2d 935, 942 (Tex.App.-Waco 1992, pet. Appellant told her that he would pay cash, that he had just sold a ranch, and that he needed to buy quickly. The tenant (Hickson) testified that the victim called him on the telephone and stated that she was not going to work and that the guy is here to fix the air conditioner. The court wrote: Shelby Weinstein's statement that a man was there to fix the air conditioner meets the requirement that the declarant personally perceive the event, that the statement explain or describe the event, and that there be contemporaneity of the statement and the event described. 11. Proc. Diane was face down and had ligature marks around her all-over neck according to the source. Though the death case murder is still a mystery. Brewer is not applicable in light of the facts here. Resides in Bastrop, TX. On Thursday, November 15, 2001, after some difficulty in reaching Holik that morning for their weekly conference, Barajas talked to Holik in her home on the phone about 12:45 p.m. Austin time. The Tenth Circuit held that while the first image of child pornography was discovered inadvertently and was not subject to suppression because of the plain view doctrine relating to seizures, the detective exceeded the scope of the search warrant by searching for additional pornographic images. 5. Although it is not clear, it appears that appellant is limiting his point of error to certain witnesses apart from all homeowners and realtors whose testimony was not objectable or to which there was no objection. If this was an objection, it was not included in the written objections. Investigators initially believed Holik, who was 43 at the time of her death, had committed suicide, but after further review realized she was murdered. Cranford left the room and appellant stayed behind. According to the pastor, Jim Fox, appellant stated that God had gotten his attention during the November 15 storm, and that it was a determining time in his life. The statement met all the requisites as described in Brown. Diane Holik, Patrick Anthony Russo: 'Dateline NBC'-'Erotic Horror Holik was a supervisory employee of IBM and worked out of her home. Who is Tony Russo? Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Net Worth, Fast Facts Johna Ramirez, who lived in the Upland subdivision of Austin, identified appellant as the man who came to her house, which was for sale, on May 15 and November 5, 2001, both times just after her husband left for work. Hickson's testimony thus falls within the present sense impression exception to the hearsay rule. The Diane Holik cases also inspired the Investigation Discoverys show Motives And Murders: Cracking The Case. M. Scott Taliaferro, Assistant District Atty., Austin, for appellee. See Lawton v. State, 913 S.W.2d 542, 553 (Tex.Crim.App.1996); Cardenas v. State, 115 S.W.3d 54, 62 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2003, no pet.). She described appellant as opening the closet door and then dropping his arms to his side and just standing there without saying anything. He did not resume the search and find the rest of the nude images of children until after a second search warrant had been issued. 1 A jury found appellant guilty of capital murder. While the title appeared suspiciously suggestive and implicitly of a sexual nature, it did not appear to be criminal or of an incriminating character in and of itself. Keith Morrison. Almost more than five years ago, Diane Holik was brutally murdered in her own Home in Austin, Texas, by Patrick Anthony "Tony Russo". Deep Dark Secrets: Off The Market: The murder of Diane Holik by In the jury's absence, Barajas testified that Holik told her that the man offered cash for her home. ref'd)). Some 1,200 necrobabes.com related images were recovered.6. Some DNA evidence found on a green towel in Holik's home also pointed to Russo. The jury may accept or reject all or any part of any witness's testimony, Jones v. State, 984 S.W.2d 254, 258 (Tex.Crim.App.1998), and resolve any conflicts in the evidence. He began to pet the animal and the dog responded. ref'd) (Texas precedent allows state-of-mind declarations to be admitted to prove the joint conduct of the declarant and another). During the conversation Holik panicked when she realized that she did not have her expensive engagement ring on her hand. Lives in Pacific Grove, California. See Sharp v. State, 707 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.Crim.App.1986); Williams v. State, 692 S.W.2d 671, 676 (Tex.Crim.App.1984).