GUILTY TX - Jennifer Cave, 21, brutally murdered, Austin, 16 Aug 2005

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mysteriew

mysteriew

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The search continues in Austin for a University of Texas student accused in the death of a 21-year-old Corpus Christi woman.

Police found the body of Jennifer Cave on Thursday in a condominum in a West Campus neighborhood. A family friend says Cave's body had been mutilated.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3748371
 
The suspect in a brutal homicide in the West Campus area near the University of Texas has been captured.

Colton Pitonyak, 22, is accused in the grisly killing of Jennifer Cave, 21. He is charged with intentional murder.

Pitonyak is jailed in the Maverick County jail in Eagle Pass. Authorities say he and an underage female were in Mexico when they were spotted by authorities.

On Monday, police revealed that the last call Cave made was to a friend just after 1 a.m. Thursday. She was concerned about Pitonyak's behavior. During the call, she told her friend that Pitonyak was very upset after losing his cell phone.

The next day, Cave's parents called police because she didn't show up for her new job. Cave's stepfather forced his way into Pitonyak's condo and discovered Cave's mutilated body. She had been stabbed, shot and dismembered.

According to Pitonyak's arrest warrant, police found a receipt from a hardware store the day after his date with Cave. Among the items he bought -- carpet cleaner, a hacksaw, ammonia, an odor eliminator and latex gloves.

Police say they tracked Pitonyak's cell phone with the help of U.S. Marshals. It showed Pitonak's cell phone was last used in Monterrey, Mexico on the day Cave's body was found.
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou082305_mh_utmurder.a10e0bc1.html
 
There is another arrest warrant that has been issued in connection with last week's west campus murder.

Austin Police have charged 21-year-old UT senior Laura Hall with "hindering the apprehension of suspected killer Colton Pitonyak.

He's is accused of shooting, stabbing and mutilating 21-year-old Jennifer Cave after a dinner date.

Laura Hall was caught with Colton Pitonyak across the border in Piedras Negras.
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=3771740&nav=0s3cdo8F
 
mysteriew said:
The suspect in a brutal homicide in the West Campus area near the University of Texas has been captured.

Colton Pitonyak, 22, is accused in the grisly killing of Jennifer Cave, 21. He is charged with intentional murder.

Pitonyak is jailed in the Maverick County jail in Eagle Pass. Authorities say he and an underage female were in Mexico when they were spotted by authorities.

On Monday, police revealed that the last call Cave made was to a friend just after 1 a.m. Thursday. She was concerned about Pitonyak's behavior. During the call, she told her friend that Pitonyak was very upset after losing his cell phone.

The next day, Cave's parents called police because she didn't show up for her new job. Cave's stepfather forced his way into Pitonyak's condo and discovered Cave's mutilated body. She had been stabbed, shot and dismembered.

According to Pitonyak's arrest warrant, police found a receipt from a hardware store the day after his date with Cave. Among the items he bought -- carpet cleaner, a hacksaw, ammonia, an odor eliminator and latex gloves.

Police say they tracked Pitonyak's cell phone with the help of U.S. Marshals. It showed Pitonak's cell phone was last used in Monterrey, Mexico on the day Cave's body was found.
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou082305_mh_utmurder.a10e0bc1.html
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh can you believe the horror of what that stepfather had to see when he forced his way into the condo??

How heartwrenching. I am sure it will stay with him until he dies.

My heart goes out to the family.

Ocean
 
Austin police on Friday arrested the UT student who they say fled to Mexico with murder suspect Colton Pitonyak Aug. 17.

Laura Hall, a UT government senior, is charged with hindering apprehension, a third-degree felony. Bond has been set at $175,000, said police department spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz.

Pitonyak, a UT finance junior, is charged with the first-degree murder of Jennifer Cave, 21, who was found dead in Pitonyak's West Campus apartment Aug. 18. Austin police found Cave with gunshot and stab wounds and severed limbs.

Hall and Pitonyak left for Mexico the night of Aug. 17 in her Cadillac, according to the arrest warrant for Hall. Hall told police she went willingly. Mexican authorities detained Pitonyak and Hall, and brought them to Eagle Pass for immigration violations early the following Tuesday, Aug. 23. Hall was released to her father, Loren Hall, and Pitonyak was held in Eagle Pass until Thursday morning when he returned to Austin in custody.

Hall and Pitonyak's flight to Mexico seemed straight out of "Bonnie and Clyde," said Aziz, Hall's friend and a government junior, told police.

Hall acted like Pitonyak's girlfriend, Fernandez told police.

"[Colton is] the most generous, kindest person that I have even been blessed to spend time with," reads Hall's facebook.com profile
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/med...es/Student.Arrested.In.Cave.Case-971139.shtml
 
I recently watched a news program about this case, and am convinced Laura Hall was involved in some part of this murder/dismemberment.

At the very end of the program they pointed out that Laura had Colton's name tatooed on her ankle AFTER the murder.....
 
I saw the show, too... Laura Hall's arrogance and lying was very evident in her interview... you could tell the girl was slinging a line of BS. The 911 call of Cave's parents finding their daughter was just heartbreaking... :(
 
Laura Ashley Hall was convicted of felony tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution and was serving a 5 year sentence in connection with the 2005 murder and dismemberment of UT student Jennifer Cave. Colton Pitonyak is also serving a 55 year sentence for his part in Cave's Murder.

jennifercavemurder.jpg

The 3rd Court of Appeals on Feb. 19 overturned the five-year sentence of Laura Ashley Hall-- the appellate court upheld Hall's actual conviction, but ruled that prosecutorial missteps entitle Hall to a new sentencing trial. A new jury will be seated to hear all of the evidence and issue a new verdict re: sentencing. Pending the new trial, Hall is free on $150,000 bond.

You can read the appellate Opinion here.

Hall To Get a New Trial, via MyFoxHouston, Feb. 19 2009

Laura Hall Free On Bond, via The Austin Chronicle, Feb. 27, 2009

Anyone who hasn't heard about this case should check it out-- very, very disturbing.

The brutal slaying of Jennifer Cave was profiled during an episode of 48 Hours:
Read In Too Deep, 48 Hours Transcript.
Watch the broadcast online here.

Kathryn Casey also profiled the murder of Jennifer Cave in her true crime book Amazon.com: A Descent Into Hell: The True Story of an Altar Boy, a Cheerleader, and a Twisted Texas Murder (9780061230875): Kathryn Casey: [email]Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com[/email]/images/I/51bvG8-79bL.@@AMEPARAM@@51bvG8-79bL

Jennifer Cave's mother also worked to get the Texas legislature to enact The Jennifer Cave Act, a bill which allows the criminal desecration of a corpse to be prosecuted as a felony.

--

Did anyone else follow this case? I was outraged by Hall's original sentence and am now totally shocked that she's already free!
 
Yes, I have followed this case. I am up the road from UT. I'm completely disgusted and nauseated that she is free. Her original sentence was a farce. :furious:
 
I'm reading Kathryn Casey's book right now. I'm just at the part where Colton has been arrested and Laura is telling everyone her story is going to be that they were on vacation and she knew nothing about Jennifer's murder.

What a horrible, horrible tragedy this was.
 
OMG :eek:

My daughter is finishing up her freshman year at UT as I type...I can't believe I have never heard of this case! She'll also be moving into an apartment in West Campus for the summer - yikes! I'm off to buy the book now....
 
I recently read the book by Kathryn Casey about this case. What a slap on the wrist Laura got.
 
I have never even heard about this case...all I can say is WHAAaaaaaat? she's getting out? S*I*C*K
 
I just read this book. There haven't been many people on this earth that have disgusted as much as Laura and Colton.
 
Woman convicted in connection with grisly Austin murder screams, begs for release in court

by CLARA TUMA / KVUE News
Posted on February 9, 2010 at 8:50 AM

AUSTIN, Texas -- A woman convicted of tampering with evidence in a brutal 2005 murder is back in jail.

Laura Hall screamed and begged to be released as deputies forcibly removed her from Judge Wilford Flowers' courtroom Monday morning.

Hall had hoped to remain free on bond until a new sentencing hearing, which is tentatively scheduled for next month, but the judge said he had no choice but to order her locked up until that hearing takes place.

Hall was convicted of hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence in connection with the 2005 murder of Jennifer Cave.

When told she would be taken into custody, Hall began screaming: "Please get me out of this," and "You need to let me go home."

Court officers forcibly removed her from the courtroom. Outside of public view, Hall apparently collapsed because officers could be heard saying loudly, "Get on your feet. On your feet."

more here

http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news...reams-begs-for-release-in-court-83883527.html
 
Oh my gosh! I'm glad she is back in jail. What did she mean "she is innocent"? She has been convicted! And the appeal was not even about her conviction - just how much time she received. I hope she gets a whole lot longer that 5 years, now!

Salem
 
i saw this case on 48 hours mystery and to tell you truth i still am not convinced she did what they charged her with.
if i recall the evideence they had was her fingerprints in the living room (not on the bathtub where she was dismembered) and this guys testimony to try to save some of his own behind.
 
The appeal was completed in March of 2009. Why has it taken this long to put her back in jail until the new sentencing trial?

Salem
 
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