Found Deceased TX - Crystal Seratte McDowell, 38, Baytown, 25 Aug 2017 #3 *Arrest*

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I'm just so glad he never killed himself and especially the children before they were taken by law enforcement.

Seriously. Also, this guy seems to be a family annihilator type or the type who could kill his kids and then himself to punish his wife.

TX 19.02 states,

[FONT=&amp](1) "Adequate cause" means cause that would commonly produce a degree of anger, rage, resentment, or terror in a person of ordinary temper, sufficient to render the mind incapable of cool reflection.

[/FONT][FONT=&amp](2) "Sudden passion" means passion directly caused by and arising out of provocation by the individual killed or another acting with the person killed which passion arises at the time of the offense and is not solely the result of former provocation.[/FONT][FONT=&amp]
[/FONT]
I bolded my issue with the law. I guess I'm just confused as to how the "sudden passion" aspect of it can even be proven. There were only two people in the room, and one of them is dead. I can understand a man feeling provoked if he walks in on his wife sleeping with someone else--that is something that would inspire an immediate reaction. But in Crystal's case, we have no idea what caused him to strangle her. If it's something as insignificant as she refused to tell him where she slept that night, is that really enough? And even if it is, we're just supposed to take his word for it, not knowing what really happened in that house? For all we know he could have been right there in the garage waiting for her and she didn't have time to say a word.

I think I would be very disappointed if these questions went unanswered and he was able to somehow get years rather than decades in jail.

It will come down to the credibility of the defendant. He would have to testify in order for this murder to drop from first degree felony (5-99 years) to second degree (2-20).
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.12.htm

Here's the catch. If it was really a crime of passion then text messages should help him. But f he erased them and wiped her computer I think that supports reflection and planning. It will be hard under the circumstances for him to prove it was a second degree felony rather than first, I think.

I mean a person can learn about an affair and become super enraged and blood thirsty without it automatically being a crime of passion. The more I think about it, this is unlikely to fit because the key word is "sudden". He might be able to play it off if he pretends she came home and told him she was with someone and in a split second he flew into a rage. But if there is any evidence that e knew before hand that she was dating or was building up rage, it doesn't seem it would fit that defense (of adequate cause).
 
Quote Originally Posted by georgiajean View Post
since SM was a car enthusiast, I don't think a house without a garage would be acceptable or even a consideration to him (from my own experience with car buffs).
I 2nd this! DH insisted we have a 3 car garage home when we built and honestly, he wants a shop so he can have a "project" car in the future.
Per Deed. and legal description this is the home Sheriff Office went to and yep a 3 car garage .... Very easy to hide her car, if needed
MCDowell home Bay Vista Drive.JPG
 
Interesting thought! Does anyone have his exact quote on that handy? Or remember when and where that was said? I looked in the transcripts and can't find it. I think he said the motive could be that someone believed she was in an inappropriate relationship. Paraphrased, not word for word, because I can't remember exactly. But if he said it in that sort of way, it definitely speaks to the ex's frame of mind.

“She [McDowell] had a history of several romantic relationships,” Hawthorne says, adding, “She has just thousands of friends and a very successful real estate business. And amid that real estate business, there are all kinds of aspects that could give different people motives, whether it be the jealousy of her success or the possibility of somebody discovering that she was in an inappropriate romantic relationship with somebody.”
http://people.com/crime/missing-texas-mom-crystal-mcdowell-foul-play/
 
Interesting thought! Does anyone have his exact quote on that handy? Or remember when and where that was said? I looked in the transcripts and can't find it. I think he said the motive could be that someone believed she was in an inappropriate relationship. Paraphrased, not word for word, because I can't remember exactly. But if he said it in that sort of way, it definitely speaks to the ex's frame of mind.

Here is the quote from People:

After initially battling flooding and storm weather, investigators are now trying to work through their lengthy list of persons of interest in the case, the sheriff says.

“She [McDowell] had a history of several romantic relationships,” Hawthorne says, adding, “She has just thousands of friends and a very successful real estate business. And amid that real estate business, there are all kinds of aspects that could give different people motives, whether it be the jealousy of her success or the possibility of somebody discovering that she was in an inappropriate romantic relationship with somebody.”
http://people.com/crime/missing-texas-mom-crystal-mcdowell-foul-play/

I think he said this quote on Ashley Banfield's show. I'm looking for the video of that because it gives context of what they were discussing when it was said. I'll post if I find the video.
 
What if she came home and told him she had the boyfriend and also that she kicked him off the family cruise and was taking the boyfriend instead? Or even just told him the part about the cruise and he already knew about the boyfriend? I'm sure he knew, despite Crystal thinking he didn't because they didn't really try to hide it.
 
What if she came home and told him she had the boyfriend and also that she kicked him off the family cruise and was taking the boyfriend instead? Or even just told him the part about the cruise and he already knew about the boyfriend? I'm sure he knew, despite Crystal thinking he didn't because they didn't really try to hide it.

I think he knew all that but she might not have told him prior to that morning. I think he messed with her phone/computer to find out where she was going and what she was doing. Then when she came home, he finally confronted her, she told him/admitted it all was true and he killed her in a rage. She might have even said she was taking the kids to the boyfriends house for the hurricane and not to Dallas, adding even more to make him enraged. JMO.
 
He might be able to play it off if he pretends she came home and told him she was with someone and in a split second he flew into a rage. But if there is any evidence that e knew before hand that she was dating or was building up rage, it doesn't seem it would fit that defense (of adequate cause).

Thanks for your response. I do remember her boyfriend saying somewhere that when they spent the weekend in Galveston together (the weekend before she went missing) Crystal told him that Steve had somehow found out about it. So if that's true I'm sure he (Paul) will testify to that, and hopefully there will be some sort of evidence to go along with it to prove it. It would certainly go a long way toward proving that the conflict was ongoing rather than sudden. If there's no evidence then I imagine it will be up to who is more believable. And as we learned while she was still missing, lots of people did not consider Paul to be believable.
 
Who was it asking if there were stairs? Yes beautiful ones! And right inside the door is the stairs and the door to garage is to the left in the photo of stairs. The other is looking from kitchen to the front door. and floor plan for first floor.
McDowell home floor plan.JPG
McDowell home Stairs 2.JPGMcDowell home Stairs.JPG
 
It seems to.



If he just found out she was with someone else it would suffice even if they had conflicts over other things as well. This is a good explanation in general about the law as it applies in TX: https://brettpodolsky.com/general-law/crimes-of-passion-the-definition-history-and-laws

I think our anger over the devastation that results from crimes like this typically leads to a desire for the strongest sentences or charges. But it's not always appropriate. A person lying in wait and meticulously planning is more cold-blooded and calculating than one who flies into a rage and attacks. I'm not sure which one is at play here but it does seem that if it was premeditated it might have been better planned.

That being said, the sheriff's comments rub me the wrong way. From what I've seen thus far this man was possessive and threatening. He didn't punch her in the face causing her to hit her head and die. He strangled her for minutes while their kids lay in bed or wherever.

After the fact he seemed to recover quite quickly from whatever "rage" he was in and began to cover his tracks. His posting of several updates on his wife being missing, on his facebook, is particularly atrocious. He knew she was dead and tried to act like a worried husband. He wasn't wailing in remorse and immediately confessing. He carefully hid her car and disposed of her body and did it in a way as to make her seem like the type who meets at motels for sex.

So he had the wherewithal to plan all that out.

If not carefully planned, I don't get things like this. What kind of weirdos are so out of control with their emotions that they can spend long minutes strangling a struggling ex to death with their bare hands, over jealousy and anger? Unless he came home and found a predator harming a loved one, or another similar situation, I don't believe a normal person can be "provoked" to commit murder or assault. This type of person has had anger and control and domination issues previously. I don't think a nice man is capable of this.

I believe this guy had a fragile ego and was abusive in some form toward his spouse. He couldn't allow her to leave him and became increasingly more enraged and desperate to control her and then to punish her.

He is a danger to society and needs to be locked up for decades at a minimum. I don't like the sheriff's sympathetic tone and comments that almost seem to blame the victim. I hope that's just tactic to keep him cooperating. I don't know.

This. All of this. I agree.

He's only "tearfully admitting" because he knows the gig is up and he's caught. He feels sorry for himself. Nope, not gonna fall for the "accident" plea.

JMO
 
Interesting thought! Does anyone have his exact quote on that handy? Or remember when and where that was said? I looked in the transcripts and can't find it. I think he said the motive could be that someone believed she was in an inappropriate relationship. Paraphrased, not word for word, because I can't remember exactly. But if he said it in that sort of way, it definitely speaks to the ex's frame of mind.

-Gardener thats a very good observation. Id like to have a stand-alone narrative from the sheriff to date.
 
Thanks for your response. I do remember her boyfriend saying somewhere that when they spent the weekend in Galveston together (the weekend before she went missing) Crystal told him that Steve had somehow found out about it. So if that's true I'm sure he (Paul) will testify to that, and hopefully there will be some sort of evidence to go along with it to prove it. It would certainly go a long way toward proving that the conflict was ongoing rather than sudden. If there's no evidence then I imagine it will be up to who is more believable. And as we learned while she was still missing, lots of people did not consider Paul to be believable.

I wonder where she told SM she was going to be if not home with the kids. I wonder if they had any sort of weekend rotation with the kids where one parent would be with them, giving her every other weekend to do whatever. I wonder if it was common for her to be gone as much as possible (I would!). If it was normal for her to be home like it was prior to their divorce, I do wonder what she told him she was doing when gone for the weekend, if that wasn't her usual routine.
 
“She [McDowell] had a history of several romantic relationships,” Hawthorne says, adding, “She has just thousands of friends and a very successful real estate business. And amid that real estate business, there are all kinds of aspects that could give different people motives, whether it be the jealousy of her success or the possibility of somebody discovering that she was in an inappropriate romantic relationship with somebody.”
http://people.com/crime/missing-texas-mom-crystal-mcdowell-foul-play/

Thanks for this! Also thanks Gardener! Hmm... so the only part that might be part of what Steve could have said, in regards to a crime of passion is the "discovering" part. Maybe he got confirmation that day and he couldn't handle it.:(
 
This. All of this. I agree.

He's only "tearfully admitting" because he knows the gig is up and he's caught. He feels sorry for himself. Nope, not gonna fall for the "accident" plea.

JMO

Agreed. And I think the phone and computer would reveal damaging evidence against him. I'm completely against Apples terms of 'security' and privacy breach. Even prior to this. There should be a consumer option to choose the outcome for it in the least.

I have an Ipad that I am locked out of. At that time I had not synced to Itunes, Icloud or backed up to my computer yet. No one has been able to help so far.
 
Seriously. Also, this guy seems to be a family annihilator type or the type who could kill his kids and then himself to punish his wife.



It will come down to the credibility of the defendant. He would have to testify in order for this murder to drop from first degree felony (5-99 years) to second degree (2-20).
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.12.htm

Here's the catch. If it was really a crime of passion then text messages should help him. But f he erased them and wiped her computer I think that supports reflection and planning. It will be hard under the circumstances for him to prove it was a second degree felony rather than first, I think.

I mean a person can learn about an affair and become super enraged and blood thirsty without it automatically being a crime of passion. The more I think about it, this is unlikely to fit because the key word is "sudden". He might be able to play it off if he pretends she came home and told him she was with someone and in a split second he flew into a rage. But if there is any evidence that e knew before hand that she was dating or was building up rage, it doesn't seem it would fit that defense (of adequate cause).

Crystal told her uncle her ex told her she would never leave him or their home. If that doesn't suggest premeditation, then I don't know what does. Not sure if it will be allowed in court, though.
 
Agreed. And I think the phone and computer would reveal damaging evidence against him. I'm completely against Apples terms of 'security' and privacy breach. Even prior to this. There should be a consumer option to choose the outcome for it in the least.

I have an Ipad that I am locked out of. At that time I had not synced to Itunes, Icloud or backed up to my computer yet. No one has been able to help so far.

If you registered t to your Apple ID when you set it up, can you go into findmyiphone and do a system wipe remotely? I don't think you have to have backed it up to do that.
 
Knowing he threatened to harm himself and the kids (from her 911 call) and knowing that he was the suspect LE had in the cross hairs really makes me wonder about the decision that the kids stay with him. This is was a desperate time for SM. He could so easily have snapped and harmed the kids and himself. Risky!
 
Will his court appearance today be live online

-Thanks Posters for the timely updates. I'm traveling and its been a challenge to get the latest news.

What was the outcome in court? Plea?

Seems we are still only getting details in pieces. "In the living room"?
Did she see the kids prior to?
 
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