SnoopKaliColl
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2023
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 4
Sophia and Daniel Sullivan grew up in my hometown and we were all friends, which is why I am so attached to this case and trying to find more answers and justice. After the two began dating in our hometown, and eventually marrying and having a son, they moved to Texas to live closer to Sophia's mother. Sophia became a beloved teacher within the Marfa school district and lived in nearby Fort Davis. Daniel took a job in Odessa, TX and chose to live separately from Sophia and their son during the week to avoid long commutes every day. Daniel's and Sophia's marriage began to unravel completely when Daniel stated he had a work trip, and was arrested trying to bring drugs from Texas to Colorado to sell in the winter of 2017. During the time their marriage was falling apart, the future defense attorney uncovered texts from Sophia to another Marfa ISD teacher that they considered "flirty" and tried to use them to paint Sophia in a bad light and cast doubt on what happened.
In the early morning hours of Friday, March 16, 2018, a masked man entered the house of Sophia Sullivan and her son, disabled the landline phone, was able to get past the large dog, enter Sophia's bedroom, and repeatedly stabbed her to death. The ensuing struggle that happened when Sophia was being attacked, along with the barking of the dog, woke up their 7-year-old son. When the child walked out of his bedroom he was confronted by the masked man. When the masked man asked the boy "Do you know who I am?" he said yes he was his daddy. The child, who had a great relationship with his father and by all accounts adored him, swears that he could see his dad's beard hanging out below the mask, recognized his voice, and he did not feel intimidated by the masked man because he knew it was his father trying to pretend to be scary. The masked murderer told the boy that he wasn't his father, he mentioned he was the Golden State Killer (which is odd because of it being a month before the arrest of the actual GDK), and instructed him to go back to sleep and not wake up his mother. The son is thought to be on the autistic spectrum, but it is unknown if he has an official diagnosis to back that up. Regardless, when their son woke up again later in the morning, he tried to go about his day like nothing had happened as if still in shock. He insisted he did not want to wake up his mother and proceeded to eat whatever he could find and watch cartoons, just going through the motions like he was on autopilot. Just before 7pm in the evening of March 16, 2018, likely around 16 hours after the murder, Daniel Sullivan showed up at the residence and took his son over to the neighbor's house, and instructed them to call 911. While the neighbors were watching the boy, they began to ask if he knew anything about what happened. Without any hesitation, he insisted his dad had stopped by the night before in a mask and hurt his mother. When the police showed up Daniel was sitting on the front porch waiting. When they went inside the house, police commented about how odd it was that the family dog was acting so aggressively towards Daniel if he came to stay there every weekend. Upon evidence collection and interrogation, Daniel was found to have Sophia's blood on his hands which he insisted happened when he found her, and he also failed a polygraph test. He swears his neighbors must have coached his son to point the finger at him, despite the boy stating this again multiple times. He always maintained it was his father, but later confused the evidence by bringing up the Golden State Killer. Because Daniel lived in the house every weekend, his DNA was all over the house. The investigation also could not prove that Daniel has made an early morning trip from Odessa to Fort Davis TX, Daniel's car was old and without GPS, and he had left his cell phone in Odessa.
The extent of the police investigation is unknown. The entire county of Jeff Davis (Where Fort Davis is located) had a population of 2,252 in 2018. So the resources available, and police competency when it comes to properly investigating brutal murders is unknown. Did they attempt to gather surveillance footage of gas stations along the route and the applicable timeline? Did they test the back of Daniel's car to see if there was gas spilled from carrying gas containers to avoid stopping at a gas station? Were there any license plate readers on the major roads outside of Odessa on the route to Fort Davis? This is all unknown.
Daniel was arrested and charged with murdering Sophia Sullivan. Despite Daniel's son testifying against his father, and all of the circumstantial evidence, the trial ended in a mistrial. This was pre-pandemic, and while the charges have not officially been dropped, the DA responsible for prosecuting Daniel does not know at this time if they will try him again despite saying they would at the end of the 2019 mistrial.
A reporter for the Texas Observer who is extremely interested in the case has been continually in contact with me, Sophia's family, other friends, and even Daniel. He has been updating me as I still live in Illinois. He let me know that currently Sophia and Daniel's son is still in the custody of Sophia's mother, who is filing a wrongful death suit against Daniel to ensure she can retain full custody as Daniel is trying to regain custody. Daniel also was allowed to leave the state of Texas despite the not fully dropped charges under certain stipulations that he lives with IL family and regularly check-in.
Fort Davis Man Charged in Murder of Wife, Marfa ISD Teacher
In Fort Davis trial, man stands accused of killing wife
Sullivan trial ends in mistrial
In the early morning hours of Friday, March 16, 2018, a masked man entered the house of Sophia Sullivan and her son, disabled the landline phone, was able to get past the large dog, enter Sophia's bedroom, and repeatedly stabbed her to death. The ensuing struggle that happened when Sophia was being attacked, along with the barking of the dog, woke up their 7-year-old son. When the child walked out of his bedroom he was confronted by the masked man. When the masked man asked the boy "Do you know who I am?" he said yes he was his daddy. The child, who had a great relationship with his father and by all accounts adored him, swears that he could see his dad's beard hanging out below the mask, recognized his voice, and he did not feel intimidated by the masked man because he knew it was his father trying to pretend to be scary. The masked murderer told the boy that he wasn't his father, he mentioned he was the Golden State Killer (which is odd because of it being a month before the arrest of the actual GDK), and instructed him to go back to sleep and not wake up his mother. The son is thought to be on the autistic spectrum, but it is unknown if he has an official diagnosis to back that up. Regardless, when their son woke up again later in the morning, he tried to go about his day like nothing had happened as if still in shock. He insisted he did not want to wake up his mother and proceeded to eat whatever he could find and watch cartoons, just going through the motions like he was on autopilot. Just before 7pm in the evening of March 16, 2018, likely around 16 hours after the murder, Daniel Sullivan showed up at the residence and took his son over to the neighbor's house, and instructed them to call 911. While the neighbors were watching the boy, they began to ask if he knew anything about what happened. Without any hesitation, he insisted his dad had stopped by the night before in a mask and hurt his mother. When the police showed up Daniel was sitting on the front porch waiting. When they went inside the house, police commented about how odd it was that the family dog was acting so aggressively towards Daniel if he came to stay there every weekend. Upon evidence collection and interrogation, Daniel was found to have Sophia's blood on his hands which he insisted happened when he found her, and he also failed a polygraph test. He swears his neighbors must have coached his son to point the finger at him, despite the boy stating this again multiple times. He always maintained it was his father, but later confused the evidence by bringing up the Golden State Killer. Because Daniel lived in the house every weekend, his DNA was all over the house. The investigation also could not prove that Daniel has made an early morning trip from Odessa to Fort Davis TX, Daniel's car was old and without GPS, and he had left his cell phone in Odessa.
The extent of the police investigation is unknown. The entire county of Jeff Davis (Where Fort Davis is located) had a population of 2,252 in 2018. So the resources available, and police competency when it comes to properly investigating brutal murders is unknown. Did they attempt to gather surveillance footage of gas stations along the route and the applicable timeline? Did they test the back of Daniel's car to see if there was gas spilled from carrying gas containers to avoid stopping at a gas station? Were there any license plate readers on the major roads outside of Odessa on the route to Fort Davis? This is all unknown.
Daniel was arrested and charged with murdering Sophia Sullivan. Despite Daniel's son testifying against his father, and all of the circumstantial evidence, the trial ended in a mistrial. This was pre-pandemic, and while the charges have not officially been dropped, the DA responsible for prosecuting Daniel does not know at this time if they will try him again despite saying they would at the end of the 2019 mistrial.
A reporter for the Texas Observer who is extremely interested in the case has been continually in contact with me, Sophia's family, other friends, and even Daniel. He has been updating me as I still live in Illinois. He let me know that currently Sophia and Daniel's son is still in the custody of Sophia's mother, who is filing a wrongful death suit against Daniel to ensure she can retain full custody as Daniel is trying to regain custody. Daniel also was allowed to leave the state of Texas despite the not fully dropped charges under certain stipulations that he lives with IL family and regularly check-in.
Fort Davis Man Charged in Murder of Wife, Marfa ISD Teacher
In Fort Davis trial, man stands accused of killing wife
Sullivan trial ends in mistrial
Last edited: