TX TX - Heidi Broussard, 33, Fnd Deceased, & Margo Carey, 2 weeks, Fnd Alive, Austin, 12 Dec 2019 #10

[Dave F.]

They seem to be skipping around the issue, likely because of the sealing order the judge put on this case.. I believe it is saying Fieramusca is charged with those 3 things; police have not named Fieramusca as a suspect in the murder of HB; however, apparently Austin police have said they HAVE a suspect who has been charged with the same crimes (as Fieramusca) - meaning... Fieramusca is the suspect but they are not naming her for the murder. imo.

Not trying to be a lawyer here, but if I understand Texas penal code correctly, a conviction for the charge of AGGRAVATED KIDNAPPING carries a sentence of 99 years, which is generally called “Life in Prison”.

Under a charge of CAPITAL MURDER, the state can seek the “Death Penalty” but the jury still has the option to choose 99 years, or “Life in Prison”.

Thus, the actual effect for pursuing a charge of murder would only up the results by adding a possible death sentence with the final decision on the DP being the responsibility of the jury. In cases of CAPITAL MURDER, I think it is quite common for the prosecutor to present the evidence to a secret grand jury prior to filing the charge. The grand jury finding is not binding on the prosecutor, although an indictment can take the place of an initial evidentiary hearing. IMO, IANAL

Links:

TEXAS PENAL CODE

TITLE 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON
CHAPTER 20. KIDNAPPING, UNLAWFUL RESTRAINT, AND
SMUGGLING OF PERSONS
Sec. 20.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
Sec. 20.04. AGGRAVATED KIDNAPPING. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly abducts another person with the intent to:
(4) inflict bodily injury on him or violate or abuse him sexually;
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a felony of the first degree.
PENAL CODE CHAPTER 20. KIDNAPPING, UNLAWFUL RESTRAINT, AND SMUGGLING OF PERSONS
TITLE 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON, CHAPTER 19. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE, Sec. 19.03. CAPITAL MURDER, which reads:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder as defined under Section (b)(1) and
(2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, …………..
PENAL CODE CHAPTER 19. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE
TITLE 3. PUNISHMENTS, CHAPTER 12. PUNISHMENTS, SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS, which states:
Sec. 12.31. CAPITAL FELONY. (a) An individual adjudged guilty of a capital felony in a case in which the state seeks the death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life without parole or by death. An individual adjudged guilty of a capital felony in a case in which the state does not seek the death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for:
(2) a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is mandatory on conviction of the capital felony, if the individual committed the offense when 18 years of age or older.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/pdf/PE.12.pdf
The State may seek the Death penalty. Under conditions defined as:
Sec. 12.01. PUNISHMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CODE. (a) A person adjudged guilty of an offense under this code shall be punished in accordance with this chapter and the Code of Criminal Procedure.
SUBCHAPTER C. ORDINARY FELONY PUNISHMENTS
Sec. 12.31. CAPITAL FELONY. (a) An individual adjudged guilty of a capital felony in a case in which the state seeks the death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life without parole or by death. An individual adjudged guilty of a capital felony in a case in which the state does not seek the death penalty shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for:
(2) life without parole, if the individual committed the offense when 18 years of age or older.
(b) In a capital felony trial in which the state seeks the death penalty, prospective jurors shall be informed that a sentence of life imprisonment without parole or death is mandatory on conviction of a capital felony. In a capital felony trial in which the state does not seek the death penalty, prospective jurors shall be informed that the state is not seeking the death penalty and that:
(2) a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is mandatory on conviction of the capital felony, if the individual committed the offense when 18 years of age or older.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/pdf/PE.12.pdf

 

[gliving]

Forgive me if I'm confused (this case does that to me) but who was sitting on the covered porch with MF in daylight hours if not LE? Was it not dark in TX at 8 pm on the 19th?

eta: maybe it's not the case , just the reporting

I have the same question. I'm thinking LE was on site much earlier than has been reported. The white lettering on the hoodie matches what MF was wearing in court the next morning. Sunset was about 5:30 pm that day.

 

[Factoria]

I'm not suggesting she will or would 'get off' on the charges, I'm wondering if it is possible that she has been sent to a psych hospital for testing to see if she is mentally competent to stand trial.. likely on the demands of her lawyer, and police could possibly be postponing the laying of the murder charge until the findings come back. Considering that this seems to have been a well planned out event, I doubt if MF would be able to claim 'insanity' (for lack of a better word right now), but her legal reps may be scratching the bottom of the barrel to try every avenue in their client's defense?

What other reasons could there possibly be for the delay in laying murder charges under these circumstances?

I agree that MF's lawyer may very well make an attempt to have her client deemed unstable to stand trial. It won't hold up, IMO, but, really... what else has she got?!?!

That said, there's really no rush to lay murder charges, since MF's not going anywhere. LE can take all the time they need to get all their ducks in a row for a slam dunk case before laying those additional charges. No need to start the clock ticking before they're ready to meet whatever 'speedy trial' requests may come in from the Defence.

 

[deugirtni]

I have the same question. I'm thinking LE was on site much earlier than has been reported. The white lettering on the hoodie matches what MF was wearing in court the next morning. Sunset was about 5:30 pm that day.

Agreed. I don't think it has ever been stated as to what time police showed up at MF's address, only the time they entered the home. According to at least one MSM report that I ran across yesterday, it said Baby Margot had been taken to hospital in 'the afternoon'. LE may have been there for several hours before they got their search warrants and entered the home.

 

[deugirtni]

I agree that MF's lawyer may very well make an attempt to have her client deemed unstable to stand trial. It won't hold up, IMO, but, really... what else has she got?!?!

That said, there's really no rush to lay murder charges, since MF's not going anywhere. LE can take all the time they need to get all their ducks in a row for a slam dunk case before laying those additional charges. No need to start the clock ticking before they're ready to meet whatever 'speedy trial' requests may come in from the Defence.

True, but from what we already know, it already seems like a slam-dunk case, and it has already been two weeks. I realize there is no hurry since MF is already being held in custody, and that in the end, perhaps a murder charge will not realistically add more years to a sentence for kidnapping, however it is only just that she be tried also for the murder.

Just curious also - how does a court date get changed withOUT going to court to change it?

 

[Trudie]

I agree that MF's lawyer may very well make an attempt to have her client deemed unstable to stand trial. It won't hold up, IMO, but, really... what else has she got?!?!

That said, there's really no rush to lay murder charges, since MF's not going anywhere. LE can take all the time they need to get all their ducks in a row for a slam dunk case before laying those additional charges. No need to start the clock ticking before they're ready to meet whatever 'speedy trial' requests may come in from the Defence.

Also, it was said LE continues to search several locations between Austin & Houston. What a timely endeavor. With so many cameras these days, they might have a good idea of MF’s route or if she stayed in Austin area a day or so.
I don’t expect murder charges before LE wraps up their search for evidence. Moo

One person arrested in Harris County in kidnapping, death of Heidi Broussard, missing Austin mom

Multiple scenes are being investigated for evidence between Austin and Harris County, authorities said.

 

[Trudie]

True, but from what we already know, it already seems like a slam-dunk case, and it has already been two weeks. I realize there is no hurry since MF is already being held in custody, and that in the end, perhaps a murder charge will not realistically add more years to a sentence for kidnapping, however it is only just that she be tried also for the murder.

Just curious also - how does a court date get changed withOUT going to court to change it?

The original date was listed as a placeholder date, we discussed it on the previous thread (I think). The DA said MF’s atty requested this delay, per previously linked info.
moo

 

[Dave F.]

Forgive me if I'm confused (this case does that to me) but who was sitting on the covered porch with MF in daylight hours if not LE? Was it not dark in TX at 8 pm on the 19th?

eta: maybe it's not the case , just the reporting

It's the reporting. Lt. Brad Herried, the Austin Police Detective in overall charge of the case, stated that Houston police had been "watching the house" since earlier in the week. On a routine drive-by of the watch a Houston police officer spotted an individual of interest OUTSIDE the residence in daylight hours and initiated a legal detainment. From there, it quickly escalated into search and discovery with multiple agencies participating, which lasted through the night to the early hours of the next morning. Houston news crews are on top of the police scanner channels 24/7, and have mobile units that can quickly get to the scene of police activity. I think we are seeing night and day videos because it started in the afternoon, and lasted into the might. IMO
Heidi Broussard press conference - Bing video

 

[scdiv]

I have only a guess.
First, I suspect that if the programmer for the small courts website knew what caused this glitch, it would have been fixed. Second, I believe that when the courts system switched to the program in use now, some active files were imported from the previous system. By perhaps a single erroneous key stroke, someone's forwarding address in Fort Wayne, Indiana was imported into the Plaintiff address system, for the State of Texas.


[modsnip: snipped screenshot and info related to a court record which has nothing to do with this case]

Wow! Good theory/explanation, thank you. Makes sense. Glitches happen. Reminds me a bit of the guy who (intentionally) had his license plate customized as "NULL" thinking he would outsmart the system and void any parking or speeding tickets - but it actually triggered thousands of dollars worth of tickets to be mailed to his house, all addressed to him. Apparently, a privately operated citation processing center kept a database of outstanding tickets attributed to all NULL plates - these are tickets with missing or incomplete plate data, not plates that literally read "NULL," like the one he owned. Unfortunately for the guy, the system in question wasn't sophisticated enough to differentiate the two inputs, automatically sending all $12,000 worth of NULL tickets his way. Lol. Not quite the same, but just how sometimes these systems have a software bug that isn't corrected.

I admit I’m very behind and am trying to get caught up. Am I correct that no one has yet been named as the suspect in Heidi’s actual murder? I’m confused by the part of this article that I have bolded. The article mentions MF’s charges, but also mentions Heidi’s death. So, (to me), it is unclear what is meant by “same crimes”.

Is there a second unnamed suspect in custody for a charge of murder?

Fieramusca, 33, is charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse. Although authorities have not publicly named her as a suspect in Broussard's death, Austin police have said they have a suspect who has been charged with the same crimes.

Austin American-Statesman

Same deal as before - American Statesman awkwardly worded articles that sounds like it could be a second person when in fact it's a clumsy way to say that Fieramusca is the unnamed person charged with those crimes.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

It's the reporting. Lt. Brad Herried, the Austin Police Detective in overall charge of the case, stated that Houston police had been "watching the house" since earlier in the week. On a routine drive-by of the watch a Houston police officer spotted an individual of interest OUTSIDE the residence in daylight hours and initiated a legal detainment. From there, it quickly escalated into search and discovery with multiple agencies participating, which lasted through the night to the early hours of the next morning. Houston news crews are on top of the police scanner channels 24/7, and have mobile units that can quickly get to the scene of police activity. I think we are seeing night and day videos because it started in the afternoon, and lasted into the might. IMO
Heidi Broussard press conference - Bing video

re "Houston news crews are on top of the police scanner channels 24/7, and have mobile units that can quickly get to the scene of police activity", I don't think that we have had a rewind or live on the downstairs for this case yet. Interesting that media was there so quickly, and even one of our posters noted such activity earlier than when it "hit" mainstream.

 

[crazyrabbitlady]

I work in a psych clinic and I have seen some really crazy things....it really wouldn't surprise me to see the lawyers try to claim insanity plea. Even though it wasn't a spurt of the moment thing...I see them trying to say that MF truly thought she was pregnant, a psuedopregnancy (claiming HB pregnancy may of started her psychotic break), then when she seen HB baby she truly thought it was hers? (Using the fact she stated to detectives it WAS her baby). Reaching out on a limb there... I have seen crazier things that patients with psychosis have done...all just MOO, but I can see the lawyers using that (Although personally I do believe she was sane at the time).

 

[susiQ]

I have the same question. I'm thinking LE was on site much earlier than has been reported. The white lettering on the hoodie matches what MF was wearing in court the next morning. Sunset was about 5:30 pm that day.

Thank you for providing the pic!

 

[susiQ]

I agree that MF's lawyer may very well make an attempt to have her client deemed unstable to stand trial. It won't hold up, IMO, but, really... what else has she got?!?!

That said, there's really no rush to lay murder charges, since MF's not going anywhere. LE can take all the time they need to get all their ducks in a row for a slam dunk case before laying those additional charges. No need to start the clock ticking before they're ready to meet whatever 'speedy trial' requests may come in from the Defence.

Unless, some whacko puts up the $60,000 bond. Her bond is set for $600,000, right? But someone only needs 10% of that to get her out. Yikes! Scary thought, no? I'd be much more comfortable with a capital murder charge on her as soon as they are relatively sure they can get a conviction. JMO

 

[dixiegirl1035]

It's the reporting. Lt. Brad Herried, the Austin Police Detective in overall charge of the case, stated that Houston police had been "watching the house" since earlier in the week. On a routine drive-by of the watch a Houston police officer spotted an individual of interest OUTSIDE the residence in daylight hours and initiated a legal detainment. From there, it quickly escalated into search and discovery with multiple agencies participating, which lasted through the night to the early hours of the next morning. Houston news crews are on top of the police scanner channels 24/7, and have mobile units that can quickly get to the scene of police activity. I think we are seeing night and day videos because it started in the afternoon, and lasted into the might. IMO
Heidi Broussard press conference - Bing video

I don't see that said in this video what you are quoting. "Lt. Brad Herried, the Austin Police Detective in overall charge of the case, stated that Houston police had been "watching the house" since earlier in the week. On a routine drive-by of the watch a Houston police officer spotted an individual of interest OUTSIDE the residence in daylight hours and initiated a legal detainment. "

Queue up to 2 minutes 20 seconds...
I hear "as the week progressed, this current week, a lead was generated that created a location of interest in the Houston area in Harris County. Federal, State and local resources deployed to that area of Harris county and began to investigate a residence there. Ultimately those investigators encountered an individual outside of that residence who was detained on Thursday, December 19th 2019. As the evening progressed a search warrant was issued for property....."

I differ in my conclusion from you that they stated there was a routine drive by of the watch.

I disagree that they stated they had been watching the house since earlier in the week. Investigation of the house could merely be what we have been doing here. e.g. who owns it, who lives there etc.

Although.... I will say, I don't disbelieve that is what happened, if that makes sense. I think we all are still racking our brains as to what was the lead, when they monitored the house at the outset, and did indeed the MF not go home straight after the abduction, but instead went somewhere else prior to going home days after on Thursday. If they were indeed monitoring the house live, why the need to ask the neighbors if the other vehicle was there the night before driving through (or were they asking that as to the night of the abduction?)

 

[Trudie]

Unless, some whacko puts up the $60,000 bond. Her bond is set for $600,000, right? But someone only needs 10% of that to get her out. Yikes! Scary thought, no? I'd be much more comfortable with a capital murder charge on her as soon as they are relatively sure they can get a conviction. JMO

She seems less than popular, imo. It looks like no one wants her out of jail. Moo

 

[susiQ]

It's the reporting. Lt. Brad Herried, the Austin Police Detective in overall charge of the case, stated that Houston police had been "watching the house" since earlier in the week. On a routine drive-by of the watch a Houston police officer spotted an individual of interest OUTSIDE the residence in daylight hours and initiated a legal detainment. From there, it quickly escalated into search and discovery with multiple agencies participating, which lasted through the night to the early hours of the next morning. Houston news crews are on top of the police scanner channels 24/7, and have mobile units that can quickly get to the scene of police activity. I think we are seeing night and day videos because it started in the afternoon, and lasted into the might. IMO
Heidi Broussard press conference - Bing video

Thanks @Dave F. ! This takes some of the confusion out of it

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I work in a psych clinic and I have seen some really crazy things....it really wouldn't surprise me to see the lawyers try to claim insanity plea. Even though it wasn't a spurt of the moment thing...I see them trying to say that MF truly thought she was pregnant, a psuedopregnancy (claiming HB pregnancy may of started her psychotic break), then when she seen HB baby she truly thought it was hers? (Using the fact she stated to detectives it WAS her baby). Reaching out on a limb there... I have seen crazier things that patients with psychosis have done...all just MOO, but I can see the lawyers using that (Although personally I do believe she was sane at the time).

Was watching a Law and Order episode rerun just last night, and had a case of such as to false pregnancy. So weird to be following a cases and see such.

 

[Trudie]

Since multiple scenes are being investigated, I wonder if MF had a hotel or an unknown to us friend she stayed with a day or two? If so, I assume the unknown to us friend is probably the tipster that led LE to Bo Jacks. Hence sealed records to protect unknown friend.
All moo

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Since multiple scenes are being investigated, I wonder if MF had a hotel or an unknown to us friend she stayed with a day or two? If so, I assume the unknown to us friend is probably the tipster that led LE to Bo Jacks. Hence sealed records to protect unknown friend.
All moo

That's where I'm leaning on the fence. That she didn't go directly to her house? But FTLOG, if that is indeed true, she had so much time and so many places to dispose of a body that just remained in the trunk?

 

[Trudie]

That's where I'm leaning on the fence. That she didn't go directly to her house? But FTLOG, if that is indeed true, she had so much time and so many places to dispose of a body that just remained in the trunk?

Well, in her mind the car might be the best spot? Idk, lol.
Also, maybe she planned to eventually take off with the kid in her other vehicle, leaving the body for her landlord. I would not be surprised to learn he allowed her to stay until she birthed. Moo/speculation