After months of no response, investigators have connected a Killeen couple to the CPF murder in May. Brandon Rosecrans.
Recently published court records reveal that the Fort Hood soldier probably was shot several times on May 18 while sleeping in his car’s passenger seat. Witnesses told investigators it was imaginable that Brandon Olivares, 28, who was charged with first-degree murder last week, shot Rosecrans due to a word war over the sale of a firearm.
Estrellita “Estrella” Falcón, 37, is accused of helping Olivares after the murder. Falcon is accused of unauthorized use of a vehicle and obstruction of apprehension and prosecution in the case. A public records search shows she was in Bell County Jail Thursday on $100,000 bail.
On Friday, the Austin statesman contacted Olivares and Falcón’s lawyers for comment, but did not get an answer.
Rosencrans’ body was reportedly discovered in a ditch on Fuller Lane in Harker Heights at 10:16 a.m. on May 18. Less than 15 minutes later, a resident of a nearby neighborhood reported a fireplace. Rosecrans’ orange Jeep Renegade abandoned and set fire to a chimney about 3 miles away, near FM 2410 and Cedar Knob Road in Bell County. Harker Heights firefighters discovered the sunken vehicle under a water tower atop a hill near a wooded domain, a component of a residential domain that is being cleared for a new development.
Related: Fort Hood soldier discovered dead by burning vehicle with gunshot wound
Once the chimney went out, the researchers discovered a bullet hole on the rear passenger side of the Jeep. Rosecrans fired four times on the left side of the head and neck, and the Dallas County medical examiner discovered evidence suggesting the shots were fired at close range. Investigators noted in an affidavit of arrest that his wallet was gone.
An acquaintance told a detective about the case that Rosecrans and Olivares were together the night before, which is supported by comparing mobile phone data, according to an arrest affidavit.
Olivares, who is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm through a criminal, has a long history of criminals including illegal drug ownership and theft, as well as robberies and assaults of criminals, in Bell and Williamson counties. Olivares’ final season as a criminal ended in December on parole.
He’s in prison Friday on a $1.1 million bail.
Star “Star” Falcon, 37, and Brandon Olivares, 28, are the moment Killeen’s partner is accused of betting a role in the Fort Hood murders in recent months.
(Bell Country Austin-American Statesman Prison)
Officers first arrested Olivares for violating probation from the investigation into Rosecrans’ death. A June arrest affidavit says he told detectives there was a picture of him holding a gun in his home on May 17 because he was the intermediary in a deal to sell the nine-mm Ruger for $300.
Olivares would replace his story several times when he was questioned by detectives, according to an affidavit of later arrest, but in each interview he claimed that Falcón had nothing to do with the shooting. However, according to the affidavit, she told detectives that she was in the Jeep at the time.
Olivares told detectives that he was in the Jeep Renegade with Rosecrans to and from San Antonio. Olivares told detectives he was driving when Rosecrans fired, driving when Rosecrans’ body overturned on the side of the road, and that he was in the vehicle when the Jeep Renegade left in the most sensible hill near the water tower, says the affidavit, and although Olivares admitted to possessing the weapon used to shoot Rosecrans the night before , says the document, named another guy as the shooter.
But mobile phone data, forensic evidence, video images and witnesses seem to imply otherwise, according to the affidavit.
Related: Army Secretary: The number of murders and sexual assaults in Fort Hood is higher in maximum cases than in the rest of the service.
Knowledge of GPS shows that Rosecrans and Olivares were in the same places on the morning of May 18, according to Olivares’ affidavit of arrest. Knowledge shows that Olivares’ phone also on the site where the Rosecrans frame was discovered and where the Jeep was burned.
Surveillance cameras captured the Jeep entering the domain where Rosecrans’ remains were discovered at 7:16 a.m. and leaving at 7:22 a.m. at 10:17 a.m., other recordings showed a woman driving the Jeep in the community where she defected and set fire. The images also captured Olivares walking in the domain, according to the affidavit.
Detectives said mobile knowledge of the Olivares type had been concerned at the police display that was in Killeen at the time.
On August 4, investigators questioned the type of Olive groves accused of killing Rosecrans, as well as the guy’s girlfriend. The couple, whom the American man did not call because the government did not call them a crime, told police that Olivares and Falcón had visited their home some time after the murder and gave the impression of paranoid and nervous.
The guy said Olivares told him he had just killed Rosecrans for being “too greedy,” according to the affidavit. The guy said Olivares added that Rosecrans had tried to rape Falcón and then alone with his girlfriend, Falcón said it wasn’t true.
Falcón talked about a imaginable robbery and told the friend that Olivares was actually discussing the sale of firearms with Rosecrans and that “Olivares was looking for more than Rosecrans was looking to give,” her arrestator said. Falcón told the friend that Olivares was trying to “introduce” himself and make a statement.
According to the affidavit, Olivares was afraid to shoot the soldier, Falcón said, so he waited for Rosecrans to fall asleep. Falcón, the bride said, called Olivares a “punk.”
Investigators said authorities found that the front passenger seat of the Jeep was completely tilted, which would be consistent with Rosecrans being asleep.
During a search of the goods where Olivares and Falcón live, the researchers discovered “a home in the backyard that contained Array … a burnt Jeep key,” according to his affidavit of arrest. “The keys to the Jeep Renegade belonging to Rosecrans were discovered in its frame or in or around the burned vehicle.”
Olivares and Falcon, whose criminal history includes robbery, trespassing and forgery, are the time Killeen’s partner accused the couple of the Fort Hood murders in recent months.
Spc. Aaron David Robinson, with his friend Cecily Aguilar, was related to the CPS murder. Vanessa Guillén.
Authorities say Robinson, who allegedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 1 as local police approached him to ask him, killed Guillén with a hammer on April 22 at Fort Hood. Aguilar is tasked with helping Robinson dismember and dispose of Guillén’s remains near the Leon River in Bell County, about 20 miles from the Army post.
Aguilar has pleaded guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin on September 28.
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