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Evidence was admitted that demonstrated that appellant's wife (a school teacher) and his son (a student) were at school during much of the time that the Internet was used to access the necrobabes.com Web site. In the other part of this point of error, appellant claims that the trial court erred in its pretrial ruling concerning the admissibility of certain testimony of each of thirteen witnesses under Rule 403. She was excited about the real possibility of selling her home. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the exhibits as relevant evidence, or in finding through the balancing process that the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Proof of a completed theft is not required. See Tex. Disciplinary infractions dropped about 17 percent between 2011 and 2014, while instances of contraband plummeted nearly 72 percent, according to agency data. Appellant's known fingerprints matched the prints on the black-and-white flyer and prints on the flyer box in Tammy Cranford's yard. He was not permitted entry and rejected statements suggesting that he contact his realtor. The index.dat files reflect the computer's Internet history but do not contain any Web pages and images. 16. Cranford thought the drawing bore a very good resemblance to appellant. He even spent time in jail for choking a woman. Maldonado v. State, 998 S.W.2d 239, 243 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). There are two ways in which a court may find the evidence to be factually insufficient: if the evidence supporting the verdict is so weak as to make the finding of guilt clearly wrong or manifestly unjust, or if the verdict is against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. Each membership was paid with a credit card traced to appellant. Rector was then requested by a prosecutor to conduct a more thorough search to look for Internet activity related to real estate. Outcome: Appeals court rules defendant's AOL searches for asphyxiation and visits to Necrobabes.com were reasonably used as evidence and upholds conviction. The murder was discovered when one of her co-workers at IBM became concerned that Holik had missed a scheduled meeting and was unreachable. Anthony Russo. Deem stated that he could not determine whether a particular JPG file was within the scope of the search warrant until he opened it to see if it contained relevant information. Conner, 67 S.W.3d at 197. She had been tied up and strangled, an autopsy report confirmed. Before conducting any examination of the computers, the police obtained a search warrant to search the files on the computers for names, telephone numbers, ledger receipts, addresses, and other documentary evidence pertaining to sale and distribution of controlled substances. Id. 2737, 49 L.Ed.2d 627 (1976). his Girlfriend/boyfriends name is Not Available. Cathy Vance, a forensic analyst with the white collar crime unit in the district attorney's office, analyzed appellant's financial records. The police officers also recovered a green towel found on a couch downstairs. In his brief, appellant urges that the evidence admitted over his hearsay objections had no relevancy to any material issue in the case. He confirmed with a billing company that Russo had been a member of Necrobabes.com and had viewed Web pages there dealing with manual and ligature strangulation. Conner, 67 S.W.3d at 197; Alvarado v. State, 912 S.W.2d 199, 207 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). See Dillon v. State, 574 S.W.2d 92, 94 (Tex.Crim.App.1978); Skillern v. State, 890 S.W.2d 849, 880 (Tex.App.-Austin 1994, pet. The prosecution called thirteen witnesses who were attempting to sell their homes from May to November 15, 2001, or were realtors. The death of Diane Holik sparked fear in local real estate agents, who believed that they could be the next victim. See Medina v. State, 7 S.W.3d 633, 643 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). Appellant overlooks the fact that at no time did he advance any relevancy objection at trial as required. Appellant relies upon his hearsay objections at the hearing to preserve any error, because he made no further objections when Barajas testified before the jury shortly thereafter. 4. Appellant relies upon Brewer v. State, 126 S.W.3d 295 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 2004, no pet. The sixth ground of error is overruled. Patrick Anthony Russo is serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of 42-year-old Diane Holik. Appellant told the detectives that he became lost during the storm in a residential area of Austin. Akia Eggleston went missing in Baltimore, Maryland in May of 2017. The prosecution said of Patrick, Hes a predator, skilled at deceit and cunning and finding watering holes of potential victims. As per prison records, he remains incarcerated at the Thomas Goree Unit in Huntsville, Texas. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of the contents of appellant's computer as contended. Appellant's second and current appointed appellate counsel, in a letter to this Court, states that the first appellate counsel did not request the penalty stage record. He stopped opening picture files and obtained a second search warrant that allowed him to specifically search for child pornography. 103(a)(1). Lang v. State, 698 S.W.2d 735, 736 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1985, no. 28.01 (West 2006). His search was broadened to consider the Internet history, searching for documents relating to real estate, including Web pages. As a result of the jury's answer at the penalty stage of the trial to the special issue concerning mitigating circumstances, the trial court imposed a life sentence. Holiks demise story has been featured on the scene of Dateline. There had been no interrogation along these lines. About 1,200 Necrobabes.com-related images were found on the seized computer, and there was evidence Russo accessed the site two days before the Holik murder. 3. Appellant inquired whether the dog would calm down if petted. Margraves v. State, 34 S.W.3d 912, 919 (Tex.Crim.App.2000). About 30 percent of Darringtons roughly 1,800 total inmates are serving sentences of 40 or more years, state data shows. Evid. Penal Code Ann. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. Consequently, he additionally said that he was elsewhere at the hour of the homicide, yet his phone records set him close to Diane Holiks home region. The co-worker asked Austin police to check on her, which they did at 5:30 p.m. on November 16. The record reflects that the police were able to learn from Joe Schwaleberg of Generic Systems, Inc., who operated the necrobabes.com Web site, that on February 28, 2001, Janet Russo paid for a six-month subscription to this erotic asphyxiation Web site, and that on July 21, 2001, Tony Russo paid for a six-month subscription to the same Web site. Evid. The State did not offer this evidence before the jury. Id.19. Dateline Episode Trailer: After the Storm | Dateline NBC, When a beautiful woman is strangled to death in her large upscale Austin, Texas home, police look at the men in the victims life, while also considering that a stranger may have killed her. An earlier membership had been issued on February 28, 2001, to a Janet Russo at the same address. Akia Eggleston. coming up -- patrick russo seems an unlikely killer. And, with the engagement ring aside, appellant questions the credibility of the testimony concerning the other missing jewelry. In this point of error, appellant does not claim that he was not identified, by direct or circumstantial evidence, as the individual involved in the encounters with the female homeowners or realtors. Fletcher v. State, 852 S.W.2d 271, 277 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1993, pet. Evid. The time frame of her death was placed by the medical examiner from 3:00 p.m. on November 15 to 3:00 a.m. on November 16, 2001. ref'd), the court held that proof of murder coupled with evidence of a contemporaneous theft from the victim is enough to enable a jury to rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder occurred during the course of a robbery and that the accused had the intent to rob at the time of the murder. The first part of the fifth point of error is overruled. Dogs inside the house appeared to have left fecal matter on the carpet, indicating that they had been confined for some time. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Reviewing courts are not fact finders. at 95-96 (citing Kearney v. Commonwealth, 4 Va.App. Karena Rosario, Faith Hedgepeths Roommate: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Monsters Among Us: Patrick Anthony Russo http://t.co/g0QBNPm7ut via @mylifeofcrime, Vonne Monai (@VonneMonai) April 9, 2013. Using this number, the police were able to identify appellant as the man they were seeking. 15. Collectively, Saturday's graduates earned a 3.7 grade-point average in the program. Lives in Pacific Grove, California. A violent thunder and rainstorm descended upon Austin in the afternoon of November 15, 2001. at 680; see also Saldivar v. State, 980 S.W.2d 475, 495 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] Patrick Anthony Russo, 44, was a paying subscriber to Necrobabes.com, a Web site that offers "erotic horror for adults" by providing staged photos and video of usually nude women appearing to. Dr. Ranazit Chakraborty, Director of the Center for Genome Information of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, reviewed the findings by Mills and Nelson. Were [the computer analyst] to limit his search to files whose names suggest the type of evidence he seeks, it would be all too easy for defendants to hide computer evidence: Name your porn file 1986 tax return and no one can open it. 401.Rule 402provides:All relevant evidence is admissible, except as otherwise provided by Constitution, by statute, by these rules, or by other rules prescribed pursuant to statutory authority. Lives in Staten Island, New York. She had planned to sell the home, get married and move to Houston. Posted By : / yamaha fg series history / Under : . Deep Dark Secrets is a podcast hosted by LaDonna Humphrey and Alecia Lockhart that shines a light in dark places when all other lights go out. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. The jury returned a general verdict of guilty of capital murder. Where different theories of the offense are submitted to the jury in the disjunctive, as in the instant case, a general verdict is sufficient if the evidence supports one of the theories. See Photos. Id. She opened the front door for them. The officers arrived at Dianes home at around 5:30 PM the same day. In his eighth point of error, appellant contends that the trial judge erred in the admission of a hearsay statement. Appellant's brief, however, relates to several statements by the witness Cynthia Barajas. Tex.R. Cranford said that appellant's eyes somehow looked bigger and deeper and darker and that he seemed to be a different person. She jotted down the license plate numbers when she recognized him from the police composite sketch. @DatelineNBC https://t.co/JEoZIjMREd, Robert Maxwell (@RMaxwellKXAN) September 22, 2016. Evid. Appellant could not be excluded from two hairs retrieved from a green towel found in the living room.5. While the title appeared suspiciously suggestive and implicitly of a sexual nature, it did not appear to be criminal or of an incriminating character in and of itself. Many neighbors and family members detailed that a man came on November 15 needing to buy their property. Suddenly, appellant was close behind her in the room and still was not speaking. He was able to view information about the payment of fees and the purchase of a membership on the Web site. As noted, on November 18, 2003, another search warrant was issued by a district judge to search the hard drive of appellant's computer for, inter alia, information, photos and text from a Web site named "Necrobabes.com" and information pertaining to death by asphyxiation. Though the death case murder is still a mystery. The warrant was executed. 03-04-00344-CR. Dianes wrists also showed marks consistent with being bound with zip ties. We must remain cognizant of the fact-finder's role. She stated that appellant breezed through some areas of the house. While systematically opening all user-created files, [the computer analyst] opened one that contained images that he considered child pornography. The Web site was accessed or visited by appellant's computer in the month prior to the victim's murder, including on November 13, 2001, two days before the offense occurred. 17. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. McDonald v. State, 513 S.W.2d 44, 51-52 (Tex.Crim.App.1974), held that relevant evidence involving an extraneous offense one year earlier was not too remote. It was later shown that the police did not inform appellant that any jewelry was missing from the Holik home. Heres what you need to know about Russo. They were engaged within two months of knowing each other. "Tony Russo" whose real name is Patrick Anthony Russo has been confirmed that he brutally murdered Diane Holik at her Home. Also known as Tony A Russo. The Gray court rejected the defense argument that it was unreasonable for the special agent to view the JPG files. In the early morning hours of November 21, 2001, police officers executed a search warrant at appellant's Bastrop home. At trial, appellant asserted that the witnesses, after learning of the homicide, overreacted in their trial descriptions of their encounters with appellant. Detective Rector then, on a personal or lab computer, went online to the Web site for "Necrobabes.com" which was available without charge to anyone surfing the Internet. Diane Holik listed her Austin, TX home for sale in 2001 and eagerly awaited a buyer, but found something far worse: a fetisher. Patrick Anthony Russo, Diane Holiks Killer: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Would love your thoughts, please comment. King v. State, 29 S.W.3d 556, 562 (Tex.Crim.App.2000); Rodriguez v. State, 939 S.W.2d 211, 218 (Tex.App.-Austin 1997, no pet.). In fact, appellant did not request that the court reporter's record be included in the appellate record. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. P. 33.1. Dr. Elizabeth Peacock, deputy medical examiner, performed the autopsy and determined the cause of death to be homicide by ligature strangulation. When she learned that the sale price was $270,000, she stated that the price was way out of their range.. According to the agents, Tony Russo was a print and computerized Journalist by calling. Datelines After the Storm will include interviews with friends and family members of Diane Holik and Travis County investigators. Proximity in time and place may be a factor, but it must be considered along with other facts and circumstances. 75 Miss. Appellant also said that he stopped at only one house to ask for directions, which he received from an older gray-haired man. The man, whom Cranford later identified as appellant, noted that Cranford had switched realtors, but the switch had occurred in July 200l. The State offered and did eliminate certain parts of the testimony of Melody Blount and Tammy Tayman. However, Diane was found dead on the first floor in one of the bedrooms upstairs. In properly construing the entire Internet history, Rector observed references to necrobabes.com. The plain view doctrine applies only to seizures, not searches. By | On December 12, 2021 03:47 AM "Tony Russo" whose real name is Patrick Anthony Russo has been confirmed that he brutally murdered Diane Holik at her Home. Patrick Anthony Russo of Texas is one of the 33 graduates of the prison seminary program at the Darrington Unit prison in Brazoria County. Russo claims his counsel was ineffective. After having been first interviewed by Austin police officers, appellant discussed the matter with Pastor Fox, telling Fox that some jewelry was stolen in the offense, but the police had not communicated that information to appellant. After being let into the house by a neighbor, the police found a fully clothed body in an upstairs bedroom. They also learned that the church leader had a fascination with strangling women and often visited porn sites that featured the strangulation deaths of women, according to court records found at FindLaw. Barajas testified that she warned Holik not to let strangers in her home when she was alone. See also Robinson v. State, 701 S.W.2d 895, 898 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (six months is not too remote). Id. Find Patrick Russo's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. 401, 402, 403. The prosecution is not required to prove motive in any case. As the evidence is legally sufficient to support the theory of murder committed in the course of robbery, we need not address the second point of error. All Rights Reserved. To establish the murder portion of the charged offense, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally or knowingly caused the death of an individual as charged in the indictment. Barnes v. State, 62 S.W.3d 288, 297 (Tex.App.-Austin 2001, pet. On October 29, 2003, during a separate pretrial hearing, the written objections were mentioned. The Estimated Net worth is $80K USD $85k. Current counsel makes no belated request for the record. Appellant complains that the jury was presented with information about his membership in the "Necrobabes.com" Web site and substantial and prejudicial images and stories of asphyxiation that had been viewed on his computer State's Exhibit 621 was also generated by Rector and showed Internet activity on the computer on April 27, 2001, with the user-profile of a Patrick Russo and with the use of the AOL (America Online) engine to search for a subject associated to "asphyx." One of the 33 inmates who graduated from the prison seminary program at the Darrington Unit. Although the man had given different names to homeowners, police produced a composite drawing and published it in a local newspaper. The van was parked in such a manner that Hebner thought that a potential buyer was there. However, there was no interrogation to establish these facts. Investigation Discoverys Six Degrees of Murder: Ties That Bind chronicles the work that went into catching Dianes killer. Appellant's relevancy objections were specifically directed only to the question of remoteness concerning appellant's encounters with certain female homeowners and realtors. The file in question was not seized or opened. All the doors and windows were locked. Id. Its going to give hope to inmates who didnt have hope before. McFarland v. State, 845 S.W.2d 824, 837 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). State's Exhibit 621 was also generated by Rector and showed Internet activity on the computer on April 27, 2001, with the user-profile of a Patrick Russo and with the use of the AOL (America Online) engine to search for a subject associated to asphyx. To this exhibit, appellant expressed no objection. This exhibit is not before us for consideration of its relevancy. See United States v. Mitchell, 145 F.3d 572, 576 (3d Cir.1998); accord United States v. Ruiz, 249 F.3d 643, 646 (7th Cir.2001). See Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126, 134 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). A homeowner from another subdivision saw the drawing in the newspaper and called the police. In evaluating the trial court's determination under Rule 403, a reviewing court is to reverse the trial court's judgment rarely and only after a clear abuse of discretion, recognizing that the court below is in a superior position to gauge the impact of the relevant evidence. They arrested appellant later that day at his pastor's house, transported him to Austin, and again interviewed him. On June 18, 2003, a search warrant was issued authorizing the search of appellant's home and the seizure of his personal computer and its content. The computer was seized pursuant to the warrant. There were no trial objections to the subject matters advanced in this point of error. Detective Rector reviewed the temporary Internet files and the "index.dat" files to determine the computer's Internet historyOn August 1, 2003, Rector presented the extracted Internet history to a prosecutor to "see what is real estate and what is not." L.J. Tue Jun 27, 2017 at 10:11pm ET. We need not reiterate the evidence. Prosecutors said Russo frequented Internet sites that contained stories and photos about asphyxiating women. If the appellate record reveals criteria reasonably conducive to a risk that the probative value of the tendered evidence is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, then the trial court acted irrationally in admitting the evidence and abused its discretion. Appellant did not further object at trial. See Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533, 541-44, 108 S.Ct. Tex.R. On 9 Mar 2014 @rachelmvg tweeted: ""A haunted place, some said - or perhaps.." - read what others are saying and join the conversation. See Watson, 204 S.W.3d at 414-15. by 2Paragraphs in Culture | September 22, 2016. As per the show, he was arrested multiple times for assaulting women. Thus, the jury may infer the requisite intent to rob from the conduct of the accused. P. 33.1. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires every state criminal conviction to be supported by evidence that a rational trier of fact could accept as sufficient to prove all the elements of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt. All he wanted to do at that point was to preview the house so that he could come with his wife later to see it again. The court pointed out that in a search for records and documents, innocuous records must be examined to determine whether they fall in the category of those papers covered by the search warrant. Id. Armed with yet another search warrant, granted on November 18, 2003, Rector did a more complete search of the computer for "information pertaining to death by asphyxiation." Appellant was shown to have visited the homes of Thoom Zech and Lisa Faulkner twice on November 15, 2006, as he may have done at the victim's home. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the exhibits as relevant evidence, or in finding through the balancing process that the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Some have been convicted of murder, and those who arent murderers are locked away for other serious crimes most of them violent. To join the program, the prisoners must be at least 10 years away from eligibility for parole. Harmond v. State, 960 S.W.2d 404, 406 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] She put the phone down, but later returned and told Barajas that her rings were back on. The conversation eventually concluded about 1:30 p.m. Robert Hebner and his wife were neighbors and friends of Holik. The facts of Carey are not the facts of the instant case. The authorities created a composite sketch and made it public. Russo was a part-time music minister at a Bastrop church and the lead singer in a Christian band. The mothers name is Not Available. Lived In Lake Jackson TX, Clute TX. We have no more Information about his Father; we will try to collect information and update soon. Holik was a supervisory employee of IBM and worked out of her home. Many of them reported that on November 15, a man came by wanting to purchase their property. Rule 802of the Texas Rules of Evidence states: Hearsay is not admissible except as provided by statute or these rules or by other rules prescribed pursuant to statutory authority. ref'd)). Holik had plans to meet on the weekend with a man who was leaving her house when she talked to Barajas on the telephone. He then stated that he and his wife could return the next day. On November 25, 2003, at still another separate pretrial hearing, the trial court paused and overruled appellant's Rules 401 and 402 objections to certain testimony. She said, this guy just left. When asked about the length of time from when the man had been there to when you talked to her (Holik) on the phone, Barajas responded, Just moments.21 Barajas testified that Holik told her that she [Holik] had plans to meet this man and his wife the following Saturday to show her house. This week Six Degrees of Murder looks at the . Cranford and appellant went to the son's bedroom. Dr. Peacock estimated that Holik died between 3:00 p.m. on November 15 and 3:00 a.m. on November 16, 2001. When both the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence are challenged, the reviewing court must first review the evidence under the legal sufficiency standard. Appellant asserts that none of the missing property was found in his possession or ever recovered, despite searches of his home and church office, the use of metal detectors in his yard, and a survey of pawn shops. The program, funded by the nonprofit Heart of Texas Foundation, was modeled after a similar effort in Angola, La. May 10, 201510 AM Central. The black-and-white flyer was turned over to the police.3. Susan Fox, the pastor's wife, testified about the same conversation. Keith examines the 2001 murder of Diane Holik tomorrow. Appellant simply asserts that because the encounters occurred either six months or three months before the offense on November 15, 2001, the evidence is too remote to be relevant and should not have been admitted.