GUILTY TX - Haruka Weiser, 18, found murdered, UT-Austin campus, 3 April 2016 *Arrest*

[tlcya]

[video=youtube;1WGEwPIn38c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGEwPIn38c[/video]

Published on Mar 24, 2016
Choreographer: Sam Olayiwola
Title: City Captured
Dancers: Toni Neal, Haruka Weiser, Andie Duong, Victoria Murillo, Becky Nam, Mario Ramirez, Anna Starr, Morgan Mikes, and Dayna Palmer

 

[Inthedetails]

There's much more details here on what LE has on unreleased video footage:

Also in the article it details what evidence they found.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/lo...ct-in-University-of-Texas-killing-7237236.php

So, he saw her and followed her at 9:40 and then re-appears on camera two hours later, limping. Was he with her two hours down by the creek and nobody noticed?

 

[trigger]

In a 2015 Q&A with Dance West, her Beaverton, Oregon-based dance school, Weiser said that she began training in the sixth grade, and loves the disciplines of ballet and hip-hop.

"I love to dance because it constantly challenges me," she said, according to the school's Facebook page. "I love that there is a finished, perfect product. My dancing is constantly changing as a I strive to improve. Because of this, I find that even the smallest successes can be the most rewarding."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...niversity-texas-student-haruka-weiser-n552991

She's so beautiful, what a tragedy.

 

[mrsu]

There's much more details here on what LE has on unreleased video footage:

Also in the article it details what evidence they found.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/lo...ct-in-University-of-Texas-killing-7237236.php

Wow. I just can't understand what he was thinking. Not only with murdering someone but also returning to the area again the next day to burn stuff and with the bike and same clothes. Wouldn't you ditch the bike and clothes? I have so many questions. Nobody from LifeWorks recognized him from the video? And he just stayed and hung out at LifeWorks with a stolen laptop as if that wouldn't be suspicious for a homeless person to have? My only thought is that he wanted to be caught. Perhaps he figured prison life would be better than being homeless?

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Notwithstanding that he wasn't a student, I'm thinking he may have known her in some way - like maybe she even gave him money and they had talked casually - as it sounds like he was planning something, but it would be much more brazen if he was intending to rob her out in public on the road or walkway unless he knew that she was heading down the creek as part of her normal route rather than it being a lucky coincidence on his part that she just happened to be heading to very secluded location without him expecting that she'd go out of public view.

 

[Doghairrules]

Heart wrenching. *tears*. This kid has had horrendous upbringing, then commits a heinous crime on another, now, his future will be just as tragic. What a miserable existence he's had and will have. ( this in no way excuses what he did)

No it doesn't excuse it but you have to wonder if there was more of a safety net for foster kids whether this would have happened.

 

[my1nonlyaspen]

So the duffle bag we notice him having trouble with IS her bag from dance?

 

[Inthedetails]

Notwithstanding that he wasn't a student, I'm thinking he may have known her in some way - like maybe she even gave him money and they had talked casually - as it sounds like he was planning something, but it would be much more brazen if he was intending to rob her out in public on the road or walkway unless he knew that she was heading down the creek as part of her normal route rather than it being a lucky coincidence on his part that she just happened to be heading to very secluded location without him expecting that she'd go out of public view.

I think it was a coincidence that he spotted her. He was on camera shortly before spotting Haruka, and he was trying to open the doors of a vehicle parked in the lot. If he were waiting for her, would he busy himself with that task and risk missing her? IDK, but I'm leaning toward him being a vagabond on campus and he took the opportunity to attack when it randomly presented itself.

Time will tell, however, and perhaps we'll learn more about his motive.

jmOPINION

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Once again, reminded of Jesse Matthews- raised by a loving g. mother, says all the right things, but watches, waits and strikes out at a young,lovely and talented university students
Do they ( allegedly) kill, what and who they could have, but think - they might never have for themselves?
Are they trying to get attention from authority figures, ( often men) or punish their own families by bringing negative attention to them, ie what was so special about his name, was it his father's name?
Speculation.

He doesn't remind me of JM at all. This guy was a homeless teenager...JM was almost 30, had his own apartment, a girlfriend, etc. In this case, it sounds like the motive could have been robbery. I don't think this guy ever tried to abduct Haruka or gain her trust. He probably just ambushed and attacked her right where she was. Haruka was a lone female whose paths crossed with a killer. It's a horrible case of wrong time, wrong place.

 

[x_files]

I got the impression he may have spent the night a few blocks away in the abandoned building and did not return to LifeWorks.

 

[my1nonlyaspen]

He took and kept the macbook right? So it sounds as if (b/c he first tried to break into the van) he was looking to rob and noticed a tiny girl. But hopefully SHE gave him that limp. Just because she was tiny doesnt mean she wasn't strong as s**t. She may and probably put up a hell of a fight. Anyway, he (I think) was looking to rob something, got the shock of a lifetime when she fought back, and he killed her. If she was sexually assaulted, I feel like that happened after he had hurt her in some way. Just more of a control thing to show dominance. I don't think sexual assault was his first thought.

 

[trigger]

So the duffle bag we notice him having trouble with IS her bag from dance?

Police showed a photo of a small blue duffle bag to a friend of Weiser's, who confirmed it was the same one the 18-year-old dance freshman had when she left the dance building on Sunday.
An Austin homicide detective returned to the abandoned building where Criner set the fire and located what appeared to be several of Weiser's belongings including a shoe, a burned notebook with college-level course work inside and a black jacket identical to the one the suspect was wearing on the surveillance footage.
Austin police executed a search warrant on Criner's room at LifeWorks, an Austin nonprofit that offers counseling and housing for the homeless, according to the affidavit.
There, police found a MacBook laptop with a sticker on it that mentioned the city of Portland, Weiser's hometown, according to the affidavit.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

So, he saw her and followed her at 9:40 and then re-appears on camera two hours later, limping. Was he with her two hours down by the creek and nobody noticed?

If he operated similar to how the Austin serial rapist operates (maybe he even is the rapist), the MO was to go up from behind with a knife to both silence and control and then force the woman down, this could have happened relatively silently. I do wonder if LE thinks there may have been some kind of a struggle so want that's why they pointed out people on the video and why he might have been injured as those people in the video may have heard something but not realized what it was as she might have been rendered non-vocal but was still able to put up a fight.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Wow. I just can't understand what he was thinking. Not only with murdering someone but also returning to the area again the next day to burn stuff and with the bike and same clothes. Wouldn't you ditch the bike and clothes? I have so many questions. Nobody from LifeWorks recognized him from the video? And he just stayed and hung out at LifeWorks with a stolen laptop as if that wouldn't be suspicious for a homeless person to have? My only thought is that he wanted to be caught. Perhaps he figured prison life would be better than being homeless?

He might live in the general vicinity as the homeless are known to live along Waller Creek. It was LE/Fire who brought him to the homeless shelter after the fire where we don't know where he was living beforehand, so the creek could have been his home.

 

[Inthedetails]

If he operated similar to how the Austin serial rapist operates (maybe he even is the rapist), the MO was to go up from behind with a knife to both silence and control and then force the woman down, this could have happened relatively silently. I do wonder if LE thinks there may have been some kind of a struggle so want that's why they pointed out people on the video and why he might have been injured as those people in the video may have heard something but not realized what it was as she might have been rendered non-vocal but was still able to put up a fight.

However he did it, two hours seems like a long time. And then when we do see him on camera, he isn't in any hurry. Maybe his injuries were painful enough or bloody enough that he needed time to recover a bit before moving on?

jmo

 

[trigger]

Wow. I just can't understand what he was thinking. Not only with murdering someone but also returning to the area again the next day to burn stuff and with the bike and same clothes. Wouldn't you ditch the bike and clothes? I have so many questions. Nobody from LifeWorks recognized him from the video? And he just stayed and hung out at LifeWorks with a stolen laptop as if that wouldn't be suspicious for a homeless person to have? My only thought is that he wanted to be caught. Perhaps he figured prison life would be better than being homeless?

I guess they did not see the video because there was a reward.

 

[Topcat]

He took and kept the macbook right? So it sounds as if (b/c he first tried to break into the van) he was looking to rob and noticed a tiny girl. But hopefully SHE gave him that limp. Just because she was tiny doesnt mean she wasn't strong as s**t. She may and probably put up a hell of a fight. Anyway, he (I think) was looking to rob something, got the shock of a lifetime when she fought back, and he killed her. If she was sexually assaulted, I feel like that happened after he had hurt her in some way. Just more of a control thing to show dominance. I don't think sexual assault was his first thought.

Totally agree..I think his instincts told him she was an easy victim and being a dancer she gave him a tougher fight. than he expected from a petite girl..

 

[trigger]

However he did it, two hours seems like a long time. And then when we do see him on camera, he isn't in any hurry. Maybe his injuries were painful enough or bloody enough that he needed time to recover a bit before moving on?

jmo

Yes I thought the same thing. 2 hours, I do not even want to go there.

 

[Bootsctr]

I think it was a coincidence that he spotted her. He was on camera shortly before spotting Haruka, and he was trying to open the doors of a vehicle parked in the lot. If he were waiting for her, would he busy himself with that task and risk missing her? IDK, but I'm leaning toward him being a vagabond on campus and he took the opportunity to attack when it randomly presented itself.

Time will tell, however, and perhaps we'll learn more about his motive.

jmOPINION

My first thought when I saw the video was the word "vagabond."

I hope Haruka kicked the $hi+ out of him. He acts dazed and confused in the video after he killed. You know she had to be strong. I just watched her in the dance video! Serious Girl Power!! Not an equal match seeing he is a BIG man. If you notice, he is in socks with the 2 officers escorting him and he is still taller than either guy and they are wearing shoes...

 

[bwt42]

Here's my take on why he did what he did. He saw what he wanted and took it. JMO