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

[YESorNO]

Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 8m8 minutes ago
State calls forth witness Andrea Duong (sp?) a UT student dance major. She describes Haruka as her best friend starting at UT. They went to Cheer Up Charlie’s together the night before the day Haruka was last seen


Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 29m29 minutes ago
Weiser's friend, Andrea Duong, says the path along Waller Crekk that Weiser took when she was killed was pretty. "An escape from campus with the water and trees." Weiser probably felt the same way, she said.



Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 14m14 minutes ago
The last text she got from Haruka was at around 9:40 pm on Sunday 4/3/2016. They were texting rapidly back and forth before that Duong said


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 9m9 minutes ago
Andrea is now testifying about the last conversation she had with Weiser. She was texting pretty rapidly with Weiser until 9:40AM on Sunday, when Weiser never responded back to her message.


Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 11m11 minutes ago
Now we’re looking at a screenshot of text conversations between Weiser and Duong, talking about a guy who was at the party Weiser was at. The next day Duong tried to text her again but what usually would have appeared as blue iPhone conversations appeared as green


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 6m6 minutes ago
No further questions from the prosecution or the defense for Andrea. The next witness is Ginnifer Joe, another friend of Weiser's.
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[YESorNO]

Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 3m3 minutes ago
State calls forward witness Jennifer Lee Joe, a UT student in the dance program. Joe was in Dance classes at UT with Haruka


Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 5m5 minutes ago
Correction: after looking at UT dance website, it appears this witness’s name is likely Ginnifer Joe


Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 1m1 minute ago
The two were working together helping at a dance production all day on 4/3/2016. She recalls Haruka bringing with her a blue duffel bag with red handles, a laptop, a sweater, a calculus notebook, and a book to read


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 2m2 minutes ago
Joe is testifying about all of the items she knew were in Weiser's possession during the theatre production lab they had together in April 2016. These items include, a laptop, a duffel bag, and "All The Light We Can Not See," the book mentioned earlier today, among other things.

Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 14m14 minutes ago
Jennifer Joe tells us Haruka Weiser was wearing all black on the night authorities say she was killed. Many of those clothing items were later found in areas where Criner was living, prosecutors say.


Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 11m11 minutes ago
Weiser's father, Dr. Thomas Weiser, is in the courtroom watching testimony from his daughter's classmates. He testified before lunch.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 51s51 seconds ago
According to the affidavit, Joe has previously identified Haruka's blue duffel bag to authorities in April 2016. She has just finished identifying the same items for the courtroom today. Now, the defense is cross-examining her.
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[YESorNO]

Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 19s19 seconds ago
On the night she was killed, Haruka Weiser left Winship Drama Building with another student. Looking like defense might suggest that man could be responsible for Weiser's death.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 2m2 minutes ago
The defense asked Joe a couple questions about identifying the bag to authorities in April 2016. They clarified that she was not shown the actual bag, but a picture. The next witness called by the state is Sylvia Feghali, Haruka Weiser's roommate in spring 2016.
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[YESorNO]

Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 29s30 seconds ago
Now hearing from Haruka Weiser's roommate at Prather Hall, Sylvia Feghali.


Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 51s51 seconds ago
Feghali tears up recalling how the two spent Thanksgiving in 2015 together at her family’s home in Houston. Says the two had a really good relationship and talked about everything


Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 8m8 minutes ago
Sylvia Feghali testifies that she warned Haruka Weiser that the route she took home from Winship building was "creepy." But Weiser found it to be peaceful, she said. It was along that path where her body was found.


Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 5m5 minutes ago
Two of Weiser's friends have testified that Haruka was not the type of girl to go home with a random guy. She was not seeing anyone at the time of her death.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 6m6 minutes ago
Feghali is texting about the night that Haruka Weiser did not come home. After Weiser called Feghali that night after practice, she did not show back up to her dorm room. Feghali repatedly tried to contact Weiser that night, as well as the next day, but failed to reach her.
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[YESorNO]

Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 29s29 seconds ago
The night Weiser was killed, she had forgotten her keys in her door room. Attached to the keys was a student ID and pepper spray.


Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 6m6 minutes ago
Weiser had called her roommate, Sylvia Feghali, to let her in when she arrived. The walk home was about 10 minutes. Obviously, Weiser did not have the pepper spray when she was attacked.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 6m6 minutes ago
Feghali is now identifying various items that Haruka Weiser owned, including her laptop with a Portland sticker, Weiser's student ID, keys, license, and undergarments. She is also identifying a pair of black leggings owned by Weiser.
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[YESorNO]

Ryan Autullo‏ @AutulloAAS 41s41 seconds ago
Trial breaking for 15 minutes, but my break will be much longer as I leave the courtroom to begin working on my daily story. To recap: We've heard from Haruka Weiser's father and three of her college friends. State plans to call four more witnesses before the end of the day.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 3m3 minutes ago
Feghali has finished testifying. We're now taking a short 15 minute break The prosecution plans to call four more witnesses. The testimony from the past few witnesses has been incredibly quick, but the judge still expects court today to go until around 6PM


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 3m3 minutes ago
Correction: Feghali is testifying, not texting.
--Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 6m6 minutes ago
Feghali is texting about the night that Haruka Weiser did not come home. After Weiser called Feghali that night after practice, she did not show back up to her dorm room. Feghali repatedly tried to contact Weiser that night, as well as the next day, but failed to reach her.
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[YESorNO]

Alyssa Goard‏ @AlyssaMGoard 3m3 minutes ago
Outside the courtroom, Haruka’s dad Thomas and roommate Sylvia shared a tearful embrace
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[MicheleT]

Thank you, YESorNo, for keeping up with this one.

 

[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 19m19 minutes ago
The break has now concluded. The prosecution has now called Elizabeth Tan, a dance student at UT Austin who is going to graduate this summer, to the stand. She knew Weiser from a shared ballet class.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 1m1 minute ago
Elizabeth testified about her relationship with Weiser. She was a year above Weiser and was in the dance production Weiser was doing production for. Now, UT police officer Ryan Rodriguez is testifying about when he conducted the investigation into Weiser's missing person report.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 7m7 minutes ago
Rodriguez is walking the court through his response to the report. He is describing everything that happened, starting from the moment that he went to Weiser's dorm room until he found the body of Weiser.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 7m7 minutes ago
They just finished showing some pictures taken at Waller Creek. These were mainly used to establish the location where Weiser's body was found. One picture, of what I believe were just her legs, was slightly graphic, causing some shocked looks from the jury.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 12m12 minutes ago
The defense attorney, Payan, is now asking Rodriguez about campus security & the homeless population. Payan asked if he knew the term "drag worms" to refer to homeless people on the Drag. Rodriguez said no, likely because the term I believe Payan meant to refer to is drag rats.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 6m6 minutes ago
Rodriguez just clarified that the earlier picture was NOT of her legs, but instead of her head and torso. After the clarification, a few different members of the jury, once again, put a hand to their mouth and looked disgusted/shocked at the photo.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 3m3 minutes ago
Rodriguez, a police officer, just finished his testimony. Another officer, lieutenant Jose Pena with the UT Austin Police Department, has just been called to testify. He is testifying about his search of the Waller Creek area.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 25s26 seconds ago
Pena's testimony was mainly about the video showing the suspect who Pena said was trying to break into a van.

APD Detective Mark Horn has now been called to the stand. He is discussing a scanner which takes photographs and renders them into 3D.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 3m3 minutes ago
Horn said he took "several" scans of the crime scene at Waller Creek. They are now showing the courtroom the results of these scans, which are predictably taking a while to load.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 5m5 minutes ago
The scans have finally loaded. These scans show a 360 view of the Waller Creek area in incredibly high-definition. The scans also allow the prosecution (or anyone else who uses the program) to measure the distances between the two places on the scan.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 2m2 minutes ago
Now they are showing scans taken after dark. When the detectives rotated the scanner, they used flashlights to attempt to illuminate the area But the efforts to illuminate the scans only produced some circles of light in one scan. In general, the rest of the scans are very dark.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 4m4 minutes ago
Horn is now being cross-examined by the defense. Horn, who usually works with vehicular accidents, says that he doesn't usually use the scanner during those incidents. He also said another department now uses these scanners and he is not called to use them any more.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 2m2 minutes ago
We are now on a short break. The prosecution has one more witness to bring out, and since they're here, the judge wants them to testify. But since there is expected to be a lot of questions for the witness, the judge is considering whether they should testify tomorrow instead.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 25m25 minutes ago
The prosecution is calling their final witness, Ray Tymes. He is a former homicide detective for the Austin Police Department. After UTPD called APD for assistance with the "death scene", Tymes went to UT Austin assist the UT Police Department with the scene.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 20m20 minutes ago
Tynes was designated as the "secondary detective" for the homicide, after the scene was turned over to APD. The primary detective was Detective Nelson. Based on the affidavit, it's reasonable to assume Detective Nelson's full name is Anthony Nelson.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 19m19 minutes ago
Correction: The detective's last name is Tynes, not Tymes.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 16m16 minutes ago
After reviewing the affidavit, I can immediately see why there are going to be a lot of questions for Tynes. Although Tynes was the secondary detective, the affidavit says he is the person who found/identified multiple items in the abandoned building and the homeless shelter.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 4m4 minutes ago
The jury is currently being given a walk though of Waller Creek. From the photos currently being displayed, it seems like the detectives just took photos as they walked from their vehicle to where the body was found.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 2m2 minutes ago
After quickly going one-by-one through about 15 photos, the prosecution has zoomed in on a photo of the creek, where the detective says he found a hammer.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 19m19 minutes ago
The prosecution is currently going through every item "tented" or noted as potential evidence by the detective. So far, that's included a cigarette lighter, napkin, belt buckle, and a water bottle. But most notably, multiple blood stains and a damp black sock.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 11m11 minutes ago
Very graphic images of the body are now being shown to the jury.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 9m9 minutes ago
I didn't mention this earlier, but there were dozens of branches over the body. The detective says someone was purposefully trying to hide the body.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 4m4 minutes ago
Even more intense and very graphic images shown to the jurors. I don't believe any of Weiser's friends or family are in the courtroom to observe these images. Also, the body in one of the photos being shown now is missing a black sock. A black sock was found @ the scene.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 2m2 minutes ago
The detective said he believes Weiser didn't have any time to defend herself, based on his observations of her hands and fingernails.
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[YESorNO]

Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 10m10 minutes ago
The prosecution is now showing other pieces of evidence found at the scene, including a hammer, blood-stained female undergarments, male undergarments, and prescription eyeglasses


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 6m6 minutes ago
The prosecution has finished going through all of the photographs of the evidence at the scene. They're going back to the previous 360 degree scans now. It's looking like today is going to at least 7PM.


Megan Menchaca‏ @meganmenchaca13 17m17 minutes ago
JK. The judge is ending the trial right now. Tomorrow will start at 9AM sharp with the cross-examination of the detective by the defense.
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[watergirl62]

Thanks for all the tweets, YesorNo.