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

[Gene]

Here is the arrest warrant for MC.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/307477285/Meechaiel-Criner-Affidavit-1165273-Ver1-0

What impresses me is that the arrest warrant mentions that after the police distributed the video of MC, the fire chief called the police to say that MC had been reported burning items. Because MC was under 18 and homeless the police were called and MC was transported to Lifeworks. What the arrest warrant does NOT mention, is anything about the policeman who was called and who transported MC to Lifeworks. I find it very strange that the policeman who took him to Lifeworks, did not report MC.

 

[Starry Night]

K2 epidemic indeed in Austin:

"We're seeing elevated temperatures. We're seeing seizures. We're seeing people having blackouts and we've got some folks experiencing violent behavior, very aggressive tendencies. We've got some that are experiencing paranoia and anxiety," said Chief Ernesto Rodriguez with Austin- Travis County EMS."
http://legacy.kvue.com/story/news/l...--least-26-k2-incidents--three-days/28307505/

 

[Starry Night]

My older daughter has done volunteer work at the ARCH some months back and I implored her to have an escort walk her to her car after her stint because of the K-2 reports. The ARCH is in downtown Austin and helps homeless people.
http://www.frontsteps.org/what-we-do/arch/

 

[tlcya]

Spice (K-2) is a horrible thing, just awful what this drug does. Is there any indication that MC was using or had a history of drug use? I may have missed it.

 

[Starry Night]

Spice (K-2) is a horrible thing, just awful what this drug does. Is there any indication that MC was using or had a history of drug use? I may have missed it.

mrsu provided a link to an interview with a homeless person who stated he used it daily.
http://www.kvue.com/mb/news/local/ho...exas/126625932

Could be hearsay? It is most prevalent downtown with the homeless population because it is so cheap. I have heard horror stories from drug users who have tried it and thought they were going to die or ended up in a psyche hospital for days. From what I understand also-it is sold at head shops. Not sure if it has been outlawed yet.

 

[tlcya]

I tried earlier to get that interview to play without success. I really want to watch it for insight from someone who claims to know about him in his more current daily life since his family says he has been a runaway. Thanks,.I will try to play it again now.

ETA got it to play with lots of buffering breaks. She says he seemed out of it, was hard to converse with, didn't make any sense and she strongly suspects he was using K-2. She may be right. But she may describing someone with the mental health issues his family claims he has.

Thank you Starry Night.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

You should read the affidavit. They saw the laptop after he became a suspect in the murder and they had the search warrant.

I did read the affidavit, which I had quoted it in my original post. The affidavit itself used the word "seized" multiple times describing events prior to his arrest. I didn't just pull seizure out of thin air as it is in the document itself. I expressly didn't say they originally opened it up and saw the laptop.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

He might not have said "I am going to find someone to murder this night" but that doesn't mean at some point, he decided he was going to kill Haruka. Premeditation doesn't have to mean hours or days in advance....it could just be a few minutes before. Unless Haruka's death was extremely quick, he would've had many opportuntities to stop what he was doing. At some point, his intention would've become to kill her. For example, if you get into argument and punch someone and they hit their head, maybe you could argue you didn't intend to kill them but if you keep punching someone over and over, well, that's another story.

I think he may have been waiting for her given how he was in and out of that specific area for about 20 minutes and it sounds like he had only tried to open the van much earlier than when this happened. Reading this about Haruka it absolutely sounds like if anyone was going to be friendly and chatty with a homeless person that it would have been her:

She grew up near Beaverton, Oregon, in a four-acre co-housing community established in 1998 around the values of community, service and sustainability, where residents share tools like lawn mowers but also responsibilities like gardening, said Weiser's neighbor, Helen Spector.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-haruka-weiser-murder-suspect-20160409-story.html
Also from the same article it sounds like Criner was really getting around TX and was engaging in other criminal activity:

Mary Wadley said authorities had told her that her grandson, Meechaiel, was caught shoplifting in McKinney, Texas, shortly before he was admitted into an emergency youth homeless shelter Monday in Austin, about 225 miles away.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

In Texas would he be charged with felony murder or first degree murder?

The reason I ask is the murder cases I have seen where the suspect was in the middle of committing one or more felonies.....i.e felony aggravated rape or felony armed robbery and the victim was murdered they were charged with felony murder.

imo

This describes 1st and 2nd degree murder in TX, which is different than some other states:
http://statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-first-degree-murder-laws.html
http://statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-second-degree-murder-laws.html

 

[Starry Night]

I used to work in downtown Austin and had interactions with homeless/sketchy/seemingly lost persons. One morning a young male in his early 20's wandered onto our (government) property dressed only in a sheet wrapped around him. Workers from my building were outside also and they were laughing and smirking at him. I said-maybe he's sick or messed up-he is somebody's child. We should call 911.
No-one seemed to have a cell phone on them. I was so sad and angry at their reaction. I watched him walk away up the street and then went inside and called it in. (I didn't have a cell phone).

 

[mrsu]

He might not have said "I am going to find someone to murder this night" but that doesn't mean at some point, he decided he was going to kill Haruka. Premeditation doesn't have to mean hours or days in advance....it could just be a few minutes before. Unless Haruka's death was extremely quick, he would've had many opportuntities to stop what he was doing. At some point, his intention would've become to kill her. For example, if you get into argument and punch someone and they hit their head, maybe you could argue you didn't intend to kill them but if you keep punching someone over and over, well, that's another story.

Oh yes, I agree. I just meant IMO I don't think he got off the bike intending to murder her. I wasn't suggesting anything other than speculating what happened. I do think the intent was assault or robbery and it got out of hand. I'm just curious how they prove capital? Does it automatically qualify because he was in possession of her things? What if he killed her and then decided to take the bag after the fact? Does order of thought matter?

 

[mrsu]

Also, because I'm genuinely curious, how do they determine premeditation? If he intended to rob her but snapped and just started beating her, and then realized, "OMG I just killed this person", but only intended on hurting her badly, is that premeditated? Do they assume because he had a weapon it was premeditated? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

 

[Steleheart]

I think he may have been waiting for her given how he was in and out of that specific area for about 20 minutes and it sounds like he had only tried to open the van much earlier than when this happened. Reading this about Haruka it absolutely sounds like if anyone was going to be friendly and chatty with a homeless person that it would have been her:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-haruka-weiser-murder-suspect-20160409-story.html
Also from the same article it sounds like Criner was really getting around TX and was engaging in other criminal activity:

It seems to me that the affidavit puts him with her for about 2 hours;
He returns to the van at 9:38 and then she walks by him. He watches her and follows, taking an object from his back pocket.
Then he is not seen again until 11:47. At that time he is then carrying the extra bag that looks like a small duffel bag.
So from right after 9:38 until 11:47 he is off camera.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/307477285/Meechaiel-Criner-Affidavit-1165273-Ver1-0

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Oh yes, I agree. I just meant IMO I don't think he got off the bike intending to murder her. I wasn't suggesting anything other than speculating what happened. I do think the intent was assault or robbery and it got out of hand. I'm just curious how they prove capital? Does it automatically qualify because he was in possession of her things? What if he killed her and then decided to take the bag after the fact? Does order of thought matter?

I don't know whether murder was his original intent, but I do think aggravated sexual assault and/or robbery were his intentions and if he suddenly killed her during this because she tried to fight back, I think that would still qualify for capital murder under TX law.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Also, because I'm genuinely curious, how do they determine premeditation? If he intended to rob her but snapped and just started beating her, and then realized, "OMG I just killed this person", but only intended on hurting her badly, is that premeditated? Do they assume because he had a weapon it was premeditated? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

I'm not really sure. I don't think "I just intended to hurt her really badly" is a defense...I mean, ignorance isn't an excuse for breaking the law. If I'm stabbing someone or beating them, I can't argue that oh I didn't realize that if I continued, I would kill this person. Haruka's murder was described as "unimaginable brutality".

 

[SpanishInquisition]

It seems to me that the affidavit puts him with her for about 2 hours;
He returns to the van at 9:38 and then she walks by him. He watches her and follows, taking an object from his back pocket.
Then he is not seen again until 11:47. At that time he is then carrying the extra bag that looks like a small duffel bag.
So from right after 9:38 until 11:47 he is off camera.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/307477285/Meechaiel-Criner-Affidavit-1165273-Ver1-0

I'm talking about prior to that event where he is in a secluded area of the campus (it helps using Google Earth) where he was in the loading area by the bridge. It's not entirely clear from the affidavit, but it sounds like he had tried to get into the van 20 minutes prior and when he was there he was just loitering until she came out. The van attempt may have been seen by him as an incidental target of opportunity, but I think he was there (prepared with his bandana on to attack a person) waiting for someone to go through there and I think he was specifically waiting for her knowing she'd go down into the creek.

 

[Starry Night]

Lots of circumstantial evidence so far only. I hope he gets a good lawyer. Because that is the way justice should work.

My Opinion Only-No intention to offend victim or family.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

I'm not really sure. I don't think "I just intended to hurt her really badly" is a defense...I mean, ignorance isn't an excuse for breaking the law. If I'm stabbing someone or beating them, I can't argue that oh I didn't realize that if I continued, I would kill this person. Haruka's murder was described as "unimaginable brutality".

It does matter to the extent with Felony M1 that it's proven you committed the underlying felony, like he had suddenly killed someone when attempting shoplifting that would perhaps be Manslaughter and Misdemeanor for the shoplifting rather than Felony M1. Theoretically his defense could argue that he was trying to do a petty theft with a snatch-and-grab of her small bag when a fight broke out making what he did only Manslaughter, but I don't think any of those types of defenses would work based on what we know so far.

 

[Starry Night]

Well I guess we need to define 'Murder' and 'Capital Murder' charges in Texas. Because Texas makes it very clear and woe to those proven guilty of either.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm

 

[eileenhawkeye]

It does matter to the extent with Felony M1 that it's proven you committed the underlying felony, like he had suddenly killed someone when attempting shoplifting that would perhaps be Manslaughter and Misdemeanor for the shoplifting rather than Felony M1. Theoretically his defense could argue that he was trying to do a petty theft with a snatch-and-grab of her small bag when a fight broke out making what he did only Manslaughter, but I don't think any of those types of defenses would work based on what we know so far.

I really don't think the defense could get a manslaughter charge. It doesn't matter whether the theft was a misdemanor or a felony. Haruka's death was described as unimaginable brutality. I've seen rumors about the COD and if they are correct, this was not a fight between two people. People are convicted every day in this country of plain 1st degree murder, not just felony murder. What if he hadn't stolen anything from Haruka and just raped and killed her? Would we still be talking about whether or not he should be charged with manslaughter, felony murder, or 1st degree?