TX - James Gerald Martin III, 37, Houston, fatally shot, 27 Jan 2023 *arrest*

[Arkark]

Well it sounds like someone definitely dropped the ball then. That vehicle should've been one of the first things to search.

Plus, wouldn't his body start smelling at the impound lot before 5 days? Maybe not, I don't know.

Hope these guys get justice.

MOO.

 

[nao]

Moo...yea if it is impounded really think all trunks should be looked at....it is a pretty popular place to put dead people. Also that was the reason the police were called...auto running ...wonder if he was shot also?

 

[nao]

Moo. And very much yes...all lifes are equal and should get the same concern. Did they check the moved stolen truck for prints an such

 

[PommyMommy]

Moo...yea if it is impounded really think all trunks should be looked at....it is a pretty popular place to put dead people. Also that was the reason the police were called...auto running ...wonder if he was shot also?

Yes, both men were shot.

UPDATE: Missing Man Found Deceased in Fatal Shooting Investigation at 1713 West T.C. Jester Boulevard – City of Houston | Newsroom
Houston police have learned a man being sought after another man was found fatally shot at 1713 West T.C. Jester Boulevard about 8:30 a.m. on January 27 has been located deceased.

Homicide detectives were advised an autopsy has identified a man found deceased on Wednesday (Feb. 1) as James Gerald Martin III, 37. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

 

[JurassicParker]

I just read an article from the Houston Chronicle and the way I understand it is that when LE arrived at the house the car was running and it looked like there was a struggle inside the vehicle. To prevent evidence contamination they took the car away but had to wait for a search warrant to actually look through the car. When they were finally able to look in the car they found the victim. His vehicle was missing so it's not completely crazy that they would assume he was with his vehicle and not in the truck of a car. LE still has to follow procedure during an investigation. If they mess up that could be one thing that could help the killer walk.

 

[JurassicParker]

The thing that blows my mind is that there was a lot of marijuana left in the house. Why didnt they steal that? There was $36k in cash in the freezer...why wasn't that stolen? What was the purpose of this crime?

 

[Arkark]

I just read an article from the Houston Chronicle ...

It's behind a paywall. Can you share other details of what was in the article? Thank you!

 

[JurassicParker]

It's behind a paywall. Can you share other details of what was in the article? Thank you!

I can't copy and paste an article here so I sent it to you through PM.

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 10, 2023

Docs reveal marijuana and $35k in cash were found inside home where 2 men were killed on TC Jester

New court docs reveal the business venture between two men who were found dead, one inside of a home and the other in the trunk of a car in an HPD impound lot.

abc13.com

[...]

Almost two weeks after the initial report, a search warrant revealed what HPD found inside the residence.

According to court documents, several moving boxes and bags of what appeared to be marijuana, packaged in airtight wrapping, were found in various places throughout the home.

Possible firearm projectiles were also found. In the kitchen, a crime scene investigator found multiple bundles of cash in the freezer totaling $35,980, records showed.

According to the warrant, Martin's mother told police that Martin and Ryssdal were commercial marijuana farmers in Oregon, where it's legal.

Martin, originally from the Houston area, moved back to Houston last year and was in the process of selling the marijuana harvesting business. Ryssdal arrived earlier in January.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 1, 2023

Jackson County, Oregon - Official Government Website

The County is governed by a three-member Board of Commissioners, an elected body responsible for many broad issues in the region, such as forest planning, water supply issues, regional land use planning, air quality, transportation, emergency management and economic development.

jacksoncountyor.org

A January 27 double homicide in Houston, Texas led Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team (IMET) detectives to a house outside Jacksonville, Ore. IMET Detectives and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) deputies served a search warrant last Wednesday at a property in the 1400 block of Wagon Trail Drive in rural Jacksonville.

On scene, IMET detectives found an unlicensed greenhouse and indoor grow containing approximately 572 black-market marijuana plants. Inside the residence, detectives located approximately 275 lbs. of processed illegal cannabis, two firearms, and $7,600 cash. There was no licensing for any type of cannabis growing, handling, or processing at this location. IMET detectives arrested a man connected to the marijuana grow, Baron Erik Munchausen, 36, originally from Houston. He was lodged in the Jackson County Jail.

[...]

Houston double homicide leads to Jacksonville black market marijuana bust

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office says a double homicide in Houston, Texas on January 27 led to the discovery of an illegal marijuana operation in rural Jacks

ktvl.com

[...]

Police say the operation was originally uncovered during a Houston Police Department double homicide, where two men were shot to death.

The two men were 35-year-old Dana Lars Ryssdal from Oregon and 37-year-old James Gerald Martin III, who owned the rural Jacksonville property.

While investigating the homicide, Houston Police found over 125 pounds of suspected marijuana, 10 pounds of hash oil, and $36 thousand in cash.

Martin was part owner of Rogue Valley Cannabis, which operates three local marijuana dispensaries.

[...]

 

[Linear13]

Baron Erik Munchausen? This guy must have had his name changed or his parents had a weird sense of humor. Here’s his FB.

Erik Munchausen

Erik Munchausen is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Erik Munchausen and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

www.facebook.com

He has lived back and forth from TX to OR and a few strange places in between. You can see the descent from normal looking guy to what he is today in his pics. At least while they are up.

 

[JurassicParker]

H-E-B receipt could be key to murders of 2 men in TC Jester home, 1 suspect detained

The woman charged told authorities that one of the victims killed was known to threaten people who owed him money, but that he also owed her boyfriend $40,000, documents show.

abc13.com

 

[PommyMommy]

H-E-B receipt could be key to murders of 2 men in TC Jester home, 1 suspect detained

The woman charged told authorities that one of the victims killed was known to threaten people who owed him money, but that he also owed her boyfriend $40,000, documents show.

abc13.com

From the article:

[...]

Kathy Vu was recently arrested and charged with tampering and fabricating physical evidence in the murders of Dana Ryssdal and James Martin III. Charging documents state she concealed a firearm and "blood evidence" in connection with the crime scene.

[...]

New documents state that during an interview with Vu, she admitted to being in a relationship with one of the suspects in the killings - but he is not being named as it's not clear he's been charged yet. She also added that Martin had a history of threatening a lot of people, including her boyfriend, "if anything because people don't want to pay him back ... if anything were to have happened, it would definitely have been self-defense," she told authorities.

She also added that Martin owed her boyfriend $40,000 "after a narcotics-related transaction did not go as planned."

[...]

According to authorities, there's a third suspect wanted in connection with the killings - but his charges are not available.

Vu is due in probable cause court Thursday night.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 17, 2023

2nd UPDATE: One Suspect Arrested and Charged, Two Others Sought in Fatal Shooting Investigation at 1713 West T.C. Jester Boulevard – City of Houston | Newsroom

Charges have been filed against one suspect arrested and two others sought in the fatal shooting of two men at 1713 West T.C. Jester Boulevard about 8:30 a.m. on January 27.

Two wanted suspects, Polie Phan, 26, and Jaidan Vu Nguyen, 25, are charged with capital murder in the 262nd State District Court. Photos of both suspects, who are not in custody, are attached to this news release.

A third suspect, Kathy Vu, 23, is charged with tampering with evidence in the 263rd State District Court. A booking photo of Vu is attached to this news release.

[...]

WANTED: Polie Phan

Polie Phan (photo 2)

WANTED: Jaidan Nguyen

Jaidan Nguyen (photo 2)

ARRESTED – Kathy Vu

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 17, 2023

Woman arrested, 2 men wanted in murders of Heights-area roommates who operated legal out-of-state marijuana dispensary

A 23-year-old woman has been arrested, and two suspects are on the run, in connection to the deaths of two men who were killed in late January.

www.click2houston.com

[...]

“He did nothing, other than walk in the wrong door at the wrong time,” Ryssdal’s stepmother CC told KPRC 2. ...

CC said Ryssdal had only been in Houston for a few days and she learned from investigators that her stepson had just returned from the gym and was ambushed as he walked in on the suspects ransacking his roommate’s home.

[...]

Investigators said the two men were commercial marijuana farmers who operated a legal dispensary in southern Oregon.

[...]

Martin, a native Houstonian, had recently decided to move back to Houston and was allegedly in the process of selling the out-of-state dispensary.

[...]

Through the use of the “Find My iPhone” app, investigators were able to track down the victims’ cellphones, which were located in the water of White Oak Bayou, near TC Jester.

Through extensive research, investigators were able to obtain surveillance video and phone records that linked Vu to the crime.

[...]

Investigators believe Martin was lured to the parking garage at Vu’s apartment complex and was possibly killed at that location. The vehicle was then driven away, and Vu got busy with her part of the coverup. Detectives recovered a grocery store receipt showing that Vu purchased items including bleach, peroxide and trash bags to help wipe away physical evidence.

Charging documents summed Vu’s alleged involvement, stating that the boyfriend “communicated with defendant Vu before, during and after the capital murder in preparation for utilizing her garage and luring Martin into said garage to commit the murder.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 21, 2023

2 men wanted in murders of Heights-area roommates flee to Vietnam, attorney says

Two men accused of murdering a pair of businessmen who owned an out-of-state marijuana dispensary have fled the United States, according to an attorney of a co-defendant in the case.

www.click2houston.com

Two men accused of murdering a pair of businessmen who owned an out-of-state marijuana dispensary have fled the United States, according to an attorney of a co-defendant in the case.

[...]

Phan’s girlfriend, Kathy Vu, has been charged with tampering/fabricating physical evidence. She was arrested on March 16 and her bond was set at $40,000. Court records show she posted bond on Friday.

Prosecutor Samantha Knecht spoke outside a Harris County courtroom Tuesday following a hearing for Vu, who was forced to surrender her passport.

[...]

MAR 22, 2023

Suspects in Heights murders may be in Vietnam, accomplice tells HPD

Two suspects charged with the murders of two men in the Heights area apparently fled to Vietnam. According to prosecutors, the third suspect told them Polie Phan and Jaiden Nguyen left the country.

cw39.com

Two suspects charged with the murders of two men in the Heights area apparently fled to Vietnam. According to prosecutors, the third suspect told them Polie Phan and Jaiden Nguyen left the country.

That third suspect, Kathy Vu, was in court Tuesday on charges of tampering with evidence. She’s accused of cleaning up the crime scene on T.C. Jester in January.

[...]

Anyone with additional information in this case or on the whereabouts of Polie Phan and Jaidan Vu Nguyen is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or speak anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 30, 2023

Jacksonville man pleads not guilty to black-market marijuana charges

A Jacksonville man pleaded not guilty Thursday to accusations he grew marijuana illegally at a farm outside Jacksonville uncovered when police went there as part of a double-murder investigation in

www.rv-times.com

Two suspects, Polie Phan, 26, and Jaidan Vu Nguyen, 25, were charged in a Texas court with capital murder in the deaths of the Ryssdal and Martin, but Phan and Nguyen remain at large. A third suspect, Kathy Vu, 23, was charged with tampering with evidence for allegedly helping Phan and Nguyen cover up the crime scene. She is being held in a Houston jail.

 

[PommyMommy]

JUL 17, 2023

Fugitives arrested in Vietnam for murder of former Rogue Valley Cannabis owner

Two men who fled to Vietnam and are suspects in a Houston double murder involving the former owner of Rogue Valley Cannabis were captured by U.S. Marshals last week and

www.rv-times.com

Two men who fled to Vietnam and are suspects in a Houston double murder involving the former owner of Rogue Valley Cannabis were captured by U.S. Marshals last week and brought back to the U.S., where they await extradition to Texas.

Polie Phan, 26, and Jaidan Vu Nguyen, 25, were on the run since Harris County, Texas, prosecutors charged them in March with murder in connection to the Jan. 27 deaths of James Gerald Martin III, 37, part-owner of Rogue Valley Cannabis, and Dana Lars Ryssdal, 35, who was affiliated with a Portland-based cannabis company.

JUL 24, 2023

Captured: Suspects who fled to Vietnam after murders of Heights-area marijuana growers extradited to Harris County

Two men who fled to Vietnam after being wanted in connection to the deaths of two men who were killed in late January have been captured, according to the Houston Police Department.

www.click2houston.com

The suspects, Polie Phan, 26, and Jaidan Nguyen, 25, charged with capital murder in March, were extradited from San Francisco to the Harris County Jail on July 19 and July 21.

Investigators said they killed Dana Ryssdal, 35, and 37-year-old James Gerald Martin III, over drug money.

3rd UPDATE: Suspects Arrested in January Fatal Shooting at 1713 West T.C. Jester Boulevard

In the third week of June, detectives were advised that Phan and Nguyen were located and apprehended in Vietnam. On June 29, both males were then transported to a San Francisco jail, to await extradition back to Harris County. Phan arrived back in Harris County on July 19 and Nguyen on July 21.