GUILTY TX - Michele Reiter, 38, Brownwood, 10 Sept 2012

[IHAVENOCLUE]

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/sep/26/remains-confirmed-as-brownwood-woman/



Silver lining.

Her case is in good hands.

Two of the best of the best.

Good to know!

Yay.. Texas Rangers!

 

[missalicemay]

Poor Michele, imagine how betrayed she must have felt when she learned who "Rocky" really was. And he says he had nothing to do with her disappearance, although he sent text messages from her phone after she disappeared.:waitasec:

IMO Betrayed and angry. Could have caused a fight that got out of hand. I wonder how he's going to explain having her cell after her disappearance.

 

[Artisana]

Thank God this guy was so stupid that he made an additional FB account using his real address--and then even used her cell phone after she was missing, too--I'm so glad he's right where he belongs!!!

I my husband works with someone who knew her and they said she was a very nice, friendly person--she probably broke up with him because he was abusive, so he confirmed her suspicions by killing her!

 

[hollyblue]

Complaint made by TX Rangers in the false FB page by LB:

http://www.ktxs.com/blob/view/-/16754074/data/2/-/hdvne0/-/Lanny-Complaint.pdf

http://www.ktxs.com/news/Report-sho...ad/-/14769632/16752658/-/mdc4xcz/-/index.html

 

[missalicemay]

Thank God this guy was so stupid that he made an additional FB account using his real address--and then even used her cell phone after she was missing, too--I'm so glad he's right where he belongs!!!

I my husband works with someone who knew her and they said she was a very nice, friendly person--she probably broke up with him because he was abusive, so he confirmed her suspicions by killing her!

No statement yet as to how Mr. Bush came to be in possession of Ms.Reiter's cell?

 

[Knox]

I lost track of this case, my deepest sympathies to Michelle's children and loved ones.

This guy is something else, who is he talking to in those first few posts?
https://www.facebook.com/lanny.bush

 

[stefanrae]

I lost track of this case, my deepest sympathies to Michelle's children and loved ones.

This guy is something else, who is he talking to in those first few posts?
https://www.facebook.com/lanny.bush

I wondered that too. Was he talking to someone else who was involved, or was he trying to make it look like those messages were to Michele? Possibly as a way to "prove" he believed she was still alive. It's interesting how his posts (the public ones, anyway) increased after she went missing.

 

[hollyblue]

Michele's funeral is pending. http://www.brownwoodtx.com/obituaries/article_cbdb4296-08f2-11e2-beab-001a4bcf887a.html

BBQ fund raiser to help her family with expenses:

http://www.brownwoodtx.com/news/local/article_9af14cf2-0816-11e2-916c-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[hollyblue]

Since it's Friday, I was hoping for some news today. Also, the now gf knew he was setting up that account...so she has to know more. IMO

I'd like to know the story regarding Michele's charges as well.

 

[Lois Lane]

In a search warrant affidavit sworn the day after Reiter's body was found, a Texas Ranger sought to search a house and vehicles in the 1500 block of Preusser Street in San Angelo for evidence in Reiter's murder, naming her former cohabitant, Lanny Marvin Bush, and Cindy Barrow, who the affidavit says "is in a romantic relationship" with Bush, as the occupants of the house.

Bush admitted meeting Reiter twice on the day before she was reported missing, claimed to have had "a form of sexual intercourse" with her and admitted to having her cellphone after the time she was reported missing and to having used it to send text messages pretending to be Reiter, the affidavit stated.

The affidavit said a 1997 Ford pickup already had been taken from the Preusser Street house. Bush had identified himself as the owner of the truck, but it was last registered in Reiter's name, the affidavit said.

Among items of potential evidence being sought in the affidavit were trace evidence including blood, hair, tissue, fibers, glass particles, gunpowder residue, ammunition and ammunition casings, firearms, other weapons of any kind, and a shovel.

The affidavit said Reiter's body had been discovered "in a shallow, clandestine type grave." A shovel with a broken handle was seen in the bed of the pickup.

In seeking the search warrant, the Ranger stated: " ... the Affiant knows semi-automatic firearms function by ejecting spent ammunition casings before chambering a live round of ammunition and those spent ammunition casings may and can be inside the vehicle. The Affiant knows when a firearm is fired from a vehicle, explosive gases from the discharged firearm may and can adhere to the interior passenger compartment of a vehicle ... the Affiant knows that high velocity blood spatter, medium velocity blood spatter and body tissue may be present in the area where a bullet could be sustained."

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/sep/28/house-searched-in-womans-death/

Lots of information in the article.

The Affidavits for Search Warrants:

http://media.gosanangelo.com/media/static/reiter_affidavits.pdf

ETA: Lanny Marvin Bush is identified in the Affidavits as a suspect in the murder of Michele Reiter.

 

[Lois Lane]

Public records show a string of criminal convictions for offenses that included burglary, motor vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, possession of a firearm by a felon and reckless driving. Bush spent time in the 1970s and 1980s in the Huntsville prison, and he has been on probation most of his life since then. The most recent offense ― reckless driving, a Class B misdemeanor ― dates from September 2005.

http://www.brownwoodtx.com/news/local/article_674f15d6-0a01-11e2-9d68-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[hollyblue]

IMO, they are just waiting on the forensics to come back. He's toast.

Thank you for the updates Lois Lane!

 

[Knox]

I did not follow this case closely.

I still do not understand what the motive is? He created a false facebook page "with the intent to harm Michelle"? Bush's girlfriend was Michelle's roommate, so what's the deal there?

Can someone enlighten me please?

 

[hollyblue]

I did not follow this case closely.

I still do not understand what the motive is? He created a false facebook page "with the intent to harm Michelle"? Bush's girlfriend was Michelle's roommate, so what's the deal there?

Can someone enlighten me please?

LE hasn't stated, but it seems love/jealousy.. I hope not....for a prior felon!

Basically, it's your teen romance/relationships in adults. I'm not positive if Cindy was a roommate of Michele's,(seems that way) but apparently Larry and Michele broke up a brief time ago...something happened and Michele was arrested on 8/28 ....fight or hit on Larry. Larry then sets up the fake FB as Rocky Spitzer to get a date with Michele...with intent to harm her....and Cindy knew about it. Not sure he meant to kill her...or if he did, since Cindy's in the picture...somewhere.....BUT...LE have a receipt of a purchase of bullets by Larry...using a card belonging to Cindy on the same day anyone last saw Michele. LE searched Cin's home and all the vehicles. Shovel found in back of truck, with broken handle... driven by Larry, but still registered to Michele.

The apparent meeting place? was a sports complex/arena, etc.....her car was found there, iirc, the day after she was reported missing. However, according to Larry ...AHEM....the had hanky panky twice, BUT he didn't kill her. So they may have travelled elsewhere to partake......He did admit to taking her cell phone and using it to text (?) after she was "missing".

This all took place in Brownwood,TX where Michele lived. Larry was living with Cindy in San Angelo, and Michele's body was found in a rural area of the county ..in-between the two locations. The gf is 50, he's 54 with a record.. and Michele was 38.

 

[hollyblue]

Pretty good article with a timeline.

Items collected as evidence include a shovel with a broken handle, hair with root lodged in the right rear door panel, 3 sterile swabs taken from the right rear door panel noted as possibly blood, blue denim shirt with stains, several receipts, and various other items of clothing and paperwork.
http://www.brownwoodnews.com/index....-reiter-investigation&catid=35:news&Itemid=58

Her obituary.
http://www.brownwoodtx.com/obituaries/article_f0b88774-0c10-11e2-8239-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[TGIRecovered]

Pretty good article with a timeline.

Items collected as evidence include a shovel with a broken handle, hair with root lodged in the right rear door panel, 3 sterile swabs taken from the right rear door panel noted as possibly blood, blue denim shirt with stains, several receipts, and various other items of clothing and paperwork.
http://www.brownwoodnews.com/index....-reiter-investigation&catid=35:news&Itemid=58

Her obituary.
http://www.brownwoodtx.com/obituaries/article_f0b88774-0c10-11e2-8239-0019bb2963f4.html

Boo-Yah!

Now that's the way to investigate a missing/murdered person! Straight and simple, waste no time, open your eyes, overlook nothing, collect everything, keep it sterile and document every detail by the book. SAPD and the Rangers who handled this one didn't mess around!

Texas Rangers Nick Hanna and Danny Crawford are my new heros.
:hero: :hero:

Lois Lane, send those boys on over to Colorado City so poor little Hailey Dunn can get some justice!

 

[Lois Lane]

....Lois Lane, send those boys on over to Colorado City so poor little Hailey Dunn can get some justice!

If I could, I certainly would.

Search Warrant Return re Lanny Marvin Bush:

http://www.ktxs.com/blob/view/-/16810992/data/1/-/u14axjz/-/New-Document--1-.pdf

 

[Lois Lane]

Deputy Jim Cornelius with the Brown County Sheriff's Office said he received word Tuesday of a new, separate charge against Bush out of Brown County.

The new charge from Ranger Crawford is a charge of Online Impersonation out of Brown County for Bush.

This new charge of Online Impersonation out of Brown County carries a higher bond of $200,000.

Because Bush appears to be the number one suspect in Reiter's disappearance and death, it's possible he will be moved to the Brown County Jail at some future time.

Reiter's body was discovered in Coleman County, she lived in Brownwood (Brown County), and Bush was living in Tom Green County.

If murder charges are filed against Bush they could be filed in any of those counties.

http://www.ktxs.com/news/Suspect-in...ty/-/14769632/16832394/-/10m6dcj/-/index.html

Bush said in a jailhouse interview Tuesday that he's never hurt a woman, including Reiter, whom he's dated and lived with the past five years.

The two were communicating through the false identity because Reiter was forbidden to contact him as a condition of her probation, he said. Reiter also changed his name in her cellphone directory to avoid scrutiny from her probation officer, Bush said.

He said the aggravated assault Reiter was charged with on Aug. 28 stemmed from an argument in which she threw a small metal jewelry box at his head. They fought because he thought she had been lying about cheating on him, he said. She moved out afterward.

(I doubt that she was charged with aggravated assault.)

Joe Shaw, director of the Brown and Mills County Adult Probation Department, said Reiter had been on felony probation since February. She had received five years deferred adjudication on a state jail felony — securing execution of document by deception.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/oct/02/bush-denies-harming-murdered-brownwood-woman/

Additional information in both articles.

I'm not buying much of anything Bush is saying, but in particular I'm taking exception to this claim of his:

The two were communicating through the false identity because Reiter was forbidden to contact him as a condition of her probation, he said. Reiter also changed his name in her cellphone directory to avoid scrutiny from her probation officer, Bush said.

No contact with felons is common as a condition of probation; Bush is a convicted felon.

However, they had been living together since she was placed on probation in February.

I'm curious to know what the new charge of Online Impersonation involves.

 

[hollyblue]

Thanks Lois. Whew that's a lot of new info to take in. First, wth is securing execution of document by deception...the federal charge on her?

The rest about the phones and puter will come out in the wash with LE's investigation. So will the ammo purchase...if she was indeed shot and the bullets match.

Too, curious about the new charges of impersonation in Brown Co....and why so big a difference in the bond in the differenct counties? The bond in Michelle Warner's case for her perp was orignally set at $50K and just increased yesterday to $150K..which I still think is low....but.... I also thought a person was charged in the county the crime was committed? Hard to prove that at this point, I guess.

So he called LE on her and she was charged in the assualt...hmmm.

I think LB is just telling stories, and it sounds like Michele was learning and picking up bad habits from this guy in the 5 years of a relationship. Why oh why do some women prefer to settle for this? And....yeh, what happens when your probation is to stay away from a felon..when you've been in relationship with him for 5 years already?

What a mess...and I'm sure it's gets more complicated

 

[Lois Lane]

I was hoping for some clarification today, hollyblue, but none yet, so here's the best I can do.

First, with regard to the increased bail for Castellano -- it was increased at his appearance before the judge. Just guessing, but she probably thought the original amount was too low for the specific acts of the crime. He has a family member in Chicago; no way of knowing if that was a factor in raising his bond.

As for Lanny Bush, I don't know why the bond on the charge out of Brown County would be so much higher than the Tom Green County charge. Possibly a misprint by KTXS?

It was an interesting report from KTXS; I'm wondering if it was cobbled together from more than one source with no singular source having a full picture of what is coming out of Brown County.

We'll just have to wait and see about that.

It's pretty clear that LE is building a murder case against Bush. Possible that they could be waiting on DNA results before they charge him.

One of interesting things from one of the affidavits is the specificity about Bush smoking cigarettes while being interviewed. Additionally, one of the items listed on the search warrant affidavits was tobacco products. Makes me think they found cigarette butt(s) at the location where her body was found.

That location has yet to be disclosed. My guess as to why is that they don't want tampering with the scene at this time.

As for Michele's plea for Securing Execution of Document by Deception, there is a Texas criminal statute that she was charged under. I can be certain she was charged in state court rather than federal because she was convicted under a State Jail Felony -- State Jail Felony charges carry a punishment of 180 days to 2 years.

She had received five years deferred adjudication on a state jail felony — securing execution of document by deception.

(Five years deferred adjudication meant that if she completed the five years under terms set by the court then she would not have a felony conviction on her record.)

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.32.htm

Sec. 32.46. SECURING EXECUTION OF DOCUMENT BY DECEPTION. (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to defraud or harm any person, he, by deception:
(1) causes another to sign or execute any document affecting property or service or the pecuniary interest of any person; or
(2) causes or induces a public servant to file or record any purported judgment or other document purporting to memorialize or evidence an act, an order, a directive, or process of:
(A) a purported court that is not expressly created or established under the constitution or the laws of this state or of the United States;
(B) a purported judicial entity that is not expressly created or established under the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States; or
(C) a purported judicial officer of a purported court or purported judicial entity described by Paragraph (A) or (B).
(b) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a:
(1) Class C misdemeanor if the value of the property, service, or pecuniary interest is less than $20;
(2) Class B misdemeanor if the value of the property, service, or pecuniary interest is $20 or more but less than $500;
(3) Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property, service, or pecuniary interest is $500 or more but less than $1,500;
(4) state jail felony if the value of the property, service, or pecuniary interest is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000;
-- SNIPPED BY LL --

Possibly Food Stamp Fraud, Medicaid Fraud, Unemployment Benefits Fraud or something similar.

And yeah, I think it's a reasonable assumption that Bush probably held her probation over her like a sword. Throughout her story I've also wondered if she had information about him that could have meant his return to prison.

As for her probation and her relationship, there are degrees of discretion held by the district court and supervision departments. Since she was in the relationship at the time of her plea, my guess is that she was not prohibited from living with him. However, I would imagine that her relationship was a cause for concern with her probation officer.

I suspect that her conversation with her probation officer after the arrest for allegedly throwing a small jewelry box was uncomfortable.

I get the impression that Lanny Bush thinks he can talk his way into, through and out of anything, ya know? I'm predicting that he won't be able to talk his way out of his current situation. Conversely, the more he talks, the deeper he buries himself.

Why oh why do some women prefer to settle for this?

Right there's the big question.

I think the answer is any number of psychological dependencies. A big part of the reason why some people stay in abusive/unhealthy relationships is a fear of being alone. Addictions to alcohol and/or drugs are often a huge factor. Financial insecurity can also be a factor. Too often the roots can be found in childhood abuse.

Going by comments made by her friends and co-workers after her disappearance, it seems that she was certainly well-liked and had a strong support system to help her continue on the path of a better life.

Her memorial service in Brownwood was held this morning.

In observance of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Howard Payne University [in Brownwood] is hosting a special exhibit to pay tribute to the lives lost to domestic violence. The “Empty Shoes” display at the university’s Girling Center for Social Justice features a pair of shoes for each of the 10 Central Texas women and children who have died in the last 13 years as a result of such violence.

http://www.brownwoodnews.com/index....stic-violence-victims&catid=36:life&Itemid=59