Fort Worth-area woman killed by violent ex-husband who arrived with pizza, warrant says
He arrived at the family’s Keller home with a pizza box, he stood by as his ex-wife threw clothes and other items in their driveway, and then he shot her three times, according to a warrant.
After the shooting, Mark Stanush went on the run for four days before he was found dead by suicide in his vehicle in Midlothian, ending the search for the man accused of killing 58-year-old Teresa Salyer at their Keller home on June 16.
A neighborhood home surveillance camera captured the minutes just before Salyer was shot to death in her garage, according to the murder warrant for the 59-year-old Stanush obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Monday.
Shortly after the shooting, the arrest warrant was issued for Stanush based on the video and a history of domestic violence where Salyer had been the victim and Stanush the suspect.
Keller Detective J. Potter provided this account of the shooting in the warrant:
Keller police responded to a shots-fired call on the night of June 16 in an area near a pond behind Driscoll Place and the 500 block of Manchester Court. Witnesses heard four shots.
After the shots were fired, a homeowner told Keller police he saw a black truck matching Stanush’s leave the house on Manchester Court.
Officers went to the home, but no one answered. Keller police called Salyer’s cell phone and it was answered, but no one spoke. Authorities also called Stanush and he confirmed he had been at their home, but he had left after having an argument with Salyer.
Keller police returned to the home on June 17, and again no one answered the door. Officers peered into the garage window and saw a woman’s body of lying on the floor between two vehicles. The victim was later identified as Teresa Salyer.
Keller police later canvased the neighborhood and found a home surveillance video which showed Stanush arriving at the home on the night of June 16.
He had gotten out of his car with a pizza box, which detectives later found inside the home with a time stamp receipt of 8:58 p.m. on June 16.
The video later showed Salyer throwing clothes and other items on the driveway.
At some point, Stanush was seen walking into the garage, pointing a dark-colored object towards Salyer. That object turned out to be a handgun.
After Stanush pointed the gun, Salyer walked to the front of her vehicle and Stanush followed her. Salyer then disappeared from the view of the camera.
Stanush walked into the home and closed the garage door. He later drove away from the home.
Armed with a search warrant, detectives combed through the garage and found a bullet hole in Salyer’s vehicle. Salyer appeared to have been shot three times, according to the warrant.
Stanush had been awaiting trial on a 2019 assault charge where Salyer was the alleged victim in Keller, according to Tarrant County criminal court records.
Stanush and Salyer were married on March 10, 2018, and ceased living together on Aug. 18, 2019, the date of the alleged assault at their Keller home, court divorce records stated. They had no children.
On Aug. 22, 2019, Salyer filed an affidavit in their divorce proceeding, providing the court with a narrative of the alleged assault.
The account written by Salyer included these details:
On Aug. 18, 2019, Stanush had been drinking beer all day and then drank two bottles of port wine in the evening. Salyer cooked dinner and asked her husband to eat.
Stanush began arguing with her, cursed at her and then told her they were taking “this (expletive) outside.”
Salyer said she tried to yell for help because Stanush’s adult son was in the house.
Once outside, Stanush grabbed Salyer around her throat, pushed her up against her truck and crammed his hand in her crotch, according to the affidavit.
Salyer hit Stanush, but he threw her to the ground and choked her at least twice, she wrote.
He pounded his knee into her chest, fracturing a rib.
Salyer managed to get away from Stanush and called Keller police. She was taken to a local hospital for treatment of blunt-force trauma, according to the affidavit.
Salyer noted in the affidavit that her husband drank heavily and had assaulted her in the past.
Stanush had told her multiple times, “I’ve killed before, I’ll kill again,” and “I’m going to put a hit on you,” according to the affidavit.
Salyer said Stanush’s previous wife had him arrested for family violence, and she later died from head trauma, according to the affidavit.
Before the shooting on June 16, Stanush had been living in Argyle, according to court records.
