Fort Worth man blamed woman for his arrest before her body was found under home: warrant
On Feb. 13, Valerian Osteen and Marissa Grimes showed up at a friend’s home, and the 26-year-old Arlington woman appeared to have been crying, a witness told police.
Osteen, who claimed to be a member of the Russian mafia, was verbally abusive to Grimes, witnesses told police. Osteen was upset that he had been arrested in January on domestic violence charges and he blamed Grimes, according to a warrant.
Grimes had planned to leave the area and rented a U-Haul.
That was the last time she was seen alive.
Her body was found in a crawl space last week underneath Osteen’s home at 5817 Locke Ave. in Fort Worth, wrapped in blankets and a gray tarp, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Monday.
Osteen was arrested last week and is accused of capital murder in Grimes’ death.
The 24-year-old Fort Worth man told detectives that he denied knowing Grimes’ whereabouts and that he didn’t harm her.
.jpg "Marissa Grimes (pb).jpg")
Grimes died from blunt head trauma, according to a ruling by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website on Monday. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Grimes managed to escape from Osteen in January after he was accused of refusing to allow her to leave his Fort Worth home for several days, during which time he repeatedly pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her, according to court documents.
At some point, she managed to send a short text message to her father asking for help and Fort Worth police later located her.
But Osteen was released from the Tarrant County Jail within a few days with a GPS ankle monitor after posting a $5,000 bond, according to the warrant.
The low bond amount was criticized by Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson, her second such statement in as many days.
Wilson issued a statement Saturday criticizing the bond amount set by a judge, which allowed a suspect with a violent history to be released from jail and commit another crime against his victim.
The District Attorney’s Office said Osteen had five prior felony convictions when he went before Magistrate Mark Thielman, who set a $10,000 bond on aggravated assault and $5,000 bond on unlawful restraint, both felony charges that Osteen was accused of committing against Grimes.
Thielman could not be reached for comment. Magistrates are hired by judges to set bond in Tarrant County, according to the DA’s office.
Osteen also had a conviction for misdemeanor terroristic threat and several other misdemeanor charges.
The DA’s office said Thielman had access to a “danger assessment” for Grimes should Osteen be released. Her assessment indicated she was in “extreme danger.”
On Friday, Wilson was critical of the $3,500 bond set by Tarrant County District Judge Chris Wolfe in a domestic violence case against Lancelot Dawkins. After his release from jail Thursday, Wilson said, Dawkins went straight to his ex-girlfriend’s Fort Worth home, where he choked her unconscious and kidnapped their 11-month-old daughter. The baby was found safe in New Mexico, where Dawkins was arrested.
Wolfe has not released any public statements on the case.
Grimes’ family reported her missing after not being able to contact her. On Feb. 21, police found her U-Haul abandoned on Lake Como Drive, about a mile from Osteen’s home, according to the warrant. Officers went to his house, but he wouldn’t answer the door.
The GPS data showed Osteen had been near the location where the U-Haul was found, the warrant says. According to the data, it appeared Osteen may have driven the truck there and then walked home.
Police served a search warrant at the house on Feb. 22 and found the entrance to the crawl space in a bedroom closet. Officers looked down into the crawl space and saw a mound of dirt and smelled decomposition, the warrant says.
Police obtained a second warrant to search the crawl space on Feb. 23 and found Grimes’ body.
The arrest warrant for Osteen noted that another woman reported on Feb. 17 that she had been held by Osteen against her will at his home. She reported being assaulted by Osteen, who threatened to kill her with a handgun, according to the warrant.
The woman also reported seeing blood in the house, which Osteen claimed to be from a man who he had tortured for fun.
At that time, Osteen claimed to be a member of the Russian mafia and said he would have a shootout with police, according to the warrant.
Detectives believe there could be more surviving victims assaulted by Osteen and ask that they contact Detective J. Cedillo at 817-392-4337.
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 11:17 AM.
