Men who robbed, shot Texas triple homicide victims wanted to take their house: warrant
The three victims killed in a Parker County triple homicide last week were robbed and shot in their home before their bodies were left near a creek, according to new details revealed in arrest warrant affidavits.
And an additional suspect, 18-year-old Michael Morris, has been arrested and accused of tampering with evidence in the case, the Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Two of the three victims were husband and wife Tiffany Ann Williams, 44, and David Dewayne Walker, 42. The third victim was Robbie Allen Head, 55, who also lived at the couple’s home.
Two suspects, 19-year-old Barrett Copeland and 27-year-old Trin Lawrence McKnight, face capital murder charges in the case.
The charges have been dismissed against another man who had been arrested. Further evidence revealed that Dennis Craig Alexander, 45, was not involved in the murders and he was released from jail, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. Copeland and McKnight gave false information to authorities that initially led to Alexander being identified as a suspect, investigators said.
New details of the investigation
According to arrest warrant affidavits obtained Wednesday by the Star-Telegram, a family member went to the victims’ home in the 100 block of Myrtle Lane on April 20. The family member knocked on the door and called Williams’ phone but no one answered, although a car belonging to one of the victims was parked outside.
The family member went back to the house the next day and noticed that the Ring security doorbell had been missing since the day before. She entered the residence through the back door and found the house in “disarray,” according to the affidavit.
On April 21, sheriff’s deputies were called to the victims’ residence to take a missing persons’ report. When an investigator went inside the house, they found a large amount of blood, and evidence of guns being fired, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also found blood in the back seat and back hatch of the 2003 Buick parked outside the house, according to the affidavit.
On April 24, authorities found the victims’ bodies in northern Hood County, along FM 167/Temple Hall Highway next to a creek, which is a short distance from the house.
The three victims had injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. There was a cloth wrapped around Walker’s torso, covering his chest and head. There was duct tape wrapped around the fabric around his neck. Head’s body was also covered in fabric, according to the affidavit.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office and the justice of peace confirmed that all three victims were shot and died from homicidal violence, investigators said.
Investigators matched McKnight’s fingerprints to prints on the driver’s side door of the victims’ car, according to the affidavit.
On April 27, investigators spoke to McKnight and he stated that he had heard there were three murders and the bodies were found, but he said he hadn’t been in the neighborhood much recently. McKnight initially was arrested on an outstanding Tarrant County warrant, according to the affidavit.
After his arrest, McKnight told investigators that he had met Copeland and Alexander at the victims’ house to rob them. McKnight initially claimed that Alexander held the victims at gunpoint during the robbery while McKnight and Copeland searched the house for drugs and money, according to the affidavit.
McKnight falsely claimed that Alexander shot all three victims in the kitchen and wrapped the bodies, the affidavit states. He said the suspects then took the victims’ car, drove to the creek and disposed of the bodies.
Parker County investigators and Texas Rangers served a search warrant at McKnight and Copeland’s homes and found the key to the victims’ vehicle, according to the affidavit.
During his interview with investigators, Copeland said that he was tired of living at his grandparents’ house and wanted to be on his own. Copeland said that he and McKnight went to the victims’ home with guns to take the house from them, according to the affidavit.
Copeland told detectives he could have the house if the victims “were no longer in the picture,” so he would remove them and then rent it himself, the affidavit states.
McKnight and Copeland made up the story that Alexander was involved to, “get the heat off their backs,” Copeland told the investigators.
Copeland also said that Alexander used to live in house that was currently Williams’ and Walker’s home so it made sense to add him to the story, because Copeland believed people would think Alexander killed them to get his house back, according to the affidavit.
Copeland said that McKnight shot all three victims and then followed up with multiple shots to both Walker and Head, the affidavit states.
When Copeland was asked by investigators what he would say about the murders, he told them, “it wasn’t personal, but that it is a cruel world, and I’m sorry,” according to the affidavit.
Copeland told investigators that once the victims were dead, the suspects wrapped up the bodies, placed them by the front door and left. Copeland, McKnight and Michael Morris came back the next day, around midnight, loaded the bodies into a vehicle and moved them, the affidavit reads.
Morris has now been arrested and faces charges of tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, abuse of a corpse, a failure to report a felony, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office said on Wednesday.
During his interview with the investigators, Morris said he helped wrap the bodies up in blankets, used duct tape to tie them up and assisted with cleaning up the crime scene, according to the affidavit.
The three suspects remained incarcerated in the Parker County Jail on Wednesday. Bonds for McKnight and Copeland have been set at $1 million each. Morris’ recommended bond is $38,000, according to jail records.