District Attorney upset with judge after murder suspect skips out on trial
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - A murder suspect was a no show for his trial in Austin. Now the district attorney is upset with the judge.
Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said the judge allowed for the removal of a GPS device on the man who has a history of running from law enforcement.
"I think it's an unacceptable situation,” said Moore.
Frustrated Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore spoke with FOX 7 hours after a murder suspect failed to show for trial.
“We do everything we can do bring a person in and do it right and bring the person in and then to have the situation fail this way is very frustrating,” she said.
Kevin Michael Waguespack was supposed to appear in court for a pre-trial setting last Thursday.
He is accused of shooting his former girlfriend Catherine Dyer in the head in the Central Austin home they shared.
Waguespack did not show prompting Judge Tamara Needles to issue a warrant for his arrest. In the warrant, she noted he was a flight risk and his trial was set to start Monday, October 23.
When Monday came, he was nowhere to be seen. Jurors were sent home.
"It is extremely frustrating to the state to have a defendant flee on such a serious charge where we expect to ask for a very strong punishment. To me, this is something the court really ought to take into account the danger to the community,” said Needles.
Moore, who has enlisted the help of U.S. Marshals to find Waguespack, is upset with Judge Needles.
She says Needles approved the removal of a GPS device in April--against her wishes.
"The court told us the motion had been filed to remove the monitor. We strongly opposed it, but without further consultation with this office, she ordered its removal and now we have a fugitive,” said Moore.
As Moore pointed out, Waguespack has a history of running. Austin police say shortly after the murder in 2015, he phoned a friend and said he had "done something really bad and was going away forever." U.S. Marshals tracked him to Mississippi and took him into custody after a short standoff.
Moore says the trial will now be delayed putting the family in a terrible position.
Needles would not comment on the case.
Moore says she won't be silent about these issues.
"We will continue to raise our voice, but judges have this authority and this is an order that got signed, so... We're not in a position to keep that from happening unless a judge is willing to listen to us,” said Moore.
Once Waguespack is arrested, the district attorney plans to file an additional charge of bond jumping. She will also ask that the bond be set higher.