[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A Texas man told police that his fiancé had died by suicide after the pair spent an evening arguing, but when investigators began to dig into the story, they allegedly found something much more sinister…
According to media reports from the Houston area, cops were dispatched to a home in the suburb Baytown very early in the morning back on January 14. There, they found the body of 27-year-old Luis Banos Norberto (pictured above, right). At first, the man’s fiancé Ty Vaughn (above, left, in his mugshot) said Norberto died by suicide following an hours-long argument — which would have been a terrible and tragic end. But…
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According to KTRK News and others, responding officers found Norberto’s body lying on a bed in the engaged couple’s second-floor apartment. A rifle was propped up against one of his arms, and a torn-up picture of him and Vaughn was lying nearby. Per court documents viewed by that outlet, Norberto had been killed by a single shotgun blast to the eye.
Awful.
Like we said, at first, the 31-year-old Vaughn told cops that the pair had been fighting for hours before he left for a while, only to return at 5:30 a.m. to find Norberto dead. But as police dug deeper into the case, they found Vaughn’s story to be suspect.
For one, Vaughn had claimed he was not home at 4:05 a.m. on the morning of January 14 — just moments before when investigators believe Norberto died based on when nearby neighbors heard the shotgun blast. However, interviews with neighbors in the complex contradicted Vaughn’s claims, and surveillance video from the building itself showed him walking up the stairs to the apartment at that exact time. OMG!
At 4:27 a.m. — after Norberto was already dead, according to cops — Vaughn allegedly tried to cover his tracks by texting his fiancé’s phone:
“Babe? Babe why are you not texting back?!?!”
And more than an hour after that, at 5:38 a.m., Vaughn called 911 and said this to dispatchers:
“My spouse is dead. Help. My life is over.”
Cops say Vaughn would have known Norberto had been dead for roughly half an hour by the time he sent that text message, and for roughly 90 minutes by the time he called 911.
Further, once detectives sat down for an interview with Vaughn, KTRK claims the man brought up Norberto’s status as an undocumented immigrant multiple times completely without being prompted or asked. Then, a query into Vaughn’s phone records turned up an absolutely chilling Google search from before Norberto’s death:
“Can I kill an illegal human?”
WTF…
Norberto, according to an online obituary, had been born in Guerrero, Mexico before moving to the United States. Many of his loved ones had moved to Baytown over the years, too — including much of the dead man’s extended family made up of parents, grandparents, brothers, nephews, and nieces.
Vaughn was arrested by Baytown cops on Saturday and booked into Harris County Jail pending charges. Per Too Fab, formal charges against him were expected to be submitted ahead of his first court appearance on Monday. In the meantime, Vaughn was being held in custody on a $500,000 bond.
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KTRK was able to speak with Vaughn over the weekend prior to his being charged in Luis’ death. When asked whether he and Norberto had actually been arguing on the day of the Mexican man’s death, Vaughn said:
“I don’t know. The police know all the details.”
The outlet then asked whether the police had told him anything about their investigation into his fiancé’s death, to which Vaughn replied:
“I don’t know. I’ve been kind of not great. I haven’t really been going to police looking for answers.”
And then, when the news station offered their condolences to the man, he answered:
“I mean, it is what it is.”
HUH?!?!
What a way to respond to the violent death of your fiancé…
You can see more on this case (below):
We send our condolences to Luis’ friends, family, and loved ones. What a terrible way to go.
R.I.P.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
[Image via Guillen-Baytown Funeral Home/Harris County Sheriff’s Office]
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