Posted on 07/15/2013 7:58:03 PM PDT by Nachum
CORPUS CHRISTI — State District Judge Tom Greenwell was found dead from a gunshot wound Monday night in his chambers, Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin confirmed.
Corpus Christi police, medics and Nueces County Sheriff's Office deputies responded about 7 p.m. to the courthouse after a report that a man was found with a gunshot wound to the head.The courthouse closed at 5 p.m.
It was unclear how a gun could have passed through security or been within the county building, equipped with security personnel and a metal detector. Attorneys, judges, and some media outlets who have courthouse identification badges typically aren't required to pass through the security checkpoint.
(Excerpt) Read more at caller.com ...
He’s the first Republican Judge in forever or maybe never. Read the article, people are checked for weapons when they come in except for those who work there, such as attorneys and judges. Attorneys and judges can concealed carry. That is a big time Democrat county. I’d check attorney weapons for use.
I suppose it could be a suicide as there isn’t any kind of report about what happened.
Definitely. The three shots in the back of the head are a "dead" giveaway, pardon the pun :).
He also was responsible for a controversial child custody award. Judge Thomas Greenwell awarded custody of a 3 month old breast feeding infant child to a man who was not adjudicated as the child’s parent. The case was not even assigned to judge Greewell but was assigned to judge Marisela Saldana who was present and in court the day of the hearing. Nueces County practices walk through defaults whereby attorneys walk to a judge and have them sign orders. These hearings are held without notice to the other party which was what happened in this case. This man walked into court with attorney Gregory Spivy and said the baby is his and the judge said ok and awarded him joint managing conservator.
Why would anyone take a gun, go to work, and commit suicide there? Why would his office be better than just any place outdoors?
If the suicide was a sudden decision, the victim couldn't have a gun handy - the courthouse does not allow guns; and though it's possible for a judge to sneak one in, there is no real need to do so. Judges have armed guards already.
If the suicide was a planned decision, why go to work, write papers whole day, and only then end it all? Who can even do such a thing, and why to do the work at all? If the work was that important, there will be more tomorrow anyway.
A judge dying in his office most likely means that he was simply there when he was killed. He couldn't be easily killed anywhere else. A sniper could, of course, take a position 500 yards away from the judge's house and kill him on the way home. This means that the killer was not a sniper, and he had no rifle, and he was not going to bother with establishing a [vulnerable] position. Getting to the judge in his office is certainly the most straightforward method. The complexities of getting a silenced gun, and of getting it through the detector, are purely technical, and can be managed. For example, take an overhead projector on a stand, or a computer, or a light fixture, and wheel it in through the detectors. It will beep since it's full of metal - but who is going to take it apart to look for an extra pound of steel that isn't supposed to be there? Who is going to remember that fact if the gun was prepositioned a week ahead of the murder?
Hidalgo County had a similar bad run of DA’s and prominent lawyers in recent years. Hope it isn’t just traveling north.
*Texas Ping*
Wasn’t it a court judge who shot and killed a Texas DA and his wife not long ago?
My thoughts, too.
The article says judges are allowed concealed carry into the courthouse—though that doesn’t mean it’s suicide.
Why would anyone take a gun, go to work, and commit suicide there?
It’s a good question, but maybe because it isn’t at home... the people there would be “equipped” to handle it...being law enforcement. And they would be quite sensitive in notifying family?
Year, a JP who was convicted of thievery killed the prosecutors after he was convicted in Kaufman County.
It was at the end of the day so maybe the court security closes down at the end of the day too.
On the other hand, if someone murdered him, why wouldn't someplace outdoors be way better than a courthouse with security and cameras and all?
Unless the murderer is someone courthouse security trusts. Courthouse closes at 5:00. Waste the judge at 5:30. Casually leave. Drop the weapon in the trash miles away, securely wrapped in a McDonald's bag. Shut up.
Mexicans?
It was an attorney who killed a judge and the judge’s wife.
Was the judge married?
Judges dying is usually a political message from SOMEBODY.
Left alone, judges seem to live to 90 or so.
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