The man charged with the 2012 murder stemming from an attack on a lesbian teenage couple in Texas showed up for court on Friday wearing a bullet proof vest, reports
KZTV10. And with protesters outside demanding the case be tried as a hate crime, attorneys for David Strickland say they are considering a change of venue for fear for their client's safety.
Strickland is charged in a violent attack that seriously injured Kristene Chapa, 18, and that killed her girlfriend, Mollie Olgin, 19. Here's how the attack is
described by the
Corpus Christi Caller Times:
"Mollie Olgin and her girlfriend, Mary Kristene Chapa, were forced to duct tape each other's eyes and mouths June 22, 2012, according to and arrest affidavit. They were then sexually assaulted and shot in the back of the head at a Portland park, according to the affidavit. Olgin did not survive."
It took two years before he was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force.
Protestors assembled in front of the San Patricio County Courthouse on Friday to object to the decision not to try the case as a hate crime. District Attorney Michael Welborn told Janine Reyes of KZTV10 that "we have found no evidence" indicating "this was in any way involving a hate crime."
Strickland was in court for the judge and attorneys to decide how to share evidence in the case, according to KZTV10. No one was hurt during the hearing, and the next status meeting is set for February 6, with attorneys hoping to make it to trial by March, according to KZTV10.
KiiiTV.com South Texas, Corpus Christi, Coastal Bend
