AUSTIN (KXAN) — An affidavit obtained by KXAN Tuesday provided more details on what a witness said led to the death of a man in north Austin last week. Austin police identified a suspect who faces a capital murder charge in the case.
On Oct. 3, the Austin Police Department responded to a report of a hit-and-run after a person was found on a sidewalk near the southbound lanes in the 12100 block of North MoPac Expressway Service Road. The location is between Parmer Lane and Duval Road.
A detective with the APD homicide unit arrived on the scene, along with the Austin Fire Department, and found the man with severe lacerations to his neck and head, along with injuries that were “incompatible with life,” according to the affidavit.
The man was later identified by police as John Walker Oden, 53.
Invstigators later determined that Oden’s injuries were not from being struck by the vehicle, court records said.
An autopsy by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of Oden’s death was a homicide, due to the lacerations found on his body, according to the affidavit.
Investigators found out where Oden lived and spoke to two people leaving the home who said a man and a woman were staying in a room there, court documents said.
The couple told investigators shortly after midnight on Oct. 2, they saw Oden leaving in a hurry with the man, the woman and a dog in Oden’s SUV, according to the affidavit.
Then, on Oct. 6, the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force found the woman, who described what happened, court documents said.
Events leading up to the murder
The woman told investigators Oden “politely” let her know that she and the suspect could no longer stay at his home, according to the affidavit. Oden agreed to drop them off at a hospital because of a medical issue.
Court documents said as Oden was driving, the suspect began attacking him from behind with a “battle axe style hatchet” he took from Oden’s home. Oden was able to gain control of the steering wheel, and that is when he pulled up to the sidewalk in the 12100 block of North MoPac Expressway.
The suspect told the woman to get out of the vehicle, and she told investigators she did what he said, because she feared for her life, according to the affidavit. She said she attempted to hide.
Security footage from a nearby camera shows a woman get out, and also depicts a man drag another from the car, get inside and then drive over him, the affidavit said.
The woman told police the suspect then pulled up beside her in Oden’s vehicle and said for her to get in the vehicle or he would kill her dog, court documents said.
The woman told police the suspect later dumped Oden’s vehicle at a nearby elementary school. The woman said at the first opportunity, she ran away to hide. She told investigators she feared the suspect would kill her, too, according to the affidavit.
Investigators identified the suspect as Brian Christopher Davis, 40, and learned he was in the Travis County Jail, accused of a robbery that occurred later in the morning of Oct. 3, court documents said.
KXAN has reached out to Davis’ attorney for a comment, and we will update this article once it is received.
Davis was booked on charges of capital murder by terroristic threat, evading arrest with a previous conviction, robbery and resisting arrest, according to jail records.
