Spring Break
MURDER ON WALCOURT LOOP
By: Teri Ruland
Issue date: 3/9/09 Section: News
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Rachel Joiner was found in the garage of the house. She sustained injuries to the chest and hand. According to police reports, when she was asked who shot her, she responded that her boyfriend, John, did it.
The suspect, John Darrell Thuesen, 25, was a Blinn College student and Rachel's boyfriend. Police reports said he called 911 and was found at the scene. When police arrived, he was charged with two counts of capital murder.
Thuesen is being detained in Brazos County Detention Center with no bail.
"There was a strange maroon car sitting there when we got home Thursday night and was still there Friday morning when I left for work," said Tabitha Foreman, neighbor to the Joiners.
Foreman reported hearing gunshots when she came home on her lunch break.
"I heard about five bangs upon getting out of my car. At first you think, 'Oh my gosh,' and then it's so quiet. I didn't think much of it because there's construction going on," Foreman said.
When she left home that day, Foreman said she saw a police car sitting outside her house.
"That led me to believe that I had heard gunshots. I was at a loss for words; shocked," she said.
Foreman said although there may have been police cars in the area before, they were originally due to noise violations, not violence.
"What's shocking is that it's quiet out here. I travel a lot, but I never see anything or the kids," said Brian Fritz, another neighbor of the Joiners.
He extended his condolences to the family.
"My heart fell to my feet. I waked outside and the more I looked to the left, I saw a fire truck, an ambulance, and then saw the yellow tape being put up, and it's like, 'Wow, somebody got shot.' It's just so sad," Foreman said. "It gives me chills just thinking about it. I was pale and piqued when I returned to work."
The crime scene tape, Fritz said, was not taken down until midnight.
"It was like 'CSI' right here in my front yard," Foreman said. "You don't realize it happens everywhere until you've witnessed it."
Fritz and Foreman said they have seen people putting flowers in the yard.
Funeral services have been set for 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First United Methodist Church in Eldorado, Texas, where the Joiners were originally from.
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