Crime Time

Death by headlock: Tarrant County man dies of oxygen deficit

A 22-year-old man died from brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.

Boyd "Scott" Tobol got into a fight with his mother’s boyfriend, who put him into a headlock.

Carl Eugene Molsbee is now charged with aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, but prosecutors are weighing whether to seek a murder charge.

Deanna Boyd’s article explains what happened.

— Bill Miller 

Tarrant County man jailed after fight with relative who died at hospital

Tarrant County Sheriff’s deputies on Sunday were called to a home north of Saginaw in unincorporated Tarrant County by a woman reporting that her son and husband were fighting.

Deputies arrived and found 22-year-old Boyd "Scott" Tobol unconscious. He died late Tuesday at a Fort Worth hospital.

Deputies arrested Carl Eugene Molsbee, 38, (shown here) on suspicion of aggravated assault. He was in jail Wednesday with bail set at $15,000.

Deanna Boyd reports.

Fort Worth man gets prison time for giving HIV to woman

Jimmy Bernard Billingsley knew he had HIV, but he still had unprotected sex, according to testimony given during a court hearing last week.

He didn't dispute it. In fact he pleaded guilty to it earlier this year. The actual charge was aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

But Billingsley, 42, chose to have State District Judge Robb Catalano assess his punishment. He faced 20 years in prison, and the judge gave him 15.

Read more here.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/12/31/4516196/fort-worth-man-gets-15-years-for.html#my-headlines-default#storylink=cpy

Ex-con gets life sentence for beating 3 women in Fort Worth

Life in prison was the sentence given a 30-year-old man for assaulting two women in 2011 outside a Fort Worth bar and forcing a third woman at gunpoint to drive him from the scene.

Robert Espinosa Jr. was convicted Wednesday of three cases of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to a news release from the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

According to trial testimony, Espinosa approached two women leaving a north-side bar and asked them for a ride. They refused and he was enraged. He hit one woman in the head with a beer bottle and pistol whipped the other.

A third woman came out of the bar and he forced her at gunpoint to drive him from the scene, according to testimony.

The jury deliberated for about two hours before convicting him on the three charges, the DA’s office said.

During the punishment phase, jurors were told that Espinosa was a gang member with prior felony convictions for aggravated assault and aggravated robbery.

Prosecutors also showed evidence that Espinosa assaulted another inmate with a "shank" while awaiting trial in jail, the DA’s office said.

The panel deliberated about an hour and 20 minutes before sentencing him to life, 50 and 25 years in prison in the respective cases.

"This defendant has demonstrated that, if given the opportunity, he will commit future acts of violence," said Assistant District Attorney Tim Rodgers. "This jury did what was necessary to protect the community."

-- Bill Miller

Parents say Richland Hills dad who carved son's back 'not a demon' and 'deep into the Old Testament'

Richland Hills police say Brent Troy Bartel, 39, wounded his 6-year-old son, then called 911 and calmly told a dispatcher that "I shed some innocent blood."

When the dispatcher asked why, Bartel replied, "It's a holy day."

That information was reported early on Wednesday, but as the day progressed, Star-Telegram reporters learned more about Bartel. 

His mother, in a telephone interview from Portland, Ore., said her son does not have a history of mental illness but has recently been under tremendous stress, mostly because of marital problems.

"Brent is not a demon," Lori Ponce said. "He is loving. He loves that boy. Something happened. Don't paint him as some crazy man. No, that's not him."

Stepfather John Ponce said Bartel had been searching for his spirituality.

"He is deep into the Old Testament," John Ponce said in the same phone interview from Portland. "There's a possibility with all of this pain and marital strife and such, he may have resorted to Old Testament references and then convoluted them."

Read more in this report by Deanna Boyd, Domingo Ramirez Jr. and Terry Evans.

Father takes box cutter to son's back in Richland Hills, tells police, 'I shed some innocent blood'

Police say a father used a box cutter to carve a pentagram into the back of his young son Wednesday, then dialed 911 and told a dispatcher, "I shed some innocent blood."

When the dispatcher asked him why he did it, the man said, "It's a holy day," according to Richland Hills police.

Investigators also believe the father took his son's blood and smeared it on the sides and the top of the home's door frame -- much like in the Passover described in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Police arrested the father, Brent Troy Bartel, 39, (shown here) early Wednesday at his house in the 3700 block of Ruth Road.

A lot of Star-Telegram staffers are working on this story. See their work here.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/12/12/4479867/richland-hills-father-accused.html#storylink=cpy

Cresson man accused of attacking mom with hammer and trying to gouge out her eyes

A Cresson man has been jailed on an accusation that he attacked his mother with a hammer, Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said.

The mother of Jacob Dwight Farren, 30, told deputies that she and her son argued; then he threatened her and finally took the hammer to her head and upper body.

She also said he tried to gouge out her eyes.

Read about his arrest in this article by Bill Miller.

The mother told Fox 4 news that her son has struggled with mental illness and may have been off of medication to control it. See that report here.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/11/29/4448837/cresson-man-accused-of-

attacking.html#storylink=cpy

Your Blotter: More shooting and looting in Fort Worth

Fort Worth police were looking for the person who shot and wounded two men early Friday.

The shooting occurred 12:37 a.m. Friday outside a club in the 4500 block of Miller Avenue.

A police report identified the victims as brothers Antywine Garrett, 23, and George Garrett Jr., 28. Both were taken to the hospital.

Read more in this report by Alex Branch.

Read more here: hp://www.star-telegram.com/2012/11/09/4400547/two-wounded-in-shooting-outside.html#storylink=cpy

Here's are a couple more overnight briefs that were released Friday morning by Fort Worth police:

Fort Read more here: http://blogs.star-telegram.com/crime_time/2012/11/your-blotter-baited-by-craigslist-in-southeast-fort-worth-dog-bites-two-teens.html#storylink=cpy

3741 E. Berry St. -- On Friday, Nov. 9, around 2:45 a.m., officers responded to this location in regards to a robbery call. Officers met with a 25-year-old woman who said that she got a ride home from a female acquaintance at work and her male friend. The suspects assaulted the victim, took her wallet and phone and fled. The victim has minor injuries and was not transported by Medstar.

3004 Van Horn Ave. -- On Friday, Nov. 9^, around 12:25 a.m., officers responded to this address in regards to a robbery call. Officers met with a 27-year-old woman who said a man with a gun forcibly entered her house. A neighbor heard the victim scream and the gunman left the location without any property. Officers searched for the man but were unable to locate him. Robbery detectives are continuing the investigation.

Woman cut, beaten in southeast Fort Worth

A woman was found cut, battered and beaten Wednesday morning in an apparent aggravated assault in southeast Fort Worth, authorities said.

She suffered deep lacerations to both arms, a wound to her head and bruises.

Domingo Ramirez Jr. reports.