COLDSPRING, Texas — A grand jury will have to wait another month before hearing the case of a man accused of murdering five of his neighbors in San Jacinto County.
Francisco Oropeza, 38, went before a judge for the first time Thursday and remains unindicted in the mass shooting. He is charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
During the hearing, KHOU 11 News learned the grand jury meeting this month will not hear the case and there is still more to be done in the investigation.
Oropeza’s defense attorneys also requested more discovery in the case, but San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said he was limited on what he could send over before indictment. He added that his office is still gathering evidence.
“Our office has been drinking from a fire hose trying to get all of this information in,” Dillon said.
Oropeza is set to appear before a judge again in August.
San Jacinto County District Attorney on gathering evidence
Dillon said his office, including two assistant district attorneys, needs more time to go through all of the evidence from the case. He explained there were about 250 law enforcement officers involved in the investigation and manhunt.
“There is a lot of evidence generated by this, a certain amount of it is not going to be material,” Dillon said. “Bodycam of a guy sitting in a parking lot for three hours may not be important but Mr. Oropeza’s legal team are very diligent, they are going to want to go through all of that.”
Dillon said this would make the process better and nobody wants a case, regardless of how it is resolved, to be “in appeals for the 20 years.”
“I am confident in the legal team that Mr. Oropeza has they’ll do a diligent investigation, and they will be fierce advocates for Mr. Oropeza in the courtroom,” Dillon said.
When asked about the financial burden of trying a capital murder case, Dillon said that no office is prepared for that.
“It’s a lot of money,” he said. “Someone once said the most successful wars rarely pay for themselves. Doing what is right is rarely the cheapest option.”
Dillon added that he could not wager a cost of how much the case will be.
Watch Dillon's full comments on the hearing:
Oropeza's defense team meets with accused murderer
Oropeza’s legal team of attorneys, Anthony Osso and Lisa Andrews, said they met with the judge in his case for the first time Thursday morning to discuss a timeline and access to discovery.
The defense attorneys said they have met and talked with their client and explained the process and what to expect.
“He has a good understanding of what is going on,” Osso said to the media outside of the courthouse following the hearing.
Osso said their client definitely “seemed concerned,” and explained that Oropeza has received a lot of support.
“I think you’ll find out as this case goes on that he was an extremely well-liked person, neighbor, and that he helped almost everyone that lived around him, including the family next door,” he said. “The victims’ families, they had an ongoing relationship and got along for a fairly long period of time.”
The attorneys said they have received a lot of calls of support from their client and that, “a lot of people cared about him and thought highly of him.”
They said he often helped the victims as a tradesman prior to the shooting.
“Anyone in the neighborhood who needed electrical work, trade work, Francisco always made himself available,” Osso said. “We’re learning a lot more every day about that evening. The initial story about them asking him not to shoot his gun in the backyard because a baby was sleeping is probably not going to prove to be accurate.”
Andrews explained further that they think the events of that evening were not as simple as initially reported.
“Nothing is ever quite that simple,” she said. “I think we can use our common sense and know, that as a reason, is not really going to be accurate.”
Anthony added that the relationship went downhill when the victims’ dogs got into Oropeza’s yard. They said the dogs killed his wife’s sheep. He said there was another incident where the dogs got out again and killed his client’s chickens.
Watch Oropeza's defense team's full comments following the hearing:
New details from search warrant affidavit
Prior to the hearing, new details were released in a newly obtained search warrant affidavit. The documents shed light on Oropeza’s arrest and what was confiscated by investigators that day.
The court documents from Montgomery County show a picture of the mobile home in Conroe where Oropeza was arrested. The home on Summer Hollow Drive is just 20 minutes from the crime scene.
Following a four-day manhunt, investigators said Oropeza was found hiding in the house belonging to his aunt. Court documents also show that investigators confiscated ammunition, weapons, hard drives, clothes, cellphones, and more.
It also gives more insight into the role Oropeza's common-law wife played. She was also arrested from the home that evening for hindering apprehension.
Court documents show that she told investigators she was using her cellphone to speak with people in code about Oropeza.