HOUSTON — Houston Police descended on the quiet Westbury neighborhood now at the center of what investigators believe may be a 20-year grudge. That grudge ended with Houston cardiologist Dr. Mark Hasuknecht's murder in the Medical Center, according to police.
"20 years sounds so excessive," said neighbor Gloria Scherer.
Neighbors who know Joseph James Pappas are shocked to learn he's the suspect in Hausknecht's murder.
Police say Pappas' mother died two decades ago. Hausknecht was his mother's surgeon when she died.
"I'm blown away that he could have been doing it," said neighbor Richard Koenig. "He's a quiet man. Whatever he was doing it didn't seem very radical."
Investigators spent hours inside Pappas' home and emerged with bags full of evidence Wednesday afternoon. It's evidence that police say ties him to the Hausknecht's murder.
Pappas and the bike police believe he used the day of the murder are nowhere to be found.
"Three days ago he was trimming the hedges," said Scherer. "I thought he was going to cut the grass. That was his normal routine, but he didn't."
HPD says it's now been 36 to 48 hours since anyone's seen him. Neighbors say he was constantly riding his bike everywhere, even just a few days ago.
"No he didn't look like he was hiding from anybody," said Koenig. "You'd see him out periodically."
Neighbors described him as just a "good friendly neighbor."
Coleman Ryan lives down the block from Pappas and describes him as the quintessential neighbor. Ryan says the two began talking about their careers and eventually Pappas hired Ryan as an investigator.
The self-described private eye says Pappas was concerned with hackers seeking information from his smartphone related to his real estate business. We asked Ryan if he felt the concerns bordered on paranoia, he said yes.
Ryan says he wasn’t sure why Pappas felt his information had been jeopardized, but there was no evidence to suggest a cause for concern.
The two would only see each other in passing afterwards. Last week, Ryan canvassed the neighborhood with a sign asking for help in the case of Dr. Hauseknecht, not realizing the person behind the sketch was Pappas.
“I was shocked to say the least. I mean I personally spent over a week down in the neighborhood talking to neighbors about this,” Ryan said.
The Pappas he knew, kept to himself. That’s not to say Ryan didn’t believe Pappas was capable of committing the crime.
Ryan tells us how Pappas was very proficient in firearms and was described as a marksman by colleagues.