TEXARKANA, Texas–An 18-year-old high school senior accused of murdering four members of his family on Tuesday is being held in the Bowie County jail with bond set at $10 million.
Cesar Olalde allegedly told a man who had gone to the house to check on his sister who hadn’t shown up to work that he had killed his mother, father, younger brother and adult sister because “they were cannibals and they were going to eat him,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
Olalde is currently being held in the Bowie County jail on a charge of capital murder of multiple persons. If convicted, he faces a possible death sentence or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies responded late Tuesday morning to the house in the 500 block of Lemon Acres in Nash, Texas, a small community outside of Texarkana in Bowie County. Olalde had reportedly barricaded himself inside but later surrendered.
A man who had traveled to the house with his wife to check on Olalde’s adult sister told investigators that they received no response when they knocked and forced entry into the house after another family member arrived to check on the family’s welfare.
Once inside, Olalde allegedly confronted them while brandishing a firearm and said he’d killed his family. The man who spoke to investigators said he had sent his wife outside while he continued to speak with Olalde and that during the encounter Olalde pointed his gun at him repeatedly and at one point brandished a knife, according to the affidavit.
When Nash Police Department officers arrived, the man was fleeing the house and informed them Olalde claimed to have killed his family. Olalde allegedly had called 911 and told dispatchers “numerous times that he had pulled the trigger and killed his family,” while specifically mentioning his father by name.
Once Olalde was in custody, investigators made a grisly discovery. All four bodies were found in a bathroom.
“It appeared as if the victims had been shot at various places in the residence and [had been dragged] to the bathroom,” the affidavit said. “I could see multiple shell casings on the floor as well as blood spatter on multiple surfaces.”
Court records have identified the victims as mother Aida Garcia-Mendoza, father Reuben Olalde, adult sister Lisbet Olalde and younger brother, 5-year-old Oliver Olalde.
The case has been assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. Judge Tidwell signed an order Wednesday appointing Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson to represent Cesar Olalde.
Members of the Nash Police Department, Bowie County Sheriff’s Office, Texarkana Texas Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers and other local law enforcement responded to the tragic scene Tuesday.
