'Can I Kill an Illegal Human?': Man Arrested for Fiance's Murder After Disturbing Google Search: Police

News By TooFab Staff |
Harris County Jail/Guillen-Baytown Funeral Home

The Texas man originally told police he believed his fiancé had committed suicide, but their investigation uncovered a much more sinister narrative.

A Texas man has been arrested for the alleged murder of his fiancé after he initially reported the death as a possible suicide.

Police in Baytown now believe Ty Vaughn, 31, shot Luis Banos Norberto, 27, on January 14 and tried to stage the aftermath to match a false suicide narrative.

Police reported finding Norberto's body lying on the bed with a rifle propped up against one of his arms and a torn picture of him and Vaughn lying nearby. He had died from a rifle shot to one of his eyes, according to court documents reviewed by ABC affiliate KTRK.

Vaughn initially told police he and Norberto had been arguing before he returned to their second-floor apartment to find him dead at around 5:30 in the morning, per the filings, but subsequent investigations revealed a different story.

Through interviews with neighbors and surveillance footage, detectives put together a timeline of known events that contradicted with Vaughn's story.

He claimed he wasn't home at 4:05 a.m. on that day, but he was seen on footage walking up the stairs to his apartment. Two different neighbors told police they heard a gunshot shortly after this.

At 4:27 a.m., after his fiancé was already dead, according to police, Vaughn texted Norberto's phone, "Babe? Babe why are you not texting back?!?!"

More than an hour later, at 5:38 a.m., Vaughn called 911 and told dispatchers, "My spouse is dead. Help. My life is over."

During their interviews with Vaughn, police reported that he repeatedly brought up Norberto's immigration status without being prompted or asked. A search of his phone records revealed that he had Googled, "Can I kill an illegal human?"

According to an online obituary for Norberto, he was born in Guerrero, Mexico, with much of his family now living in Baytown, including his brothers, parents, grandparents, nephews and nieces.

KTRK also spoke with Vaughn before he'd been formally charged with Norberto's murder. When asked if he and Norberto had spoken the day of the murder, Vaughn purportedly told the outlet, "I don't know. The police know all the details."

When asked what police told him, the outlet said he replied, "I don't know. I've been kind of not great. I haven't really been going to police looking for answers."

When offered his condolences by the news station, Vaughn reportedly said, "I mean, it is what it is."

Vaughn is being held at the Harris County Jail on a $500,000 bond ahead of his first court appearance today, where he is expected to be charged in relation to Norberto's death.