Drug dealer says he’s no killer
Man convicted in 1994 deaths wants new trial
RICHMOND — Chiron Francis, an admitted Houston drug dealer who spent more than 22 years as an international fugitive before being convicted earlier this month of a 1994 double murder of two Austin college students, insists he’s not a killer and is seeking a new trial.
“I’m completely innocent,” Francis said during a telephone interview from the Fort Bend County Jail. “If I’m guilty of anything, it’s running when I should have stayed.”
Francis is being defended by attorney L.T. “Butch” Bradt, who filed a motion to overturn Francis’ conviction earlier this month for the shooting deaths of 19-year-old Eric Heidbreder and 20-yearold Douglas Schwartz on April 11, 1994. Francis did not testify at his trial.
Both college students were shot in the head multiple times while sitting in Schwartz’s 1992 red Mazda sports car in a southwest Houston neighborhood in Fort Bend County.
A marijuana deal
Following the slayings, Francis, then 20, fled the county and lived in the Dominican Republic, Africa and Venezuela until he was located by the FBI and extradited in 2015.
Francis, now 44, said he knew Schwartz from night school and had occasionally sold him marijuana.
“Doug never saw me deal large quantities. I was just a nickel-and-dime dealer. But he wanted to buy more than I could get so I agreed to introduce him to my source,” Francis said.
According to Houston Police Department officers who conducted the initial investigation, the two victims came separately to Houston with more than $15,000 and plans to buy 60 pounds of marijuana.
Schwartz drove from Austin and Heidbreder flew in to Hobby Airport with his roommate, John Paek, and the three men met at a hotel near the Astrodome. Paek stayed behind at the hotel while Schwartz and Heidbreder left to purchase the drugs.
‘I didn’t kill anyone’
Francis claims his drug source was a member of a Mexican cartel, and claims it was the narcotics trafficker who ultimately killed the two students for the drug money. Francis said he left the country after the shooting because he’d received death threats from cartel members.
“I shouldn’t have run, but I was afraid. I knew they were going to kill me too so I ran. I admit I was dealing drugs and doing things I shouldn’t have been doing,” Francis said. “But, I didn’t kill anyone and I don’t deserve to spend the rest of my life in prison.”
According to Fort Bend County court records, a motion for a new trial was filed that alleges insufficient evidence was presented to the jury and evidentiary errors were made by Judge Brady Elliott, among other issues.
Bradt said the motion is the first step in appealing the Nov. 7 convictions for the murders that resulted in two 75-year prison sentences.
Fort Bend prosecutors could not be reached for comment on Friday.