Bail is denied for suspect in Guillén case
WACO — Cecily Aguilar, charged with helping dispose of the body of slaying victim Vanessa Guillén, was ordered held without bail during a federal detention hearing here Tuesday.
Aguilar, 22, is accused of helping her boyfriend, Aaron Robinson — a Fort Hood soldier authorities say killed fellow soldier Guillén — dismember Guillén’s body and bury her along the Leon River.
The FBI said in court documents that Robinson bludgeoned Army Spc. Guillén to death with a hammer April 22.
There were extensive searches for the 20-year-old Houston native after she went missing that day.
Robinson shot and killed himself as law officers confronted him along a Killeen road after the discovery of the remains later determined to be those of Guillén, a member of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment.
Aguilar appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Manske in Waco via video from McClennan County Jail. The judge also appeared via video.
Dressed in a gray-and-white jail uniform, Aguilar was seated, with her hair pulled back, and was subdued during the hearing, only saying “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am” to affirm that she could hear the proceedings and understood the charges.
Guillén family members and lawyers sat in the front row of the courtroom jury box in the courthouse. Lawyers for both sides were present in the courtroom, as well as were about 30 supporters and members of the media. Everyone was masked.
A number of supporters of Guillén had gathered on the courthouse steps before the hearing and continued to call for justice for her after the hearing.
Aguilar is charged with one count of conspiring to tamper with evidence and two counts of tampering with evidence.
She’s facing a maximum of 60 years in prison and a $750,000 fine if convicted.
The prosecutor offered evidence from the FBI affidavit filed in the case.
Investigators said they used cellphone data to track Robinson’s movements to the area where remains later were found; Aguilar initially told them she and Robinson went to a Belton-area park to stargaze on the night of April 22.
Aguilar later admitted helping Robinson dismember Guillén’s body with a bladed weapon, such as a “hatchet or ax and a machete type knife,” according to investigators. The couple tried unsuccessfully to burn the body.
They buried the remains, then returned to put cement on them and rebury them, court documents state.
The prosecution also submitted more evidence indicating that while in custody in Bell County, Aguilar tried to get associates to delete her email and Facebook accounts.
Aguilar’s lawyer, public defender Lewis Berray Gainor, argued that she should be released on bond. He said that her estranged husband was in the courtroom and had agreed to take her in.
He pleaded vigorously on her behalf, saying she was pleading not guilty to all the counts and unequivocally denied all charges.
Magistrate Judge Manske, however, found Aguilar was a flight risk and had the means to leave the country, that the crime she’s accused of was connected to a crime of violence and that she was a danger to the community.
The death of Robinson and charging of Aguilar followed months of calls by family members for answers as to what happened to Guillén, whom they believe had been sexually harassed at Fort Hood.
The case has drawn national attention and criticism of the Army post for its handling of the case.
A lawyer for Guillén’s family, Natalie Khawam, has said she provided Robinson’s name to authorities after learning he may have harassed Guillén before her disappearance.
Khawam told reporters in Washington, D.C., earlier this month that Robinson walked in on Guillén as she showered in a locker room and watched her.
Investigators said they were unable to corroborate that report.
After the hearing, Khawam had harsh words regarding Aguilar and what she is accused of doing: “She’s barbaric — there’s not another word for it. A savage that does that to any human being — and I don’t care if they say she was just trying to bury evidence. That is a human being. That’s someone’s sister. That’s someone’s daughter.”
Aguilar will remain in custody pending resolution of the case.