Answers in 3 killings may be revealed soon
Email: Murder-suicide likely conclusion of probe
The families of two children found shot to death with their mother in a luxury home near Leon Springs almost two years ago have grown frustrated with the Bexar County Sheriff ’s Office while waiting to learn who is responsible and what prompted the violence.
Sheriff Javier Salazar, in response to the families’ stated intention to publicize their unhappiness with the pace of the probe, presented the starkest outline yet of the status of the investigation into the deaths in an email this week to one of their lawyers, predicting the case will be closed soon.
The investigation hasn’t uncovered any evidence to indicate the shootings of hairstylist Nichol Leila Olsen, 37, and her two daughters, Alexa Denice Montez, 16, and London Sophia Bribiescas, 10, were anything but a murder-suicide, Salazar wrote.
While the sheriff ’s email doesn’t explicitly state who is responsible, he indicated the criminal investigation will “most likely” conclude that Olsen’s death was a suicide and her daughters’ deaths were homicides. That would affirm the Bexar County medical examiner’s findings.
Salazar’s email arrived Monday after the fathers of Montez and Bribiescas spoke of their despair at how long it has taken to get answers and the difficulty of moving on with their lives. In the email, the sheriff noted his displeasure at a suggestion that family members might hold a candlelight vigil outside his house Thursday evening, calling it a “threat.”
“Although the case is not yet closed or ready to be made public, I’m confident my investigators have exhausted all resources and credible leads,” Salazar wrote to attorney Joe
Hoelscher, who represents the youngest child’s family.
“Once the case is complete, barring anything unforeseen, the case packet will most likely show that the (medical examiner’s) initial ruling was correct,” Salazar added. “All evidence I’ve seen to this point, namely surveillance video, GPS cellular phone data and other forensic evidence ... reinforces that.”
Hoelscher provided a copy of Salazar’s email to the San Antonio Express-News. The Sheriff ’s Office confirmed its authenticity and issued a statement later Tuesday that said the agency’s “thorough and methodical” investigation is still ongoing.
“We understand the family and loved ones affected by their loss are seeking answers regarding this case, but we ask they be patient with us while we finalize this case,” the statement said.
Hoelscher said he hadn’t been trying to start a personal confrontation with Salazar but did want him to know the family had been considering a “strong public response” to the lack of progress on the investigation. A vigil at Salazar’s house might not be necessary, given the information Salazar provided, he said.
“There is no excuse for further delay in announcing the results of this investigation under those circumstances,” Hoelscher said in an email. “We are extremely pleased by his commitment to close the case soon.
“I think it’s fair to say that they haven’t gathered any new evidence in probably more than a year,” he said in a subsequent interview.
Salazar’s note to Hoelscher mentioned that his office had consulted with the FBI and the Secret Service during its investigation. It did not explain why the Secret Service was involved. He asked for the FBI’s assistance early on because of the technical and investigative assistance that agency provides.
Olsen and her daughters were found dead inside a $1 million home then owned by Olsen’s boyfriend, Charles Edward Wheeler, 33, in the gated Anaqua Springs Ranch subdivision in North Bexar County on the morning of Jan. 10, 2019. Wheeler told authorities he returned home that morning to find their bodies close together in an upstairs hallway.
Olsen and Montez had each been shot once in the head. Bribiescas suffered a gunshot wound to her head and neck. A handgun was found near Olsen’s body.
Wheeler, an oil and gas entrepreneur, told investigators he’d departed the residence around 10 p.m. the previous night after arguing with Olsen and went to spend the night at his parents’ house.
Soon after the deaths, the sheriff described Wheeler as a “person of interest” but not a suspect, and he continued to stand behind that assertion earlier this year. He noted Wheeler cooperated with the investigation.
No one has ever been charged in the case. Wheeler’s attorneys said he had nothing to do with the deaths and have called on the Sheriff ’s Office to bring the investigation to a close. One of his attorneys, Therese Huntzinger, said she hoped Salazar will “conclude his investigation publicly ... and do so in a manner that finally clears Mr. Wheeler.”
“We understand that the sheriff has a difficult job in closing investigations with results that don’t meet the expectations and wishes of all involved, but it is well past time to do so in this tragedy,” Huntzinger said in a text message to the ExpressNews. “The findings of the medical examiner office that this was a murder-suicide has never been refuted with even the slightest relevant evidence from any law enforcement agency.”
Wheeler consistently has declined to comment and asked for privacy. He sold the home where the shootings occurred and moved to Austin, where he was arrested last week on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
Olsen’s and her daughters’ autopsy reports and toxicology findings haven’t been released because of the open investigation.
The case drew widespread public attention and stirred strong emotions. Olsen’s family and friends rejected the idea that she committed suicide or killed her daughters. Wheeler’s family and friends said he wasn’t responsible for the violence and contended he was wrongly targeted by public suspicion that upended his life.
Olsen and Wheeler’s relationship was turbulent and marked by conflict, according to several friends and family members who spoke to the Express-News.
Since the shootings, the slain children’s grieving families have kept a relatively low profile while the investigation ran its course. The girls’ fathers said they have struggled to come to terms with the deaths and have been troubled by what they called sporadic communication from the Sheriff ’s Office.
Hector Bribiescas, the father of 10-year-old London, and Carlos Montez Jr., the father of 16-yearold Alexa, sat side by side on a couch in a San Antonio attorney’s office Monday, searching for words to describe their ordeal.
Both men have been unable to work since the girls’ slayings. Bribiescas said he hasn’t been able to celebrate holidays in his daughter’s absence and noted he spent a lot of time alone.
“It’s like it just happened. Nothing’s really changed,” Bribiescas said. “It’s not easy by any means.
“I can’t really focus on anything. I really don’t know which direction to move forward in.”
Montez, who just became a father again six weeks ago when his wife gave birth to a baby girl, said he’s also floundered at times.
“Not knowing what’s going on and then not being able to get answers when I want it or when I had questions, it has a major effect, leaving me in limbo,” Montez said. “It’s been rough. It’s been really hard.”
The families questioned why the investigation is still open almost two years later. Hoelscher shared their concerns with the Sheriff ’s Office on Monday. That prompted Salazar to respond by email.
“While the official position is that they’re still working through it, unofficially they’ve been pretty clear that they’re pretty convinced about what happened,” said London’s aunt, Emma Bribiescas Mancha Sumners. “And I can’t share those details.
“The thing is ... if you’re so sure, why aren’t you closing the case?”
She added that the Sheriff ’s Office hasn’t wavered from its assessments of what happened since the summer of 2019.
No lawsuits have been filed regarding the deaths. But the two-year statute of limitations — a deadline to file civil claims — will fall on the second anniversary of the crime, which is fast approaching. That deadline stands firm regardless of whether the Sheriff ’s Office investigation is still open.
As a result, the families must decide in the next few weeks whether to file a lawsuit or forfeit any civil action.
“Now we’re in a position where, if they’re not going to be able to give us some justice, we’re going to have to go seek it on our own,” Hoelscher said of the Sheriff ’s Office.
“I know that on the investigative side, they’re overworked,” said the attorney, who is representing the Bribiescas family pro bono. “And I think if that is what causes victims to be left in limbo like this, maybe Salazar needs to spend less time doing PR and put that money toward investigations so people can get an answer.
“What I would like is for him to give us an answer ... so that these families can pursue the justice that they think is right from an informed place instead of being left in pain and uncertainty.”
The families said the Sheriff ’s Office communicates with them only when an attorney pries for an update.
“They could call us up once a month and say, ‘Hey, we still have nothing,’ and pat us on the back,” Sumners said. “But they don’t even make an effort. ... They only respond when we harass them.”
Montez expressed similar frustrations. “There were times I had questions or I wanted to know how things were going, and I didn’t get responses,” he said.
The Sheriff ’s Office allowed a private investigator working on behalf of the Bribiescas family to review the case file earlier this year. But she had to agree to keep all of that information confidential in order to get access.
“She shared her general opinion with us. ... But she wasn’t going to share any particular details,” Hoelscher said. “We don’t want to compromise that investigation.”
Montez described life without Alexa and London as the “new normal.”
“It doesn’t feel good. We don’t want to get used to it,” the grieving father said, pausing as he struggled to find his words. “I hate it. But we just have to live with it.”