FBI: Fort Hood soldier killed Guillén on the post
Investigators say suspect dismembered, buried body with girlfriend’s help
A fellow soldier bludgeoned missing Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén to death with a hammer at Fort Hood in April and then dismembered and buried her body along the Leon River with the help of his girlfriend, the FBI alleged in court documents filed Thursday.
Military officials identified Army Spc. Aaron David Robinson as the soldier suspected in the disappearance of Guillén, the 20-yearold Houston native who went missing April 22. Robinson shot and killed himself as law enforcement officers confronted him along a Killeen road after the discovery of human remains believed to be those of the missing 3rd Cavalry Regiment soldier.
A news conference held at the
Army post in Killeen revealed few details, but charging documents filed by the FBI lay out the lengths to which investigators believe Robinson and his girlfriend, Cecily Ann Aguilar, went to hide Guillén’s remains.
“Aguilar advised the female soldier never it made it out of the Army alive,” the FBI alleged in charging her with conspiracy to tamper with evidence. She was being held at the Bell County jail on the federal charge.
The sudden flurry of developments follows 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 that she provided Robinson’s name to au
thorities after learning he may have harassed Guillén before her disappearance. Khawam told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday 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.
Court documents filed in Western District Court provide the following account:
A witness in the case said Guillén was working in an arms room on the day of her disappearance. She left to visit an arms room at another location at Ford Hood where Robinson worked in order to “confirm serial numbers for weapons and equipment.” Robinson was the last person whom Guillén texted and one of the last people known to have seen her alive, FBI Special Agent Jonathan Varga wrote in an affidavit.
Of that encounter, Robinson told investigators that Guillén left the arms room and “would have next gone to the motor pool.” Workers there said Guillén never arrived, the special agent continued.
Robinson told Army investigators he then went to the residence he shared with Aguilar.
More than 12 hours after Guillén was last seen alive in the Fort Hood parking lot, Robinson was in the Belton Lake area, near where human remains were later found along the Leon River, the FBI said phone records revealed. The federal investigator believes Robinson spent at least two hours that night along the river, and later repeatedly returned to the area with Aguilar through April 26 to finish hiding the remains. The couple allegedly used hairnets and gloves.
The couple’s return to the Leon River area coincided with the start of a desperate search to find Guillén by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. She was reported missing April 23 after a check of the barracks and unit area, where her keys and ID were found.
Aguilar initially told investigators that she and Robinson went to a Belton-area park to stargaze on the night of April 22. But when interviewed Tuesday, Aguilar revealed that Robinson had admitted
“(Cecily Ann) Aguilar advised the female soldier never it made it out of the Army alive.” the FBI, in charging documents
hitting Guillén in the head repeatedly with a hammer on the day she vanished.
According to court documents, Aguilar first saw Guillén’s body in a plastic box that Robinson had used to take the body off post. Two witnesses had earlier reported seeing Robinson carrying a large box out of the arms room and to his vehicle.
On the night of April 22 and into the morning of April 23, Robinson picked Aguilar up at a gas station where she worked and the two drove out to a site near the Leon River and near a bridge. The box was already there, she said, and inside “she saw a dead female.”
Aguilar then admitted helping him dismember Guillén’s body with a bladed weapon, such as a “hatchet or ax and a machete type knife.”
The duo tried burning the body but did not succeed, charging documents state. Evidence of that apparent attempt was found June 21 at “a burn site with disturbed earth,” authorities allege.
Court documents say the soil smelled of decomposition. No remains were found but a large plastic box was recovered. On June 30, construction workers working on a fence along the river found what appeared to be human remains. Investigators searched the area and confirmed scattered remains that appeared to have been “placed into a concrete-like substance and buried.” The remains have not been identified as belonging to Guillén, but Aguilar told investigators they belonged to the missing soldier.
The couple later burned their clothes at their home, investigators said.
During the investigation, authorities had Aguilar call Robinson to talk about Guillén and “he never denied anything they did” with her body during that “controlled telephone call,” documents state. Robinson later allegedly called Aguilar to say, “Baby they found pieces, they found pieces.” He was confined to his Fort Hood barracks room at the time.
He fled his post June 30, and law enforcement issued a be-on-the-lookout notice for him. Authorities found him walking along a Killeen road when he pulled out a weapon and killed himself, police said.
An Army criminal investigator, Special Agent Damon Phelps, said Thursday that Robinson worked in a neighboring building of Guillén’s but was not her supervisor. The two soldiers knew each other, he said.
Guillén’s family contends sexual harassment was at the heart of her death, alleging that a supervisor or Robinson had been targeting her for months. Investigators for the military branch have not found evidence that her disappearance was linked to sexual harassment or that she reported Robinson — or anyone else — for harassment. They indicated that they unearthed a statement of possible harassment from May but were still investigating it. There was also no evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, officials said.
Army Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt said he asked an Army Forces Command inspection team to check the post’s sexual harassment and assault response program for compliance. The inspection team will also determine whether the command staff is supportive of soldiers reporting incidents at Fort Hood and seek to identify potential systematic issues with lodging complaints.
Phelps said he would not discuss the role of a second suspect — who federal and county officials identified as Aguilar — in Guillén’s disappearance because the arrest was handled by the Texas Rangers. He declined to elaborate on whether Guillén died on the Army post, fearing that such a detail could jeopardize the investigation. Federal charging papers detailing where Guillén likely died were filed soon after.