DOCKET NUMBER D-1-DC-22-302733

THE STATE OF TEXAS § IN THE AUSTIN CITY MUNICIPAL

COURT
v. §
GAVIN MCLOUD ROBERTS § CITY OF AUSTIN MUNICIPAL COURT

AFFIDAVIT AND APPLICATION FOR ARREST WARRANT

The Undersigned Affiant, who after being duly sworn by me, on oath, makes the following statement:
I have reason to believe and do believe that: Gavin McLoud Roberts , DOB: 04/29/1996 did then and there,
on or about 11-01-2022 at 3001 Esperanza Xing #4004 Austin, Travis County, Texas 78758 commit the
offense of:

TAMPER/FABRICATE PHYS EVID/FAILS REP HUMAN REM-- (2nd

Degree Felony)
This belief is based on the following facts and circumstances known to the affiant:
Affiant is Detective Colby Bushell #4397 employed as a commissioned peace officer for 21 years with the
Austin Police Department (APD), and is currently assigned to the Cold Case Homicide/Missing Person’s
Unit. As a result of this assignment, Your Affiant is responsible for investigating incidents involving
missing persons and numerous violent crimes. Affiant has obtained the following information through
personal knowledge, two calls to APD 911, the information provided by Austin Police Officers,
information provided by the missing person’s family, and Austin Police incident numbers 22-3080544
and 22-5031138.

Affiant has probable cause for said belief by reason of the following information:

APD Case #22-3080544 –

On Friday November 4, 2022, at about 9:29AM, Alan Bennett, from the law firm of Gunter, Bennett and
Anthes, called APD 911 to request a welfare check on his client, Justin Haden (fully identified in APD
case #22-3080544), at the Griffs at the Domain Apartments located at 3001 Esperanza Xing # 4004, City
of Austin, Travis County, Texas. Alan stated it had been three days since he or his family had heard from
Justin. Alan added that Justin lived alone, was not suicidal, and did not own a vehicle. APD officer
responded to the apartment without an answer at the door. The officers enlisted the help of a property
manager maintenance person, who opened the door to apartment 4004. Officers found no one in the
apartment but noted what they thought were red wine stains on the wall next to a bed. The apartment was
secured, and the officers left the scene.

APD Case #22-5031138 –

On Monday November 7, 2022, at about 4:51 PM, Fred Haden, father of Justin Haden, called APD 911
from out of state to report Justin missing. Mr. Haden stated he had checked the jails and hospitals to no
avail. Mr. Haden hired Private Investigator (PI) Justin Newsom to help locate his missing son. Mr. Haden
also noted that he and his wife communicate with their son Justin daily, sometimes several times a day.
The last telephone conversation Mr. Haden had with Justin was on October 26, 2022. Mr. Haden is the
executor of Justin’s trust fund and manages Justin’s only bank account and cell phone account. Mr. Haden
Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138
stated that Justin usually conducts about five financial transactions a day from the bank account, but the
activity on the account stopped on or about November 1, 2022.

On Wednesday November 9, 2022, at about 11:30AM, Alan Bennett gave PI Newsom a key to Justin’s
apartment. Newsom entered the apartment on November 9, 2022 at about 5:16PM. Newsom observed the
stains on the wall and, through his training and experience as a former law enforcement official, suspected
the stains could be blood. PI Newsom pulled the sheets back on the bed and found a large area of reddish-
brown stains on the mattress and running down the side onto the floor. PI Newsom believed these stains
were blood and called 911 to report the discovery of evidence that suggested a violent crime had been
committed inside apartment #4004. On Wednesday November 9, 2022, at about 7:45 PM, APD Officer
C. Bell # 7284 contacted Detective Joseph Jedynak # 7308 and explained the series of events
outlined above. Detective Jedynak, Detective Perla Meyers #6467 and Detective Travis Beathard
#5880 responded to the scene and spoke to PI Newsom. Detectives Jedynak and Beathard entered the
apartment with APD Crime Scene Specialist (CSS) Ferrara # 8336. CSS Ferrara took overall photos of the
apartment’s interior. CSS Ferrara then swabbed a small area of the reddish-brown stain on the bed and
conducted a presumptive blood test. The test was positive for human blood. The apartment was vacated
and secured, pending the issuance of a residential search warrant.

A few minutes after exiting the apartment, Justin’s neighbor, Olivia Costa, approached Detective Meyers
and stated that she had called 911 on November 1st, to report a male in the hallway screaming, “Oh my
God”! Per APD records, this 911 call was received at approximately 7:56PM on November 1st, 2022.
APD Officers responded to this 911 call, but could not locate any persons involved in a disturbance.

On Thursday November 10, 2022, at approximately 2:00 AM, APD Missing Person Unit Detectives and
members of the APD Crime Scene Unit (CSU) executed a residential search warrant of apartment #4004.
The apartment was photographed, and numerous items were seized, including but not limited to swabs of
presumed blood, DNA swabs, a laptop computer, and latent print cards. During the search of Justin’s
apartment, Detectives observed a large quantity of dark red liquid that had completely saturated through
the sheets and mattress of Justin's bed. The substantial amount of dark red liquid, which appeared
consistent with blood, led Detectives to believe that a traumatic incident had occurred in the bed and the
contributor of the blood was either very seriously injured, or dead. Detectives and CSU all observed a
brown paper bag from Whole Foods Market was placed on the kitchen counter. Inside this bag were
several food items as well as a receipt from Whole Foods Market, located at 11920 Domain Drive, Austin,
Texas, which is only a couple of blocks from where Justin’s apartment is located. The receipt also showed
the purchase was made on October 31, 2022 at 7:47 P.M. Detective Jedynak was later able to retrieve
surveillance video from the Whole Foods Market for the date and time on the receipt, as well as
surveillance video from Justin’s apartment building for the date range of October 31, 2022 through
November 2, 2022.

Justin’s cellular telephone number is documented in the Missing Person report as (703) 507-7640.
Detective Jedynak checked this number in ZETX.com, a trusted law enforcement resource, and found the
number registered to Justin Haden and is assigned to Verizon wireless. Detective Jedynak has tried to call
this number, but it forwards straights to voicemail indicating it is more than likely the device is powered
off. Mr. Haden provided PI Newsome with Justin’s recent phone records to include call and text logs.
Justin’s phone history shows the last text message on Justin’s phone was a text message from a not-for-
profit organization received on November 1, 2022, at about 7:53PM. The neighbor, Costa, reported the
disturbance to 911, approximately three minutes later at 7:56 PM.

PI Newsome identified an acquaintance of Justin’s from phone records. The acquaintance will be referred
to by his initials, GCB (fully identified in APD case #22-5031138). PI Newsome interviewed GCB, who
Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138
showed Newsom several text messages between CGB and Justin. The last text message sent by Justin was
early in the morning on November 1, 2022. Justin stated he is “eating a bunch of food with a friend”.
GCB replied on November 1, 2022 at about 5:07 PM, “what did you eat?” There was no reply from
Justin.

While looking over Justin’s phone records, Detectives also observed Justin had received a phone call from
the number 720-434-4243, at 9:36 A.M., on October 31, 2022. Justin then begins texting with this person
starting at 10:30 A.M., on October 31, 2022, and continues to exclusively text with this person until 12:45
P.M., on October 31, 2022, which resulted in twenty text messages between the two. There are no other
text messages or calls to or from this number and Justin’s phone after 12:45 P.M.

In the surveillance video from Whole Foods Market, Justin and another male can be seen purchasing the
items that were on his receipt found in his apartment. This male is described as a Hispanic or Middle
Eastern male, 20-30 years of age, 5’08-5’10 tall, 130-150 pounds, dark brown hair, scruffy beard, with a
very distinctive tattoo on his left forearm. The surveillance video from Justin’s apartment complex show
this same male exiting Justin’s apartment complex with Justin, at approximately 7: 30 P.M, on October
31st, 2022. Justin and the unidentified man returned to the apartment complex at approximately 8:00 P.M.
The male with Justin can be seen carrying the brown paper bag from Whole Foods Market that was later
located inside Justin’s apartment.

Video surveillance from Justin's apartment complex showed that at approximately 8:30 P.M.on October
31st, 2022, Justin and the male left Justin’s apartment complex, both wearing Halloween costumes. The
two men return to Justin’s apartment at approximately 12:45 A.M. on November 1st, 2022; both were still
wearing their Halloween costumes.

Video surveillance showed that at approximately 3 P.M. on November 1st, a male wearing a long sleeve
white hooded sweater, white pants, blue latex gloves and what appears to be a dark colored COVID type
mask over his face, can be seen exiting Justin’s apartment complex. This male is also seen carrying two
large white plastic trash bags in one hand and what appears to be a cardboard box with paper bags in the
other hand. The male also appears to be aware of the overhead surveillance camera in the hallway and
goes to great lengths to conceal his identity and to keep his head down and his face away from the
camera. At approximately 3:07 P.M., this male can be seen walking inside the parking garage back
towards one of the entry doors that lead back inside Justin’s apartment. The man's face is still concealed
from view. At approximately 5 P.M., this same male can again be seen exiting Justin’s apartment
complex, dragging a large blue plastic tote bin with what appears to be a black suitcase on top of the tote.
Affiant cannot see what is inside the tote, but due to the male struggling to drag it, it appears to be very
heavy.

At approximately 5: 11 P.M., a dark blue, two door, Honda sedan, missing the entire rear bumper, can be
seen driving into the parking garage. In the trunk of this vehicle, which is propped open, a large blue
plastic tote can be seen sticking out of the trunk. This tote is the same size, shape and color of the tote the
male had been seen dragging out of Justin’s apartment complex an hour earlier. The vehicle then parks in
one of the guest parking spaces in the back of the parking garage.
At approximately 5:12 P.M., the same male can be seen walking from where he parked his vehicle, back
to the doors that lead inside Justin’s apartment building. At 5:15 P.M., the male can be seen walking back
through the garage to his vehicle. This time, the male has removed his hood. The video surveillance
showed that the male subject is the same man that was last seen shopping with Justin Haden at the Whole
Foods Market and returning to the apartment with Justin at 12:45 AM on November 1st. The video
surveillance showed that at approximately 5:16 P.M., the blue Honda exits the parking garage with the
blue tote in the trunk. The driver of this vehicle was still wearing the white hooded sweater.
Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138
It is the belief of your affiant that due to the large amount of blood located inside Justin’s apartment, the
fact that Justin has not accessed his bank account, contacted his parents or used his cell phone since
November 1st, leads affiant to believe that Justin Haden is deceased. Affiant further believes that the male
seen on surveillance video wearing the white hooded sweater concealed Justin’s body inside the large
blue plastic tote and removed Justin’s body to an unknown location.

On November 17, 2022, PI Newsom contacted Detective Jedynak and informed him that on November
9th, he was going through Justin’s phone records to identify the last people Justin had contact with. PI
Newsom observed the phone number 720-434-4243, which is the phone number Justin had multiple
conversations with on October 31st. PI Newsom said he called this number and said it was answered by a
person identifying himself as Gavin Roberts, with the date of birth 04-29-1996. Gavin informed PI
Newsom that he had spoken on the phone with Justin on November 1st and then had gone over to Justin’s
apartment to drop off a set of chef’s knives. Gavin said when he arrived at Justin’s apartment, no one
answered the door so he left. Gavin also said Justin had told him he was planning a trip to Las Vegas, so
that was where he probably was.

Detective Jedynak knew from his investigation into this case that the story Gavin gave to PI Newsom was
false due to it not matching up with Justin’s cell phone records as well as the video surveillance from
Justin’s apartment. Justin’s cell phone records show that he and Gavin texted back and forth twenty times
on October 31st, and never on November 1st. Detective Jedynak sent the information he was provided by
PI Newsom to APD Tactical Intelligence Unit Detective Tara Dicken #7061. Detective Dicken conducted
a search of Gavin through a law enforcement database that has proven to be true and reliable and learned
that Gavin was the registered owner of a blue 2007, two door, Honda Civic, Colorado license plate
#CME531. Detective Dicken then ran this license plate number through a law enforcement software that
utilizes cameras around certain areas to capture images of license plates while the vehicles are driving or
parked in public places. On November 1st, at 7:46 P.M., the vehicle registered to Gavin was captured on
this software while entering the Sonterra neighborhood in Jarell, Texas. The photo of the vehicle showed
that the large blue plastic tote was still in the trunk of the vehicle at that time. Detective Dicken, along
with other APD officers in the Tactical Intelligence Unit checked the McDonald’s restaurant (11640
North Interstate Highway 35, Jarrell, Texas), which is located very close to the Sonterra neighborhood, to
see if Gavin’s vehicle had possibly been captured on their surveillance videos. Detective Dicken was able
to learn from the McDonald's surveillance video that Gavin’s vehicle did stop there on November 1st at
7:26 P.M. The suspect who was captured on Justin’s apartment complex surveillance video wearing the
white hooded sweater, went inside the McDonald’s and ordered food. While inside the McDonald’s
restaurant, the suspect removed his hood, but continued to wear his blue COVID mask. The suspect can
be seen with brown hair and a beard. Gavin’s vehicle can also be seen in the parking lot with the blue
plastic tote sticking out of the trunk.

On November 10th, Gavin’s vehicle is again captured on this software at the Highland Lanes parking lot
on Burnet Road in Austin. The photo of Gavin’s vehicle shows his trunk is closed and there is no tote
seen.
Detective Dicken was also able to locate Gavin’s Facebook account: “Gavin De Sena Roberts”
(www.facebook.com/gavin.roberts.75). In Gavin’s Facebook account, he had multiple photos of himself
which showed he had a tattoo on his left forearm that had the same size, shape and design as the male
seen on the surveillance videos from the Whole Foods Market and Justin’s apartment complex on the
night of October 31st. Detective Dicken, as well as other Detectives investigating this offense immediately

Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138

recognized Gavin as the person seen on those surveillance videos. Further, Gavin’s height, weight, body
style, head and facial hair also appear to be very similar to that of the suspect wearing the white hooded
sweater.

On November 18th, 2022, at approximately 3:17 PM, Gavin Roberts called the APD Missing Person Unit
main phone number from his personal cell phone (720) 434-4243. Detective Beathard answered the phone
call and placed it on speaker so that the other Detectives could listen to the conversation. Gavin Roberts
stated that he saw his picture on the Austin news and wanted to speak with Detectives about Justin
Haden.Gavin admitted that he had driven his car back to Colorado on Tuesday November 15th and
claimed he was currently in the Denver area. Gavin admitted that he knew Justin Haden and had met up
with Justin at Justin's apartment on October 31st. Gavin stated they went to Whole Foods Market together
and also wore Halloween Costumes to a bar in the Domain area near Justin's apartment. Gavin stated that
he and Justin returned back to Justin's apartment later that night and Gavin said he spent the night at
Justin's apartment. Gavin stated that he maintained possession of his car keys the entire time and no one
else ever borrowed his car. Gavin admitted wearing the white outfit and latex gloves on November 1st, as
well as removing bags and dragging the heavy plastic tote bin from Justin's apartment. Gavin admitted
that he loaded the plastic tote bin into the trunk of his car and then drove North of Austin for several
hours. Gavin admitted that he stopped for food at the McDonald's restaurant North of Austin. Gavin stated
that he dropped the bin off at a friend's house for safekeeping but later picked the bin up and took it to
Colorado. Gavin denied having knowledge of Justin Haden's whereabouts or there being any type of
altercation or disturbance in Justin's apartment. Gavin had no explanation why he had worn latex gloves
to remove the trash bags and plastic bin. Gavin was confronted with the inconsistencies in his statements
as well as the video surveillance evidence from several locations. Gavin stated that he was late for a
meeting and asked to call back in one hour. Gavin ended the phone call.

Based upon the totality of the circumstances and the above stated facts, it is the belief of your affiant that
on November 1st, 2022, Gavin Roberts, a white male, born on April 29th, 1996, committed the offense of
Tampering with a Human Corpse, a second degree felony, when he knowingly removed Justin’s deceased
body from the scene, located at 3001 Esperanza Xing # 4004, Austin, Travis County, Texas, by placing
Justin’s body inside of a large blue plastic tote and then transporting the corpse to an unknown location.

Colby Bushell
Affiant

Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138

 SWORN AND SUBSCRIBED before me on this 18 day of Nov, 2022.

Brian Guerra
County of Travis, Texas
CITY OF AUSTIN MUNICIPAL COURT

MAGISTRATE’S DETERMINATION OF PROBABLE CAUSE

The foregoing Affidavit and Application was submitted to me by the said affiant on this 18 day of Nov,
2022, at 05:53 PM . I find that there is sufficient Probable Cause to support the arrest of the accused.

Brian Guerra
County of Travis, Texas
CITY OF AUSTIN MUNICIPAL COURT

Signed by the said affiant, submitted to me by reliable electronic means, and subsequently sworn to by the
said affiant before me through an electronic broadcast system.

Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138

 WARRANT OF ARREST
THE STATE OF TEXAS CAUSE NO: D-1-DC-22-302733
VS.
NAME: GAVIN MCLOUD ROBERTS AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT
ALIASES: GAVIN DE SENA ROBERTS OFFENSE NO: 22-5031138
RACE/SEX/DOB: WHITE / MALE / 04/29/1996 OFFENSE DATE: 11-01-2022
ADDRESS: 4906 LEDESMA
CITY, STATE, ZIP: AUSTIN, TEXAS 78721 PEACE OFFICER: Colby Bushell # 4397
SSN: 524992201
D/L Number: CO 131820776

THE STATE OF TEXAS

TO ANY PEACE OFFICER OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: GREETINGS
You are hereby commanded to arrest:
GAVIN MCLOUD ROBERTS WHITE / MALE / 04/29/1996
If they are found in your county, and bring Defendant before me, Brian Guerra, in and for the CITY OF AUSTIN
MUNICIPAL COURT of Travis County, then and there to answer the State of Texas for an offense against the laws
of said State, to-wit:

TAMPER/FABRICATE PHYS EVID/FAILS REP HUMAN REM--(2nd Degree

Felony)

of which offense Defendant is accused by the written complaint, under oath of Colby Bushell, filed before me.

HEREIN FAIL NOT but of this writ make due return, showing how you have executed the same.

WITNESS my official signature, on this 18 day of Nov, 2022, at 05:53 PM.

Brian Guerra
County of Travis, Texas
CITY OF AUSTIN MUNICIPAL COURT

Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138

 RETURN

This Warrant CAME TO HAND on the ______ day of _______________________, 20____, at _______
__.M. and was EXECUTED in ________Travis____________ County, Texas on the ______ day of
_______________________, 20____, at ___________ __.M. by taking Gavin McLoud Roberts into
custody and transporting the person to __________________________________________ as commanded.

The distance actually traveled by me in the execution of this process was ____ miles and my fees are
_____________.

___________________________________
Officer’s Name and Title

___________________________________
Officer’s Signature

Austin Police Department Report Number # 22-5031138