The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 6, 2009 Page: 4 of 17
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Page A4 • Wat JBastrop Hdocrtiscr
Thursday, August 6, 2009
TRIAL: Bastrop jury charged with finding the truth in June 2007 Paige child s death
Continued from page A1
who was the first Bastrop
County deputy to see the
child that day, Murray
told her he had heard the
child fall in the home ear-
lier that day.
However, defense at-
torney Katherine Scardino
told the jury during open-
ing statements that Mur-
ray had accidentally fallen
on the child.
"It is a terrible thing
that happened to this
child," she said. "Every in-
cident you hear about in-
volving an injury to a child
does not necessarily mean
t is child abuse."
June 11, 2007
According to the open-
ng statement given by
assistant attorney gen-
eral Steven Todd, June
11, 2007, started out in
the home of Robert Faske,
near Paige, as most days
did.
"There's no place like
home. Home is a safe place,
a refuge," he told the jury.
"There was a home where
Robbie Faske lived."
On that morning, ac-
cording to Todd, Robert
Faske woke up and was
given breakfast. His moth-
er, Victoria, left for work
at 7:30 a.m. Other adults
and children who lived in
the home, including Mur-
ray's mother and grand-
mother, plus his younger
sibling and another child,
left for Austin, leaving
Murray alone in the house
with Robbie Faske and
the biological daughter of
Christopher and Victoria,
a 9-month-old named Ni-
cole.
"Sometime between
9:30 and 1:30, Robbie's
home became a danger-
ous, deadly place," Todd
said.
The state maintains
that sometime during that
time, Murray violently
beat Robbie Faske to
death. But 9-1-1 was not
called until after Murray's
mother returned home, to
find the child in a critical
state.
"The child was gur-
gling, not breathing," Todd
described.
According to the de-
fense, what happened was
a tragic accident.
Scardino described
how when Murray's
mother and grandmother
left, Robbie was running
around, playing.
"Victoria will testify
that there was no prob-
lems in the home between
Christopher and Robbie;
he called him daddy," she
said.
AVIATION: Bastrop grad
flies Alaska line to Austin
Continued from page A1
mechanic who currently
lives in Cedar Creek with
his wife, Gertrude.
Cice joined Bergstrom's
Aero Club to learn how to
fly, he said.
Cice said a large crowd
greeted the landing of his
jet at Bergstrom. He and
another pilot, four flight
attendants and approxi-
mately 160 passengers
were on the flight.
On Monday night, Cice
called the Advertiser to
say he was back safely in
Gig Harbor, Wash., near
Tacoma. His wife Sarah
and daughter Addy were
ready with a hug.
He added that he was
glad to be escaping the
Texas heat, but also looked
forward to return flights
to Austin-Bergstrom.
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Scardino also named
the other children in the
house, including a five-
year-old boy with Down
Syndrome, saying that
the jury was going to hear
more about him later.
She said that during
the day, Murray watched
a movie with Robbie, oc-
casionally pausing the
movie to go outside to
smoke cigarettes. She
said that during one trip
outside, Murray, with
Robbie on his left hip,
fell down the front steps,
landing on top of Robbie.
"He's a 6-foot, 270-lb.
man who falls on top of a
child," she said. "Number
one, it was an accident.
Number two, it caused
serious damage to this
child."
However, instead of
calling 9-1-1 for the criti-
cally injured child, Mur-
ray took Robbie nside
and placed him on a bed,
Scardino said.
She said the reason
Murray did not call 9-1-
1 was because he wanted
to wait until Victoria got
home.
"She has a history
with CPS (Child Protec-
tive Services)," Scardino
said. "She would be afraid
of what would happen (if
9-1-1 was called)."
When Murray's moth-
er returned home, she
was met at the door by
Murray holding Robbie in
his arms, Scardino said.
"The baby was obvi-
ously in dire, dire dis-
tress," she said.
The first time 9-1-1
was called, according to
Scardino, was when Mur-
ray's mother called, at
around 1:45 p.m.
Shortly after that,
both sides said, Murray
took the child and left in
his car.
Car acc dent
According to Scar-
dino, after the call was
placed to 9-1-1, Murray
panicked, thinking the
ambulance was going to
take too long. He drove off
with the baby and went
to the Paige Volunteer
Fire Department, where
he honked his horn, try-
ng to get help. When
no one came out of the
unmanned firehouse, he
headed back for home.
Todd pointed out that
if he had wanted to help
the child, he could have
used the vehicle at any
time to drive the baby for
help.
During the drive back
to the house, the vehicle
slid off U.S. 290, landing
in a ditch.
"Several motorists
stopped to help," Todd
said. "Witnesses are go-
ng to tell you there were
no signs of life and the
child appeared to have
been dead for awhile."
He said the autopsy
showed numerous severe,
fatal injuries.
According to Arriga,
she was en route to assist
an EMS call n the same
area for a three-year-old
child that was not breath-
ing when she received a
dispatch for a major ac-
cident. Upon arriving at
the scene of the accident,
she testified, at about the
same time as the EMS,
the responders became
aware that the child was
the same child from the
original 9-1-1 call.
She said Murray acted
like he was in shock and
referred to the child as
his stepson.
"He looked very
shocked," she said. "He
kept saying he couldn't
believe this had hap-
pened."
Later, when she ex-
amined Murray's car, she
said she noticed a whit-
ish, wet substance on the
front passenger seat.
"It looked like vomit
or mucus," she said.
Defense attorney
Scardino had earlier said
that Murray was driving
with the child held across
his chest, in his arms.
Arrested
Murray was arrested
at the scene of the car
accident after dispatch
notified the responding
officers that he had war-
rants for his arrest for
failing to appear to an-
swer for traffic tickets.
Arriga said Murray's de-
meanor changed notice-
ably when he was put
n the back of her patrol
car and taken to jail.
"He began yelling and
cussing," she said.
She later described
what happened when
Robbie's mother, Victo-
ria Faske, arrived at the
scene. Arriga was the
one who told the young
mother that her child
was dead.
"The first thing she
said is 'why is he not in
jail'?" Arriga said.
Assistant attorney
general Adrienne Mc-
Farland asked Arriga
who the "he" that Faske
was referring to was and
Arriga replied that she
assumed t was Murray.
Scardino pointed out
that Arriga could not
be sure, since Victoria
Faske never mentioned
Murray by name.
Ti al cent nues
In a previous court
appearance on Oct. 15,
2008, Murray learned
that the state will not
seek the death penal-
ty against him if he is
found guilty.
"Based on the fact
that there is no prior
criminal felony history
with this defendant,
we are not seeking the
death penalty," District
Attorney Bryan Goertz
said.
If Murray is found
guilty of capital murder,
he will receive an auto-
matic life in prison with-
out the possibility of
parole sentence, Goertz
said, adding that the jury
could find him guilty of a
lesser offense.
21st District Judge
Reva Towslee Corbett is
presiding over the trial.
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 6, 2009, newspaper, August 6, 2009; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252602/m1/4/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.