A Texas man reportedly asked Google, “Can I kill an illegal human?” before slaughtering his undocumented fiancé and staging the crime scene to look like a suicide, cops said.
Ty Vaughn, 31, is accused of shooting Luis Banos Norberto in the face on Jan. 14 in their Baytown apartment, just outside Houston, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by ABC 13.
Vaughn remained free for nearly two months after Norberto’s death after allegedly staging concerns texts to his fiancé — and even gave interviews to the media before he was arrested.
“I’ve been kind of not great. I haven’t really been going to police looking for answers,” Vaughn told Eyewitness News on Feb. 4 when asked if he had spoken to Norberto the day of the murder.
When an ABC13 reporter offered condolences, he replied, “I mean, it is what it is.”
Vaughn had told cops the couple had been arguing the night before and he had left their apartment. He said he returned at 5:30 a.m. to find Norberto dead in the bedroom, the affidavit states.
Norberto’s body was lying on a bed with a bullet wound in one of his eyes and a rifle propped up against one of his arms.
A torn photograph of Norberto and his alleged killer was found nearby.
“My spouse is dead. Help. My life is over,” Vaughn told dispatchers in a 911 call.
But cops say the shooting happened 90 minutes earlier, and Vaughn was home at the time.
Surveillance footage shows Vaughn walking up the stairs to his apartment at 4:05 a.m. — when he told police he wasn’t home — and two neighbors reported hearing a gunshot shortly after, the documents show.
Twenty minutes later, Vaughn texted Nortberto, who police said was already dead: “Babe? Babe why are you not texting back?!?!”
During an interview, Vaughn repeatedly mentioned Norberto’s reported status as an undocumented migrant without provocation, the affidavit states.
When police searched Vaughn’s phone, they discovered he had Googled: “Can I kill an illegal human?”
Vaughn is being held on a $500,000 bond.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
