FOR
FOR ALMOST -17- YEARS-- HE'S BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN SOLVING SOME OF AUSTIN'S MOST
HIGH PROFILE
MURDER CASES.. AND HELPING
FAMILIES OF VICTIMS FIND
PEACE.
PEACE.
PEACE. AND NOW-- ONE AUSTIN POLICE
DETECTIVE HAS HIT A PROFESSIONAL MILESTONE NO OTHER
A-P-D DETECTIVE HAS
REACHED.
TONIGHT - KVUE SENIOR REPORTER
TONY PLOHETSKI
INTRODUCES US TO DETECTIVE
'DAVID FUGITT.'
'DAVID FUGITT.'
IN
IN THIS
IN THIS PARTICULAR PHOTO, I'M TESTIFYING ABOUT DNA. -- AUSTIN POLICE DETECTIVE DAVID
FUGITT HAS SPENT
MOST OF HIS CAREER LOOKING FOR
KILLERS.
"I'M CONSTANTLY THINKING ABOUT
WHAT'S BEEN DONE, WHAT ELSE
CAN BE DONE. I'M MAKING NOTES TO
MYSELF."
SOME CASES, SOME VICTIMS,
FOREVER IN HIS MEMORY.
IN ONE CORNER -- HE HAS A
PICTURE OF A FORMER
COLLEAGUE -- ONE HE THINKS ABOUT
EVERY DAY.
"SEEING JAIME IN THAT AUSTIN
POLICE UNIFORM WAS TOUGH. I
DON'T THINK IT IS SOMETHING I'LL
EVER FORGET."
IN 2012 -- DETECTIVE FUGITT WAS
THE LEAD
INVESTIGATOR IN THE MURDER OF
OFFICER JAIME PADRON -- SHOT
IN THE NECK AFTER RESPONDING TO
REPORTS OF AN
INTOXICATED SHOPLIFTER AT A
NORTH AUSTIN WALMART.
THE KILLER, BRANDON DANIEL --
NOW ON DEATH ROW.
"I REMEMBER THAT MORNING,
VIVIDLY, LOOKING AT CITIZENS OF
AUSTIN
COMING UP TO THE FLAG POLL, AND
PLACING FLOWERS AND CANDLES AND
TEDDY BEARS, AT THE BASE OF THE
FLAG POLL, AND AT ONE POINT I
HAD TO
TRY TO TUNE ALL THAT OUT, I EVEN
HAD TO SHUT MY BLINDS JUST TO
FOCUS ON WHAT I NEEDED TO DO
THAT THAT POINT."
JUST RECENTLY -- DETECTIVE
FUGITT OPENED HIS 50TH
INVESTIGATION.
HE HAS NOW SERVED AS THE LEAD
INVESTIGATOR
ON MORE CASES THAN ANY OTHER
DETECTIVE -- A
DISTINCTION THAT RECENTLY EARNED
HIM THE COVETED
CHIEF'S COIN.
"IT'S A PRETTY MAJOR MILESTONE."
THROUGH THE YEARS, MANY OF HIS
CASES RECEIVED ONLY PASSING
HEADLINES -- LIKE A SHOOTING
FROM A DRUG-
DEAL-GONE BAD OR A DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE CASE THAT ESCALATED
TO
TO MURDER. OTHERS -- LIKE THE 2005 MURDER OF JENNIFER CAVE
IN WEST CAMPUS -- GOT WORLDWIDE
ATTENTION THAT
LASTED FOR YEARS.
SHE WAS FOUND MUTILATED IN THE
BATHTUB OF HER APARTMENT
--
"TO TRY TO IMAGINE THAT SOMEBODY
WOULD BE CAPABLE OF DOING
THAT, IT IS HARD TO WRAP YOUR
HEAD AROUND THAT SOMETIMES."
-- AND DETECTIVE FUGITT TRACED
THE KILLER, COLTON PITONYAK, TO
MEXICO. DETECTIVE FUGITT BEGAN
HIS APD CAREER ON THE STREET,
BUT WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN
BECOMING AN
INVESTIGATOR. HE WORKED IN
MISSING PERSONS
BEFORE TRANSFERRING TO HOMICIDE.
THE SON OF A HOSPICE NURSE -- HE
SAYS
SAYS HE
SAYS HE HAS NEVER SHIED AWAY FROM DEATH. "WHEN THAT HOMICIDE OCCURS, YOU
ARE KIND OF THAT LIFELINE THAT
THEY LOOK TO HOLD ON TO TO BRING
THAT JUSTICE. IT'S A
PRETTY AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY."
FUGITT SAYS DESPITE HIS SUCCESS
-- SOLVING MORE
THAN 90 PERCENT OF ALL OF HIS
CASES
CASES --
CASES -- HE'S STILL TROUBLED BY FOUR INVESTIGATIONS THAT REMAIN OPEN.
THERE'S THE CASE OF ABRAHAM
MACEDO,
MURDERED IN 2003 AT HIS MUSIC
STORE DISCOTECA ON
MANOR ROAD.
THERE'S ALSO THE MURDER OF
GERALD WILLIAMS,
KILLED IN 2016 IN A SEEMINGLY
RANDOM ATTACK OUTSIDE A
NORTHEAST AUSTIN APARTMENT
BUILDING.
AND THE CASES OF VAN WHITE AND
JULIO GAMEZ-
CONTRERAS.
WHITE WAS MURDERED IN 2017 --
SHOT WHILE SEATED
IN HIS PARKED U-HAUL.
GAMEZ-CONTRERAS
WAS KILLED IN AN ALTERNATION
OUTSIDE A NORTH LAMAR
BAR.
THAT'S MY GREAT HOPE -- THAT I
WILL BE ABLE TO SOLVE THOSE
INVESTIGATIONS.
I'M CERTAINLY NOT DONE YET.
LAST YEAR, DETECTIVE FUGITT WAS
AWARDED
DETECTIVE OF THE YEAR BY THE
AUSTIN ROTARY CLUB.
HE DOES ASK THAT ANYONE WITH
INFORMATION
ABOUT ANY OF THOSE FOUR UNSOLVED
CASES CALL THE
APD HOMICIDE TIP LINE AT 512-
974-8477.
974-8477.
TONY
TONY PLOHETSKI, KVUE NEWS.