Stephen Broderick, the suspected killer of three people at a Northwest Austin apartment today, spent two and a half weeks in jail last year for allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old girl.
The three people whom he killed today were “targeted,” according to the Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon, who spoke at a briefing near the scene of the shooting Sunday afternoon.
Broderick’s June 2020 arrest affidavit, obtained by Honest Austin last year, charged Broderick with sexual assault of a child; family violence, a first-degree felony.
On the afternoon of June 3, 2020, Broderick allegedly sexually assaulted a 16-year-old female child. That evening, child “made an outcry to her mother” about the assault. The case was then investigated by a nurse examiner at Dell Children’s Hospital, and a forensic interviewer at Bastrop County Child Advocacy Center, according to the affidavit.
The forensic exam revealed some bleeding and pain.
Jail records in June indicated that Broderick was released on a personal recognizance bond, meaning he paid nothing upon his release, which took place June 22. But District Clerk records show that he posted a percentage cash bond three days later, on June 25.
The prosecution motioned to increase bond July 2, 2020. But we have not yet obtained full court records for the case, so it’s unclear what the outcome of the motion was.
Broderick is a former detective in the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Because he was law enforcement, Travis County passed the case up to state law enforcement, so as not to be seen investigating one of their own.
The Texas Rangers obtained an arrest warrant from a judge on June 5, and the U.S. Marshals-led Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested Broderick June 6, according to the affidavit and jail records.
A grand jury indicted Broderick on November 16, 2020, according to case information from the Travis County District Clerk. He was ordered to be swabbed for his DNA the same day.
The case information also displays a November 5 entry for “release/recall/bond set card.” That “usually means an arrest warrant was issued but canceled,” according to Austin criminal defense attorney Kiele Linroth Pace. She explained on a legal help website, “It does not indicate whether the warrant was issued in error or if it was issued legitimately but the defense attorney convinced the judge to withdraw it or set bond.”
Manhunt
Following today’s shooting, police said Broderick was last seen wearing a gray hoodie, sunglasses, and a baseball cap. Police Chief Chacon said he could be hold up somewhere nearby with a hostage, or could take hostages.
Chacon did not say how he had allegedly killed the three people found at the Northwest Austin apartment, located at Great Hills Trail and Rain Creek Parkway, but he is thought to be armed.
