The accused killers of Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen allegedly returned to the scene of buried remains days after her brutal murder in an attempt to better conceal the evidence, an affidavit alleges.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Guillen, 20, went missing from the Fort Hood U.S. Army base in Killeen, Texas, on April 22. On June 30, a civilian working near the Leon River in Belton detected a foul scent and contacted authorities, who found partial human remains buried in a shallow grave. An expanded search led to the discovery of additional, dismembered remains in at least two other locations.
The prime suspect in Guillen’s apparent murder is now dead. Last Wednesday, Aaron David Robinson fatally shot himself as authorities were closing in on him. An Army specialist, Robinson was allegedly the last person to see Guillen alive. An affidavit shows that investigators believe Robinson bludgeoned Guillen to death with a hammer in an armory room on April 22 and transported her body from the base in a pelican suitcase, a sturdy piece of luggage.
Shortly after Robinson killed himself, authorities arrested his girlfriend Cecily Ann Aguilar. According to a U.S. Attorney’s report obtained by KHOU, Aguilar, 22, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence.
Aguilar reportedly told investigators that she helped Robinson mutilate and attempt to burn Guillen’s remains, and that he admitted to killing the soldier. According to a criminal complaint, Aguilar told investigators that the pair was unable to burn the body parts during their first effort to dispose of the remains on the night of April 22 and/or the morning of April 23, and buried the remains in three separately dug graves. Days later, on April 26, Aguilar and Robinson reportedly returned to the burial site, bringing with them a hairnet, gloves, and concrete.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said on an episode of “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” that investigators found at least some of Guillen’s remains sealed in concrete. According to the criminal complaint obtained by KHOU, Aguilar told investigators that on their visit to the burial site on April 26, she and Robinson again burned the victim’s body parts, along with the hairnet and gloves, which they buried. The suspect also said that she and Robinson later burned the clothes they had been wearing.
As KCEN-TV reports, both Guillen’s family members and the family’s attorney have alleged that one of Guillen’s superiors at the army base had been sexually harassing her, but she did not report it, fearing retribution.
The lawyer, Natalie Khawam, has also accused authorities of failing to properly communicate with Guillen’s family as the investigation developed.
“It’s kind of like if you lost your brother or sister or child, you know, you want to know what’s going on. Why did this happen? Who is part of this, because every person on that base right now is not safe,” Khawam told the news outlet.
“I mean if they had any respect for the family they would have answered the family’s questions the whole entire time. Not kept the family in the dark and the media in the dark and the people in the dark.”
Read all of CrimeOnline’s coverage of the Vanessa Guillen murder investigation here.
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[Feature image: Vanessa Guillen/Police Handout]
