Ohio's Connection To A High-Profile Houston Killing

HOUSTON, TX — The suspect in a grisly, high-profile Houston killing has a connection to Ohio, a connection that may have been a warning sign of impending trouble.

Joseph James Pappas has been accused of shooting and killing Dr. Mark Hausknecht, a notable cardiologist that cared for President George H.W. Bush. Police believe that Pappas may have held a decades-long grudge after his mother died while in the care of Hausknecht.

Prior to the shooting, though, Pappas reportedly transferred the deed to his Houston property to a woman in Ohio, Click 2 Houston reports. The courier that delivered the notarized document for Pappas said the 62-year-old seemed extremely nervous and possibly paranoid during their interaction.

"It seemed strange. He was very nervous behind his barred gates, acting like he was looking around to make sure no one was out there," the owner of Legal Express Texas, the courier service, told Click 2 Houston.

Police now believe, with certainty, that Pappas is the doctor's killer. "Evidence has been obtained that ties this man to this crime, and we believe that this absolutely is the killer of Dr. Hausknecht," Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said. "It appears this was a 20-year-old grudge that this man held."

Besides giving an Ohio woman the deed to his house, Pappas also reportedly sold several weapons online before Hausknecht was killed. He listed a semi-automatic rifle, a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver, ammunition, ballistic door panels for a Crown Victoria, and two tactical vests on an arms-for-sale website.

Pappas is a former police officer, who worked as a Harris County deputy constable and private concealed handgun instructor. He has not yet been captured by police, who described him as "armed and dangerous."

It's not yet clear what his connection to the Ohio woman is.

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Photo from Houston Police Department