New Details Emerge In Homicide Of University Of Texas-Austin Student

AUSTIN, TX -- More details have emerged over the death of a University of Texas-Austin student this week, a timeline of events based on extensive study of surveillance footage as part of an arrest affidavit.

The most salient new detail is the youth charged in the crime, 17-year-old Meechaiel Criner, pulling out "....a shiny, rigid object" from the back of his pants prior to the crime of which he's now charged.

Along with other media outlets, ABC News has outlined newly released details about the events leading up to Weiser's death. Patch on Friday asked Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo for details into Weiser's death (specifically the manner in which she was killed) but he has declined to provide details.

"We're not going to provide details on that, which is part of an ongoing investigation," Acevedo said during a Friday press briefing in response to Patch (at about 6:03 in YouTube video of the briefing). "Although people really want to know all the details, our number one responsibility is to a family who's lost a daughter. It would be irresponsible for us to prematurely release details of an investigation."

Police arrested Criner on Thursday afternoon, the day before the press briefing. ABC News provided a timeline of events that led up to his arrest, based on details of the arrest affidavit. The affidavit itself is based on police investigative work, witness interviews and details found on surveillance footage.

The timeline:

Sunday, April 3

9:20 p.m.: Surveillance video shows the suspect on the UT-Austin trying to open the doors to a parked van. Failing to gain entry, he gets on a bike and leaves the scene.

9:30 p.m.: Weiser places a telephone call to a friend alerting her she was on her way to the dorm after leaving a class at the F. Loren Winship Drama Building.

9:38 p.m.: The suspect returns to the location of the parked van. The surveillance video also shows a woman dressed in all black attire walking toward the alumni center while looking into her cell phone. The suspect watches her as she passes, engages the kickstand on the bike and then reaches for the "...shiny, rigid object."

He follows the woman across the bridge, onto the sidewalk extending behind the alumni center that runs along the west bank of Waller Creek, according to affidavit details cited by ABC News.

11:47 p.m.: Footage shows Criner walking alongside the bike, but now with a slight limp on his left leg. He is carrying an additional bag not previously seen. (At the Friday news conference, police said the suspect was found with Weiser's blue duffle bag in his possession at the time of his arrest.)

Monday, April 4

8:21 a.m.: Firefighters respond to an abandoned building, where a young black male is found burning items in a trash can. Once the fire is out, police are called after it's determined the person doing the burning is a homeless minor. He's transported to a LifeWorks emergency shelter, with several bags and a backpack seized by police.

11:02 a.m.: Weiser is reported missing to university police after she didn't show up to her Monday morning classes. Her roommate describes the clothing Weiser was wearing the night of her disappearance along with the contents of her bag -- a MacBook computer, an iPhone 6, school materials and an extra jacket.

Tuesday, April 7

9:45 a.m.: University police conduct a more thorough search for Weiser. Police later come across the body of a young woman with "obvious trauma" in the creek behind the UT Etter-Harbin Alumni Center.

10:45 a.m.: Weiser is pronounced dead by Austin-Travis County EMS Medical Director Dr. Mark Ackrell.

Wednesday, April 6

10:45 a.m.: Weiser's death ruled a homicide by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, due to "obvious trauma."

Thursday, April 7

2 p.m.: UT Austin President Gregory L. Fenves holds a press conference, flanked by members of the Austin Police Department. Fenves reads a statement from Weiser's family, and describes the attack as an "unthinkable brutality." APD assistant chief Troy Gay plays a surveillance video of a suspect seen on campus Sunday night, asking for the public's help in identifying him.

4:08 p.m.: After release of the video, Austin Fire Department Capt. David Leonard calls investigators to say the person in the footage resembles the 17-year-old previously found burning items in the abandoned building.

5:20 p.m.: Officers arrest Criner at LifeWorks for tampering with evidence. Earlier, detectives had returned to the abandoned building, finding a burned notebook with college-level coursework and a small Doc Martin shoe. They also found "an article of evidence that matched the same texture, age and appearance of an article seized on or near the victim's body," the affidavit reads.

Friday, April 8

11:30 a.m.: The Austin Police Department held a press conference announcing that Criner had been taken into custody and charged with first-degree felony murder. He is now behind bars on a $1 million bond.

ABC News reports that one of Criner's family members said they don't believe he committed the crime, and plan to travel to Austin from Texarkana to find out more.

Police have since released both Criner's mugshot and a photo of him being led away in handcuffs after being charged with murder.