Austin Attorney Had Gone Shopping With Accused Killer Before Being Fatally Stabbed [UPDATED]

AUSTIN, TX — A man described as a transient has been arrested in the death of a local attorney who was found dead at his home with obvious trauma, officials confirmed.

Justin Nickolas Twyne, 24, was arrested in New Orleans for the stabbing death of James Short, 74, Travis County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kristen Dark told Patch. Short was found stabbed to death in his southwest Travis County home on April 7 along the 8000 block of Rockwood Circle.

The two men had exchanged text messages and had gone shopping together at an area Walmart before Short's death, Dark said during a telephone interview. A previously released surveillance camera image of Twyne as police sought him was derived from that shopping excursion, Dark added.

The investigation began last Friday at 11:48 a.m. on April 7, when deputies responded to a check welfare call at the victim's home. Once a search warrant was secured, detectives and a member of the district attorney's office arrived at the scene and entered the home.

The Travis County Sheriff's Office provided a timeline of events following the grisly discovery that led to Twyne's arrest.

By Saturday, April 8, the victim was positively identified and police released camera surveillance images of Twyne seen shopping at a Walmart as sheriff's officials sought the public's help in identifying and locating him.

On Monday April 10, 2017, crime scene specialists matched fingerprints found at the scene to Twyne, then still just considered a "person of interest." TCSO officials discovered he had an outstanding arrest warrant in Georgia and sought the help of the U.S. Marshall’s Service, Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and Gulf Coast Fugitive Task Force to locate Twyne arrest for the outstanding arrest warrant.

By Wednesday, Twyne was located. The Travis County Sheriff's Office sent detectives to New Orleans to follow up on the arrest. With the assistance of the New Orleans Police Department, a search warrant was executed to enter the hotel room where Twyne was staying.

Evidence linking Twyne to the murder was discovered in the hotel room, including property that belonged to the decedent, sheriff's officials said.

>>> Uppermost booking photo of Justin Nickolas Twyne and surveillance camera image courtesy of Travis County Sheriff's Office, above photo of James Short via Legacy.com

From earlier:

AUSTIN, TX — The Travis County Sheriff's Office has scheduled a Wednesday afternoon press conference to update on the police investigation into the death of a local defense attorney found dead in his southwest Travis County home last week.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a check welfare call on April 7 just before noon along the 8000 block of Rockwood Circle. Once gaining entry into the home, deputies found a deceased male dead under suspicious circumstances. Detectives were able to secure at search warrant to enter the home just before 5 p.m. when they made the discovery.

The sheriff's office previously released surveillance camera images of a person of interest in the case, but have provided scant details in light of the ongoing nature of their investigation. Today's press conference to be staged at 5555 Airport Boulevard at 3:30 p.m. could yield amplified information related to the case, including arrest information, according to an email from sheriff's officials.

The man has since been identified as James Short, 74, who is said to have been a local defense attorney.

A death notice posted on Legacy.com has yielded tributes to the late attorney, including one recalling Short attending reunions at his Austin High School alma mater.

See also: Sheriff's Officials ID Southwest Travis County Homicide Victim, 'Person Of Interest' Sought

Binnie Ruth Beard Seymour of Spicewood, Texas, went further in her remembrances dating back to grade school: "I have known James since he was in the first grade, she wrote. "He and his sisters went to Eanes Elementary School in Westlake. He loved animals and was always so very kind and had such a quiet sweet spirit."

She alluded to past tragedy in the Short family when the late attorney's sister, Suzie Short, drowned in a youth outing in the late 1940s, dying at 16 years old.

Another person expressing condolences described Short as a "gentle soul," while another referred to their shared past while serving in the military.

Patch will provide more post-press-conference details once sheriff's officials provided further information into the case.

>>> Image via Legacy.com