Trial starts for Helotes man accused of raping, shooting South Texas lesbian couple

Photos of Mary Kristene Chapa (left) and her girlfriend Mollie Judith Olgin that were given to people attending a candle light vigil for the girls Friday June 29, 2012 at Woodlawn Lake. Olgin, 19, and Chapa, 18, were found shot in the head Friday, June 22, 2012, in a Portland, Texas park. Olgin died at the scene and Chapa later recovered. less Photos of Mary Kristene Chapa (left) and her girlfriend Mollie Judith Olgin that were given to people attending a candle light vigil for the girls Friday June 29, 2012 at Woodlawn Lake. Olgin, 19, and Chapa, ... more Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Trial starts for Helotes man accused of raping, shooting South Texas lesbian couple 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

It has been four years since a young couple was shot execution style after being stripped naked in a park in Corpus Christi.

In a San Patricio County courtroom Monday, the capital murder trial against David Malcolm Strickland, who was arrested at his Helotes home in 2014, began. Strickland is accused of shooting and raping Mollie Judith Olgin and Mary Kristene Chapa on June 22, 2012 at Violet Andrews Park in Portland, a small town just east of the Corpus Christi Bay.

On that day, Chapa and Olgin, a former Texas A&M University student, were in the park and later, their bodies were found by a couple bird-watching. Olgin died on scene from a gunshot wound to the head and Chapa survived, but lost functionality to the left side of her body and had to relearn how to walk and talk, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported.

At the scene, officials found two .45-caliber bullet casings, cigarette butts, beer cans, a can of iced tea and other bottles.

In court Monday, Strickland, who was arrested in 2014 on charges of capital murder, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated assault, said he was “absolutely not guilty,” the Caller-Times reported.

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Police arrested Strickland after receiving an anonymous letter that contained information regarding the case previously unknown in 2014. At the time, officials believed Strickland’s wife, Laura Strickland, wrote the letter. She was arrested on one charge of tampering with evidence, which was later dismissed, according to a previous report.

The couple was arrested at their Helotes home at 12000 block of Bandera Road, about 25 miles northwest of downtown San Antonio.

Strickland’s lawyers on Monday said a man from Nevada, who was the primary suspect of the case for two years, was the culprit. Originally, officials found the man’s DNA on the cigarette butts and beer cans found at the scene and believed he was their suspect until they received the letter regarding Strickland, the Caller-Times reported.

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Stephanie Chasak, Olgin’s friend, testified Monday saying she saw Strickland in the park at a memorial days after her friend died there. She described Strickland as a "strange man who approached her and asked if officials knew what kind of gun the suspect used. He also told her he was in the military and owned guns, she said.

The couple who found Olgin and Chapa, who were 19 and 18 at the time, respectively, also testified.

“My inner spirit said something was wrong,” said Christene Seymour who was in the park birdwatching with her husband Stanley that day.

Seymour said she called her husband to where the girls were laying, originally thinking she was seeing a pile of trash or debris caught in a bush.

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Officials said that although many believed Chapa and Olgin were targeted due to being in a same-sex relationship, evidence does not support the idea that the incident was a hate crime.

Since the shooting, Chapa has been a presenter and speaker at the annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards in New York.

The Caller-Times reported that the trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5