Deputies: Couple tied up in home, husband killed

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A husband was tied up and stabbed to death and his wife was found restrained in a closet last night in their Kelsey Meadows home in what appears to be a deadly home invasion.

Jaime and Sandra Melgar were attacked in their home in the 9500 block of Kelsey Meadows Court. The couple was discovered by relatives who showed up at their home for an anniversary celebration. They found the garage door open and went inside.

Jaime, 52, was tied up in a closet. He had been stabbed to death, officials said.

His wife, Sandra, 53, told investigators she blacked out in a bathroom and then woke up in another closet restrained, but alive.

Homicide investigators aren't saying if the home was ransacked or if anything appeared to be missing. They are still working to gather suspect information.

Sandra Melgar has been interviewed extensively by investigators. She is now back home.

"Ms. Melgar says they were in the bathroom together, her and her husband, and at some time she blacked out and the next thing she remembers is waking up in the closet tied up," said Sgt. Robert Spurgeon with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Meanwhile, neighbors and relatives are shocked by the crime and anxious to find out who's behind it.

"I think we're all in shock because nothing like this has ever happened here before. We don't know what happened, if it was it totally random, in which case it could happen to anybody," said a neighbor who we're identifying only as 'Ann.' "You see all the pretty Christmas lights and then there is police and a crime scene down the street."

An autopsy is scheduled for the victim today.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Deputies: Wife shoots husband in fight to protect family cat

SPRING, TX (KTRK) -- An argument between a husband and his wife ends in gunfire, sending him to the hospital, and landing her in custody. Investigators say the shooter was a woman taking aim at her own husband to protect her cat.

"Our neighborhood is so quiet," said neighbor Penny Brooks. "I just don't want anything like this to be happening in our neighborhood."

It happened at a home on Seaton Valley in northwest Harris County at 7:15am Tuesday. Precinct 4 Constables got a call from a man who said he had been shot, allegedly by his wife.

"I didn't hear anything," Brooks recalled. "I didn't know about it until I started to walk my dog, and there were constables and all sorts of cars out here."

Once they got to the scene, Precinct 4 constables began to piece together an unusual story. The wife, Audrey Miller, allegedly shot her husband because he threatened to kill one of the couple's cats.

"She must have loved that cat more than him," said neighbor Chris Russell. "There's something wrong with that no matter how you look at it."

Investigators say the exact reason of the initial argument is still unclear. But they do believe that after the couple argued, the husband threatened the life of one of the cats and that's when Miller apparently shot her husband in the side of the stomach while both were in the backyard.

He was treated and released from the hospital. Miller, 42, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. All the cats were unhurt, while a neighborhood remains puzzled.

"I wouldn't want anyone to be shooting any animal, period," Brooks said. "We're definitely animal lovers."

The husband returned home Tuesday afternoon, and while he declined to talk on camera, he did say that he is all right but the situation is far from over.

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Elderly husband of babysitter accused of molesting 4-year-old girl

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A 72-year-old man is now facing charges, accused of repeatedly sexually molesting a 4-year-old girl.

Carlos Ruiz is charged with indecency with a child. Police say Ruiz's wife and daughter had been babysitting the little girl for months. They say during that time, Ruiz, whom the little girl called "El Viejito," fondled her.

The child later told her grandmother about what was happening, and she called police.

Ruiz has not yet been arrested.

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Couple sues CenterPoint after electrical shock leaves husband with major health issues

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A family in Katy are prisoners in their own home. They say they don't feel safe after a loved one got a strong electric shock while getting out of the shower.

The homeowner says the shock was so intense, he can't remember what happened right after it. Now, the man's family wants answers and is pushing to stop it from ever happening again.

The Katy-area couple hopes a lawsuit filed in civil court sends a strong message. They say their lives, all their way down to the what appliances they can use, have changed ever since the day the husband was injured.

For 50-year-old James Fivash, there is now a before and after in his life.

"I've had pain ever since. My eyes don't ever stop hurting," he said.

A man who once spoke easily now has trouble

"It's frustrating, I forget a lot of things," Fivash said.

The difference, he and his wife say, came in early 2011, just a few days after CenterPoint did work on the electrical box in their backyard responding to a neighbor's power issue. James says he finished up a shower, reached for the faucet and was shocked.

"And I remember it was bad," he said.

He went to the hospital while CenterPoint went to the house. The Fivashes say every outlet, every appliance was fried and the thing is before the shocking, they knew something was wrong.

"Things would dim and then get bright, dim and get bright," James' wife, Debbie Fivash, said.

The couple have now filed a lawsuit, claiming CenterPoint was negligent. CenterPoint declined to respond, citing the pending litigation.

But the company has sent the Fivashes three letters, acknowledging in one that the neutral wire -- important to complete an electrical circuit -- was loose at the time James was shocked. They say it was repaired and deny any liability.

"They're not owning up to what they should be doing," the couple's attorney, Joe Stephens, said.

Stephens believes the entire house must be re-wired, costing tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention James' ongoing health issues.

For now, they've learned to adjust to life without many appliances or electronics and to life after James' incident.

"It's tough for us," Debbie said.

The couple says they complained to CenterPoint about the surging issues in their house before the incident.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Friends: Estranged husband previously threatened veterinarian wife he killed in murder-suicide

  Crystal KobzaSPRING, TX (KTRK) -- As word spreads that a beloved veterinarian and mother of two was killed by her estranged husband, we are learning more about the couple's troubled past and threats of violence he previously made toward her.

Employees we spoke with are devastated by the death of Dr. Karen Gunn, who was a veterinarian here in Spring. They also tell us they have feared for her safety for some time now.

"Dr. Gunn was a loving mother, she was a dedicated vet. This practice was her pride and joy," said Melissa Lemons, nurse at Veterinary Medical Center.

Lemons tells us there's no words to describe the devastation and shock family, friends and co-workers are going through since learning Dr. Gunn was shot and killed by her estranged husband.

"He was a very controlling person, and I believe as the years progressed, he became some what verbally abusive with the children and her," Lemons said.

Dr. Gunn's life was cut short when deputies say her estranged husband, Graham Gunn, killed her and then turned the gun on himself Monday afternoon. The tragic shooting happening in Dr. Gunn's backyard with the couple's two children nearby.

"The kids have been terrified. There's nothing worse than for you to be afraid of your own father," Lemons said.

According to the Montgomery County District Court, Dr. Gunn filed for divorce back in November of last year. The couple's next court date was scheduled for June 4.

Neighbors who live nearby say they knew they were separated, but never imagined things between the two would escalate to this.

"It's just shocking, it's pretty much shocking, never knew this would happen in our neighborhood," said neighbor Pascl Fortin.

But for today, Lemons tell us employees at Veterinary Medical Center are remembering Dr. Gunn for the wonderful person she was.

"That was the thing she was most proud of, in that as a practice owner, she could practice medicine to the degree that she wanted to," Lemons said.

Co-workers tell us Dr. Gunn had a restraining order in place against her estranged husband since filing for divorce back in November.

We're told funeral arrangements have not yet been sorted out as the family has to wait on the autopsies to be completed.

Stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for the latest on this story.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Slain woman's husband makes plea to find killer

PASADENA, TX (KTRK) -- Police say they do not have any leads yet in connection with the apparent murder of a Pasadena woman whose body was found Sunday morning. She was found along Vince Bayou on Queens Road near South Shaver.

Edlyn Villegas Munoz, 36, was a mother of seven, the youngest being just two years old. Police say a passer-by found her body under an overpass before 11am. Investigators say she was nude and had been brutally beaten.

We talked to her grieving husband, Camilo Zermeno, Monday morning. He says he and his wife had been at a nearby strip club where he works until about 3 or 4am Sunday morning when they got into an argument.

He tells me he then left and walked home. Zermeno says friends told him his wife followed him on foot a few minutes later. But no one who knows Villegas Munoz can say what happened to her after that.

Her husband is devastated and is hoping someone remembers seeing something that will help catch whoever killed her.

"He doesn't have a heart," said Zermeno. "Whoever, I hope you rot in hell. You took my momma, my babies' momma. She was everything to me. She was my life. Now she's gone."

Zermeno says he's struggled to explain what happened to his children. He says his wife had been a full time student, just graduating from San Jacinto College. She was planning to pursue a career in real estate.

If you have any information that might help police in this case, you can call Crime Stoppers. That number is 713-222-TIPS.

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Man wanted for murdering ex-wife's new husband

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A 25-year-old man is wanted for shooting and killing his ex-wife's new husband during an argument on New Year's Eve.

Louis Armando Rojas remained at large Sunday. Murder charges have been filed against him and an arrest warrant has been issued, officials said.

The shooting happened around 5:30pm Saturday in the 18000 block of Widcombe near Barker Cypress Road and Clay Road.

It was reported that a woman was screaming for help. The woman told police that her husband had been shot by her ex-husband and the ex-husband fled the scene.

Louis Ernesto Loperia, 41, was taken to Methodist Hospital West Campus via ambulance with multiple gunshot wounds, officials said. He later died.

Harris County Sheriff's Office investigators learned that Rojas went to the home to talk to his ex-wife about their five-year-old daughter.

Officials said an argument erupted between Rojas and Loperia. Rojas allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot Loperia several times.

Anyone with knowledge of Rojas' whereabouts is urged to call HCSO or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

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Bay City mom shot by husband is out of hospital

  BAY CITY, TX (KTRK) -- A Bay City mother shot by her husband in a murder-suicide that left her four children dead is out of the hospital tonight.

Laura Gonzalez has been hospitalized since the November shootings. Investigators say Jose Avila shot Gonzalez and the couple's four young children before turning the gun on himself.

Avila and the children, ages 2 through 5, died from their injuries.

A fund has been established for Gonzalez and children of this tragedy. The fund has been setup at Wells Fargo Bank in Bay City Texas under the name of Bay City Tragedy Benefit. Anyone wishing to contribute to the fund may do so by contacting Michael Gonzalez at 979-241-3736.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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