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“Basically we want to emphasize the criminal part of any investigation is attention to detail,” said Sgt. Cory Hughston, with the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. “We want to get as much information as we can from all sources…
“At this point it would be difficult to say, ‘Yeah, we will have an arrest within a week.’ Sometimes these take time to get the information we need. An arrest warrant has to be based upon very specific information.”
The body of Victoria resident Sally Blackwell was found Wednesday afternoon near Hanselman Road in southeastern Victoria County.
Blackwell, South Texas CPS program director, also worked as a counselor for Jack Greeson Ph.D. and Associates, where she was scheduled to work 8 a.m. March 14 but never arrived.
An autopsy report indicated that she died by strangulation, officials said.
The massive quantity of evidence, including a search of a home and a car, must be sorted and analyzed, Hughston said.
“When we are talking potential evidence, we are talking a much larger amount than if we are dealing with a burglary,” Hughston gave as an example. “Beyond the evidence, we continue to follow any leads that may show up as they present themselves and work in a very methodical fashion not to miss anything.”
To speed up the analysis of the evidence, Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor has said that he will look for labs other than those of the state Department of Public Safety.
“Basically what we are working with is that because DPS is a statewide agency, they take evidence from all over the state,”Hughston said. “We want to expedite this as much as possible. We are going to look out and see what resources are available. We are definitely looking at resources out and about beyond the DPS.”
Hughston said evidence at DPS labs could take several months for analysis.
“The best case scenario I have ever heard is 90 days,” Hughston said.
This isn’t the first case where county law enforcement has sought the resources of private labs to perform some of the tests in an investigation.
During a case in 2002 when Ryan Frazier killed his parents and brother, former Sheriff Mike Ratcliff used outside labs to expedite the analysis of evidence collected.
Frazier, in May 2004, pled guilty to capital murder, murder and felony arson. He was ordered to serve two consecutive life sentences and a sentence of 99 years for the charge of arson.
Anyone with information about the death of Blackwell is asked to call the Victoria Police Department at 361-572-2744, Victoria County Sheriff’s Office at 361-575-0651 or Victoria Crime Stoppers at 572-4200.
The family is also offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the killer’s conviction.