Private investigator, mitigation specialist, and author LinMarie Garsee returns this week in Part 2 of Bluebonnet News Headlines and Heartlines. With more than three decades of experience in the justice system, Garsee has investigated some of the most complex and emotional criminal cases in Texas. Her work has been featured on CBS News, NBC News, and at the Tribeca Film Festival. She is also known locally for creating handmade quilts for war veterans.
In this new episode, Garsee discusses her current project — a book series profiling some of the most memorable criminal cases she has investigated in Liberty and Waller counties. The stories are deeply personal, steeped in local history, and highlight the human side of crime and justice in local communities.
During Part 1 of the interview, Garsee mentioned the Melissa Lucio case from South Texas. Lucio, a woman found guilty of the murder of her two-year-old child, remains on death row while one of her children has since admitted to pushing the child down the stairs. The case is awaiting action from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Just prior to beginning Part 2 of the interview, Garsee received an email update about the case. Quoting the message from one of Lucio’s original attorneys, she read, “It has been nearly a year since the trial judge recommended relief and still no action by the CCA. The new attorneys have filed a motion to expedite in the CCA.”
Garsee said she chose to focus her upcoming book series on Liberty and Waller counties because of their diversity.
“It’s not just minorities. It isn’t just Hispanics. It’s a myriad of people and backgrounds,” she said. “And the attorneys that I work for, I love working with them. They allow me to be vocal, they allow me to tell them when I think they’re wrong, and they don’t take it in any manner of being ugly, but they take the constructive criticism.”
Among the cases featured in the upcoming series are the Eric Elliott case, in which the defendant recently was found not guilty of murder; the Stevie R. Walder Jr. case, in which a Liberty store owner, Naushad Virani, was killed on Christmas Day, 2009; and the Gerard Simmons case in Cleveland, where Simmons killed his girlfriend, Tasha Green, buried her, and later returned to the scene to defile her body.
When asked if Simmons’ father had also been involved in a murder, Garsee confirmed that he had.
“Yes, that is correct,” she said.
The elder Simmons’ case was a separate murder outside a housing complex in Cleveland.
Garsee said she rarely views old cases differently over time.
“I am so thorough the first time around,” she said. “I try not to leave any stones unturned because I want to know the good, the bad and the ugly. Because that way you know how to properly defend somebody.”
When asked how she approaches writing about sensitive material when people involved might still be living nearby, Garsee responded, “I take myself out of the equation. I take all of my emotion out of the equation. Just present the facts.”
Part 2 of Bluebonnet News Headlines and Heartlines with LinMarie Garsee is now available on Spotify. Click here to listen to the interview. It also will be aired on KILE FM radio on Tuesday, Nov. 11, and Friday, Nov. 14.
Coming up next week is an interview with Briscoe Cain, a candidate for U.S. Congressional District 9, and the following week will be an interview with Trent Ashby, who is running for Texas Senate District 3.