by SEAN KIMMONS
Buda murder and arson suspect Mark David Simmons remains in Branson, Mo., on a charge of unlawful possession of an explosive weapon by a convicted felon after being arrested following a standoff with police, officials said Tuesday.
Simmons, 51, who faces a capital murder arrest warrant for killing his business partner, Steven Woelfel, has a court hearing this Thursday and could face other charges for motel robberies, Taney County Prosecutor Jeff Merrell said.
Merrell says that Simmons doesn’t want to be sent back to Hays County, where prosecutors could seek the death penalty.
“I do believe that he is fighting extradition,” Merrell said. “He’s not willing to waive his rights for extradition.”
If he fights it, Hays County investigators will have to testify at a hearing and provide sufficient evidence to get custody of Simmons, Merrell said.
Last week, Simmons surrendered peacefully after an eight and a half hour standoff at the Walnut Lane Motel, where police found one rifle and two handguns in his room. Investigators say the weapons were stolen from Woelfel’s home.
The murder charge, coupled with the stolen guns claim, gives authorities the right to issue the offense of capital murder, punishable by the death penalty in Texas.
Simmons was on the run until a couple of motel robberies in Branson caught up to him. Branson police say that he is suspected of robbing a Super 8 Motel at gunpoint after unsuccessfully attempting to rob the Spinning Wheel Motel a few days before the standoff.
Branson police found Simmons’ silver-blue 2008 Hyundai Sonata, believed to be used in the robberies, parked at the motel. Investigators ran the plates on the car and tied the vehicle to the Hays County case.
Simmons’ mother, Wanda Simmons, had said that her son, a paranoid schizophrenic not currently medicated, stole the Hyundai from her home in Rockport, Texas, on April 1, the last time she saw him.
On April 17, the decomposing body of Woelfel was discovered in the charred rubble of his garage. Investigators say the 55-year-old had been dead for at least a week.
Authorities believe Simmons was staying with Woelfel and started the fire to cover up his murder. It appears that he also rigged the house to explode and possibly harm emergency personnel called out to the fire, an arrest affidavit said.
About five minutes after Buda firefighters arrived at the garage fire, an explosion blew out the windows of the home and ripped the back wall off the structure. No injuries were reported.
Investigators say the explosion was caused by a lit candle left near a disconnected gas line to the stove.
A strong odor of cleaning products was also detected throughout the house. The guest bedroom and bathroom in Woelfel’s home were wiped clean and bedding was stripped from the bed, as if the person living with him wanted to hide his identity, the affidavit says.
Investigators say that bedding was located in the burnt garage along with a torn-up note, matching Simmons’ handwriting, on how to clean up a crime scene. Sources close to the investigation say Woelfel was shot in the head execution-style.
Simmons also has an active arrest warrant for illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon out of Aransas County, Texas.
