S. Tyler District Attorney

STEPHEN B. TYLER,

Victoria County Criminal District Attorney
 205 N. Bridge St., Suite 301, Victoria, TX. 77901
(361)575-0468

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: STEPHEN TYLER
(361)575-0468

Update-06/07/2010
   

Donald William Hutcheson, Jr., age 19, of Humble, and Michael Ray Clark, also 19 of Huffman, were sentenced on June 3, 2010 for their roles in the burglary of the Holy Family Catholic Church to 8 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice by District Judge Robert Cheshire.  They were also sentenced to 20 months in a Texas State Jail Facility for burglarizing a local business, Morgan Building and Spas.


Otto Bleier, a parishioner of the Holy Family Catholic Church, was one of the first people to witness the destruction inside of the Church.  Mr. Bleier testified that he would never forget what he saw that day.  Mr. Bleier also testified that he was in shock at how someone could be so angry at the church.  Jeffrey Lehnert, a detective with the Victoria Police Department testified that as a parishioner with the church, he was personally affected by the pictures of the burglaries.  “I could never bring myself to go to the church to personally to see the crime scene.”  Detective Lehnert testified about how his mother’s office was destroyed and about how a rosary with special significance to his mother was taken in the burglary. 

 

“The evidence presented demonstrated that while these defendants goal was monetary, they did needless destruction to both the Holy Family Catholic Church and Morgan Buildings,” stated Vanessa Heinold, Victoria County Assistant District Attorney.  “The Victoria Police Department, in particular, Jeffrey Lehnert, and James Poe worked tirelessly on this case, and in the case of Detective Lehnert, he put his personal feelings aside and worked objectively to bring these defendants to justice,”  said Stephen B. Tyler, Criminal District for Victoria County, Texas.  The cases were tried by Assistant District Attorneys Elí E. Garza and Vanessa Heinold.