Breaking: Murder trial ends with not-guilty verdict, guilt on other charges

The murder trial this week in the 42nd District Court has been tense, with a lot of back and forth between the prosecution and the defense. Caleb Eric Fears stood accused of the strangulation murder of Adrian Vizzera on Oct. 15, 2021, in addition to two counts of tampering with evidence and one count of abuse of a corpse.

A jury of his peers, however, has found him not guilty of murder. The jury deliberated for a little over an hour and found him not guilty of murder but guilty of two counts of tampering with evidence and also guilty of one count of abuse of a corpse.

Heated argument ends in death

Vizzera's death likely stemmed from a shooting the day before on Oct. 14, 2021, according to allegations in court documents. At the time, Vizzera had two roommates, Caleb Martinez and Seth Adam Blake.

On Oct. 14, an aggravated assault occurred, according to court documents. Martinez told police he was notified by Vizzera that Blake had possibly shot the neighbor. Martinez then left the house.

Upon his return, Martinez found Blake, Vizzera and Fears in a heated argument. At this point, Martinez heard "banging on the front porch and Caleb Fears yelling."

Martinez decided to leave, and as he left, he saw Fears walking toward the driver's side of a white Ford truck. Fears then drove off in that same truck.

Moments later, the white truck was captured on a semi-truck's surveillance camera — as well in location data from a tracking device on the truck — at the place where Vizzera's body was found dumped, according to court documents.

Fears' cell phone pinged at the same time in the same location, and it later pinged where police found Vizzera's body, according to allegations. In addition, Fears' cell phone pinged again at the location of the body after police had secured the scene.

Later, Blake and Fears are seen on an additional video where Blake announces that he has already killed two people. Fears then hushes him on the video.

The preliminary autopsy report later revealed that Vizzera's cause of death was "homicidal violence including strangulation and blunt head trauma."

Appeal in the future?

At times, the trial this week appeared to be a tense tennis match between Assistant District Attorney Arimy Beasley and defense attorney Gary Smart.

Throughout the prosecution's time, Smart raised a multitude of objections, in what appear to be laying the groundwork for an appeal.

Smart objected to everything from GPS records to the shoes Fears was allegedly wearing on the night of Adrian Vizzera's murder.

The largest part of the defense strategy, however, appeared to be Smart's objection to the use of cell phone GPS technology, through the company CellHawk. Smart attempted to have that cell phone GPS technology excluded from the court proceedings, as he noted that the technology was not precise, according to a warning label from the company itself.

Smart also alleged that Detective Mike Scott of the Abilene Police Department did not have enough training to allow him to utilize the cell phone GPS technology within the trial.

Smart went on to bring up the Fourth Amendment in an attempt to exonerate his client, in addition to what he deemed were "illegal seizures" by the Abilene Police Department.

Each attempt, however, was overruled by Judge Eidson.

It remains to be seen if Smart will file an appeal based on those cell phone GPS records from this trial.

A trial of modern technology

Assistant District Attorney Arimy Beasley used video, surveillance, and cell phone tracking technology to create a timeline of Fears' locations and movements leading up to Vizzera' death.

At most points in Fears' movements during the days in question, October 14- 17, 2021, there was a cell phone ping, a GPS ping from the work truck, and/or Fear's face caught on camera at several locations.

The jury was also shown hours of video footage, to include Ring doorbell video in which Seth Blake, the now-convicted co-defendant, aggressively yelled "I shot two people," at which point Fears tries to quiet him.

At that moment in the courtroom, shock crossed the jury's faces, and Fears began to look nervous.

Fears showed further emotion when video surveillance was shown of him vigorously washing out his truck, after the alleged murder.

Fears' face was apparent on the video, and at that time in the courtroom, he began to show a noticeable level of fear, written across his face with his deeply furrowed brow.

'we know who did it.'

When it came time for closing arguments, Fears appeared calm and collected, as his defense attorney Gary Smart began to speak.

Over and over again, Smart emphasized to the jury that "there is no evidence that he (Fears) did any strangulation at all!"

Smart also stressed that Seth Blake had acted alone in the endeavor to murder Adrian Vizzera, saying that "he (Blake) did it all!"

Smart then went on to claim that because the corpse of Vizzera still had "ears, ears, a nose..." that Fears was not guilty of tampering with the corpse, because the corpse was found whole.

Smart also stressed that "we know who did it!" referring to Seth Blake. He then went on to again attempt to lessen the credibility of Detective Mike Scott and the Abilene Police Department, by emphasizing that "he (Scott) took a course last Wednesday!"

Smart went on to point out that Fears' shoes from the night of the alleged murder were never tested when they should have been, and then ended with the sentiment that "he's (Fears) just not guilty."

'Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.'

When it was the prosecution's final turn to speak, Beasley relied on photo evidence to demonstrate Fears' guilt.

The biggest surprise was the photo of the bed of the work truck that Fears had allegedly driven. The darkened photo of the bed of the truck was lit up in neon across about three-quarters of it, with the presence of luminol, depicting that the bed of the truck was essentially covered in the blood of Adrian Vizzera.

While she noted that the Abilene Police Department had chosen a random spot to test, she then pointed out "which swab really matters?!" as she pointed to several spots across the truck bed.

She then went on to ask the jury if it had all been an "eerie coincidence" that Fears' truck GPS, cell phone GPS, and video surveillance stills had all placed him at the scene?

Beasley ended by emphasizing that Blake could not have acted alone in the murder of Vizzera. She pointed out that in five minutes, Blake would have needed Fears' assistance in hitting Vizzera with the propane tank that left ink stains on Vizzera's skin.

Beasley also alleged that it was Fears who placed the ligature around Vizzera's neck, by emphasizing that Blake had shouted about punching Vizzera and admitted to killing him, but had never said that he had strangled Vizzera.

Beasley ended with the words, "Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty."

The jury, however, did not find Fears guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. They did in fact find him guilty of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

It remains to be seen what punishment Fears now faces for the three counts.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Breaking: Murder trial ends with not-guilty verdict