Final suspect in killing of El Paso Army combat vet during drug deal pleads guilty

The final defendant arrested in the 2017 killing of an Afghanistan war veteran in El Paso pleaded guilty to murder for his role in the slaying during a drug deal, court records show.

Brandon Olsen pleaded guilty Monday, May 6, to one count of murder in the slaying of Tyler Kaden Croke, 23, on May 7, 2017, during a drug robbery at the Cantera Apartments at 1501 Lomaland Drive in East El Paso.

Olsen pleaded guilty in front of 168th District Court Judge Marcos Lizarraga at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.

He pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement made with the El Paso District Attorney's Office. No details have been released on what sentence he will receive as part of the plea agreement.

More: Former Fort Bliss veterans face prison sentences in drug robbery murder 'mission'

Court records show Olsen is also facing a charge of having a deadly weapon in a penal institution. This case remains pending in state district court.

Olsen, along with two other defendants — Tristan Hunter Chilton and Adam Acosta — are scheduled to be sentenced May 17.

All five defendants set to serve lengthy prison sentences

Chilton and Acosta pleaded guilty April 12 to one count of murder for their roles in Croke's death. The men are expected to each be sentenced to 35 years in prison as part of plea agreements they reached with state prosecutors.

All three men were originally facing capital murder charges but pleaded guilty to a lesser offense of murder. They face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Two other defendants — Zachary Johnston and Stephanie Fernandez — have already been sentenced to life in prison.

Fernandez went to trial in 2018. She was convicted of capital murder by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. Johnston pleaded guilty to one count of murder as part of a plea agreement.

Acosta, Johnston and Olsen are former Fort Bliss soldiers. Olsen was stationed at Fort Bliss at the time of the killing.

Who was Tyler Kaden Croke?

Croke was originally from Salem, Va. and graduated from Salem High School in 2011, an obituary in The Roanoke Times in Virginia states. He was the captain of his youth ice hockey team.

Croke was a U.S. Army combat veteran who served in Afghanistan. He was buried with military honors at Sherwood Memorial Park in Salem, the obituary states. He was survived by a wife and an infant son.

A Linkedin online profile states Croke was attending El Paso Community College at the time of his death.

Military tactics used to rob, kill Croke

The brutal murder of Croke was done "using military tactics" as the group went to Croke's apartment May 7, 2017, to conduct a drug deal, according to a complaint affidavit and testimony in Fernandez's trial. The four men went into Croke's apartment while Fernandez stayed in their car as the getaway driver.

Fernandez told detectives the men planned to rob Croke using military tactics, such as entering and clearing a room similar to how they did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It was straight up like they were doing a mission out in the field," Fernandez told detectives.

Acosta entered the apartment with a shotgun, the affidavit states. Olsen and Johnston followed and wrestled Croke to the floor while Chilton held his legs down. However, Croke broke free and started crawling away from the men.

Johnston stabbed Croke and cut his throat with a knife, the affidavit states. Olsen allegedly "finished killing the victim by cutting his throat with a knife while the victim was attempting to crawl away," the affidavit states.

The group stole three baggies of what appeared to be either cocaine or ketamine from Croke's apartment, the affidavit states. They fled in a black Nissan Xterra driven by Fernandez.

Fernandez claimed to detectives that she only participated in the killing because she feared for her life.

Police received a report of an unknown problem at Croke's apartment. Neighbors told officers they heard a man begging for his life, the affidavit states. After getting no answer at the apartment, officers opened the unlocked door and found Croke's nude body face down.

More: Military tactics used in 2017 slaying of ex-soldier in drug robbery, suspect says in video

A witness at the apartment complex told officers they saw four people enter the Xterra, which already had a person in the driver's seat. Detectives found the Xterra at an apartment in Socorro.

The Xterra was later pulled over for traffic violations. Chilton was driving the Xterra with Fernandez in the passenger seat. Fernandez was arrested on charges of possession of methamphetamine and cocaine, and traffic warrants, police said.

Chilton and Fernandez confessed to detectives that they participated in the killing of Croke, the affidavit states.

Fernandez told detectives the men placed the knives used in the attack in a pot and filled it with bleach. The men took the drugs, knives and clothes to a home in Las Cruces, Fernandez said. The shotgun was left hidden in a closet at Fernandez's home.

The men told her to take the shotgun to a home in Las Cruces the day after the murder, the affidavit states. She complied. The group then drove to a deserted area where they burned the clothes, Fernandez told detectives.

Johnston and Acosta were arrested in Las Cruces and extradited to El Paso.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Former Fort Bliss soldier pleads guilty in killing of Army combat vet