LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas — A father and son are among three victims in Liberty County killed by someone their family says was a friend.
Andrew Bass, 30, has been charged with three counts of capitol murder.
The victims are Odell Wells, Christopher Wells, 20, and Walter Brown. 50.
Investigators with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office say Bass called deputies early Sunday morning to report a burglary in progress, saying he shot and killed three burglars. However, investigators say it didn’t add up and Bass was arrested.
Now the Wells family is trying to figure out what happened.
“It was not a home invasion,” said Cecelia Jordan, the victim’s aunt and sister-in-law, “It was a trusted friend that has some serious problems, that killed our family in cold blood.”
The Wells family says on Saturday, Bass picked up O’dell, Christopher and Brown then took them to his home on CR 4010 to help him cleanup his front yard. It is riddled with heavy equipment like rescue vehicles and trucks.
Jordan says text messages were exchanged up until about 10:30 p.m. when Christopher told his girlfriend that Bass would be dropping them back off soon, but no one heard from them after that.
The family says investigators told them it appeared the victims didn’t know it was coming.
“It was very quick, they were very deadly shots and it was execution style, which, to me proves what we know, that they trusted their friend,” said Jordan.
This is a confusing tragedy for Cassi Wells, who lost her dad and brother. She says the whole family had just hung out with Bass last weekend at a pumpkin patch.
“We went back to his house and stayed there until like nine carving pumpkins and then he took us all home,” said Cassi.
The family says they had noticed a few red flags as of late, but because Bass treated them all so well, they ignored them.
“My sister [O’dell’s wife] began to notice different types of paranoid behavior,” said Jordan.
“I just had this uneasy feeling and I kept telling my dad stay away from him,” added Cassi.
So far, no motive has been released. Bass appears to have no criminal record. He is in the Liberty County Jail with no bond.
"He destroyed our family," cried Cassi. "He took my dad and my brother.”
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