The re-arraignment court date for a woman accused of dismembering slain Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillén, previously scheduled for November 10, has been postponed.
The Houston Chronicle reports that a U.S. District Judge Alan Albright approved the postponement for 22-year-old Cecily Aguilar to January 19, 2021, after the defense requested additional time. The prosecution did not contest the postponement.
“Counsel is requesting more time to complete his review of discovery and investigation in this case,” the motion read.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Spc. Guillén, 20, was last seen alive on April 22 at around 1 p.m. at the Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, in Fort Hood, Texas. Guillén left behind her car keys, barracks room key, identification card, and wallet in an armory room, where she worked.
A witness saw Guillén walk to an adjacent arms room, where soldier Aaron Robinson was working on April 22. She never came out of the room. The Guillén family attorney, Natalie Kwaham, previously said Robinson bludgeoned Guillén inside the armory room before stuffing her in a large Pelican case.
Robinson later determined that he couldn’t dispose of Guillén himself and in turn, contacted his girlfriend, Aguilar, and asked her to help. Both Robinson and Aguilar drove to Leon River, then allegedly used a machete to hack Guillén’s body apart.
On April 26, the suspects returned to Leon River wearing hairnets and gloves. They used cement to encase Guillén’s body parts and lime and rocks to get rid of the evidence. They buried the hairnets and gloves at the crime scene, then drove home and burned the clothes they were wearing that day.
“Vanessa’s sister Mayra was arriving at the base; while was looking for her sister, they were dismembering her body,” Kwaham said during a previous “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” episode.
After leaving the scene, the suspects allegedly threw the machete, hammer, and Guillén’s cellphone from a car window.
During the early morning hours of July 1, when authorities attempted to detain Robinson, he shot himself, causing fatal injuries. Aguilar was arrested and picked up by the U.S. Marshals.
According to court documents, Aguilar initially lied to investigators and claimed she was out stargazing with Robinson on April 22. She later began helping investigators and allowed them to record phone conversations.
During a court hearing at the Waco County courthouse on July 14, U.S. Attorney Mark Frazier said that Aguilar deleted her Google account while in jail, in an attempt to get rid of incriminating evidence. She also allegedly contacted someone from jail via phone and asked them to delete her Facebook account.
Despite the evidence against her, Aguilar pleaded not guilty to three charges connected to tampering with evidence, namely a human corpse. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
“She did exactly how ISIS would treat one of our soldiers. They decapitate our soldiers. They dismember them. They light them on fire. She did exactly that to Vanessa who is a U.S. soldier and I want her to be treated as the same way and punished as a terrorist because she is,” Kwaham said.
Aguilar remains behind bars at the McLennan County Jail without bail.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Vanessa Guillén/Handout]
