All language subtitles for American Greed s13e16 Judgment Of Terror

In this episode of American Greed.

I can remember thinking I'm going to die
in front of my own son.

A Texas judge shot four times in her
driveway in front of her family.

And the investigation leads to an
unlikely suspect.

When we think of white collar crime, we
don't think in bullets entering people's

bodies.

For years, aspiring rapper Timoné Onyeri
has dabbled in high -tech financial

crimes of all sorts.

He was very good at figuring out how the
system worked and then figuring out how

he could manipulate that system to make
money.

In his impoverished Houston
neighborhood, Onyeri goes on a hiring

spree, bringing numerous workers into
his tax, debit, and credit card schemes.

He painted himself as Robin Hood, but I
think the evidence showed he was just a

hood. But his chance run -ins with
police put Arneri on a collision course

a judge who threatens his freedom.

And he keeps a promise he makes in a
song.

On a seemingly normal autumn night, a
family in Austin, Texas, prepares to

a cherished tradition.

It was a Friday. I had family, and we
were going to go to the football game,

know, Texas football, on Friday night.

Will and I and my sister drove.

It was just like any other night.

Before the game is through, Julie
Koscielik leaves in her SUV with her

Will. a high school sophomore.

It was rainy, so after halftime, we
decided to head home.

Will had his learner's permit, so he
drove.

As they make their way back, Koscielik's
in the passenger seat.

And when they arrive at their gated
driveway, they notice something out of

ordinary. There's a bag of leaves
blocking their entrance.

And we thought it was strange.

I thought it was a prank.

And so Will got out of the car.

Though it seems like a joke, the
situation is actually deadly serious.

Over the past two days, a man has been
secretly stalking Koscielik, as

by photos later found on his phone.

He was following her around while she
was driving.

He went to the football game that she
went to. He was documenting her

There are pictures of her son's school,
the pictures of the license plate on

her car. It was very clear that he had
been in a vehicle that was just behind

her car.

It was chilling.

Unaware she's being stalked, Koscielik
remains inside the family car as her son

exits to move the bag of leaves.

As he reaches the curb...

He spots the predator who's been tailing
them.

An individual comes out from the dark
shadows across the street, and he's

to process who is this person and what
are they doing here.

And as the person approached him, he
noticed the person was all in black, and

then he saw a gun.

Will began screaming and banging his
hands on the car.

while Koscielik sits inside, confused at
what's causing his behavior.

By the time she figures it out, it's
almost too late.

I scooted down as far as I could in the
seat, and I protected my head with my

arm and my hand.

I can remember thinking, I'm going to
die in front of my own son.

Travis County 911.

Hey! Hello, hello!

Earl, we just got shot at.

Okay, is anybody injured?

My mom is, please help. Okay, just a
minute. I need to get the ambulance on

line. Don't hang up.

Please, Audrey, please.

After receiving this frantic 911 call
from Kasurik's son, local police are on

their way.

It's shut.

Where'd he go?

He went down that way. He's dressed all
black.

Where is she? She's right there on the
porch.

Miraculously, Kasurik is still conscious
despite having been shot point blank

four times.

And as the first officer on scene begins
to talk to her, a clue emerges that

will rock the community.

A former

prosecutor, Julie Kasurik, was appointed
to the bench in Austin in

1999.

by then Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Travis County Prosecutor Dana Blasey
appeared in her courtroom many times.

Judge Kucerec enjoys a reputation of
great fairness.

She's a straight shooter. She's smart.

She's fair. She has a very even
temperament and is the type of judge

you would want on the bench.

For years, Kucerec has handled felony
cases.

Along the way, she, like any judge, has
made her fair share of enemies.

This morning, investigators and court
officials are pouring over hundreds of

cases, hoping that it'll provide some
clue as to whomever tried to take her

life. When Judge Kosciurek is shot, one
of the first people on scene is Austin

Police Department homicide investigator
Derek Israel, now retired.

I got a call that evening.

from the homicide supervisor who told me
there had been a shooting and that the

victim was expected to die.

And, oh, by the way, the victim's a
district court judge, Julie Kosurik.

When Israel arrives at Kosurik's home,
his team begins collecting clues.

The driver's side window was shot out.
There was blood all over inside the car.

There was a blood trail leading from the
car up to the porch of the house.

And also, something that stood out was
there was a leaf bag sitting near the

edge of the road that was kind of
knocked over.

A picture of what may have happened
begins to come into focus, and

try to piece together the mystery of who
would want Judge Kasiri dead and why.

We started looking at her docket. Is
there somebody that is mad at her

of a sentence that she's handed down,
because of a trial that she's presided

over? So immediately, that was where
everybody went first.

Sometimes you get a case, there are just
no suspects.

Well, this case, it was just an
avalanche of suspects. And had we just

okay, we're going to take the most
serious suspects and work our way down,

probably still be going through it right
now because...

No one would have suspected that if this
was done by a person who was a

defendant in Kosurik's court, that it
would be someone who was on probation

credit card abuse.

Next on American Greed.

The path to Judge Kosurik's shooting
begins with an unexpected discovery more

than three years earlier.

There was a body fence, I guess you
could say, with the hairs in the back of

your neck stand up.

Now a deputy constable in Hayes County,
Texas, back in 2012, Joel Martin

was on patrol in Rollingwood, a suburb
of the state's capital, Austin.

Sitting in his car, Martin clocks a
white Jeep doing 50 in a 40 -mile -an

zone.

I was looking for speeders.

However, you're always looking for the
next thing. You're always looking for

somebody wanted in the car or their
trafficking, which is a big business in

Texas. Trafficking, it could be of
humans, it could be money, narcotics,

types of different things.

After pulling the car over in a grocery
store parking lot, Martin sees two men

inside.

The car they're driving has a fake
temporary tag.

and was rented in the name of a third
man who isn't with them.

I knew that there was something more
going on here. There was a spidey scent,

guess you could say, where the hairs on
the back of your neck stand up.

You felt uncomfortable. They felt
uncomfortable.

There's something more here.

When Martin searches the car, he finds
the something more.

I was more accustomed in my area of
finding narcotics.

As I was starting to go through the
vehicle, I uncovered what... Everybody

nervous about. And so I started to find
gift cards.

I didn't really expect to find gift
cards.

No, I didn't at all.

There are 77 cards in all.

And eventually, the card's driver is
detained along with the man in the

passenger seat.

His name, Temene Onyeri.

Onyeri is a Houston guy.

The son of an immigrant, an African
immigrant to Houston.

The family is from Nigeria originally.

Very streetwise guy.

An aspiring rapper who goes by the
nicknames Chimno and Kimu, Onyeri says

first name, Chimene, means thank God.

And as he implies in this song, he has
plenty to be thankful for.

Throughout the video, Onyere shows off
fistfuls of cash and wears a shirt

reading, time is money.

He also makes clear what he'll do to
anyone who gets in his way.

Onyere grew up on Houston's Southwest
side.

So Southwest Houston's a pretty rough
part of a rough city.

There's a lot of every type of crime
that a big city has in that area. I

you have robberies and murders.

Onyeri has himself been accused but
acquitted of violent crimes.

You know, this guy's been in jail for
murder?

Beat it.

He's been in for aggravated robbery?

Beat it. In fact, one person we talked
to described Onyeri by saying that he

a hood legend.

According to law enforcement officials,
the nature of crime is shifting in O

'Neary's hood, and others like it.

We learned that there is a lot of fraud
that occurs just on the street level in

southwest Houston.

I refer to it regularly as blue -collar,
white -collar crimes. You get caught

with a kilo of coke in your car.

Cops are going to catch you. You're
going to prison for a long time. You get

caught with 50, 60 credit cards or gift
cards that have been encoded with

people's information.

It takes a lot longer to sort out.

And because of the nature of the crime
and the penalties connected with those

crimes, you're much less likely to do a
long time in prison.

Among those who turn to this less risky,
more lucrative type of crime is Onyeri,

a gambler and chess player who calls
himself an exceptional salesman.

He had an ability to talk people into
things.

And I think he had a lot of self
-confidence that he could talk people

committing the fraud schemes that he was
working on.

Onyeri's first taste of financial crime
involves credit card skimming, stealing

people's credit card info and using it
to make purchases without their

knowledge. In the beginning, he had
people that worked in retail

and fast food restaurants that had
little bitty skimmers, which were like

think of a square.

It just reads the magnetic information
on a credit card.

We all know the drill.

You pay for your food, you hand your
credit card to the server, the server

back and runs it, and then at some point
when they're not observed, that server

just swipes that card, and now they have
your credit card number.

According to one associate, once these
credit card numbers are stolen, the

device containing them is returned to
one Gary.

Then the hard work begins.

Credit card fraud is very easy up front,
but it's hard on the back end. Stealing

it is the easy part. Where the problem
is on getting the money out is that you

have to buy something.

To do so, Onyari has to first write the
stolen credit card information onto the

magnetic strip of a gift card.

It's made to look like a real credit
card.

These re -encoded gift cards are then
taken to stores and used to purchase

items. that can be resold for cash.

He was buying all kinds of high -end
electronics.

iPads seemed to be their choice.

And then they would sell those iPads in
the streets of Houston. They were

putting them on Craigslist. They were
identifying them through social media,

there was some word -of -mouth selling
as well.

According to prosecutors, it's this type
of scheme that brought on Yerry to

Rollingwood, Texas, near Austin.

When Joel Martin arrested him and found
those 77 gift cards in the car he's in.

He gets arrested in 2012 for possessing
a large amount of gift cards

re -encoded with credit card
information.

More than a year after the original
incident, Onyeri pleads guilty in an

courtroom to a felony count of
fraudulent use or possession of

information.

He agrees to abide by conditions set
forth in a deal called a deferred

adjudication.

It says a lot of things, but the one
that matters the most is don't get in

more trouble. If you get in any more
trouble, you violate your deferred

adjudication, and the judge can then
impose a penalty as if you had pleaded

guilty. If that happens, O 'Leary could
face between two and 20 years in prison.

Edward finds himself back in front of
the judge presiding over his case. Her

name? Judge Julie Koscielik.

Next on American Greed.

Despite the trouble he finds himself in,
O 'Neary can't stop scheming.

Now, big bro, I promise you I have more
than a meal coming at you.

I promise you that.

A felony arrest might slow down the
average criminal, but Jimenae Onyeri is

from average.

After Onyeri was arrested in
Rollingwood, one would think that would

slow him down from his activities. No.

During the months he's locked up
awaiting a deal, jail phone calls reveal

Onyeri is still up to something.

He was spending pretty much all his
waking hours thinking about ways that he

could make money, which is good, you
know, if you're doing it legally. But

Onyeri wasn't a legal entrepreneur, but
he was an entrepreneur.

From credit card skimming, Onyeri's
criminal enterprise will soon branch out

into something he says will be extremely
lucrative.

Hope, I promise you I'll have more than
a meal coming next year. I promise you

that.

When he's behind bars, and when he gets
out, Onyeri is working on an income tax

fraud called SURF.

SURF is stolen identity refund fraud or
tax -related identity theft. And that

occurs when someone steals your personal
identifying information and uses it to

file a fraudulent tax return to the IRS
before you can file your own return.

So they're attempting to get a large
refund from the IRS without your

or consent.

This multi -step scam begins with the
theft of information needed to file a

return. Victim's names and social
security numbers.

We found in this investigation that he
had people that worked at institutions.

One of them in particular was a
government institution that had juvenile

probationers. And he had an associate
that worked there at one time. We

that individual basically wrote a list
of names, social security numbers, birth

dates.

Juan Tonieri has this information.

It's time to start filing income tax
returns in his victims' names without

knowledge. O 'Neary will later testify
that he brings in a tax preparer who can

get you more money than Asian R Block.

The numbers have to be manipulated to
make sure the refund is big enough that

you get money, but not big enough to
attract the attention of the IRS.

Sort of like Goldilocks and the Three
Bears.

But O 'Neary needs more than completed
returns.

He also needs addresses, lots of them.

He wants to get a refund check, and it
has to be mailed to an address.

And he doesn't want that coming to his
home address, because that would

obviously raise some red flags.

10 refund checks for being mailed to one
address.

He uses apartment mailboxes to spread
out the different refund checks.

To get these apartment mailboxes,
Ogierri and his associates recruit

mailmen in Houston, asking them to
provide addresses on their routes where

refund checks can be sent and intercept
them when they arrive.

He would just approach letter carriers
on their route midday and ask them if

they wanted to make some more money and
give him, you know, his phone number.

They were sold by him, and they were
willing to put their job on the line to

make a few extra bucks.

In one instance, after giving out his
phone number, Onyeri sets up a meeting

with a postal service worker at this
Houston parking lot.

Like I said in that mail, I got other
momma's work for me too.

Nuri is not shy about laying out the
scheme to everyone.

He lets them know what he's planning to
do and how it's going to be successful.

What is it though? I mean, it ain't no
joke, dog. It's, you know, like say

things as I do a terrible text in his
name.

Okay. He pretty much laid out.

All parts of the scheme, what he needed
from that individual, which was the

dresses. So what you need from me, I
mean. I need addresses, and when the

come, you call, and I'll pick up, and
I'll pay you.

This is a guy Onyari had just met.

Yeah, Onyari lays out his entire scheme,
all the stuff that he's been up to.

Onyari felt that there would be no
consequences, that he would not be

or that he would never be charged with
these criminal offenses.

He's very cavalier.

Onyari is actually speaking with an
undercover postal inspector.

But despite their incriminating
conversations, no charges are brought

I can't speak for why the prosecutor's
office did not file charges in that

but the thresholds usually for federal
prosecution are very high.

And when you stay underneath those
thresholds, a lot of times you can fly

the radar screen.

Onyari does just that for a while.

Next on American Greed, Onyere cooks up
an ingenious disguise to keep his

workers' identities hidden.

It was a great plan. They were able to
wear a mask without really drawing too

much attention.

Already working a tax fraud scheme and a
credit card skimming operation.

Chimney Onyeri says he sees a news story
like this that gets him thinking.

Police say this is where the truck
smashed through the storefront this

Four men jumped out and grabbed the ATM
machine and within seconds were gone.

And the whole thing was caught on
camera.

Onyeri says he decides there's got to be
a better way to pull off an ATM heist.

Eventually, he settles on debit card
skimming, a crime that prosecutors say

advantages over his earlier.

Credit card operation.

The credit cards have limitations,
right?

If you buy a bunch of property, you
can't return it with a credit card. They

want to see the credit card again.
Chances are you're going to get in

that way.

Turns out that some retail chains, if
you buy a whole bunch of property with a

debit card and you return it to them,
they'll give you cash.

So you don't have to move it on the
street. You can go right back to where

bought it from and turn it into cash.

Also, if you do it right, you can go
literally take the card and go to an ATM

machine and just take out cash itself.

So there's a lot more money available in
a quicker period of time, and it's less

likely to get you caught.

While there may be advantages, debit
card skimming presents new challenges as

well.

With a credit card, once you get the
credit card number, that's all you need.

But with a debit card, you also need the
PIN number. And this took Onyeri a

little while to figure out.

To help him, in November 2013, Onyeri
turns to an outside consultant.

He found a guy actually living overseas
to come and flew him, this person, to

the United States of America, who taught
him how to do it. Skimming debit cards

starts with inserting a card -reading
device called a bezel over a regular

card slot.

This one was found in the apartment of
an O 'Neary associate.

A bezel fits over the front of an ATM
machine, and it has a slot in it where

stick your card. And there's a magnetic
strip reader inside that piece of

equipment that reads the code that's
encrypted on the back of the debit card.

While the bezel takes info from the
card's magnetic strip, O 'Neary also

device to record a victim's PIN.

They took an iPod with a camera on it
and built a fake panel that perfectly

matched the ATM machine from this bank
that they were targeting, placed the

in there facing the keypad, and they
were able to capture the things.

When the skims work, a victim's card
passes through the bezel to the real

and the victim gets their money as
though nothing is wrong.

They remain unaware their card's
information has been copied and that

has been recorded.

Now it's time to encode the victim's
debit card information on new cards and

start making withdrawals and purchases
using the money in their accounts.

Donieri is hoping that they don't know
what happens for a period of time. What

is happening is money is being withdrawn
from their bank account.

The process is fraught with
opportunities to be caught on camera,

devises ways to avoid detection.

The investigation revealed that he used
a number of different ways to disguise

his appearance. One was just to take a
sleeve from a shirt, cut off the end of

it, a short -sleeved shirt, and just
pull it down over his face.

An associate identifies Onyeri as the
man with the sleeve over his face in

bank security footage, later used at
trial.

But this isn't his only hack.

Onyeri also disguises the workers he
uses to make purchases with victims'

debit card information.

The women, largely, that were collecting
the goods that were being purchased

with these debit cards, stolen debit
card numbers, he had them wear burqas,

Middle Eastern garb.

And, of course, since it's, you know,
religiously sensitive to be wearing a

burqa, you're not going to ask someone
who's coming through a line.

of a store to remove her burka. So it
was a great plan.

They were able to wear a mask without
really drawing too much attention.

Onyeri's many schemes depend upon a
multitude of helpers. He had drivers. He

lookouts. He had people who were working
in banks.

He had mailmen to get access to mail
facilities.

Folks who would assist him in making the
cards.

He had a whole series of workers who
filled out various different roles that

were necessary for the enterprise.

On Yerry's pitch to these prospective
employees, unimaginable wealth can be

theirs. He was promising them they'd get
rich and they'd make millions of

dollars. So at the end of the day, they
were greedy and they were looking for a

cut of the money. A lot of times it
didn't turn out to be much at all.

But they got bought in by his charisma.
To authorities, it's clear who's in

charge. He was the head of the
organization.

He was the ringleader.

He was the one that was coming up with
the ideas, putting together the

fraud schemes.

It's pretty clear all roads led back to
him.

In the view of the government, O 'Neary
is running a criminal enterprise.

Was it a good criminal enterprise? Was
it producing millions of dollars of

income every year? No. Was it making
more money than he was going to make

working?

Probably. As far as we can tell, he
never had a real job.

Agneri tries to say his scheme is a way
to get back at greedy banks, but

prosecutors don't buy it.

He painted himself as Robin Hood. I
think the evidence showed he was just a

hood. He didn't care about the banks. He
didn't care about the people working

for him. He cared about him and how much
money he could make.

On at least one occasion, Onyeri makes
it rain money at a club.

He brags he could make $40 ,000 in a
night.

And he says his scams have brought in
$700 ,000.

In this cell phone video, prosecutors
say Onyeri brazenly shows off his money

attract workers into his scheme.

It's a recording that will come back to
haunt him at trial.

I'm waiting on some money right now.

Next on American Greed, an unwise
parking spot sets O 'Neary on a

course with Judge Julie Koscielik.

Why he did that, I'll never know, but
that was a mistake.

Three years after Tim and A. Onyeri's
arrest in Rollingwood, Texas, security

cameras rolled as a woman wearing a pink
burqa enters a Walmart in Louisiana.

There, and at two other nearby stores,
she purchases more than $13 ,000 worth

electronics using stolen debit card
information.

Two months later, it happens again, and
investigators will later scour the

footage for clues.

One of the thefts took place at about
two o 'clock in the morning at a Walmart

in Sulphur, Louisiana, right across the
river from Lake Charles.

The strange shopping trip raises many
questions.

I would assume that some of the people
at Walmart might have thought it was

interesting that someone wearing a burka
from out of town would come in and

purchase three or four thousand dollars
worth of electronics at two o 'clock in

the morning.

Having noticed a pattern, store
management calls in suspicious

local cops respond to the scene, where
security cameras capture their arrival.

There, they speak to a man driving the
burka -clad shopper. Due to his choice

parking spots, they determine his
identity.

On the air, he was there himself.

Made the...

Stupid mistake of parking in a
handicapped zone in a parking lot that

vacancies at 2 o 'clock in the morning.

Why he did that, I'll never know, but
that was a mistake.

Security officer wrote him a ticket, got
his ID, got the ID of the female

individual who was with him wearing a
burka.

And that put him on our radar because we
now had his ID.

Despite the suspicious circumstances,
the cops let Onyeri go.

But a few weeks later, in June 2015, he
returns to Lake Charles.

After checking into one of the city's
casinos, security cameras capture the

moment when he's arrested at the
blackjack table on charges of

of an access card.

I think they thought maybe coming to a
smaller jurisdiction might be

advantageous to them over the long run.
The long run didn't last very long. Due

to his earlier deferred adjudication
agreement in Travis County, Texas,

new arrest spells trouble.

For O 'Neary, getting arrested in
Louisiana ordinarily wouldn't have been

deal. But since he was on deferred
adjudication here in Austin, that meant

he violated the terms of his probation.

And so that's what put him in front of
Judge Kosurik.

In October 2015, O 'Neary appears in the
courtroom of Julie Kosurik, who makes

it clear his probation may be revoked
and he could be facing jail time.

The judge had indicated that she might
violate him as a result of his arrest in

Louisiana. Whether or not that was
really going to happen, he didn't know,

that was his perception.

Sensing trouble, Onyeri's thoughts
turned dark.

He immediately made the decision to kill
Judge Kosarek. In fact, when he got

into the car to return to Houston, he
told the person in the car with him that

he was going to kill her.

The evidence shows as soon as he left
her courtroom on that day, within

literally minutes, he began researching
her on the Internet using his cell

phone. For a guy as impulsive as he is,
he actually puts a lot of thought into

the things he does.

We saw that with his credit cards, debit
card schemes, his tax scheme. And we

saw the same thing in the shooting.

By his own testimony, he came to Austin
four or five times to pattern her, to

find out where she lived, to see how she
moved, to see when the best time would

be to get at her. So just like his other
schemes, he researched, he planned, and

he was meticulous about it.

Despite his planning...

Little about Onyari's decision to take
out Kasurik makes sense.

Well, I mean, that's the thing. If he
had successfully killed the judge, there

would have probably been another judge
right behind her. It wasn't about him

getting out of anything.

It was about him hurting somebody who
had damaged him.

In many ways, it harkens back to a song
that features Onyeri.

To get at Judge Katsuri, Onyeri recruits

two men in Houston, and in early
November, they head toward the state

There, they begin following the judge,
and Onyeri snaps pictures along the way.

Then on Friday, November 6th, after
following Koscielik and her family to a

football game, Onyeri and his associates
return to her home.

There, he places a leaf bag in her
driveway and prepares for the deed that

follows. It was misting and raining that
evening. It was relatively cold. It

wasn't a hot night in Texas.

He was able to hide in a particularly
dark area and lay in wait to ambush her

she came home.

It was the most terrifying moment of my
life.

I did not know when the gunfire was
going to stop.

I thought I was going to die.

Onyeri's associates are waiting in the
car.

And one later testifies that when Onyeri
returned, he says, I got that bitch.

But despite his well -laid plans,
Onyeri's attempt fails.

As illustrated by these FBI videos,

The explosive bullets O 'Neary chooses
for their deadly impact actually end up

saving the judge.

It was a frangible round, a round that
breaks into a lot of pieces.

It broke on the way into the vehicle, so
it was almost like she was being shot

by a shotgun.

The rounds broke into dozens, if not
hundreds of pieces.

That probably saved her life, because
among other places, she was shot in the

neck.

However, each one of those little holes
ultimately became infected and she

almost died from an infection.

Following the shooting, Kosirik spends
days in a medically induced coma and

undergo approximately 20 surgeries.

But she lives.

It wasn't my time for some reason.

I don't know why, but I'm just thankful.
Sometimes you can't ask why, you just

accept it. And that's what I've done and
be thankful and be blessed.

Next on American Greed, as Kasirik
struggles to survive, news emerges about

missed opportunity to prevent her
shooting.

I feel like all of this could possibly
have been avoided. I think it would have

been avoided had I known.

The most unusual aspect of Judge Julie
Koscielik's shooting is that it might

never have happened.

I feel like all of this could possibly
have been avoided. I think it would have

been avoided had I not.

Before the violent attack, one of
Chimene Onyeri's associates called in a

that Onyeri was planning to shoot an
unnamed judge.

But Koscielik doesn't hear about it
until it's too late.

I know that there was an investigation
that was done by one of the

in the district attorney's office.

And I think the investigator made a
conclusion that the information was not

credible.

Now that the tip has proven credible,
another one comes in.

Same tipster. And she says, well, you
know, I told you that this guy

he's going to kill a judge. Now he's
bragging that he did kill a judge.

I always like to say we would have
solved this even without the tip. I

know if we would have solved it without
the tip, because without somebody coming

to us and saying, this guy in Houston
came here to shoot the judge, you know,

don't know how long it would have taken
us to get to Onyeri after sorting

through all the other people.

With information pointing to Onyeri, on
Monday, November 9th, he's arrested in

Houston on his outstanding warrant from
the Walmart incident in Louisiana.

A person of interest is in custody. That
person is identified as, to me, Owen

E. Airy.

He is currently in custody in the city
of Houston in Harris County.

Still, he's a long way from being held
accountable for the judge's shooting.

We had a tip on him, and it was a good
tip. You know, we felt that this

definitely could be our guy, but it was
actually a month later before he was

actually charged with the shooting of
the judge.

Investigators use Onyeri's cell phone
records to place him at a Motel 6 in

Austin the night before the shooting.

Security camera footage shows Onyeri
there with his two associates.

And investigators see one of them paying
for their room using, what else? A gift

card. This gift card leads to even more
incriminating evidence.

We were then able to look at all the
other transactions they did while they

in Austin. So we were able to track him
to a store where he bought gloves and

tried them on.

When police go to the store, they
retrieve security camera footage that

later be used at O 'Neary's trial.

It wasn't that cold out. He didn't need
mechanics gloves.

It was obvious he was wearing gloves for
a reason. That was to keep his

fingerprints off anything that was
involved in the shooting. He was

murder.

Eventually, police began rolling up
witnesses and piecing together Onyari's

in both the shooting and the financial
crimes he's been committing for years.

People like Onyari kind of get by
because every time they're caught, it's

looked at in that one particular
incident. So it just looks like, okay,

a small -time guy.

Once you start scratching the surface,
you realize he's not a small -time guy.

He's a big -time guy. He's doing a lot
of stuff.

And he's running a criminal enterprise
that's been going on for years.

But no one was going to spend the time
doing that, unfortunately, until the

judge got shot.

Some of the most incriminating evidence
is found in the car Onyari was riding in

when he was arrested.

So this is Onyari's cell phone.

When he was getting stopped by the
marshals in Houston,

He literally ripped his cell phone in
half.

He really didn't want us having this. O
'Neary knew that the contents of this

phone were going to be his undoing,
nothing else.

Despite his best efforts,

the card -skipping bandit leaves behind
one card that will be his undoing.

We were very lucky that where he ripped
it in half, the card that contained the

data was still... Completely intact. And
one of our technicians was able to

remove it. And it took over a year
before the FBI was able to find the

technology to read the chip.

When they read it, they find it contains
a treasure trove of data linking on

Yeri to both the shooting and the
financial crimes.

On it, they see pictures taken of the
judge's car and of her son's school.

I was speechless.

I was speechless because it showed his
true predatory nature of how he had

stalked her. And it was chilling.

In September 2016,

Onyeri is indicted on a variety of fraud
charges, as well as conspiracy to run a

racketeering enterprise.

Prosecutors allege that he shot Judge
Koscielik when she threatened that

enterprise.

At trial, he admits to shooting at the
Koscielik family car, but says he didn't

know the judge was in it and claims he
only intended to scare her.

The jury doesn't buy it.

After just four hours, they find Onyeri
guilty on all 17 counts.

O 'Neary, who is currently appealing his
case, did not accept American Greed's

request for comment.

Approximately five months after his
conviction, he is sentenced to spend the

rest of his life in a federal prison.

When you decide that you're going to
kill a judge whose only job

is to faithfully uphold the law because
that person's an impediment, to you,

that deserving of the maximum sentence.
Had he been successful, he would be

facing the death penalty.

But he was not successful.

This was bigger than me. It was about
our rule of law.

Following her shooting, Judge Koscielik
works to see a new law passed in Texas

that bolsters efforts to keep judges
safe.

Not long after the attempt on her life,
she returns to the bench.

I felt like this was an assault on our
justice system.

And I want people to know that I'm back
and that judges, if you don't like a

judge's decision, we won't be
intimidated or we won't leave out of

And you can't eliminate us.