Teen Murdered While Walking To Her Dorm Room And A Fire Led Right To Her Killer
Austin, Texas. 18-year-old Haruka Weiser was dressed in nearly all-black as she stepped out into the night on April 3rd, 2016.
She had on a black mock neck turtleneck, black leggings, and dark Doc Martens.
Haruka had made the move from Beaverton, Oregon, to Austin, Texas, to attend The University of Texas at Austin.
She was majoring in dance and had planned on picking a second major within the medical field.
Tonight, which was a Sunday, she had just wrapped up a rehearsal at the F. Loren Winship Drama Building on UT’s campus and was headed back to her dorm room in Prather Hall.
As her Docs hit the pavement beneath her, Haruka dialed her roommate Sylvia’s number on her iPhone.
Facebook; Haruka smiles in the photo above
With her phone in one hand, Haruka held onto the red handles of a blue duffel bag with her other hand.
The duffel bag held some of her school supplies, a jacket, a book called All the Light We Cannot See and her silver MacBook zipped up inside.
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It was around 9:30 p.m. and Haruka was explaining to Sylvia over the phone that she forgot her keys to their room and was on her way back to their dorm room.
Haruka’s keys always had a container of pepper spray clipped onto them.
Facebook; Haruka is pictured above
That evening, Haruka stopped replying to her text messages at approximately 9:40 p.m.
Nobody heard anything from her after that. She didn’t make it back to her room…and she didn’t make it to class the following morning.
It was now Monday.
Sylvia and the rest of Haruka’s friends knew she wouldn’t up and disappear like that, so they went to the campus police department to report Haruka as missing at 11:02 a.m.
Police officers set to work looking into where Haruka could have gone.
One of Haruka’s friends told police that she would always walk the same way from the drama building back to her dorm room.
The path Haruka would take was located close to Waller Creek, and it snaked behind the alumni center on campus.
Twitter; pictured above officers search Waller Creek for Haruka
Normally, it took Haruka about 10 minutes to make the walk.
Although several people had pointed out to her that the path she took was somewhat dimly lit, unsettlingly quiet, and not well-traveled by other students, she enjoyed the solace.
It was a little slice of peace and quiet amid her jam-packed schedule and the bustling life of a college campus.
The first thing police officers looked to in their search to find Haruka were local security cameras.
There were several near where Haruka had last been, so they collected the footage to review, hoping they had clues for them.
One camera had captured an African American man on a red bicycle headed down a loading dock by Waller Creek at 9:20 the night Haruka vanished.
The man on camera was wearing a black jacket, orange bandana, and glasses.
Facebook; Haruka is pictured above doing what she loved most
He got off his bike by the creek, walked away, and then returned eleven minutes later.
At 9:33 p.m., the man climbed back on his bike and pedaled out of sight of the camera. 4 minutes later, he came back to that spot and could be seen again.
As the man came back into view, the camera picked up a second person; a woman wearing dark clothing, looking down at her phone as she typed text messages.
Facebook; Haruka is pictured above outdoors
The man paused to watch her walk by, before reaching into his back pocket to get a shiny type of object.
The woman continues walking, not noticing any of this, and heads down the path by Waller Creek.
At 9:39 p.m., the man follows her down the path and can’t be seen on the security footage.
Facebook; Haruka is pictured above hiking
11:47 p.m….that man seen stalking the young woman on camera shows up again. He is no longer wearing glasses or riding his bike.
Instead, he’s walking next to it while limping slightly. He’s now carrying with him a bag he never had before; a blue duffel bag that’s small in size.
Officers sprang into action after seeing all of this on camera. They combed the path near Waller Creek and the surrounding area before making a gruesome discovery on Tuesday morning.
Haruka was lying naked in Waller Creek, wedged between 2 rocks.
Twitter; UT Austin Police shared the above update after sadly finding Haruka
Someone had covered her lifeless body with tree branches in an attempt to cover up the terrible crime.
Haruka had severe injuries to her head, and a piece of a strap was hanging from around her neck.
None of her personal belongings she should have had with her were found at the scene of the crime, but a pair of glasses and a claw hammer with one claw missing entirely was recovered close to where she was found.
An autopsy was performed, indicating that Haruka had been sexually assaulted before dying of blunt force trauma, coupled with strangulation.
Facebook; Haruka holds up sunflowers in the photo above
Police officers decided to release images of the man on a red bike seen on camera the night Haruka died, as they strongly suspected he was the one who had murdered her.
On Thursday, April 7th, at 4:08 p.m., the fire department informed the homicide unit they had responded to a campus fire.
When they got there, they found a man with a red bike who looked very much like the one on camera.
The morning that Haruka was reported missing, a call came in that a fire had been lit inside of an abandoned building on the north side of UT’s campus.
Firefighters and police officers arrived to take care of the issue and encountered a young African American man burning some belongings inside.
He said his name was Meechaiel Criner and that he was 17-years-old. He also said he was homeless, so officers took him to LifeWorks, a youth homeless shelter.
Facebook; Haruka enjoyed traveling and above she smiles in front of Stonehenge
The shelter wasn’t able to take and store all of the personal things that Meechaiel had with him, so one of the firefighters offered to take the red bike he had with him and keep it safe.
Meechaiel then packed up the rest of his things inside of a blue duffel bag with red handles and a black backpack.
When one of the firefighters who had helped Meechaiel that day saw the security footage publicly released by police, he knew that Meechaiel was the man on camera.
Austin Police Department; pictured above is the man with the red bike seen on security cameras
After this information came to light, officers went back to the abandoned building to see what further pieces they could put together, and things really started falling into place.
They ended up searching the building and finding a strap that was exactly like the one used to murder Haruka.
They also found a sweater that had Haruka’s name on a receipt in the pocket. They found the black jacket and orange bandana the man on the security footage had on.
They found black leggings, a black turtleneck top, and pieces of a burnt Doc Marten boot…the same outfit that Haruka had been last seen wearing.
Police officers then went to LifeWorks to see what they could discover in Meechaiel’s room.
They found that he had the blue duffel bag with red handles, a strap like the one used to strangle Haruka, a silver MacBook with a Portland sticker on it just like Haruka’s, and the book All the Light We Cannot See.
Facebook; Haruka is pictured above reading at the beach
They searched his hard drives and laptop and found photos of him wearing glasses and an orange bandana, just like the ones the man seen on the security footage had been wearing.
Meechaiel was arrested, and he claimed that he had nothing to do with Haruka’s murder. As for her belongings, he said he just found them in a dumpster.
Speaking at a press conference, Art Acevedo, Austin Police Chief, said, “We are very certain that the subject we have in custody is responsible for the death of this beautiful young woman.”
Police officers continued to investigate Meechaiel, and they learned that he had been hanging around UT’s campus for at least a few days.
One student had discovered on March 30th that Meechaiel was living in a storage room located at the football stadium.
This student thought to snap a photo of Meechaiel’s things that were in the room, and the photo ended up showing that he had straps and a claw hammer with a missing claw (just like what was used to murder Haruka).
This photo certainly proved that Meechaiel had that the straps and hammer in his possession before Haruka was murdered.
He couldn’t have found them in a dumpster after the fact.
Facebook; Haruka’s sister hugs her, above
At the trial, Meechaiel explained to the courtroom his unfortunate childhood. He had grown up in the foster care system, before going to live with his grandmother in Texarkana for a short time.
He then ran away and ended up in Austin.
Meechaiel also said at the trial that he didn’t murder Haruka. He maintained that he was innocent, and added that the glasses police officers found at the scene of the crime didn’t belong to him, despite an optician testifying that she sold them to Meechaiel.
A jury found Meechaiel guilty of Haruka’s murder after deliberating for about 10 hours. He was sentenced to life without parole.
He attempted to file a motion to have a new trial, which was denied. Meechaiel is now trying to appeal his conviction.
In Haruka’s obituary, her family says she, “was a vibrant light in our lives. She lived her life with intention, depth and purpose.”
Facebook; Haruka smiles and leans against a tree, above
“A beautiful dancer, she excelled in sculpture and was a highly intelligent student who loved math and science.”
“We all loved her adventurous spirit, kooky sense of humor and amazing cooking. Haruka, we love you so much. In our hearts you will remain forever.”
“And when we are together again, may it be a joyful reunion, an eternity of bliss and a never-ending dance of love.”
Following Haruka’s murder, The University of Texas at Austin took action to make the area around Waller Creek safer for students.
They added more lighting to the area and cleaned up the undergrowth and brush along the banks to increase visibility.
A non-profit organization called SafeHorns was also created a few months after Haruka’s tragic passing.
Facebook; Haruka dances in the photo above
According to their website, the group is made up of “concerned parents, students, stakeholders, and citizens committed to improving safety at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and surrounding neighborhoods where students live.”
The organization works to make the campus more secure and safe for students.
So far they have, “identified safety shortfalls on campus including lighting and call boxes; researched and advocated for golf carts on campus for safe late night travel; and donated $2,400 to Sure Walk to support the purchase of additional carts.”
Facebook; Haruka is pictured above in her prom dress
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