A Texas doctor who allegedly murdered a couple in front of their young children claims he killed them because he believed they may have been members of the Russian mob out to murder his mom as payback for his “infiltration” of a global financial conspiracy, according to a police affidavit obtained by multiple news outlets.
Anthony and Tiffany Strait were helping the mother of Dr. Robert Fadal II move some furniture on her property in Seguin, Texas, on Feb. 25, when he allegedly shot and killed them both, according to a police report previously obtained by PEOPLE.
Fadal, 56, is being held at the Guadalupe County Detention Center in Texas in lieu of $5 million bond, online jail records show.
He has not been indicted and has not yet entered a plea, a Guadalupe County Court clerk tells PEOPLE. He is reportedly charged with capital murder of multiple persons.
Fadal allegedly shot the Straits at their truck and in front of their three young sons, who are 7, 9 and 10 years old, the police report states.
Anthony, the boys’ 27-year-old stepfather, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Tiffany, 30, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she later died.
Fadal was taken into custody the same day as the shooting, according to jail records.
At the time, investigators said they were trying to find a motive for the killings. “There are no indications there was a feud, disturbance or anything precipitating or justifying the shooting,” Lt. Craig Jones, a Guadalupe sheriff’s spokesman, told the San Antonio Express-News then.
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The couple had known Fadal and his mother for years, Anthony’s brother told local news station KSAT.
But this week, a police affidavit quoted by the Associated Press, the Express-News and KSAT showed that Fadal allegedly told investigators he shot the couple because he thought they could be “Russian mobsters” who had come to his mother’s home to kill her because he had gained access to “an international conspiracy.”
PEOPLE’s attempts to obtain the affidavit were not immediately successful.
The document reportedly details a series of bizarre, sometimes anti-Semitic statements that the suspect purportedly made to law enforcement.
According to the affidavit, KSAT reports, Fadal allegedly told authorities he had repeatedly been looking into “involvement and manipulation of the stock market and American wealth” by “the Jewish community.”
The affidavit alleges that Fadal told investigators that he believed his mother was targeted as a result of that “infiltration into the Jewish community,” according to KSAT.
He allegedly said he received threats online because of what he claimed to have unearthed, the affidavit states, according to Express-News.
The paper reports that, according to the affidavit’s allegations, Fadal worried during questioning that he could be recorded and declined to speak near clocks, radios or Internet-enabled electronics.
However, the victims’ relatives told local news that they believe Fadal is lying.
“He’s making up a story,” Anthony mother, Xiomara Strait, told the Express-News. “There is a motive behind it, but he is not wanting to say what the motive is.”
Xiomara’s husband, Fred Zajonczkoski, told the paper, “He’s trying to pull an insanity defense.”
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Officers who dealt with Fadal stated in the affidavit that they think he may have been on drugs when he allegedly shot the couple, according to the paper
Blood tests were taken but the results are reportedly unknown.
Calls for comment to Fadal’s attorney were not immediately returned on Tuesday. Calls to the officer who interrogated Fadal were also not immediately returned.
Friends of the Strait family have set up a GoFundMe account for the couple’s sons.
“These 3 boys are now without a mother and father and are in great need of your help and financial support,” the fundraising page states. “ALL funds raised will go directly to the boys. First, to their immediate needs and then any additional funds raised will be set aside for the future needs of the boys.
“Please open your heart and show this family that even though there may be evil people in this world, this community and the nation are filled with love and support.”
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