The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas by Anand Giridharadas
Authors: Anand Giridharadas
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and Big Town Boulevard in Mesquite. He opened that station at approximately 5:30 a.m. that morning and began waiting on customers. And the evidence will show that he was working by himself that morning.
The evidence will also show that approximately 6:45 a.m. a man drove up to that Shell station in a silver Ford Thunderbird. He was also alone. The evidence will show that he was not a customer; he had not come there to purchase anything. Instead, the evidence will show that he was armed with a .44 Magnum caliber revolver. This man pulled up a bandana over his face and exited that Ford Thunderbird with that weapon. The evidence will show that that man is this man right here, Mark Anthony Stroman.
The evidence will show that Mr. Stroman walked to the front door of that Shell station. That when he did so, he already had that revolver down by his side ready for use. He got to that front door, he opened the front door of that Shell station. Mr. Patel was behind the counter. This man over here, Mark Anthony Stroman, as he opened that door, yelled out to Mr. Patel to give him the money in that station.
Now Mr. Patel kept a .22 caliber pistol under the counter for his protection. The evidence will show that as he saw this man come in armed with that .44 caliber revolver, that he reached under the counter for his weapon. As he did so, this individual raised up that .44 and pointed it at him. And Mr. Patel then backed away from the counter with that gun. And as he did so, this individual, Mark Anthony Stroman, shot him once with the .44 Magnum.
He struck him up here in the left-upper portion of his torso. And that weapon then tore through his collarbone and broke it. It broke five ribs. It penetrated Mr. Patel’s left lung, and it finally lodged in his lower back, and Mr. Patel fell to the floor behind the counter.
And as he did so, the evidence will show that this individual here, Mark Anthony Stroman, immediately reached over the counter for that cash register. He knocked over the keyboard in front of that cash register. He attempted to open the register but couldn’t find the key. He then looked across and pointed the gun down at Mr. Patel and started threatening to shoot him again if he didn’t open that register for him. Mr. Patel couldn’t move by that time and he was down on the floor.
And so what Mr. Stroman did at that time was he took that .44, he put it into his waistband and reached over with both hands and attempted again to open that register. And again he was unsuccessful in his attempts. At this point then he leaned across and threatened to blow Mr. Patel’s brains out if he didn’t open that register for him. And the evidence will show that, actually, as he said that, he was reaching in his waistband for that .44 Magnum. And at that time he glanced slightly to the left to where the windows were in that station. He immediately took his hands away from that revolver and hurriedly left out the front door.
The prosecutor went on to describe the arrest and the ballistics tests, and then he brought his opening statement to its conclusion.
The evidence will show that that man’s intent there on October fourth was one thing, and that was to go in there to rob Mr. Patel and to murder him in the process.
T HE TRIAL OF Mark Stroman began on April Fool’s Day 2002. For simplicity’s sake, the state had charged him with just one of his attacks—the Shell station murder of Vasudev Patel. The trial was assigned to Judge Henry Wade Jr., of the city’s 292nd Judicial District Court. The courtroom was in the Frank Crowley Courts Building, in that buzzing judicial hive on North Riverfront Boulevard. It was an imposing, eleven-story fortress—its lobby six sets of stairs above the street—that handled the whole spectrum of legal affairs in the city: indictments and arraignments, sentencings and paroles, divorces and speeding-ticket contestations.
It was a depressing old place, where the conveyor-belt operators at
The evidence will also show that approximately 6:45 a.m. a man drove up to that Shell station in a silver Ford Thunderbird. He was also alone. The evidence will show that he was not a customer; he had not come there to purchase anything. Instead, the evidence will show that he was armed with a .44 Magnum caliber revolver. This man pulled up a bandana over his face and exited that Ford Thunderbird with that weapon. The evidence will show that that man is this man right here, Mark Anthony Stroman.
The evidence will show that Mr. Stroman walked to the front door of that Shell station. That when he did so, he already had that revolver down by his side ready for use. He got to that front door, he opened the front door of that Shell station. Mr. Patel was behind the counter. This man over here, Mark Anthony Stroman, as he opened that door, yelled out to Mr. Patel to give him the money in that station.
Now Mr. Patel kept a .22 caliber pistol under the counter for his protection. The evidence will show that as he saw this man come in armed with that .44 caliber revolver, that he reached under the counter for his weapon. As he did so, this individual raised up that .44 and pointed it at him. And Mr. Patel then backed away from the counter with that gun. And as he did so, this individual, Mark Anthony Stroman, shot him once with the .44 Magnum.
He struck him up here in the left-upper portion of his torso. And that weapon then tore through his collarbone and broke it. It broke five ribs. It penetrated Mr. Patel’s left lung, and it finally lodged in his lower back, and Mr. Patel fell to the floor behind the counter.
And as he did so, the evidence will show that this individual here, Mark Anthony Stroman, immediately reached over the counter for that cash register. He knocked over the keyboard in front of that cash register. He attempted to open the register but couldn’t find the key. He then looked across and pointed the gun down at Mr. Patel and started threatening to shoot him again if he didn’t open that register for him. Mr. Patel couldn’t move by that time and he was down on the floor.
And so what Mr. Stroman did at that time was he took that .44, he put it into his waistband and reached over with both hands and attempted again to open that register. And again he was unsuccessful in his attempts. At this point then he leaned across and threatened to blow Mr. Patel’s brains out if he didn’t open that register for him. And the evidence will show that, actually, as he said that, he was reaching in his waistband for that .44 Magnum. And at that time he glanced slightly to the left to where the windows were in that station. He immediately took his hands away from that revolver and hurriedly left out the front door.
The prosecutor went on to describe the arrest and the ballistics tests, and then he brought his opening statement to its conclusion.
The evidence will show that that man’s intent there on October fourth was one thing, and that was to go in there to rob Mr. Patel and to murder him in the process.
T HE TRIAL OF Mark Stroman began on April Fool’s Day 2002. For simplicity’s sake, the state had charged him with just one of his attacks—the Shell station murder of Vasudev Patel. The trial was assigned to Judge Henry Wade Jr., of the city’s 292nd Judicial District Court. The courtroom was in the Frank Crowley Courts Building, in that buzzing judicial hive on North Riverfront Boulevard. It was an imposing, eleven-story fortress—its lobby six sets of stairs above the street—that handled the whole spectrum of legal affairs in the city: indictments and arraignments, sentencings and paroles, divorces and speeding-ticket contestations.
It was a depressing old place, where the conveyor-belt operators at
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