Son of Wilmington Courthouse Gunman Waives His Own Bail Hearing
By Brad Segall, Todd Quinones
WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) -- According to court documents when David Matusiewitz, the son of the courthouse shooter, was taken into custody after the murders he had on him the keys to a car that was loaded with guns and ammunition.
David Matusiewicz was taken into federal custody on probation violations shortly after the shooting.
Authorities contend the 45-year-old man failed to provide child support and lied to probation officers about where he was staying.
The judge, concerned about Matusiewicz being a flight risk, sent him back to jail to await his next court date, which assistant US attorney Lesley Wolf says will be a revocation hearing.
"A revocation hearing is a process where there's a full hearing on the violations," she explains, "which either a defendant admits or contests the violation."
After the hearing, the judge will decide a punishment, which Wolf says could be an additional term of supervised release or more prison time.
"That is an option the court could decide" says Wolf.
Matusiewicz's ex-wife and her friend were gunned down by his father before a child support hearing (see related story). Court documents suggest Matusiewicz and his mother may be part of a wider conspiracy related to the shooting.
"A lot of people [are] grieving. This is not fun," said David's uncle outside of federal court Friday.
According to court documents, before Monday's shooting at the county courthouse, David, along with his parents, drove up together from Texas in preparation for the custody hearing with his ex-wife.
David was sent to jail for kidnapping his three children and taking them to Nicaragua several years ago. He was recently released on federal probation.
Court documents indicate David had the keys to a Honda civic that was left in Elkton Maryland. It had numerous firearms and ammunition in the trunk. That car is registered to his father who shot and killed himself on Monday.
Thomas's daughter released a statement today on behalf of the family saying:
"We want to express our deepest sympathy for all the victims and their families. We apologize to the people of Delaware for the violent actions of Thomas matusiewicz."
It is not clear what, if any, plans David had with the car and the guns.
He has lost permanent custody of his children; we are told they are safe.
