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The boyfriend of an A&M student charged with killing her and her brother was described as dangerous by his ex-girlfriend when he was arrested on stalking charges in 2007.
The ex-girlfriend, who was 23 and lived in Hempstead at the time of the arrest, told authorities that the man was violent and had choked her before, according to documents.
"He still scares me," she told police, according to court documents. "I have the fear he's going to do worse than choke me if he gets me by myself ever."
About a year and a half later, John Thuesen shot and killed his new girlfriend and her brother at their College Station home, police said.
Thuesen has remained in the Brazos County Jail since his March 6 arrest. He is charged with two counts of capital murder, and no bail has been set.
Last week, a local judge appointed two attorneys to represent him. Billy Carter and Michelle Esparza were involved in the recent capital murder trial of Christian Olsen, who was sentenced to death March 3 for the murder of his 68-year-old neighbor.
Little information has surfaced about Thuesen, but public records and documents reveal that he has been transient, and at times troubled, in recent years. He has spent time at Blinn College, served in Iraq and received several medals and ribbons for his military service.
According to a Blinn College spokeswoman, Thuesen enrolled at the school in 2002 as a part-time student. He then joined the U.S. Marines and attended recruit training in 2002.
Capt. Nathan Braden, a spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps, said Thuesen served as a field radio operator and was deployed to Iraq from August 2004 to March 2005. He is now an inactive ready reservist.
"For all intents and purposes, he is a former Marine," Braden said. Thuesen could be called back to serve only in the event of a major catastrophe. "He is not an active- duty guy. He is not really affiliated with the Marines anymore," Braden said.
Braden said Thuesen was awarded seven medals during his service in Iraq: the Combat Action Ribbon, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal and Global War on Terror Service Medal. He also was a member of a unit that received the Navy Unit Commendation.
Thuesen's commendations indicate that he was involved in combat, but Braden said he did not know what unit Thuesen was in or where in Iraq he was deployed.
Thuesen returned to Blinn College in 2005 and was enrolled part time as a mathematics major until his arrest in College Station. He took the spring 2008 semester off, according to school records.
His first arrest in Hempstead came on July 30, 2007, according to police reports.
Documents state that Thuesen was knocking at the bedroom window of his ex-girlfriend's brother and repeatedly called the girlfriend. She told police at the time that Thuesen had tried to choke her when they got into an argument in May 2007.
Police found Thuesen hiding behind a shed near the house. An officer reported smelling alcohol on his breath, and he was arrested for public intoxication. A restraining order also was filed to keep Thuesen away from the ex-girlfriend's family, documents state.
On Aug. 13, 2007, the ex-girlfriend reported that Thuesen had made numerous attempts to contact her. She told police that she had asked him repeatedly not to contact her but that the efforts persisted.
"[She] stated to me that she found the calls to be distressing because she believed that Mr. Thuesen's persistence was increasing and would likely escalate to violence, which she reports to have suffered from him on more than one occasion in the past," an officer wrote in his report.
It is unclear what happened with the charges against Thuesen. The Waller County District Clerk's Office reported no felony cases pending against him. An employee of the District Attorney's Office said the charges had been dropped, possibly at the family's request.
One of Thuesen's attorneys, Billy Carter, said Friday that he was working to flesh out Thuesen's past. He said his client spent time in a veterans hospital in August or September and underwent counseling last fall.
Some have speculated that Thuesen was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, but Carter said he was unsure of his client's mental state.
"Right now, we are still trying to get to the bottom of this in the investigation," he said.
Authorities said Thuesen called 911 after he shot Rachel Joiner, 21, and her 23-year-old brother, Travis Joiner, March 6. Police said Thuesen was in the garage, where Rachel Joiner was found with gunshot wounds to her chest and hand. Travis Joiner was in the house, shot in the chest and buttocks.
The siblings, who were from Eldorado, were pronounced dead that day at College Station Medical Center.
