Emotional testimony in Polvon murder trial

Dec. 8—Emotional testimony of the aftermath of a double shooting in Odessa got underway Tuesday in the trial of Fabian Polvon, who is accused of gunning down his wife and her friend at an Odessa car wash in 2019.

The trial will resume Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. in District Judge Justin Low's 161st court.

A number of witnesses took the stand throughout Tuesday including members of the Odessa Police Department.

Polvon is accused of shooting two people to death back in November 2019 including his wife Tiffany Nicole Polvon.

An earlier Odessa American article reported that a probable cause affidavit detailed that a witness saw a white Ford F-350 pickup collided with a black Cadillac Escalade on Nov. 26, 2019 that was parked on the north side of the Apex Car Wash parking lot located at 2357 E. Eighth St.

After the pickup collided with the Escalade, the witness said the suspect, who was later identified as Fabian Polvon, exited the pickup and walked to the Escalade and used a handgun to shoot 36-year-old Joseph Granado multiple times as he was exiting the passenger side of the Escalade.

Video surveillance showed after he shot Granado, that he walked to the driver's side and shot his wife through the door, which struck her several times.

The affidavit stated that Fabian Polvon pulled his wife from the car and onto the ground and then left the scene.

Low began the trial by asking the audience to keep emotions in check in order to have a proper trial.

The defendant pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

The first witness called to the stand was Austin Aranda, who was working at the Apex Car Wash at the time of the shootings.

Aranda testified that at the time of the shooting, he was cleaning the separators at the car wash and pointed out their locations on a map of the location and photos.

Aranda said he saw the white pickup crash into the Escalade and started to walk over to try and help right before the shooting occurred. After the first shot was fired, Aranda said he ran back inside the building for safety and that he heard more shots while running.

Aranda also mentioned that he tried to perform CPR on Granado afterward before he stopped responding. Granado was not responsive before the police showed up, Aranda said.

Aranda said he did not know Tiffany or Fabian Polvon.

Amber Carrasco was another witness called to the stand.

Carrasco, who lived right by the car wash, told the jury that at the time of the shooting, she thought fireworks were being shot off before realizing it was a gun shot. She said she realized it was a gun that was firing after the second shot.

Carrasco, who was emotional during her testimony, said that after the shooting, something told her to go over and check where she saw a man and a woman on the ground. She said she didn't see the gunman or anyone else in the white truck.

Makayla Welch, who was working at Apex Car Wash at the time along with Aranda, was also brought to the witness stand.

Welch testified that at the time of the shooting, she was inside the office when she heard shots before going to the office bathroom to stay safe.

Following Welch's testimony, the trial went on a 15-minute break.

After the break, the trial resumed where Pat Harris, who recently retired from the Odessa Policed Department, was called to the stand.

Harris was working as a Crime Scene technician and took numerous photos of evidence from the scene of the crime including photos of the Escalade. Those photos were shown on the video screen in the court room during the testimony.

After an hour and a half lunch break, the trial resumed at around 1:30 p.m.

Crime Scene Technician Danielle Rudolph went over different photos of the scene after the shooting.

Linda Hinojos, who is identified as Tiffany Polvon's cousin, was called to the stand during the afternoon.

In an earlier Odessa American article, it was reported that Hinojos was contacted by officers and that she stated that her cousin told her that she was going to see Granado to give him a gift that she had made for him.

Hinojos mentioned that Polvon had filed for divorce from her husband in 2019 and since then, Fabian Polvon had been threatening to kill her if she was found talking with other men, the affidavit stated.

During Tuesday's testimony, Hinojos said that Fabian Polvon had told Tiffany two years previously that if he caught her in the other vehicle of another man, she wouldn't like what would happen.

Hinojos was also questioned about a separate incident that happened in Oct. 2019 at Steins Bar that involved an altercation between Fabian and a few other people including Pete Mendoza.

In Hinojos' testimony, she said that she and Tiffany Polvon were both at the bar, playing a game of Jenga with Mendoza and another person. Shortly after, Hinojos said that Fabian Polvon and three other people punched Mendoza and his friend.

Mendoza confirmed the fight in his testimony and said that he did not know anything about Tiffany Polvon or her husband or who they were as well as Hinojos.

It was reported by the Odessa American that on Nov. 27, 2019, Polvon's father, identified as Valente Palvon Rodriguez, contacted OPD and stated that his son had contacted him and wanted to turn himself in, the affidavit stated.

Rodriguez also stated that he had confessed to him that he shot his wife and Granado.