Homicide victims had protective order against former TCSO detective

APD says homicide victim Amanda Broderick was preparing for a custody exchange with her estranged husband Stephen Broderick near The Arboretum. 

AUSTIN, Texas - Newly released court documents detail the moments leading up to, and the aftermath of Sunday’s triple homicide in Northwest Austin.

Austin police say homicide victim Amanda Broderick, 35, was preparing for a custody exchange with her estranged husband, Stephen Broderick, 41, near The Arboretum.

The couple used a third-party visitation facilitator to avoid contact with one another and to oversee Stephen Broderick's visits with his son.

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In November 2020, Stephen Broderick was indicted on 12 counts of physical and sexual abuse. The document states the abuse began in March 2020.  

The visitation facilitator told police Amanda Broderick was set to pull into a parking lot at 9600 Great Hills Trail at 11:45 a.m. and release the boy to her. Then the visitation facilitator planned to take the boy inside. At noon Stephen Broderick was scheduled to arrive for a supervised visit with the child.

The facilitator told police when she pulled into the parking lot, she saw Amanda Broderick and her daughter Alyssa Broderick, 17, on the ground deceased. Alyssa Broderick’s 18-year-old boyfriend Willie Simmons III was dying. She told police she saw Stephen Broderick walking away.

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The couple’s young son was not at the scene when the visitation facilitator arrived. A woman told police she was driving on Great Hills Trail when the child flagged her down, asked her to call 9-1-1, and got into her car. She dialed 9-1-1 and drove away with the boy.

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"The boy told her that his father wrecked his car into the one that he was in and the other people in the car were not able to get out. He also said that his father was mad about the divorce with his mother." an Austin police detective wrote in Stephen Broderick’s capital murder arrest affidavit, adding "[The woman] advised that the boy told her he saw his father shoot his sister’s boyfriend…"

The detective wrote that Willie Simmons III and Amanda and Alyssa Broderick had each been shot several times.

Tuesday, just two days after the attack, the couple's young son and the rampage’s sole survivor turned 10 years old. Amanda Broderick’s divorce attorney Peter Lopez told FOX 7 Austin he is with CPS until he can be placed under the care of her family.

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Stephen Broderick is charged with capital murder in connection to the shooting deaths of three people. FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak has details.

Amanda Broderick filed for divorce on July 7, 2020.

On June 3, 2020, Stephen Broderick was accused of sexually assaulting Alyssa Broderick, his then 16-year-old adopted daughter, in Elgin. Amanda Broderick immediately took her to Dell Children’s hospital for a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE). During the exam, medical professionals found evidence of trauma.

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Court documents indicate Broderick began sexually and physically abusing the teenager in March 2020. In November 2020, Stephen Broderick was indicted on 12 counts of physical and sexual abuse.

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The suspect is a former Travis County Sheriff's Office detective that was arrested and charged last year after allegedly sexually assaulting a child.

Stephen Broderick spent less than a month in the Travis County Jail. He posted bond, which was originally set at $50,000, and was released from jail in early July. He was ordered to have no contact with Alyssa Broderick, surrender his firearms, obtain no new firearms, and to wear a GPS tracker. Five months later that tracker was removed.

District Attorney Jose Garza was not in office at the time and is researching the case. He told FOX 7 Austin, "What is clear in this case is a wealth-based approach to bail simply does not work, Mr. Broderick had a $50,000 bail which he made, and committed this heinous crime while out on that cash bail."

Amanda Broderick said Stephen Broderick began sending her sexually explicit images. His bond was eventually raised to $75,000 and he was ordered not to contact her. "Amanda Broderick did express concern about his background and, you know, with that training would he have the ability to find her," said Lopez.

NW Austin shooting suspect charged with capital murder, held without bail

The Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza says 41-year-old Stephen Broderick has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bond in the Travis County Jail.

In August 2020 Amanda Broderick and Alyssa Broderick obtained a ‘protective order,’ expressing fear for Stephen Broderick, who was a former Travis County Sheriff’s Office detective.

Still, Lopez said Amanda Broderick felt it was important visitations with the couple's biological son continue. "[Alyssa Broderick] still wanted the relationship between the youngest and his father," Lopez explained.

In at least 54 percent of mass shootings between 2009 and 2019, the perpetrator shot a current, or former intimate partner or family member according to research conducted by gun control advocacy group Everytown For Gun Safety.

"We definitely see that the violence increases when the victim tries to escape the abuse," said Coni Huntsman Stogner, of SAFE Alliance, a nonprofit that aids survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Northwest Austin shooting suspect arrested

Manor Police Department Chief Ryan Phipps says they arrested 41-year-old Stephen Broderick just before 8 a.m. this morning. FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak has latest details.

If you are in an abusive situation you can contact SAFE 24/7 by phone call, text, or chat.