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Friday, July 4, 1997

Son of former astronaut killed in apparent carjacking

By JUAN B. ELIZONDO Jr. / Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN (AP) - One of two men found drowned in the trunk of a car was the son of former astronaut Brewster Shaw Jr.

The Johnson Space Center in Houston confirmed Brandon Shaw, 20, was the former astronaut's son. Calls to the Shaws' home in Huntington Beach, Calif., were not immediately returned to The Associated Press.

The bodies of the younger Shaw and a 25-year-old city employee were found Wednesday in the trunk of a 1982 Volvo owned by Shaw's parents. The car was pulled from Town Lake, a part of the Colorado River that runs through Austin just south of downtown.

Austin police said there was no evidence the men knew each other, and that they were likely victims of two separate carjackings.

Travis County Medical Examiner Roberto Bayardo said the men drowned some time late Monday inside the trunk.

The medical examiner said neither man had physical injuries such as blows to the head or broken bones. Neither body showed signs that the men tried to escape the trunk, he added.

One of two teen-agers charged in two other carjackings - and suspected in a recent string of violent car thefts - led police to the car in which the bodies were found.

"We're still trying to determine where this victim came into play," Mike Burgess, an APD spokesman, said of Shaw.

The other victim, Juan Javier Cotera, had been missing since late Monday when he and a female friend were forced into her car at gunpoint and robbed.

The woman, who police said was sexually assaulted, escaped after she was tied to a tree.

The police department did not release any personal information about Shaw. The University of Texas confirmed he was a junior studying architectural engineering.

Burgess said neither Shaw nor the 1982 Volvo had been reported missing and police had not established the last time he was seen or heard from.

No one has been charged in the men's murders.

Derrick Williams of Round Rock and Ahmad McAdoo of Austin, both 17, have been charged with aggravated robbery in different carjackings. Williams remained in Travis County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond. He is charged in a Tuesday carjacking. McAdoo remained jailed on a $200,000 bond, charged in a carjacking on Saturday.

Video from an automatic teller machine taken after a carjacking Saturday led police to arrest McAdoo. He told detectives Williams was his accomplice, police said.

Police declined to say which teen-ager led them to the submerged car. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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