AUSTIN (KXAN) — According to police records, 32-year-old Ethan Nieneker, a suspect in Monday’s triple homicide case, has an extensive criminal history.
It goes back to at least January 2012, when he was 18 and Round Rock police arrested him for possession of marijuana, a class-B misdemeanor, court records show. He was convicted and sentenced to two days in jail, according to Williamson County’s online records.
In August 2015, Nieneker was arrested by Austin police for driving while intoxicated, a class-B misdemeanor. He was convicted and sentenced to 120 days in jail, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records. Around the same time, Williamson County records show he was charged with misdemeanor assault, family violence – a case that was ultimately dismissed.
In October 2015, Cedar Park police arrested Nieneker for criminal mischief, a class-A misdemeanor. He pleaded no contest and received probation, which was later revoked in 2017, and he was sentenced to six months in jail for that case, according to Williamson County and DPS records.
In May 2016, Nieneker was arrested by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office for assault, a second-degree felony. Law enforcement responded to a disturbance. Nieneker’s girlfriend said he choked her unconscious during a dispute. Law enforcement found Nieneker in the apartment complex’s parking lot bleeding and smelling like alcohol, according to an arrest affidavit. He was convicted of a lesser misdemeanor charge and sentenced to 45 days in jail, according to court records.
In August 2016, he was convicted of violating a protective order, a misdemeanor that led to a 60-day jail sentence, according to DPS records.
About three years later, in December of 2019, Nieneker again faced a felony assault charge. This time, a roommate called the police, saying Nieneker had punched him in the face after an argument. Police said they found Nieneker in the shared apartment smelling like alcohol and slurring his words, according to an arrest affidavit. The case was dismissed in 2022 after prosecutors were unable to locate the victim, according to dismissal paperwork.
We spoke to two of Nieneker’s colleagues who said they worked with him at a northwest Austin Mexican restaurant. They said he seemed to be a mostly normal guy, but that in the last couple of weeks, he changed and quit abruptly.