Midland Man Charges Upgraded to Murder

In March of 2019 a burglar alarm went off at 3306 Eagle Cove around 1:16 a.m.  The home owner, 37 year old David Charles Wilson, thought his family was experiencing a home invasion.  As is required by most alarm services, law enforcement was dispatched to the address.  Responding to the home was 28 year old Nathan Heidelberg.  Upon his arrival officer Heidelberg found nothing out of the ordinary at the home (according to a news article in The Odessa American March 12, 2019).  Officer Heidelberg noticed the front door was open and radioed dispatch with the information.  Shortly after officer Heidelberg arrived two more police officers arrived at the home.  Officer Heidelberg is said to have clearly announced his presence upon his entry into the home.  Officers at the scene hear a shot fired and call out to their comrade for confirmation that he’s ok.  Heidelberg answers back that he is in fact ok, a noise is heard and officer Heidelberg is found face down, shot.  Despite life-saving measures being performed officer Heidelberg succumbed to his injury at around 2:20 a.m at Midland Memorial Hospital.  His death was the first line of duty death for the Midland Police Department since 1961.  Originally Wilson was charged with Manslaughter and his attorney filed for a motion to quash the indictment siting the alarm system malfunctioning which alerted police when it shouldn’t have.  In an article released today on Yourbasin.com, information regarding the incident, if true, makes the whole ordeal sound like a horrific accident, however the charge of manslaughter has been upgraded to murder.  July selection for the trial was said to have continued today and if convicted Wilson could face up to life in prison.

In the motion filed by Wilson’s attorney in September of 2019, it was said that the alarm system was malfunctioning in the pool house, a system that was on a separate alarm system from the main house so the home owners were not even aware that law enforcement was alerted and responding to the home.  According to the information in motion Heidelberg and another officer first checked the backyard where they found the gate locked.  They then came back to the front of the house where the front door was found to be unlocked.  A door alarm chimed when the officers opened the door which in turn woke Wilson’s wife who told her husband she thought someone was in the house.  The homeowners can hear and see silhouettes outside with flashlights but allegedly don’t know who they are or what they are doing, nor do they know what that are saying.

According to the article in yourbasin.com the front door was opened by MPD officers twice and it was upon the second opening of the door that Mr. Wilson fired in the direction of the door.

The question is, was this an avoidable outcome and who should be held responsible?  The home in questioned was valued at the time according to Midland County Appraisal information at almost a million dollars.  Some of the things that would help in understanding what and how this could have happened is what kind of alarm system did this expensive home have and if it was of the quality that would produce sound and video evidence of the event itself in it’s entirety. I would gue3ss yes but who knows.  This has been such a controversial incident I would hate to be one of the 12 individuals sitting on this jury.