A newly obtained sheriff’s report is breathing new life into old doubts about what happened inside an Anaqua Springs home on a January night in 2019, when a mother and her two young daughters were found dead. The document describes smeared blood along an upstairs hallway and stairwell, multiple firearms scattered through the spacious house, and a projectile pulled from a wall. Those details complicate the long-standing narrative of how the crime scene unfolded. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says the case status is unchanged unless new evidence emerges, but families and some investigators argue the report raises questions that are too big to ignore.
As reported by Fox San Antonio, the 36-page initial sheriff’s report logs several firearms inside the home, including a revolver found near Nichol Olsen, and notes that a projectile was recovered from a wall in the upstairs hallway. Investigators documented blood swabs taken from the shower drain, a large tub drain in the master suite, and a downstairs restroom. The report also shows that gunshot-residue tests were performed on Olsen, both children, and Charles Edward Wheeler, the man who called 911 after discovering the bodies. Gate-guard camera footage captured Wheeler’s truck leaving the neighborhood that night, though the video did not clearly show the driver’s face.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, quoted in the report and speaking to Fox San Antonio, said, “There was no blood. We were looking for blood. But the swabs that were used are kind of generically known as blood swabs,” and added that investigators see “a high probability that one of the victims in this case, at least, was not initially killed as a result of the gunshot.” Against the backdrop of the report’s description of smeared blood leading toward the staircase and the garage doorway, some investigators interpret these details as signs that at least one victim may have moved after an initial injury.
What investigators knew from 2019
The deaths of Nichol Leila Olsen, 37, and her daughters, 16-year-old Alexa Denice Montez and 10-year-old London Sophia Bribiescas, occurred on Jan. 10, 2019. The Bexar County medical examiner later ruled the girls’ deaths homicides and Olsen’s death a suicide, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Sheriff’s officials have repeatedly said the criminal investigation remained open in the years since. The girls’ fathers later filed wrongful-death lawsuits that accuse Wheeler of failing to secure firearms and protect the children.
Digital gaps and the timeline
Phone records show multiple attempts from Olsen’s phone to reach 911 on the night of the killings, with only one call briefly connecting and failing to provide a usable location, according to KSAT. The sheriff’s report also notes that some potential digital evidence was not obtained because warrants were required, a limitation investigators acknowledge can make it harder to build a precise timeline based on device activity.
Legal fallout and what could happen next
Families who lost children in the case have pressed for outside scrutiny and filed civil suits, and in 2022 they asked the Texas attorney general to hand the investigation to the Texas Rangers, the San Antonio Express-News reports. For now, the sheriff’s office maintains that the official disposition stands, with the caveat that credible new evidence would trigger a reopening. Whether the newly surfaced report leads to any fresh criminal or investigative moves will hinge on whether physical or digital forensics can produce proof strong enough to shift investigators’ current conclusions.
