The Houston-area woman charged in connection with the abduction and apparent death of Austin mom Heidi Broussard recently resolved an unrelated criminal case in Harris County stemming from a theft at a cash advance business.
Magen Rose Fieramusca, 33, was charged Friday with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse. Austin and federal authorities have linked her to the disappearance of her friend Broussard and Broussard’s newborn daughter, Margot, who were last seen on Dec. 12 in South Austin. Fieramusca is behind bars on $600,000 bail.
Fieramusca, according to Harris County court records, was accused by authorities of taking $5,000 from a vault at an Ace Cash Express location in Humble in August 2018. But prosecutors dismissed the case on Nov. 5, saying they could not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, court records show.
Fieramusca’s court-appointed attorney in that case, Eric Devlin, said video surveillance from the store that authorities initially said showed Fieramusca putting money into her purse was inconclusive.
“They couldn’t prove she stole it,” Devlin said Friday. “There was no evidence.”
A man who answered the phone at Ace Cash Express on Friday morning confirmed that Fieramusca had been employed at the store.
“She used to work here,” the man said. “That’s really all that we can say.”
Fieramusca was fired after her arrest, Devlin said, adding that he did not develop much of a relationship with his client throughout her case. She did not suffer from any obvious signs of severe mental illness when they discussed the allegations against her, Devlin said. He added that Fieramusca appeared to be pregnant at her court settings.
Law enforcement sources told the American-Statesman on Friday that they suspect Fieramusca pretended to be pregnant simultaneously with Broussard but had actually been plotting to take Broussard’s baby. Margot was born on Nov. 26.
“I did not detect anything with her,” Devlin said. “She talked to me just fine.”
Fieramusca, according to her LinkedIn, has also worked as a wedding planner at Enchanted Cypress Ballroom in Cypress. An employee who picked up the phone on Friday confirmed Fieramusca was employed there but said she left several years ago.
Austin lawyer Jackie Wood has been appointed to represent Fieramusca in the latest case. Wood did not immediately return a call for comment on Friday.
Credit: Source link
