Former Tarrant County Sheriff’s deputy Jay Rotter tried to take his own life with pills just prior to his arrest, police and family members told a judge. The stark testimony came during a hearing as Rotter attempted to get his bond lowered from $1 million to $125,000.
Rotter has been indicted for murder, illegal drug possession and tampering with evidence in the August death of his girlfriend, Leslie Hartman.
Days before his arrest, Rotter took the pills and was admitted to John Peter Smith Hospital for several days, said Cynthia Cornellson, Rotter’s mother.
A Denton County jail records keeper said Rotter was put on suicide watch immediately after he was booked into the county jail, but that he was taken off the watch on September 18.
The shooting was reported Aug 26 when Rotter called 9-1-1 to say that Hartman had shot herself with his gun as the two were hugging, according to a probable cause affidavit. Hartman was wheelchair bound.
While the initial call to dispatchers was reported as a suicide, the facts did not support the claim, said Denton Police detective Rodney Mooneyham.
The first hint of an irregularity came when Rotter performed a factory reset of his phone as he was being interviewed, he said. While Hartman had apparently discussed ending her own life, she had a new reason to live after learning her mother had cancer, said Mooneyham. “She said she wanted to live for her mother.”
While not delving into details, Mooneyham said there was other evidence that investigators uncovered that included a NEST video from a neighbor across the street and online chats. The evidence showed there were two shots.
Rotter, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and wearing a mask, State District Court Judge Brody Shanklin, attorneys and witnesses held the hearing over the online app Zoom. Because the hearing was over bond, Shanklin limited testimony to matters concerning bond and did not allow attorneys to stray into other areas.
The witnesses, who included Cornellson, Rotter’s ex-wife, a former high school friend with whom he shares a teenage son and a bail bondsman. All said they do not consider Rotter to be a flight risk or a threat to himself, although Mooneyham said police are concerned about Rotter’s safety if he is released.
Family member said they could not afford to post the required 10-percent of one million dollars. They told the judge they could afford a bond of $125,000, which would have required $12,500 in cash.
Rotter did not testify.
Shanklin agreed to lower the bond on the murder charge from $1 million to $750,000, cut the bond on an evidence tampering charge to $10,000 and leave bond for a drug possession charge at $10,000.
No trial date has been set.