Jasper County Sheriff's Report

Jasper County Sheriff’s Report

4-08-25

I’ve been in office over 90 days now and I’m proud of the direction the Sheriff’s Office is going. We have a long way to go but we are working hard to be more effective and efficient. I’m proud of all our men and women at the Sheriff’s Office and the job they are doing.

On April 1, 2025, Colby Tatom pleaded guilty to Tampering with a Human Corpse and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Mr. Tatom took the stand in a legal process called “allocution” and testified that he shot and killed Cristi Ruso, 31, of Buna, at his residence on County Road 777 in Jasper County on October 21, 2021. He admitted that he burnt her body on his property and then discarded her remains in the Neches River. A search of Mr. Tatom’s property began that day. A piece of her clothing was recovered from the ashes. On April 2, 2025, the Port Arthur Fire Department Dive Team was deployed at the Neches River to search for Cristi Ruso’s remains. This team of divers are well trained in underwater recovery operations. We are grateful for the support they provided. We have recovered some items but are waiting for them to be analyzed. We did the best we could with what we had to work with in this case. (Please see the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post regarding this case. I tried to answer every question regarding this case and educate members of the public about the amount of proof it takes to prove a murder conviction).

On April 1, 2025, John Michael Anzovino was arrested by the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office and will be extradited to the Jasper County Jail. He was wanted for a car burglary here in Jasper County at the General Store in Buna. On April 7, 2025, our investigators obtained an additional arrest warrant for Mr. Anzovino. It is alleged that he took copper and other property that didn’t belong to him. We will do everything possible to arrest people when they take things that don’t belong to them.

On April 2, 2025, JCSO Chief Deputy Larry Pulliam and officers with the United States Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force served a Jasper County warrant for a wanted sex offender. Officers tracked, located and arrested David Scott Mayberry at a residence located at 127 County Road 420 in Bronson, Texas. Officers also found that Mayberry had 7 active felony warrants out of Alabama for sex offender violations. He was placed in the Jasper County Jail.

On April 2, 2025, a Jasper County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop for expired registration on Hwy 96 south near Cougar Country. The driver and passenger were both identified and it was found that the passenger, Leo Okun, 63, of Kirbyville was wanted by the Board of Pardons and Parole for a Parole Violation. Okun was transported to the Jasper County Jail.

On April 3, 2025, Jasper County Sheriff’s Deputies traveled to Hardin County and arrested Mourie Collier, 29, of Silsbee and charged her with a 3rd Degree Felony, Tampering with Physical Evidence. Collier, who was the girlfriend of Colby Tatom on October 21, 2021. It is believed that Collier intentionally and knowingly transported the murder weapon, a Rossi .44 Special, to the Big Thicket Pawn Shop. Had Collier not tampered with this evidence and notified law enforcement, this investigation would have been concluded significantly sooner and with an extremely different outcome. Her actions directly obstructed justice and hampered our ability to convict Tatom of murder.

On April 3, 2025, I met with members of the Lola Foundation about implementing a drug program here at the Jasper County Jail. On April 4, 2025, I met with Jimmy Goodman and his wife to discuss the possibility of starting a “Celebrate Recovery” program here in the Jasper County Jail. I’m hoping these two programs will have a positive impact on our inmates and this will fight their addiction to illegal substances and alcohol. We try our best to get our inmates the help they need to be productive members of society.

On April 7, 2025, we hired former Angelina College Police Chief and director of the Angelina College Police Academy, Doug Conn. He has 43 years in law enforcement and he will be responsible for training, personnel, and sex offender registration. He has had a long and distinguished career in law enforcement and we are happy to have him serving the citizens of Jasper County. We will continue to bring the best and brightest people to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

All persons listed in this report are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

I’d like to give a big shout out to Prissy Newman Leonard for the big piece of metal art for our office. We placed it in one of our halls so that all of our visitors and workers can see it. I am really enjoying serving the citizens of our county.

It is an honor to be the Sheriff of Jasper County. Please don’t hesitate to call us if you need us.

Respectfully,

Chuck Havard

Jasper County Sheriff