Estranged husband kills wife’s boyfriend, makes her help dispose of body, Texas cops say

A Texas man accused of killing his estranged wife’s boyfriend and forcing her to help dispose of the body is at large, according to investigators.

Michael Maurice Mack, 48, is facing a charge of murder, and he’s on the loose, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in an Aug. 17 news release.

After spending the night out, Mack’s estranged wife and her boyfriend went to bed at her home in Katy — but the couple woke up to Mack standing over them, court documents said.

Katy is a roughly 30-mile drive west from downtown Houston.

It was about 3 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, when Mack broke in, investigators said, entering through a window. But it wasn’t until Mack struck the woman in the head with a rifle that she and the man she was with, Kelvin Hinton, woke up, according to documents.

Mack was heavily armed, with three pistols strapped to his body in addition to the rifle he was shoving in Hinton’s face, the woman told deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. She tried to save Hinton’s life, pushing the rifle’s barrel away from him as she begged Mack not to pull the trigger, officials said. Her pleading didn’t work, and Mack fired a single shot, killing Hinton.

He started hitting her, threatening to kill her, and in between he explained that he’d been watching her all day, she told deputies.

Mack and the woman got married in 2019 but they’d been separated for more than a year and lived separately, documents read. During that time, she said Mack had repeatedly stalked her.

With his rifle to her head, Mack handed her one of his pistols and told her to shoot Hinton, documents said. He then grabbed her hand and put it on the gun and “placed his hand over her hand and forced her to shoot” Hinton, according to the documents.

Mack wrapped Hinton’s body up with the bedsheets and ordered the woman to help him get rid of the remains and evidence, she told officials.

They dragged the body downstairs into the garage and drove it to a property in Vidor — a roughly 120-mile drive east from Katy.

Using gas he bought at a nearby Mobile station, Mack doused Hinton’s body and set it on fire, documents said. He cleaned the vehicle at a car wash and drove them both back to his apartment before letting her go.

After getting “far enough” from Mack, the woman went into a gas station and asked the clerk to call 911, according to officials.

Investigators went to the property in Vidor and found Hinton’s burned remains.

Deputies are still searching for Mack.

Anyone with information on Mack’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-274-9100.

This story was originally published August 18, 2024 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Estranged husband kills wife’s boyfriend, makes her help dispose of body, Texas cops say."