Witnesses Describe Fatal Fight at Whiskey River Saloon

SAN ANGELO, Texas – Testimony resumed Monday morning in the murder trial of Ray Vera, who is accused of stabbing Bryce Rudisell to death on Oct. 2, 2022 in the parking lot of the Whiskey River Saloon in downtown San Angelo.  

The trial began Monday with attorneys meeting with 51st District Judge Carmen Dusek in her chambers.  The meeting took about ten minutes.  When the attorneys returned to the courtroom, 119th District Attorney John Best made a few brief comments to Bryce Rudisell’s father, who was seated in the front row behind the prosecutors desk.

The first witness Monday morning was Victor Rodarte, the bystander at Whiskey River who went to aid Rudisell after he collapsed on the ground after being stabbed.  The man told jurors he was in the bar with friends when the fight inside began, but he didn’t see what happened.  He said he saw security break up the fight and tell everyone to leave.

The witness then said he saw the fight outside.  He saw Vera strike Rudisell, then Rudisell backed away, grabbed his chest and fell to the ground.  The man told the court he ran to Rudisell to see if he could help.  He then took his shirt off, placed it on Rudisell’s wound, and held pressure on it until paramedics arrived.

He said during the fight, a black guy jumped on the military guys and got one on the ground, then a woman began kicking the man on the ground.

Best then showed the enhanced surveillance video to the jury again which corroborated the witness’s testimony. The witness identified Vera in the courtroom as the man in the fight who stabbed Rudisell.

Best then called Diana Umbarger to the witness stand.  Umbarger testified that she was dating Rudisell at the time of the fatal fight and was with him that night.

Umbarger testified that they were celebrating Col Hunsberger’s promotion to Staff Sergeant that night.  She was driving and with Rudisell they picked up Devin Casey and Andrew Cauwell on the way to Fiddlestrings Bar.  They had drinks and played corn hole and generally had a good time together.  The group began dispersing and they wanted to continue the celebration so several of them decided to go to Whiskey River.

Umberger testified that at Whiskey River, they ordered drinks and then the four men began horsing around dancing to Cumbia music.  Rudisell, Casey Cauwell and Hunsberger were dancing.  She said she saw Hunsberger bump into Ray Vera on the dance floor and apologize for it.

She said Vera continued yelling and the group yelled back.  Then the fight broke out on the dance floor and Case wound up on the ground.  Rudisell helped him up as the security guard broke up the fight.

Umberger told jurors she and Rudisell went to her car and got inside waiting on the others.  She said she then say Devin Casey with blood on his shirt and she started screaming.  Rudisell got back out of the car and ran to the fight behind the car where he was stabbed.  She said she saw Andrew Cauwell covered in blood from being struck from behind with the beer mug.

She said she didn’t see Rudisell again until he was on the ground with the fatal knife wound.

Best then called Col Hunsberger to the witness stand.  His testimony was very similar to Umbergers.  He said he bumped into Vera and tried to apologize.  He said Vera called him a ‘F*cking F*gg*t’ and the military men responded verbally in kind calling Vera names.

Hunsberger says Vera’s wife then got in their face and tried to break up the altercation.  The fight ensured on the dance floor and they were told to leave.  Casey grabbed Hunsberger and they all left the bar heading for the parking lot.  That’s when Julian Suarez hit him over the head with the beer mug which was clear in the surveillance video. Hunsberger said he turned to fight but didn’t see the knife.  He said he saw Casey and Vera throwing punches then Casey yelled he had been stabbed.

Hunsberger said he then saw Rudisell fall to the ground with the stab wound.  He said Vera kept calling them ‘F*cking Pu**ies’ and ‘Bitches’ as the other group was leaving in a black SUV.

Hunsberger testified that he was wounded in the wrist, finger, bicep and the back of the head.

Judge Dusek paused the court proceeding for a 15 minute break for the jury.

When testimony resumed, Best called Devin Casey to the stand.

Casey said he was Bryce Rudisell’s best friend in San Angelo and they served as instructors at the Goodfellow Air Force Base Firefighter Training School.

He said that night was a ‘Wet Down,’ which is a tradition where a Marine who is promoted pays for drinks in the amount of the difference between his new pay and his old pay.  In this case, some $350 approximately.

Casey said when they got to Whiskey River, they ordered drinks and he started dancing by himself when the Cumbia music came on because there was no one on the dance floor.  Then the other three joined in and he was dancing backward when he bumped into Ray Vera.

“F*ck You, F*gg*t” Ray said back.  That started the verbal exchange that turned into a fight.  When Col Hunsberer was hit in the head with the beer mug, Casey said he rushed the guy with the beer mug and was on the ground.  Vera was standing over him with the knife yelling, “Come on Mother F*cker!”

The fight ended and the police and paramedics arrived and took the wounded men to the hospital.  Casey testified that he was being treated in the hospital when the doctor came and told him that Rudisell didn’t survive his chest wound.

Casey also identified Ray Vera as the man with the knife who stabbed the marines and fatally stabbed Rudisell.

Under cross examination, Defense Attorney Tommy Jackson asked Casey if anyone had told him he was not a coward for his actions that night.  That comment upset one of the women in the gallery.  She got up and let.  The remark also confused others in the courtroom.

Judge Dusek sustained two objections by Best during that line of questioning by Jackson.  Jackson also showed a beer mug to Casey, but didn’t enter it into evidence, which also raised concerns by the judge and prosecutors.

Jackson said, “There wasn’t any problem until you showed up,” at Whiskey River.  Case responded that they weren’t looking for a fight that night.

The state rested its case Monday afternoon.  Vera's attorneys told the court he would not take the stand to testify in his own defense.  

The defense indicated they would present one witness Tuesday morning.  

The jury will be back in court at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday morning.