A man barrels though the entrance of a gutted building pointing a rifle at three astonished workmates and fires the weapon. Two individuals scatter, vanishing into another room and the third victim, who turns to run in another direction, is shot at as he bolts away.
For a few seconds, the shooter follows the pair who took off and points the firearm at them. Then he turns and heads after the other person who fled, pursuing him into an office.
Once there, he yells at the injured man to lie down on the floor in front of a shiny blue tool chest. He checks the shot victim, who is writhing on the floor, but offers him no aid. The shooter then calls 911.
These were the grim images caught by a surveillance camera at the old Bisbee High the afternoon that investigators say Mathew Gistinger shot his boss, Brent Roosevelt Hester, to death. The fatal shooting occurred on Sept. 22, 2022, just after 1 p.m. Bisbee Police said Gistinger fired the rifle four times. Hester was hit with three bullets.
Investigators said Gistinger had pointed a handgun at Hester in Hester’s office the day prior to the fatal incident and expressed his disappointment with the job and his fellow workmates at the construction site on Clawson Avenue.
That encounter on Sept. 21 also was caught by the surveillance cameras.
At a hearing Thursday in Cochise County Superior Court Judge Jason Lindstrom’s courtroom, Gistinger was asking for a reduced bond so he could go to Idaho with his family. Some of his relatives sat in the courtroom, a couple of them crying as they saw the enraged defendant on the clips.
Gistinger is charged with first-degree murder, endangerment/aggravated assault and several weapons offenses for the killing; and aggravated assault, burglary in the first degree and armed robbery, for the gun-pointing incident the day before.
His bail had been set at $100,000 cash bond for the homicide and $750,000 cash bond for the aggravated assault. Defense attorney Andrew Marcy asked that the lower cash bond remain, but requested the higher bond be reduced to $5,000. He called the higher cash bond “illogical.”
But after watching the shocking scenes Thursday, Lindstrom nixed the idea of lowering the bail and instead ordered that Gistinger be held at the Cochise County Jail without bond.
“You knew what you were doing,” Lindstrom said as he addressed Gistinger in court toward the end of the hearing.
The judge, who had already listened to testimony from Bisbee Police Detective Jesus Valenzuela — which included mention that Gistinger tried to escape from the police department during his interview — then recounted to Gistinger how the defendant had carefully planned the incident that left Hester dead.
Agreeing with Cochise County Deputy Attorney Terisha Driggs that Gistinger posed a flight risk, the judge told Gistinger he would be a danger to society if allowed to be released on a lower bond.
“There could be no reasonable conditions that I could set that would protect the community from you,” Lindstrom said.
Driggs said the video clips from the surveillance camera spelled out what occurred.
“This is the clearest case of premeditation ever caught on video,” Driggs said. “He (Gistinger) thoughtfully and deliberately planned this murder.
“The videos speak volumes,” Driggs added.
After the shooting, Gistinger called 911 and reported the incident, Valenzuela testified.
He said when police arrived at the old high school, Gistinger was standing outside, various weapons next to him on the ground.
The detective said Gistinger later told him during his interview that he was frustrated with his job scenario.
“He was angry and frustrated,” Valenzuela said. “He said he felt like he didn’t fit in anymore.”
Valenzuela said Gistinger told him he was angry because his co-workers were always goofing off. He was also unhappy with some of the work assignments he was getting at the construction site.
In the surveillance video of the first incident where Gistinger was pointing a handgun at Hester, Gistinger expresses his disappointment clearly, using one expletive over and over.
Hester, meanwhile, sitting at his desk wearing a white construction helmet, calmly tells the defendant to go home and “sleep on it.” He assures Gistinger that he won’t report the situation to police. Gistinger, however, tried to make sure of that by hurling Hester’s cell phone against the wall. Before he left Hester’s office, the defendant and Hester shook hands.
The detective revealed that Gistinger and Hester later sent text messages to each other that evening. In those, Gistinger denies that he pointed a firearm at Hester. At that point Hester tells him he’s fired and wishes him well. Valenzuela said Hester never reported the gun-pointing incident to police.
The next day, Gistinger went to the high school and killed Hester, police said. Valenzuela said the defendant tried to disguise himself as a United Parcel Service driver, an outfit he had purchased the day before at the Walmart in Sierra Vista. Valenzuela also testified that after buying the uniform-style getup, Gistinger went to the CAL Ranch Store across the street and bought a .22 rifle and ammunition.
Additionally, police conducted a search of the defendant’s car and found some survivalist items such as MRE’s — meals ready to-eat — and “a lot of ammo” Valenzuela said.
One of the most telling pieces of evidence discovered by investigators came from Gistinger’s computer. Detectives found he had been researching whether police could track down an individual if that person’s cell phone was turned off.
Valenzuela also shared that Gistinger’s father, Joe Gistinger, called him during the course of the investigation and told him that he was ex-law enforcement and that the victim in the case had a checkered past.
“He told me to take that into consideration,” Valenzuela said.
Marcy, the defense lawyer representing Gistinger, argued that his client called 911 and waited for police to arrive at the scene, a sign that he’s not a flight risk. Marcy also said his client does not speak another language, so he would not leave this country.
“Where is he going to go?” the attorney asked. “ ... He didn’t make a break for Mexico, which is 8 miles away.”
He added that Gistinger’s family would supervise him in Idaho as his matter winds through the court and that he would wear a GPS monitor and adhere to a curfew. He said the family wanted to get Gistinger into counseling.
Hester’s mother and wife, who were listening to the hearing on the phone, asked Lindstrom to deny the defense’s request to let Gistinger off on a lower bond.
“My son’s fatal error was to give Mr. Gistinger a second chance,” Hester’s mother said. Her name is not being used because she’s considered a crime victim.
Hester’s wife said if Gistinger was released, it would send the wrong message to her children.
“I have to look at my children every day wondering what’s going through their minds,” she said. “ ... They will never get to see their father again.”