Longtime local banker choked, beaten to death; son charged

Affidavits released on Monday say that a Mexia man choked and beat his 86-year-old father to death but there is no mention of why.

Karl B. Nussbaum, 47, is charged with murder and fabricating or tampering with physical evidence related to the death of his father, Harold J. Nussbaum, the affidavits say.

Police say they believe the younger Nussbaum used a handgun to pistol whip his father but did not say if the weapon has been recovered.

Karl B. Nussbaum was charged with both crimes Saturday after police questioned him about his father, who had been reported missing the day before and was the focus of a Silver Alert, the affidavits say.

He was held Monday in the Limestone County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $900,000, jail records show.

Karl B. Nussbaum admitted during the interview with investigators that he struck his father in the head with his fists, hit him with a blunt object and strangled him inside the older man’s apartment at 615 South McKinney Street in Mexia.

While searching the residence after the admission, police found several places where blood had spattered on the floor and on furniture, the affidavits said.

Karl B. Nussbaum took police to several locations both in Mexia and at Lake Mexia where he had disposed of evidence involved in the crime, including bloody clothing, the affidavit said.

A background check conducted during the questioning also revealed Karl B. Nussbaum was named in two warrants that charged him with burglary that was issued in Travis County.

Bond on that charge was not available.

Police say Karl B. Nussbaum had been living with his father for about two months since moving to Mexia from Austin where he and his wife were getting a divorce.

The son reported his father missing on Friday afternoon last week.

Harold J. Nussbaum’s body was recovered from an area near Lake Mexia at around 7 p.m. Saturday.

Family members and neighbors say Harold J. Nussbaum was well known in the community where he had been in banking for many years and was a regular customer daily at the local McDonalds where he went to drink coffee with friends.

Mexia police Detective Sgt. Richard Hunley said the community “is in shock” over the elder Nussbaum’s violent death.

Mexia police issued a Silver Alert naming him as missing after the son reported his father gone.

Police say Karl B. Nussbaum took his father’s car to the Mexia Dollar Tree store in an effort to throw investigators off the trail.