FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - South Florida authorities have arrested a man wanted in Texas for the murder of a Dallas attorney.
Steven Aubrey, 61, is said to have had a contentious relationship with attorney Ira Tobolowsky, back in May of 2016.
According to Dallas Police, that is when Aubrey set Tobolowsky on fire in his garage.
Six years after the gruesome murder, Aubrey has been arrested in South Florida.
“Ultimately, information, evidence gathered during the years-long investigation resulted in us making the arrest, and he was taken into custody in Oakland Park, Florida,” said Dallas Police Department spokesperson Kristin Lowman.
Aubrey made his first court appearance on Thursday, charged with capital murder. In Texas, he will face the death penalty.
Police said Aubrey watched Tobolowsky for some time at his home. On the day of the murder, he cut a hole in Tobolowsky’s fence, filled a bottle with gasoline and doused the 68-year-old attorney, which is what ultimately killed Tobolowsky.
Tobolowsky was found in his garage, near his car, burned to death. He was a family man, who also suffered from a spinal condition.
Aubrey and Tobolowsky were embroiled in two separate lawsuits.
Police said Tobolowsky represented Aubrey’s mother, who left him out of her will, which according to friends and family, made Aubrey very angry.
“To say that they’re crazed in some way and in many ways,” said Tobolowsky family attorney Steve Schoettmer, “I mean the anger was just unprecedented.”
That case grew contentious and led to other lawsuits, including a case where Tobolowsky sued Aubrey, accusing him of spreading lies. The defamation case was still open when Tobolowsky was murdered.
When asked if Tobolowsky had any enemies, his family immediately pointed to Aubrey.
Tobolowsky’s sons had even had heated exchanges on social media with Aubrey.
“Our dad was always the guy who protected others,” said Michael Tobolowsky, “and we feel like it’s our turn to kind of step up, do anything we possibly can to try to help the police get the information they need.”
The case went cold for six years, but there was finally some evidence that would tie Aubrey to this murder, said police.
Dallas Police have not released or said what evidence led to the connection of Aubrey for the murder of Tobolowsky.
Aubrey remains at the Broward County Jail with a $2 million bond hold.
He will then be extradited to Dallas to face charges for this murder.
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