Dallas Police have apprehended a “person of interest” in the death of senior Meaghan Bosch, but still have not named a suspect in the case.
James McDaniel, a 46-year-old parolee, is being held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on a sexual assault charge unrelated to Bosch’s death.
Bosch’s body was found in a portable toilet at a construction site near Waco on May 14. Her corpse was wrapped in a blanket and her purse, cell phone and shoes were missing. However, local authorities said she was still clothed – including three diamonds in her ears and jewelry on her hands.
Authorities do not know how she got there.
In a jailhouse interview with The Dallas Morning News, McDaniel said he did not know how Bosch wound up in the portable toilet. He also denied selling drugs to Bosch or anyone else.
An arrest warrant affidavit released by a Dallas judge Thursday also gave more details.
It said Bosch had lunch with McDaniel at the On The Border on Knox-Henderson on May 10. Afterwards she went to his home near the intersection of Central Expressway and Mockingbird Lane. Witnesses at the scene told investigators that Bosch appeared under the influence of illegal drugs.
The warrant also said McDaniel kept drugs that he sold in his closet; including cocaine, heroin, marijuana and prescription pills.
An autopsy conducted on Bosch required further testing, although Dallas Police believe she overdosed on drugs. The results of the autopsy should be available in mid-June.
Bosch’s family said they knew she used cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, drank heavily and also abused prescription pills.
(Ed. note: The article incorrectly asserted the Bosch family’s knowledge of Meaghan’s drug use. The family says they became aware of the use on Friday May, 4. Only subsequently were they able to trace the usage back two months. They were also not sure of the types of drugs she was using at the time.)
Bosch went missing May 10 – prompting her family to go before local media outlets over the next few days and SMU to send out a campus-wide e-mail to students, faculty and staff.
Dallas Police sought out McDaniel, Bosch’s drug dealer, for help in locating her. He talked with officers, but then disappeard shortly afterwards.
He was not located until May 23, when U.S. Marshalls found him unconscious in an SMU student’s apartment. When he regained consciousness he immediately asked for his attorney and refused any additional treatment from doctors at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
McDaniel is being held on an allegation from a 32-year-old woman who says he drugged and assaulted her in December 2005.
He was already on parole for a 1979 shooting death of former Dallas Police Officer James Burton Horan. He served 22 years for the shooting was released in 2001.
Investigators believe he opened an illegal underground poker room at his home after his release. They believe SMU students and other Dallas residents gambled there. Some gamblers also went there for the growing drug business McDaniel allegedly operated.
Multiple agencies are now involved in the investigation into Bosch’s death: Dallas police, officers from the homicide division and the Texas Rangers.
– compiled by The Daily Campus
