DALLAS (AP) – A Dallas police officer was arrested on Thursday on two capital murder cases after a man told investigators that he kidnapped and murdered two people on behalf of the officer in 2017, authorities said.
Bryan Riser, a 13-year veteran of the police force, was taken into custody Thursday morning and taken to Dallas County Jail for processing, according to a police statement. A lawyer for him could not be immediately identified.
Riser was arrested in the unrelated murders of Liza Saenz, 31, and Albert Douglas, 61, after a man came forward in August 2019 and told police he kidnapped and murdered them on behalf of Riser, Police Chief Eddie Garcia said. during a press conference. He said investigators do not know the motives for the murders, but they were unrelated to Riser’s police work.
Garcia did not explain why Riser was arrested more than a year after the witness came forward, and police did not immediately respond to questions about the timing. The chief stressed that his homicide department and the FBI were still under investigation.
Saenz’s body was pulled from the Trinity River on March 10, 2017, with several gunshot wounds, the chief said. Douglas was reported missing that year and his body has not been found.
Police did not immediately respond to an email asking if the person who implicated Riser in the murders has been charged.
Riser joined the department in 2008 and worked as a patrol officer before his arrest. Garcia acknowledged that Riser was patrolling Dallas while he was being investigated for murder and said the department is reviewing his arrests.
Riser has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into internal affairs, police said.
“We’re going to speed up our process so that this person is no longer with the department,” said Garcia.
“We will not allow anyone to affect this badge,” said the chief, pointing out that the FBI was assisting in the investigation.
Riser had not been booked into jail early Thursday afternoon, a sheriff spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney said her office had no information on the case.
The Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas contributed to this report.