League City Police
LEAGUE CITY, Texas (TCN) — Police recently arrested a 51-year-old man in connection with the death of his 30-year-old girlfriend, who was found hanged at a marina dock nearly two months ago.
On May 31, the League City Police Department received reports of a woman’s lifeless body hanging by a rope from a dock. Officers responded to the scene, where they found the female victim deceased.
Investigators suspect foul play in the death of the victim, identified by KTRK-TV as Giselle Salazar-Tapia. According to the news source, police observed one of Salazar-Tapia’s arms extended above her head, suggesting she died at another location and her body was staged as a suicide.
Police said a man they believed to be Salazar-Tapia’s boyfriend “became very distraught and would not come out of his boat.” Officers negotiated with the man and were “able to talk the man safely off” the vessel.
In an update, police said they arrested James Hart on July 25 in connection with Salazar-Tapia’s death. Hart remains held at the Galveston County Jail on a charge of tampering/fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse.
Although police did not disclose his relationship to the victim, KTRK reports that he was Salazar-Tapia’s boyfriend.
Salazar-Tapia reportedly leaves behind four children. According to KTRK, she and Hart lived together on a boat docked at the marina where she was found.