A man recently charged with multiple counts of murder related to the 2016 deaths of two people in Travis County, Texas, was arrested on Monday by the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and the Austin Police Department.
On September 18, a grand jury indicted 53-year-old Harvey Lester Cyphers in the murders of Sidney Taylor and Krislyn Gibson. The pair had traveled from their homes in Houston to Austin on April 1, 2016, to attend the 2016 Urban Music Festival.
Cyphers, of Cedar Creek, Texas, was located in downtown Austin on Monday and taken to the Travis County Jail where he’ll await judicial proceedings, according to a press release provided to Dateline.
Krislyn and Sidney, both 35 and both of Houston, Texas, arrived in Austin on April 1, 2016 to attend the 2016 Urban Music Festival, according to previous reporting by Dateline. NBC affiliate 9news, reported that the pair contacted Cyphers, whom Sidney had allegedly known for years and they went to a club and until the early morning hours of April 2. According to 9news, Sidney’s cousin called to check on them and he said they were with Cyphers.
They were never seen again.
Sidney’s 2010 Dodge Charger was found in a parking lot in the Midtown district of Houston and his cell phone last pinged in the Bear Creek Park area of West Houston, Dateline reported in the digital series "Missing in America" shortly after the duo’s disappearance
According to 9news, a previous indictment issued last year accused Cyphers of knowingly concealing one of the bodies, using a bath mat, shower liner and shower curtains, as well as allegedly altering or concealing “a motor vehicle, a cell phone, text messages.”
In the 2020 indictment, it was stated that Cyphers was on federal supervised release at the time of his arrest for felony possession of a firearm. On Friday, he was indicted on one count of capital murder and four counts of murder for the killing of multiple persons. The 2020 indictment doesn’t reference the charges of tampering with a corpse.
Cyphers was arrested without incident and transported to the Travis County Jail where his bond was set at $1.5 million.
Anyone who may have additional information about Krislyn and Sidney’s case is asked to contact the Houston Police Department at (713) 308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS
