They didn't have to. All they had to do was find Martin's fingerprints on it and perhaps his shoeprints behind the bushes.
However they released the body without processing it properly and getting the fingerprints that could trace that back to him and as we came to find out they lost his shoes as well. Coincidence???
This whole affair wouldn’t have happened in my subdivision. TM would have been sufficiently warned against his behavior.
Half the homes in my subdivision have yard signs that say, “We don’t call 911 - signed Neighborhood Gun Club”.
But. That’s Texas for you.