Valerian Osteen: Texas Man Sentenced to Death for the Torture and Murder of Ex-Girlfriend

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On Monday, September 22, 2025, a Tarrant County jury sentenced 28-year-old Valerian "Will" Osteen to death for the 2022 murder of 26-year-old Marissa Grimes, a mother of two.

According to prosecutors, Marissa Grimes was beaten to death by a man she had tried to leave, and he kept her body hidden under his house for several days after the killing.


The Tarrant County District Attorney’s office said that Osteen had a known history of physically abusing Grimes, as per Law&Crime. 

Just a month before she died, he allegedly held her at gunpoint for several days and wouldn’t let her leave his house. She was only rescued after she managed to text her mother for help, who then called the police.

Osteen was arrested and, following that incident, he was forced to wear a GPS monitor, and he was also ordered to stay away from Grimes.

But according to prosecutors, Osteen was furious that the police was involved and he was also wearing a monitoring device.

"He was angry and wanted the GPS monitor removed," the DA's office stated. "And he told people that he was going to kill Grimes."

Grimes’ family even advised her to relocate and start fresh in West Texas to escape the toxic relationship.

But despite the reported threats and the well-known problems between them, she and Osteen continued to stay in contact.

On February 12, 2022, Grimes had packed a U-Haul and was ready to start a new chapter, but sadly, she made the fatal decision to visit Osteen one last time to say goodbye.

That choice tragically cost her life, as she never left his home alive. 

Valerian Osteen 

After Marissa failed to reach er family, they knew something was terribly wrong, so they reported her missing. Days later, on February 21, the U-Haul truck containing all her belongings was found abandoned just a mile from Osteen’s home.

According to PEOPLE, this unsettling discovery triggered a swift police response and a search warrant was executed at Osteen’s Fort Worth rental home. 

On February 22, authorities discovered Grimes’ decomposing body "wrapped in blankets and a tarp in the crawl space."

Autopsy reports later revealed that Marissa Grimes suffered a brutal assault and was tortured to death. She had two black eyes, a broken arm, broken ribs, a broken nose, and several deep cuts on her head. Additionally, her hair had also been cut off. 

The medical examiner ruled her death as blunt force trauma, and also confirmed that she was beaten to death. After she passed, Osteen dug her a shallow grave in his house and lived above her for 10 days.

During the trial, the evidence against Osteen was overwhelming.

A neighbor testified that they saw him threaten Marissa with a gun on the night she was last seen alive. 

In addition to his long history of violence and that crucial witness account, another woman later came forward after Grimes’ death.

She told police that Osteen had once held her captive and assaulted her. 

While trapped in his home, she noticed blood and asked about it. Osteen coldly claimed it was from another man he had tortured.


“There was one person with the motive, opportunity, and the desire to kill Marissa Grimes,” prosecutor Allenna Bangs said in a press release.

After hearing all the testimony and evidence, the jury had no trouble finding Valerian Osteen guilty of capital murder.

During sentencing, they were tasked with choosing between life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

They Jury deliberated and concluded that the nature of the crime—the torture, the concealment, and the predatory pattern of behavior—warranted the maximum punishment. On September 22, 2025, the sentence was officially handed down: death.

For the family of Marissa Grimes, the sentence is a stark acknowledgment of the profound loss they have suffered. 

While it cannot bring her back, it ensures that Valerian Osteen will never again be able to inflict such pain on another person.

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