Woman's husband charged with murder
Associated Press, SAN ANTONIO. The husband of a woman whose charred remains were found outside San Antonio this week was charged with murder Friday.
Richard McFarland, 45, of suburban Terrell Hills, was taken into custody Tuesday on a variety of lesser charges linked to the disappearance of his wife Susan in late November.
He was being held on bonds totaling $450,000 for the other charges. He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon on the murder count.
Susan McFarland's burned body was found at an abandoned farm in southeast Bexar County shortly before her husband's arrest. An autopsy performed Thursday by the county's medical examiner determined she died of blunt trauma to the head and ruled her death a homicide.
"Domestic violence is a crime with the most disastrous of consequences," said Susan Reed, Bexar County's district attorney, in a written statement. "This case represents the cruelest of action and the most tragic of results."
The 43-year-old mother of three young sons supported the family as an accounting manager at SBC Communications Inc. Her husband, formerly a salesman, was unemployed.
The McFarland boys - ages 11, 9 and 5 - were in the care of the state Child Protective Services office.
Richard McFarland, the only suspect to emerge in the case, was arrested on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and two counts of attempting to obstruct the probe into his wife's disappearance.
Susan McFarland had last been seen Nov. 25. Her Ford Explorer was found near her home in upscale Terrell Hills three days later.
Her friends told Texas Rangers that she was planning to start divorce proceedings in early December. A folder with divorce-related paperwork was found in her office at SBC, Ranger Shawn Palmer said in an affidavit last month.
Searches of the family's home turned up apparent bloodstains and droplets, according to the affidavit. McFarland, said to be uncooperative with investigators, was also observed to have cuts on his hands.
The pending charges against McFarland stem from the theft of a Chevrolet Suburban for sale at a Terrell Hills gas station. The vehicle was found across the street from the McFarland house, parked in the garage of an unoccupied home.
A wallet with items bearing Richard McFarland's name was found in the Suburban, Palmer's affidavit stated, and an apparent blood smear was seen on the vehicle's rear bumper.
Woman's body found by divers
STRATFORD, Texas (AP) - Texas Department of Public Safety divers found a woman's body Friday in a flooded pit near the home of a missing couple. Maria Delores Rueda, 31, and her boyfriend, Carlos Castorena, 28, have been missing since late September, her relatives said. The body, which was not immediately identified, was taken to Lubbock for an autopsy. Stratford Police Chief Jim Dewees earlier said he was almost certain a body was inside the pit, which is a near a mobile home where the couple lived. Police had been called to the mobile home several times this year to investigate domestic violence accusations. The property owner was checking out the area Wednesday when he removed some plywood covering the pit, then called police. The DPS dive team arrived Thursday night and began the search. Dewees said officials originally believed the 10-foot-deep excavation was a septic tank. However, after a backhoe was called in to widen an 18-inch opening, officials said the excavation was more likely an abandoned storm cellar. Stratford is 78 miles north of Amarillo.
Violent deaths leave questions
BY ERICK SANTOS
Times staff reporter
As the smoke clears and the cries of loved ones emanate, the only remnants of a downtrodden relationship are two perished lives and many unanswered questions.
On a brisk Wednesday afternoon, police officers responded to a call at a Laundromat in the 4200 block of McPherson, where they found the grizzly results of an estranged relationship.
The victim, Veronica Hinojosa, 46, and mother of two from a previous marriage, became another casualty of domestic violence.
The triggerman, common-law husband Carlos Ramos, 45, father of four from a previous marriage, also was a casualty of the incident in which he ended his own life.
Immediately after shooting Hinojosa, Ramos attempted to take his own life, police quoted witnesses as saying.
Ramos initially survived the gunshot blast, but several hours later Ramos died Thursday morning from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Police reports said Ramos died at 8 a.m. Thursday.
According to Ofelia Salazar, Hinojosa's mother, the couple recently had a string of altercations.
"They were not married, only by common-law," she said. "They had lived together for seven years, but it had been a year that he had not been living with her."
Reasons for ending Hinojosa's life remain unclear.
However, Salazar stated that during one of Ramos' many drunken rampages, he had threatened Hinojosa's son's life.
"She was afraid for her life and that of her children," she said.
It was on Wednesday afternoon when the realities of Hinojosa's fears became real.
Ramos entered the Gateway Cleaners Outlet and within moments, a mother and a role model was taken away from her family.
According to Laredo Police Public Information Officer Juan Rivera, police speculate that "she wouldn't take him back" after their separation.
Autopsies for both victims have been ordered by Justice of the Peace Hector Liendo, which will be performed in the Bexar County Examiner's office in San Antonio.
(Staff writer Erick Santos can be reached at 728-2565 or by e-mail at erick@lmtonline.com)
Two indicted for allegedly their killing wives
BY ROBERT GARCIA
Times staff writer
Two Laredo men have been indicted on unrelated murder charges after both defendants allegedly killed their wives.
The two indictments were ironically returned as the observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to an end.
Chief prosecutor for the 341st District Court, Robert Balli, said five children were left without their parents following the two tragic events.
The first murder indictment returned by a state grand jury was against Reynol Vela, 39, who was indicted for the shooting death of his wife, teacher Martha Vela, 37.
The police probe first began as a manslaughter investigation after Vela claimed he was scared by a noise coming from behind his bathroom door and opened fire.
Martha Vela sustained a bullet wound to the base of the neck and died some four days later at a local hospital.
Reynol Vela is charged with first-degree murder for the August 24 shooting. The couple has a son and daughter.
The second indictment was issued against Dagoberto Morales, 34, who was charged with the murder of his wife, Sonia Palacios, 33.
The victim's throat was slashed during an argument outside their home off Highway 359.
The couple has three children.
The murder took place on May 12.
Balli said another murder defendant, Juan Francisco Dozal, 34, is also facing murder charges after he allegedly strangled his wife, Elizabeth, at their apartment on November 30, 1999.
The couple also has two sons, ages 5 and 3. Dozal's case is expected to go to trial next month.
Three dead, one wounded in shooting at San Antonio business
By CHIP BROWN
Associated Press Writer
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A rifle-toting gunman, apparently still angered by a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend the night before, opened fire Tuesday at her workplace, killing her and another woman before killing himself.
Charles Lee White, 42, was found dead along with his former girlfriend, Pamela Henry, 38, and Juanita Morin, 41, when members of the San Antonio Police Department SWAT team stormed the front doors of ProtoCall, a paging and answering service in a business park in northeast San Antonio.
Ms. Henry and Ms. Morin both worked at ProtoCall.
Another female ProtoCall employee, whose identity wasn't immediately released, was flown to Brooke Army Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the head.
She was in critical condition and underwent emergency surgery, according to Arcy Longoria, a hospital spokeswoman.
"The police were looking into the office and talking to someone and then they waited for a few minutes and a lady came out holding her head and she was bleeding," said George Mendoza, an employee of Alternative Copier Service in the same strip of retail businesses.
A woman who worked for a separate business sharing the same office with ProtoCall escaped injury by hiding under her desk, police said.
Police were notified about the shooting at 8:46 a.m., and SWAT teams were assembled when police believed the gunman might still be alive, police Sgt. Ernest Celaya said.
When SWAT officers and emergency medical technicians entered the building an hour later, they found Ms. Henry, Ms. Morin and White, all dead.
"The suspect opened fire on the victims before turning the rifle on himself," Celaya said.
According to police reports, Ms. Henry had called authorities Monday night, contending White was threatening her and had taken the spark plug wires from her car so that it wouldn't run.
White told Ms. Henry, "If you don't spend time with me, then you're not getting the stuff back," according to the police report.
Ms. Henry told officer A. Cortez that White "had a bad temper" and that she was "very afraid of him."
"The officer who responded to the call strongly advised the woman against going to work this morning," Celaya said. "But obviously she didn't heed that advice, and we had this incident of workplace violence."
According to police reports, White also showed up at ProtoCall on June 10 and physically assaulted Ms. Henry.
The first call about Tuesday's shooting came from the woman who suffered the gunshot wound to the head, said Capt. Frank Xiques, a supervisor in the city's communications division.
"She indicated that somebody had walked in and shot three people. She indicated that she was shot," he said. "Very calmly, she gave the address and any information we needed."
Sister says victim sought help Adela Rodriguez’s story involves homelessness, stealing, alleged beatings
BY GILBERT VILLARREAL
Times staff writer
"Adela desperately sought help from the attorney general's office and health and human services to feed her children and find a roof to cover them," said Lucia Sanchez, sister of the deceased victim of domestic violence.
Adela Rodriguez, 36, who was shot to death with a 30-caliber M-1 assault rifle Wednesday morning, had been homeless with her five children for the last two years, Sanchez said.
The victim was severely beaten before being shot allegedly by her estranged husband, Javier Rodriguez, also 36. The death took place in front of the couple's five children and two of Adela's sisters.
Javier Rodriguez, who allegedly shot himself in the face, was airlifted Wednesday to a San Antonio hospital. He was listed in critical condition Thursday.
The couple had been married 18 years, and two months ago, Adela filed for separation, Sanchez said.
Thelma Treviño, the victim's eldest sister, added, "Two years ago (Adela's husband) sold the family's trailer home, threw out his wife and children and moved into a single-unit apartment. My sister Adela was forced to live in a car and many times she stole from supermarkets to try to feed her children."
Besides the insurmountable obstacles and difficulties her sister faced, she would also get repeatedly beaten by her husband, Treviño added.
The suspect, a plumber for a real estate business, would not provide any child support, Treviño said, and Adela lived with the threat of further physical and sexual assaults if she reported the incidents.
Although Adela applied for food stamps and Medicaid and fought for child support, red tape kept her from receiving such services, Sanchez said.
"Where was the attorney general's office in helping my sister get some child support and not have to steal to feed her children? Where was the health and human services department that claims to have programs for at-risk and needy families and was not able to provide at least temporary food stamps so that my sister could feed her five children?" Sanchez asked.
The couple had four girls, ages five, seven, 12 and 17, and a 15-year-old son.
"Where are all those supposedly fine organizations we read about, that place $1 million for this project, $5 million for another, $10 for another to build, according to them, Laredo, while families and homes are crumbling? Just as if the rug was being pulled from under their feet," Treviño said.
Treviño also questioned why school officials, including nurses and teachers, did not detect that the children were homeless, malnourished and traumatized for witnessing the brutal abuse of their mother.
"Could they not detect children without a home, where to sleep, or without food or with a mother always bruised up?" Treviño asked.
Sanchez and Treviño are now appealing to the Laredo community for help for Adela's children.
A special bank account has been established for the children for their immediate needs, but even though one of the victim's sisters is requesting custody of the five children, their fate is still up in the air.
Account number 070915806 has been set up at Commerce Bank, 2120 East Saunders, under the name of Adela Rodriguez.
Sanchez and Treviño said they are in desperate need of five beds, basic furniture for the children, as well as food and clothing. She asks that help be sent to Angelica Treviño at 801 Lyon St., phone 724-7127.
(Staff writer Gilbert Villarreal can be reached at 728-2566 or by e-mail at gilbert@lmtonline.com)
Millionaire guilty of having ex-wife killed
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press Writer
SAN ANTONIO - A Texas millionaire was found guilty Thursday of arranging the 1997 murder-for-hire of his ex-wife, who was found in her Florida home shot and with her throat slit, her 2-year-old quadruplets from a later marriage playing nearby. Allen Blackthorne, the last of four people to be convicted or to plead guilty in the slaying of Sheila Bellush, faces a mandatory life sentence after being convicted of interstate conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and a charge of interstate domestic violence. He faces sentencing Nov. 2.
Prosecutors had portrayed Blackthorne as a man who hated his ex-wife and who, after a string of custody battles, turned his hatred into a scheme to have her killed for $54,000, with a bonus if he regained custody of their two daughters, who had been adopted by Sheila Bellush's second husband. Blackthorne admitted he once threatened to kill Bellush because he thought she was a negligent mother, but denied arranging her murder.
The verdict came hours after Jose Luis Del Toro Jr. pleaded guilty in Sarasota, Fla., to fatally shooting and stabbing Bellush on Nov. 7, 1997. After entering the plea, Del Toro sang a song in court asking for forgiveness. Afterward, a Florida judge sentenced him to life in prison with no parole for Bellush's slaying. He was given a second consecutive life term for armed burglary of her home.
The San Antonio courtroom was silent as the verdict against Blackthorne was read because marshals had threatened to remove anyone who made an outburst. However, once her elevator reached the ground floor, Gene Smith, Sheila Bellush's mother, spread her arms and yelled "hallelujah" as the doors opened.
"God bless all of these people who stood up for my daughter," she said. "God bless these wonderful people." Sheila Bellush's husband, Jamie Bellush, in a telephone interview from Tampa, Fla., called the verdict, "a bittersweet thing." "It's a tragic story for everyone involved, but certainly our family is going to have closure," said Bellush, who had attended the Del Toro hearing earlier Thursday.
Blackthorne's lead defense attorney, Richard Lubin, with Blackthorne's wife, Maureen, at his side, said he would appeal the verdict. "We felt that there was more than reasonable doubt. A great injustice has been done." Del Toro also faces a mandatory life sentence. The man convicted of hiring him, his cousin Sammy Gonzales, has been sentenced to 19 years in prison. Daniel Rocha, Blackthorne's golfing buddy and the man who asked Gonzales to find someone to kill or harm Sheila Bellush, is serving life in prison.
After Del Toro pleaded guilty, Jamie Bellush held up photos of his wife's bloody body and bellowed: "Mr. Del Toro, you're a worthless coward. Cowards like you attack defenseless women who weigh 107 pounds.... Cowards run from their crimes, like you did like a scared little child."
Rocha and Gonzales had testified against Blackthorne. Rocha said the millionaire wanted his ex-wife "crippled, in a wheelchair, with no tongue" and offered him a 25 percent stake in a proposed $20 million golf resort if he would do it. Gonzales said he was offered thousands for killing Sheila Bellush, with a bonus if Blackthorne received custody of his daughters. The San Antonio jury eight men and four women began deliberating June 29 after three weeks of testimony. They took a total of 33 hours to reach a verdict.
Blackthorne's daughter, Stevie Bellush, testified when she discovered her mother's body in a pool of blood in her Sarasota, Fla., kitchen she first she believed Sheila Bellush "was playing a trick on me." Sheila Bellush had been shot in the cheek and her throat had been slit.
"My mother is dead," a sobbing Stevie Bellush was heard saying on a 911 tape. She was 13 at the time. Stevie found two of the quadruplets, the children of Sheila and Jamie Bellush, playing nearby. Two of them had blood on their faces.
Jurors also heard transcripts from a deposition taken from Sheila Bellush during her divorce proceedings, in which she said Blackthorne told her: " 'I'll make sure you never walk again, your face is maimed.' " Prosecutors said he also hired private investigators to track down Bellush after she moved from Texas. Blackthorne testified he once became so upset after a daughter fell out of a second-story window that he told Bellush he would kill her if "anything happens to my kids."
The incident occurred shortly after the couple, who married in 1983, separated. They divorced in 1989. "I felt like I meant it when I said it," Blackthorne testified. "I was angry. I was mad." Rocha testified that he contacted Gonzales on Blackthorne's behalf, and that Gonzales hired Del Toro, a former high school football star in Uvalde to kill Sheila Bellush.
Del Toro fled to Mexico after the killing. He fought extradition for more than a year, but was returned to the U.S. after officials agreed not to seek the death penalty if he were convicted. Blackthorne is retired after making a fortune selling medical devices. His firm, International Rehabilitative Sciences, sells muscle stimulators under the name RS Medical. It is based in Vancouver, Wash.
Man kills girlfriend, self; police accidentally shoot each other
AUSTIN (AP) - A man who fatally shot his girlfriend after a domestic dispute held police at bay for six hours Saturday before apparently taking his own life.
A police officer and a Travis County sheriff's deputy were shot accidentally by colleagues during the standoff, a police spokesman said.
The episode began around 6:30 a.m. when an off-duty Travis County sheriff's deputy went to the house of neighbor Victoria Treminio, 44, to investigate a domestic scuffle. Several of Treminio's relatives were in the home at the time.
The deputy called police for help. By the time they arrived, Treminio's 43-year-old boyfriend, Ignacio Martinez, had shot her several times with a handgun, police reported.
Ms. Treminio died about two hours later at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin.
After she was taken away, Martinez barricaded himself inside the house and held about 50 officers at bay.
Police evacuated several neighboring homes and tried for hours to communicate with Martinez, but were unsuccessful.
Officers initially thought they had a hostage crisis when they were unable to locate a boy who was inside the home. They later found the child at a neighbor's house. Police were unsure what his relation was to Ms. Termini.
Officers tried flushing Martinez out with tear gas and even used a robot to deliver a phone to him.
Just after 1 p.m., officers heard a gunshot from the house and found Martinez dead inside, police said.
Police said they shot two of their own inadvertently during the standoff, off-duty Travis County Sheriff's Deputy Dan Gonzales and Austin police Officer Andy Anderson.
Gonzales was in good condition at Brackenridge Hospital Saturday night. Anderson was treated and released.
The two city police officers involved in the shooting. Eric De Los Santos, a nine-year-veteran, and Michael Burgh, a three-year veteran, were placed on administrative duty while the Office of Professional Standards and a designated "shooting team" investigates.
Police say Ms. Treminio and Martinez had lived together off and on for the past few years. Officers had gone to the home five times since July 1994 because of domestic violence reports.
In May 1996, officers told Treminio how to obtain a restraining order after responding to a report that Martinez had broken her car windows during a fight. Police said they don't know whether Ms. Treminio ever pursued a restraining order.
Laredo man gets life, 99 years in wife's throat slashing death
BY ERICK SANTOS
Times staff writer
A Laredo man who was found guilty by a 341st District Court jury for slashing his wife's throat was sentenced to life in prison Thursday morning.
Dagoberto Morales, 34, who had previously been arrested for assault charges and had a protective order against him, was sentenced by Judge Elma Salinas Ender to serve life in prison for murder.
Morales, who was also given a 99 year sentence for burglary of a habitation, forced his way into the home of the victim, Sonia Palacios, at Los Altos subdivision at about 2 a.m. on May, 12, 2000, the morning of Palacios' death.
When Palacios returned home at about 5:30 a.m. from a night out with friends, Morales attacked her as she stepped out of her vehicle, and he slashed her throat.
Morales was then believed to have used the knife on himself to cut his own throat. Morales and Palacios were found lying in front of Palacios' home, head to head.
Morales was found guilty after a week long trial in late June. He elected for the judge to assess his punishment.
Before the sentence was imposed, defense attorney, Eddie Peña told the court that Morales was under the influence of sudden passion and that the court should impose a 20-year sentence.
If had committed this crime, "he was so remorseful, that he attempted to take his own life in a harsh manner," Pena said.
However, Assistant District Attorney Roberto Balli asked the court to impose a stiff sentence of life in prison because of the "gruesomeness" of the crime.
"The injuries were just horrible," said Balli. "He almost cut her head off."
Balli also asked the court to consider the history of domestic violence concerning Morales and Palacios, and a death threat he reportedly made on Palacios four days before her death.
"He chose to take her life that day," said Balli.
After the sentence was commanded, Morales was immediately removed from the courtroom.
Morales, dressed in prison attire, gave a quick wave to his family as he was removed from the courtroom.
Balli said that he was very satisfied with the judge's decision and that the sentencing sends a message to the community about domestic violence.
"I am especially happy for Palacios' family - this will bring closure to them," he said.
Peña was not available for comment about the outcome of the sentencing.
As part of the sentencing hearing, Palacios' mother and sister testified as witnesses for the prosecution.
Morales' father also testified as a witness for the defense.
(Staff writer Erick Santos can be reached at 728-2565 or by e-mail at erick@lmtonline.com)
Wife murderer gets 75 years
BY LAUREL ALMADA
Times staff writer
A Zapata man was sentenced to serve 75 years in prison Thursday after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife by burning her to death.
After less than an hour of deliberation and three days of witness testimony, the six-man, six-woman jury decided the fate of Roger Steven McCarty, 47.
"This is the ultimate extreme of a domestic violence case," said lead prosecution First Assistant District Attorney Rolando Garza after the trial had ended.
Garza was aided by Webb County District Attorney Joe Rubio and Assistant District Attorney Andres Ramos.
Laredo attorney Edward Dancaus represented McCarty throughout court proceedings.
Garza explained Thursday that Samara "Kim" Lindsay D'Spain was killed as a result of a domestic dispute.
On March 7, 2001, the couple got into an argument and McCarty doused D'Spain with model airplane fuel and lit a match to her, Garza said.
The defendant then failed to call paramedics or other medical personnel for help until 14 hours later.
D'Spain was in her early 40's when she died, the attorney said.
Testimony by a medical examiner during the trial indicated that D'Spain survived about four to six hours after sustaining burns to over 60 percent of her body, Garza said.
He said she might have survived had McCarty called paramedics sooner.
As it was, D'Spain was found on the kitchen floor the next day, Garza said.
"She died a horrific death," he said.
McCarty also suffered burns to his hands as a result of the violent crime.
The defendant and D'Spain had no children. D'Spain had two children from a previous marriage but they did not live with the couple.
Garza said the jury returned the guilty verdict after less than two hours of deliberation.
The jury was given the option of finding McCarty guilty of first-degree murder or second-degree manslaughter.
After the guilty verdict was returned, the attorneys began the punishment phase of the trial in which victims can testify as to how a crime has impacted them.
Garza said D'Spain's brother came to Zapata in order to testify in the case Thursday.
"He was able to share his feelings and how the family felt (about D'Spain's death)," Garza said.
The attorney said the trial's verdict dealt another blow to people who commit acts of domestic violence.
"Domestic violence is deemed severely punishable in Zapata and Webb counties," Garza said.
McCarty's trial began Monday with jury selection at the Zapata County Courthouse. District Court Judge Manuel Flores presided over the proceedings.
(Times staff writer can be reached at 728-2564 or e-mailed at laurel@lmtonline.com.)
Suspect has family violence history
BY APRIL CASTRO
Associated Press Writer
HIGHLAND PARK, Texas - Mary Jean Pearle and John David Battaglia had a rocky and violent relationship even after their marriage soured and long before he was accused of shooting to death their two young daughters.
Pearle, 38, had a protective order against him but lived in fear of what Battaglia might do to them, according to a string of police reports made since their 1999 separation.
In a phone call that foreshadowed the gruesome deaths of 6-year-old Liberty Battaglia and 9-year-old Faith Battaglia, their father last year apologized.
"I'm sorry for whatever may be coming down the road for you," he said in a taped phone call. "It may be very bad."
The 45-year-old accountant accused in the Wednesday night shooting deaths of his daughters, had a history of domestic violence and was being prosecuted for violating terms of a domestic violence case settlement that barred him from contacting Pearle.
The girls' mother sought the protective order against her ex-husband after a barrage of harassing phone calls and at least one physical assault at her Highland Park home, where she lived with her daughters.
After Battaglia was arrested for the Christmas Day, 1999 assault that left Pearle bloody and bruised, she told police that her former husband was "on edge and could be capable of anything" and that he had numerous handguns in his possession.
The violence came to a head Wednesday night when Pearle was arguing on the phone with Battaglia - who was to have taken his daughters to dinner - from her home in the Dallas suburb of Highland Park when she heard five shots.
Pearle heard one of the girls say, "No, Daddy, no, Daddy, no," before she heard gunshots.
At the time of the shooting, authorities were preparing to ask a judge to revoke Battaglia's two-year probation for the 1999 assault on his wife, court records show.
19-year-old girl killed in N.L. shooting
VICENTE RANGEL HERNANDEZ
Special to the Times
Nuevo Laredo - A 19-year-old woman was shot and killed early Tuesday morning in what police are labeling a domestic violence crime.
Authorities detained the victim's boy friend, Osvaldo Nuñez, who was with her when she was shot three times.
Police are looking for a suspect who investigators said is Nuñez' friend, and was seen in the area just before the shooting.
The victim was identified as Ericka Santiago Renteria, the daughter of a municipal police officer.
Santiago was fatally shot at an apartment located at P. Elias Street and the railroad tracks at Colonia Hidalgo.
Nuñez told investigators that the shooting took place at about 6 a.m., and then identified the murder suspect who police are now looking for.
Nuñez told investigators that the suspect knocked on the door, then entered the apartment and fired several times.
Nuñez provided police with the name of the suspect, however as of Tuesday night he had not been apprehended.
Police said Nuñez tired to carry Santiago to his truck in efforts to drive her to a hospital, but was unsuccessful because the victim was already dead.
State Prosecutor Sergio Garcia Garza said that they have issued the paperwork to locate the suspect and file formal charges if they find enough evidence for an arrest.
The victim's family arrived on the shooting scene and told police that they had last seen their daughter the night before after she left for the fair but she failed to return home.
Forensic investigators said the victim sustained three bullet wounds adding that one of the projectiles destroyed the aorta, and that became the fatal injury.
Another of the projectiles struck her pelvis and exited her back.
The young woman's nude body was found next to Nuñez' truck in an ally.
Police said the suspect had to know the area and the apartment complex well enough to find the room where the couple was spending the night.
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