Borderland Crimes

Dante Santoni was brutally murdered, days after celebrating his third birthday. He, his mother Connie Villa, 28, along with Villa's longtime partner and Dante's father, Francisco Santoni, 59, were found stabbed to death on Aug. 11, 1994 in their east El Paso home. But it wasn't until 2022 when El Paso police announced they had arrested a suspect responsible for this heinous act. Arturo Ortega Garcia was extradited from Mexico and has been in the El Paso County Jail awaiting trial ever since. Villa's surviving siblings talk about their 30-year-long wait for a trial, during which they hope to learn why their sister and nephew were killed. To see photos of Connie, Dante and Francisco, visit the website. UPDATE (09/26/24): The judge set Ortega Garcia's case for trial on March 3, 2025. Read the update on the KVIA website.

The November 5, 2024 election could change who leads the prosecution of the Aug. 3 Cielo Vista Walmart shooting trial. As the Borderland marks the fifth anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in El Paso's history, we are nowhere near the start of the state trial for the man who claimed responsibility for the massacre in a federal court last year. The lack of a definitive trial date for the shooter means the two men vying to be El Paso's District Attorney are both preparing prosecution strategies while they hit the campaign trail for November's election. Read the full article: Will Lead Prosecutor on the Walmart Shooting Trial Remain the Same after the Nov. Election?

An El Paso girl has tried to move past the sexual assault she endured when she was only 5 years old. The girl is now 17, locked in the grinding wheels of the justice system. Edward Alvarado is facing multiple charges of continuous sex abuse of a child, and has been in jail since 2016 awaiting a jury trial. ABC-7's Stephanie Valle investigates what is to blame for the delay. Listen to Borderland Crimes episode 12 for more background on the state commission investigation into the judge. You can also find that here: A Murder, A Mistrial and Misconduct Allegations UPDATE (09/09/24): Edward Alvarado was convicted and sentenced to 170 years in prison. Read details

On May 17, 2024, three murder suspects who all had once faced a capital murder charge formally accepted their sentences as part of a plea agreement. Adam Acosta, Tristan Chilton, and Brandon Olsen pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder in the death of Tyler Croke, 23. In 2017, Croke was ambushed in a friend's East El Paso apartment while showering, and was stabbed repeatedly during an attempted robbery sparked over drugs. Seven years later, Croke's family was able to address the killers during the sentencing hearing. This is an update to KVIA's Borderland Crimes podcast episode available in this feed from May 2022, called "We Feel Victimized All Over Again." Learn about the family Kjersten Croke thanked during the District Attorney's news conference in the two episodes found here and here.

Kimberly Esparza was walking home with her husband after watching a football game at a bar Sunday night when she was hit by a car and killed. The driver left the scene, and Esparza, a 32-year-old mother of two, died on the street. More than 12 years after her death, Esparza's oldest daughter is trying to get to the bottom of what happened. She not only wants the driver to come forward, but she also questions the police report that her mother lay down on the road before she was hit. The daughter claims there is evidence casting doubt on the narrative given by the sole witness to the deadly hit-and-run. This is still an open investigation. If you have information on the hit-and-run that killed Kimberly Esparza on Nov. 7, 2011, call Crime Stoppers at (915) 566-8477. If you are in an abusive relationship, call the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence at (915) 593-7300. The YWCA also offers the Transitional Living Center for women in need of emergency shelter. They can be reached at (915) 519-0000.

Jennifer Ann Crecente, 18, was a high school senior and preparing to graduate with honors. On Feb. 15, 2006, she was shot to death by a former boyfriend. Friends and family knew he was controlling, manipulative and later, learned about how he was verbally abusive. Despite having a felony criminal history and evidence showing he planned the shooting, Justin Crabbe was granted a plea deal of 35 years behind bars. His first parole hearing was in Aug. 2023. Jennifer's family, including her grandmother in El Paso, now works to prevent more dating violence among teens, as well as fights to keep the killer behind bars for his full sentence. February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Learn the warning signs and help spread awareness among teens by visiting Jennifer Ann's Group: jenniferann.org If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the El Paso Center Against Sexual & Family Violence at (915) 593-7300. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-7233.

El Pasoan Maria Luisa Corral was found dead on April 29, 2005. The 20-year-old had been beaten and strangled; her lifeless body was shoved inside a bedroom closet of the Lower Valley home belonging to the mother of Corral's boyfriend, 19-year-old Richard Flores.  Flores had thrown himself a birthday party at the house the night before, and was nowhere to be found.  With a history of violence between the couple, El Paso police suspected Flores killed Corral.  He ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison. This is a tragic case of dating violence. The couple had been together off-and-on for four years. They had three children, all under the age of three at the time of the murder, who were suddenly without parents. Nearly 20 years since Corral's murder, one of their daughters, now 21, opens up about her mom, and why she wants people to know what happened. If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the El Paso Center Against Sexual & Family Violence at (915) 593-7300. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-7233.

ABC-7 anchor and Borderland Crimes podcast producer Stephanie Valle served as a media witness to an execution in Huntsville, TX. On Dec. 4, 2001, the man behind a chilling crime that stunned the El Paso community was arrested. David Renteria was charged with capital murder in the death of Alexandra Flores, 5, who had gone missing more than two weeks earlier from the Lower Valley Walmart. Renteria was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death. That sentence was carried out on Nov. 16, 2023. The only English-language broadcast journalist from El Paso to be in the prison chronicled the lead-up to the lethal injection and the aftermath. This is an update to Borderland Crimes Podcast 11: Lured from the Toy Aisle - The Kidnapping and Murder of Alexandra Flores.

At long last, there is a conclusion in the case centered around a deadly shooting outside an east El Paso bar in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2017. The suspected shooter, Moises Galvan, was arrested at the scene. Galvan was accused of murdering RJ Franco, 22, and gravely wounding Franco's friend, David Ortega. Galvan claimed the shooting happened in self-defense. It took nearly 7 years, two trials -- one of those, a mistrial -- a trial judge recusal, and several rotations of both defense and prosecuting attorneys for an El Paso jury to finally deliberate and deliver a verdict. This is an update to the Borderland Crimes podcast episode 12: "A Murder Investigation, a Mistrial, and Misconduct Allegations."

Sophia Martinez, 18, headed out to a blind date on Friday, March 10, 2000. But she never made it to the dance club in downtown El Paso. Sophia’s body was found in the desert just north of the city limits the following day; she had been shot numerous times. The only clue to what happened was a grainy ATM surveillance video showing someone shooting her while she pulled cash. The man in a black beanie then climbed into her car and forced her to drive off at gunpoint. The months that followed were a terrifying time for her family as well as the community, as the killer remained at large. Police managed to track down her killer when a witness could no longer keep the dark secret.

The peace and quiet in an affluent, historic Central El Paso neighborhood was shattered by gunfire during a violent attack in Nov. 2020. Georgette Kaufmann, a respected state attorney and beloved mother and wife, was killed. Her husband Daniel was shot, but survived. The gunman escaped into the night, not to be found for almost a year. The suspect’s alleged motive leads investigators – and many in the community – to believe he targeted the couple for their political beliefs.

The date between Erika Gaytan and Ricardo Marquez to a concert ended with Gaytan not returning home. Her family immediately believed something terrible happened to the 29-year-old woman; her mother said there was no way she would abandon her 7-year-old son. Continuous searches throughout El Paso – including in the sprawling desert east of the city – did not yield her remains. Despite her body not being found and a cause of death unknown, police arrested and charged Marquez with her murder. Could the 28-year-old’s behavior leading up to and after Gaytan’s disappearance be enough to convince a jury he is a killer?

An Army vet who survived combat in Afghanistan was murdered in El Paso.  Tyler Croke was in the shower at a friend’s apartment when he was ambushed, held at gunpoint, then brutally killed. A total of five people – some of them soldiers – were arrested and charged with Tyler’s murder. El Paso police investigators said they had wanted to rob Tyler of the drugs he had been selling. And five years later, only two suspects have been sentenced. The family of the murdered veteran fears justice may be out of reach as concerns emerge from on all sides of the case.

In this special episode of Borderland Crimes, ABC-7 talks with one of the survivors of the massacre at Las Cruces Bowl on the 32nd anniversary of the crime. Ida Holguin recounts the morning two men held her and six others at gunpoint, shooting them and leaving them for dead. Three of the five who died were children. If you have information in the case, you can call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS. For a full retelling of this case, listen to episode #6 of Borderland Crimes called "Massacre at Las Cruces Bowl: America's Largest Unsolved Mass Shooting."

RJ Franco was shot to death outside of a bar in east El Paso on Jan. 29, 2017. The moments leading up to the shooting, as well as the shooting itself, were caught on surveillance camera and the suspect was arrested at the scene. The suspect, Moises Galvan, told police he shot Franco in self-defense. Nearly 5 years after the shooting, Galvan remains in jail as both he and Franco’s parents await justice. There was a mistrial in 2019, and no retrial date is on the calendar. Now, the state of Texas is officially investigating the judge’s handling of the case.

A little girl got separated from her family during a holiday shopping trip to a busy retail store and seemed to vanish into thin air. Dread settled in for her family and the entire community once surveillance camera video emerged, showing the 5-year-old girl walking out of the store with an unknown man. The girl was found dead the following morning. It’s a case that traumatized a community and reminded parents that danger really can hide in plain sight.

The murder of Robert Rocha, 43, has remained unsolved for nearly three decades. The retired U.S. Navy veteran and father of three daughters was found shot to death at Mesilla Dam outside Las Cruces, NM, on June 28, 1994. The Dona Ana County Sheriff's detectives still haven't arrested and charged anyone with the crime. But Rocha's daughter thinks someone who was once close to her father -- and is well known by the entire family -- has information that could break open the case. If you have information on this case, call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477).

When Gloria Marmolejo, a 54-year-old mom and grandmother, was found dead in the southern New Mexico desert in the summer of 2009, her family pleaded for the community’s help to find whoever murdered her. But investigators with the El Paso Police Department believed her son, David, was the killer -- and they learned he was hiding other secrets big enough to destroy his family. If you are in a violent relationship or someone you know is in a dangerous situation, call The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800.799.SAFE (7233) or visit www.thehotline.org. You can also call El Paso's Center Against Sexual and Family Violence at (915) 593-7300 or visit casfv.org.

An El Paso woman learned a horrible secret about her family: her great-grandfather had been massacred, along with 14 other men and boys, on Jan. 28, 1918. When Arlinda Valencia learned who was to blame for the terrible act, she realized more needed to be done to expose the dark past of a legendary law enforcement agency, the Texas Rangers. Learn more about the massacre: https://www.porvenirmassacre.org/

In the summer of 1987, a serial killer stalked the streets of El Paso, Texas. The bodies of six teenage girls and young women were found buried in the desert in the northeast outskirts of town.All had been reported missing earlier that year. An extensive investigation led police to David Leonard Wood, a former convict recently behind bars for rape. Wood was sentenced to death. But 33 years have passed and he remains on death row, proclaiming his innocence as his attorneys - and families of the victims - fight for their versions of justice. Borderland Crimes is sponsored by University Medical Center of El Paso.

On Jan. 26, 2019, Terrance Kinard Jr. was shot outside a house party in Northeast El Paso.The case has gone unsolved despite there likely being many witnesses to the murder of the 20-year-old father and aspiring rapper.His parents are opening up about their pain, their plea for justice and the troubling conflicts their son was experiencing in the months before his death. If you have information about this case, call El Paso Crime Stoppers at (915) 566-8477.

Michelle Grady is one of the dozens of people who was shot on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019, at a Walmart superstore in El Paso, Texas. She survived, but 23 people were killed. The shooter is facing nearly 100 charges, including federal hate crime charges, accused of targeting Hispanics. This is a story of survival and recovery in the year since the Cielo Vista Walmart massacre.

In 1995, a woman’s spray-painted body parts, including her severed head, were found across town. Police in El Paso, Texas, didn't know who she was. Investigators made an unprecedented request of local newsrooms in the hopes of identifying her, and finding who killed and dismembered her. National Domestic Violence Hotline: (800) 799-7233 El Paso Center Against Sexual & Family Violence Crisis Line: (915) 593-7300 Love Is Respect: text LOVEIS to 22522

On Feb. 10, 1990, two men shot seven people while robbing a bowling alley in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Four of the victims died. Three of the dead were children, ages 13, 6 and 2. All of the victims were shot at point-blank range. Thirty years have passed and the killers have yet to be brought to justice in what is now one of the bloodiest mass shootings in the nation. If you have information in the case, you can call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.

A college professor was found shot to death on a sidewalk. Detectives learn the victim and his ex-wife were in the midst of a custody battle so bitter, months before his murder she had secretly fled to Mexico with their daughter. Around that time, the professor's former father-in-law was looking for a 'sicario,' someone who would kill for money. The murder investigation expands into an international search for the victim's missing daughter.

Marinda Palacios saw her friend, Rick Madrigal, get shot to death by her boyfriend.Leonel Hernandez was convicted of Rick's murder.Months after podcast host Stephanie Valle reached out to Marinda, she talks about what happened that night, the hours she spent with the killer after the murder, and how she was accused of murder by Leonel's own defense team.

A former radio DJ lays dead inside his apartment. Detectives believe his death is connected to a tip about a case of a possible kidnapping and murder. The investigation uncovered a twisted relationship that may have entangled the victim and led to his death.

Welcome to a podcast that’s made for the Borderland, a corner of the U.S. Southwest where Texas, New Mexico and old Mexico meet. This brief episode is a taste of what's to come: in-depth storytelling focusing on the some of the area's notorious crimes and those behind them. Listen and subscribe. Produced by KVIA-TV, ABC-7 and longtime journalist and former court reporter Stephanie Valle.