Man who murdered his 5-year-old cousin confessed to more Dallas-area killings, court records show

A man who is serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of his 5-year-old cousin confessed to another killing because the victim’s face haunted him in prison, according to courtroom testimony Thursday.

Angel Lisandro Sanches Zenteno returned to Dallas County from a state prison to stand trial for capital murder this week for the slaying of Martin Ontiveros, who was found dead in his Dallas apartment July 26, 2014.

Zenteno wrote a three-page letter while he was in prison, detailing the brutal beating of Ontiveros with an iron pipe. Dallas police detectives visited Zenteno in 2016 and recorded an interview with him. A transcript was shared with a Dallas County jury on the first day of his trial and was read by former Dallas police Detective Pedro Trujillo.

Despite the recorded confession, Zenteno has pleaded not guilty.

The letter contained details of his involvement in “several murders in the Dallas area in 2014,” according to a detective’s affidavit. But the jury will not hear about those in the first phase of this trial while it determines Zenteno’s guilt in Ontiveros’ slaying.

Ontiveros, 55, is the first person Zenteno, 23, is charged with killing since his confession. It’s unclear from court records who else Zenteno claimed to have killed and whether prosecutors will charge him with more crimes. Zenteno appeared in court with several facial tattoos that he did not have when he was arrested in 2014.

Zenteno told detectives that Ontiveros appeared to him both in dreams and while he was awake. He saw Ontiveros’ face in a toilet looking up at him during one such vision, Trujillo read from the transcript under Prosecutor Jennifer Morse’s questioning.

Zenteno believed Ontiveros wanted him to confess to the crime so his family would know the truth, Trujillo read. Zenteno hoped that following his confession, Ontiveros would “go away and leave me in peace.”

One of Ontiveros’ sisters testified that she and other family members found him dead in his apartment after they hadn’t heard from him for an unusually long time. The family could see his body lying on the floor from a window and his brother kicked in the back door to get inside.

Ontiveros’ hands and feet had been bound by shoelaces and a leather belt. His face bore extensive lacerations and a bloody iron pipe was on the floor near his body, according to court records. Ontiveros’ phone and Land Rover were gone.

Dallas police spoke with Zenteno by phone after they found texts between the two in Ontiveros’ cellphone records. Zenteno said he would meet with detectives but did not show up where they agreed, and he never answered their phone calls again, according to court records.

About two months later, in September 2014, Zenteno’s cousin Katherina Gonzalez was found hanging by a shirt in the closet of a vacant Lake Highlands apartment. She had been sexually assaulted.

Zenteno was arrested later that same month.

He blamed another man for the crimes against the girl, claiming he’d been held against his will in the closet while Katherina was killed. He also denied raping her but said the man forced him at gunpoint to sexually assault her briefly. However, investigators linked his DNA to the crime, and he confessed to the rape and murder.

He took a plea deal in 2015 for a capital murder conviction and life in prison for Katherina’s death. Because he was 17 at the time of the crime, Zenteno’s life sentence allows him the possibility of parole after 40 years. The U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited mandatory life sentences without parole for people who committed crimes before age 18.

If convicted of capital murder for Ontiveros’ death, Zenteno faces another life sentence with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

Zenteno provided details about the crime scene that officers said had not been made public “and only persons involved would know.”

Zenteno said Ontiveros revealed to him he was gay and invited the teenager to drink and use drugs at his apartment, according to Trujillo’s reading of the prison interview transcript. Zenteno did not like gay people, he said.

Zenteno told detectives that on the night of Ontiveros’ slaying, the older man asked the teenager to perform a sex act. The request angered Zenteno, who had a gun with him. Zenteno ordered Ontiveros to lie on the floor. Ontiveros pleaded for his life and told Zenteno he had an elderly mother.

Zenteno said he struck Ontiveros about 40 times with an iron pipe that was in the apartment until he was no longer breathing. Zenteno said he took photos of Ontiveros’ body with his cellphone before he removed several things from the apartment and left in Ontiveros’ vehicle.

Defense lawyer Kenneth Weatherspoon attempted to poke holes in the confession and police investigation. He pointed to inconsistencies in his client’s retelling of when and how he met Ontiveros to show he wasn’t always truthful. Zenteno mentioned a friend in his confession who was in Ontiveros’ apartment and someone who sold Ontiveros’ stolen belongings. But Trujillo acknowledged under Weatherspoon’s questioning that the friend was never found in his investigation.

Weatherspoon appeared to lay the groundwork for his defense that another person could have been involved. He questioned Trujillo about false confessions in criminal cases.

Weatherspoon also pointed to physical evidence that failed to identify any fingerprints or DNA.

The trial is expected to continue into next week in 204th District Judge Tammy Kemp’s court.