From Escamilla’s appeal:
Sylvia Garcia Appellant married Sylvia Garcia in Monclova, Mexico, in May 1994. She was forty-four and divorced from her first husband. Appellant moved to Austin late that year, and Garcia followed in March 1995. Garcia telephoned her daughter in Monclova almost daily, and seemed nervous and unhappy. The last call to her daughter came on June 8, which also was when Garcia’s last letter was received. Garcia was last seen at the Austin residence she shared with appellant on June 24, 1995. Appellant moved from this residence the following day, taking all the furnishings he and Garcia had brought to it.
Human skeletal remains were found in a nearby vacant lot in late September 1995, but the body was not positively identified until 2000, when DNA tests confirmed that the remains were those of Sylvia Garcia. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the skull, which had multiple fractures.
Maria Flores
Maria Flores, a native of Panama, moved to Austin in 1994 with two of her children. She met appellant in 1998 when she was fifty-three, and soon began living with him. Flores’s daughter testified that appellant was a jealous man and was physically abusive to her mother. Flores worked at two jobs and was forced to give all her money to appellant. Flores, accompanied by appellant, left for work on May 20, 1998, and never returned. Flores’s daughter said that appellant appeared nervous when she asked him if he knew the whereabouts of her mother. Appellant reported Flores’s disappearance to the police, but the case was closed in June 1998.
Maria Flores’s skeletal remains were found in a field in southeast Austin on November 22, 1999. The medical examiner found evidence of at least fifteen blunt force injuries to the head and face caused by an object such as a hammer.
Olivia Estrada
Olivia Estrada, who was fifty-four years old, met appellant at a dance hall in 1998 and formed a relationship with him. Appellant proved to have a violent temper, and Estrada told her doctor that appellant threatened to choke her if she tried to leave him. Estrada was afraid to call the police, fearing it would provoke appellant to greater violence. Estrada’s family grew increasingly concerned for her safety, and in October 1998 urged her to obtain a restraining order against appellant. They also devised a plan by which members of the family would be with Estrada when she broke up with appellant.
Estrada’s daughter called the police on October 29, 1998, after Estrada did not answer her telephone for two days and family members found her house unoccupied. Estrada’s hall carpet was soaked with water, and blood spatters were found on a bedroom doorframe, in the hallway, and on the kitchen door. Blood and a ring belonging to Estrada were found in the carport, next to her car.
Olivia Estrada’s skeletal remains were found in a field in Bastrop County on October 18, 1999. The skull showed evidence of blunt force trauma to the forehead and just above the right eye. Estrada had also been shot in the back of the head.
Appellant was arrested for the kidnapping of Olivia Estrada in November 1998. Further police investigation connected him to Sylvia Garcia and Maria Flores. Appellant was indicted for capital murder after the bodies of the three women were found and identified.
Victims
Sylvia Victoria Garcia Gonzalez, 44 (his wife) [6/24/1995]
Olivia Estrada, 54
Maria Gladys Flores, 53 [5/1998]
Murderpedia: Martin Gonzalez Escamilla
Serial Killer: Gonzales, Martin Escamilla
Martin Gonzalez a/k/a Martin Gonzalez Escamilla v The State of Texas
Movies/Documentaries
Forensic Files: Saving Face
INMATE INFORMATION
SID Number: 06557232
TDCJ Number: 01007705
Name: GONZALEZ,MARTIN
Race: H
Gender: M
DOB: 1952-11-15
Maximum Sentence Date: LIFE SENTENCE
Current Facility: COFFIELD
Projected Release Date: LIFE SENTENCE
Parole Eligibility Date: 2038-10-22
Offense History
Offense Date: 1995-06-24
Offense: CAPITAL MURDER
Sentence Date: 2000-08-28
County: TRAVIS
Case No.: 996134
Sentence (YY-MM-DD): 9999-99-99
