District Judge Russell Wilson sentenced Marcelino Eli Esparza to 60 years in prison after he was found guilty by an Atascosa County jury for killing Margie Mendez Arguijo by strangulation on Aug. 30, 2020.
Esparza, 51, was found guilty of murder on Aug. 17 by a jury trial stemming from a first-degree murder indictment. Esparza entered a notguilty plea.
On Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020, the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office was called out to a trailer park on Horton Lane just outside the Poteet city limits for a deceased female. Upon arriving, Deputy Sheriff Peter Allen and Sergeant Investigator Gavin Lindsay were told by a male resident outside of a mobile home that he found Arguijo, 48, deceased inside the home.
Investigators noticed signs of ligature strangulation on Arguijo and an autopsy was ordered by Justice of the Peace, Pct. 2, Felix Herrera. The autopsy result revealed that Arguijo died of strangulation and her death was ruled a homicide.
On Sept. 3, 2020, investigators obtained a murder warrant for the arrest of Esparza of Poteet, for Arguijo’s murder. Esparza was arrested in Kerrville by Atascosa County Sheriff’s Investigators with the assistance of Kerr County Sheriff’s Office, Kerrville Police Department and Texas DPS. Esparza was booked into the Kerr County Jail under a $500,000 bond that evening.
According to court records, Esparza was convicted in 1991 of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in Bexar County and convicted of tampering with evidence in 2007 in Defiance County, Ohio.
Presiding over the Esparza trial was the Honorable Russell Wilson.
We are grateful for the careful consideration of the jury, investigators with the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office, and critical testimony of the medical examiner in this case. Our office will continue to fight hard for justice for our victims, and safety and protection of our community. Thank you to prosecutors Ryan Wright and Erika Price for your hard work and effective presentation of the evidence to the jury and judge. Justice is served.
