On March 17, 1979, the body of Ernesto Carbajal Garcia, a 26-year-old Hispanic male, was discovered in an abandoned building in downtown Dallas, Texas. The scene was gruesome: his skull had been crushed with a concrete block, and further examination revealed signs of torture. According to autopsy findings, Ernesto had been struck on the head with a piece of wood and stabbed with an ice pick prior to his death.
These injuries suggested a deliberate and brutal killing, not a random act of violence.
Investigators initially struggled to identify a suspect. However, the murder of Ernesto Carbajal Garcia would later be linked to David Villarreal, a serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least five men between 1978 and 1981 in Texas. Villarreal, born in 1955, targeted gay men in both San Antonio and Dallas. His methods were consistently violent and sadistic, often involving bludgeoning, stabbing, and post-mortem mutilation. In Ernesto’s case, Villarreal was suspected early on but released due to insufficient evidence.
Following a string of similarly violent murders, Villarreal was eventually arrested on March 10, 1981. While in custody, he confessed to killing seven men, including Ernesto Carbajal Garcia, though only five murders were conclusively linked to him. Villarreal admitted to killing Ernesto and described the torture he inflicted, which matched the autopsy findings. Despite his initial reluctance to explain his motives, authorities believed his actions were driven by personal animosity and a desire for control or gratification.
Villarreal was charged with multiple counts of murder, including the killing of 26-year-old Hispanic male Ernesto Carbajal Garcia. He later pleaded guilty and received multiple life sentences. As of early 2023, Villarreal remains incarcerated at the James V. Allred Unit in Wichita Falls, Texas. His case remains one of the more disturbing examples of serial violence in the state’s history, and Ernesto’s death marked the beginning of a tragic series of crimes that would eventually lead to Villarreal’s capture.
