On February 17, 2016, Ruth Valdez, 49, was found murdered in San Antonio, Texas. Her body was discovered along Isom Road on the North Side of the city. Valdez had been stabbed multiple times, and her body was covered with a tarp and found lying in a creek behind the Wood Hollow Apartments. It was unclear whether the tarp was placed by passersby or by the perpetrator at the time of the crime. Valdez’s body was located by people walking in the area, who subsequently notified authorities.
A key piece of evidence that led to a significant development in the case was a grocery store receipt found at the crime scene. The receipt, which came from an H-E-B store located about two miles from where Valdez’s body was found, had a significant clue—a connection to Hashim Hashim, Valdez's boyfriend at the time. Surveillance footage from the store showed Valdez and Hashim making a purchase together before the incident, leading police to name Hashim as a suspect.
Hashim, 66, initially spoke with authorities in March 2016, but an Arabic translator was required to fully communicate with him, as he was an Iraqi refugee. After moving to Buffalo, New York, he was arrested on unrelated domestic violence charges, which enabled authorities to further question him regarding Valdez’s death. Although he admitted to being with Valdez at the store on the day of the incident, he denied involvement in her murder. Hashim was eventually arrested for the stabbing in September 2019, more than three years after Valdez’s death. Despite his arrest, he has not confessed to the killing, and the case remains an important reminder of the lengthy investigative work often required to bring a suspect to justice.
