Eliseo Moreno and the 1983 Texas Murder Spree
Background
Eliseo Hernandez Moreno was a 24-year-old mechanic and lawn-mower repairman whose marital problems preceded a deadly rampage through southeast Texas. Moreno was born on September 27, 1959, in Hidalgo County, Texas. By October 1983, he was estranged from his wife, Blanca, and was reportedly searching for her when he armed himself and began a series of shootings, robberies and kidnappings.
On October 11, 1983, Moreno killed six people during a rapidly unfolding crime spree that began in College Station and continued through the Hempstead area. The murders occurred between approximately 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Moreno also kidnapped six people, robbed a man of his automobile and used several vehicles in an effort to escape. Police captured him later that night at a roadblock near Wharton, Texas.
The Murders of Juan and Esther Garza
The violence began at the College Station apartment of Moreno's brother-in-law, Juan Garza, and Juan's wife, Esther Garza. Moreno was reportedly looking for his estranged wife and believed members of her family knew where she could be found.
Witnesses heard gunshots and the screams of the Garza children. One neighbor approached the apartment and saw Moreno shooting Juan Garza. Moreno then followed the witness outside and threatened him with a handgun before fleeing in a maroon Ford.
Juan and Esther Garza were found on the floor inside their apartment. Ballistics testing later established that bullets recovered from Juan had been fired from the same stainless-steel Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver used in the subsequent killing of a state trooper.
The Murder of Trooper Russell Lynn Boyd
Approximately half an hour after the Garza murders, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Russell Lynn Boyd stopped Moreno on Highway 6, about ten miles north of Hempstead. Boyd was in uniform, driving a marked patrol vehicle and working his regular traffic-enforcement shift. His patrol car's emergency lights were operating, and his ticket book was later discovered near his body, indicating that the confrontation began as a traffic stop.
Moreno shot Boyd several times with the .357 Magnum. Boyd's protective vest stopped or deflected some of the bullets, but he suffered five gunshot wounds. Medical evidence showed that one bullet passed through his arm and entered his chest. Another shot was fired from close range into the area beneath his ear while he was lying wounded beside the highway.
William and Janie Norris drove past the scene and saw Boyd lying on the ground. Moreno appeared from behind the patrol vehicle and attempted to wave them down. When they continued driving, he removed Boyd's Remington 870 shotgun from the patrol car and pursued their vehicle in the maroon Ford at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. The Norrises escaped and reported the incident to the Waller County Sheriff's Office.
Moreno also took Boyd's blue-steel Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum service revolver. Investigators later recovered both the stolen service weapon and the stainless-steel revolver used in the murders.
The Hempstead Home Murders
After entering Hempstead, Moreno abandoned the maroon Ford near the La Casita Restaurant. He confronted Genaro Cibrian, who had arrived with his three children in a green 1974 Ford. At gunpoint, Moreno forced Cibrian and the children out of their automobile, placed his weapons inside it and drove away.
At approximately 7:00 p.m., Moreno arrived at the Hempstead home of James and Anne Bennatt. Anne's sister, Allie Wilkins, was also present. Moreno reportedly claimed that his car was overheating and asked whether he could leave it in the driveway. For reasons that were never clearly established, he entered or approached the residence and opened fire on all three elderly occupants.
James Bennatt and Allie Wilkins were fatally wounded. Anne Bennatt survived long enough to describe the attacker to investigators but died from her injuries several weeks later. A bullet fragment recovered from a chair inside the home was matched to Moreno's stainless-steel .357 Magnum, connecting the Hempstead shootings to the murders of Trooper Boyd and Juan Garza.
Victims
- Juan Garza, approximately 30 years old — Shot and killed on October 11, 1983, inside his apartment in College Station, Texas. He was Moreno's brother-in-law.
- Esther Garza — Shot and killed on October 11, 1983, inside the College Station apartment she shared with her husband, Juan Garza.
- Russell Lynn Boyd, 25 years old — Texas Department of Public Safety trooper shot and killed on October 11, 1983, during a traffic stop on Highway 6, approximately ten miles north of Hempstead, Texas.
- James Bennatt, reported as being in his early seventies — Shot at his home in Hempstead, Texas, on October 11, 1983.
- Allie Wilkins, 79 years old — Shot at the Bennatt residence in Hempstead, Texas, on October 11, 1983. She was Anne Bennatt's sister.
- Anne Bennatt, 70 years old — A retired nurse who was shot at her Hempstead home on October 11, 1983. She initially survived but died from her wounds several weeks later.
Kidnappings and Continued Flight
After the Hempstead murders, Moreno went to the home of Bill and Patricia Shirley. Armed with a gun, he ordered Bill to drive him toward Houston. Patricia refused to allow her husband to leave alone and accompanied them. During the drive, Moreno admitted that he had taken a pistol and shotgun from a Department of Public Safety officer.
Moreno threw Trooper Boyd's shotgun from the vehicle while traveling toward the Houston area. Near the intersection of Interstate 610 and State Highway 225 in Pasadena, he left the Shirleys and continued on foot. The couple later contacted police and helped investigators locate the discarded shotgun. Moreno's fingerprints were found on the weapon.
Moreno next approached Ronald Gangle and asked for a ride to an airport. After Gangle agreed, Moreno produced a pistol and ordered him to drive south on U.S. Highway 59 toward Victoria. During the trip, Moreno told Gangle that he had killed a state trooper and possessed the officer's gun.
Arrest
At approximately 11:00 p.m. on October 11, officers operating a roadblock on U.S. Highway 59 outside Wharton stopped the blue Ford Bronco in which Moreno was riding. He was removed from the vehicle and arrested without further violence.
Police recovered Trooper Boyd's stolen service revolver and the stainless-steel .357 Magnum used in the killings. Bullets and cartridge cases recovered from several crime scenes were matched to the stainless-steel weapon. Investigators also learned that the revolver had disappeared from a sporting-goods store on the day of the murders. Moreno had separately purchased two additional pistols that day.
Trial and Convictions
Moreno was prosecuted for the capital murder of Trooper Russell Boyd because Boyd had been killed while lawfully performing his duties as a peace officer. The prosecution presented evidence of the other five murders, the kidnappings, the automobile robbery and Moreno's efforts to escape as parts of one continuous episode.
The defense presented testimony that Moreno suffered from severe alcoholism and was intoxicated during the rampage. A psychologist and an alcoholism counselor argued that his violence was connected to his drinking and that he would not remain dangerous if alcohol were unavailable. Friends and relatives also described him as ordinarily peaceful. The jury nevertheless found that he represented a continuing threat and sentenced him to death in February 1984.
Moreno later pleaded guilty to charges arising from the other murders. He received prison sentences of 45 years for the deaths of Juan and Esther Garza and additional terms for the killings of James Bennatt, Anne Bennatt and Allie Wilkins. His capital conviction and death sentence for Boyd's murder were affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on May 28, 1986.
Execution
Moreno declined efforts to prolong his appeals and repeatedly acknowledged responsibility for the killings. He was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville shortly after midnight on March 4, 1987. He was 27 years old.
In his final statement, Moreno said that he was being executed because he was guilty and that he held no grudges. His execution occurred less than four years after the six murders. The October 11, 1983, rampage remains one of the most violent single-day murder sprees in Texas history, extending across several counties and involving multiple shootings, stolen vehicles, armed abductions and the killing of an on-duty state trooper.
