| Central Texas police crack 13-year-old murder case 04/13/2001 Associated Press SAN ANTONIO – More than a decade had passed since a fatal drive-by shooting, with the investigation stalled until Central Texas law officers received a tip.
Robert Estrada was arrested Saturday and charged in the April 4, 1988 murder of Rene Morales. Her murder case has been in the department longer than some detectives who have handled it.
Estrada, 36, was held Friday in the Bexar County jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond.
"We really had to blow the dust off from this one," Lt. Dan Akeroyd told the San Antonio Express-News in Friday's editions. "It really was a long time. I don't think most of us were even here" in the homicide unit.
Investigators attempted to unravel the case, but struggled because of a lack of leads or evidence.
"We just couldn't make the connection to the Morales case at all," Akeroyd said. "Again, we really had nothing to go on at all from the very start."
But for many years, police unknowingly had in their possession the same gun they now believe was used in Morales' death.
They later seized the weapon on an unrelated case of unlawful possession of a firearm, but the case was dropped and the gun was returned to its owner.
Police wouldn't reveal the name of the gun owner, but court records show Estrada was arrested on unlawful possession of a firearm charges two months after the shooting.
But it was an anonymous tip that led police to an eyewitness who singled out Estrada.
Police also recovered physical evidence they say links Estrada to the murder, but wouldn't reveal details of the evidence.
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