A 52-year-old Edinburg man was charged with murder Saturday over the alleged beating death of his girlfriend Tuesday.
A probable cause affidavit identified the suspect as Adan Roberto Ruiz and the victim as 47-year-old Yvonne Salas.
Ruiz is being held on $750,000 in bonds.
According to the document, an officer was dispatched to the 1400 block of North Closner Boulevard in Edinburg around 5 p.m. Tuesday evening after a report of an assaulted unresponsive woman.
The officer found EMT personnel at the scene and made contact with Ruiz, who had called 9-1-1 when he said he discovered his girlfriend unresponsive after he arrived home.
Authorities found Salas lying on her back, arms spread, dressed in all black and without a pulse in the kitchen area. She was cold to the touch, the affidavit said.
They noticed Salas’ eyes were cloudy and had red spots which indicated broken blood vessels, according to the affidavit. She had a cut above the left eyebrow, a bloody nose, swollen face and blood dripping out of her mouth, police documented in the affidavit.
The residence was checked to make sure there was no one else at the location, which was found to be empty and was determined to be secured for investigation. Ruiz was the only one with a key to his residence and had it with him during the investigation.
According to the affidavit, another officer arrived later at the scene and interviewed Ruiz, who identified the victim as his girlfriend and was beginning to display signs of intoxication, police say.
The officer concluded that Ruiz was the last person to have seen Salas alive in the morning before her lifeless body was found later that afternoon, though Ruiz couldn’t provide any estimated times.
The only information Ruiz provided was that his neighbor, who he referred to as “Numbers,” and his girlfriend were “partying and doing crystal meth,” again without any specifications as to when or what time this occurred.
Upon further questioning about Salas, Ruiz kept accusing his neighbor, identified as Douglas Henry Cliburn, of providing Salas crystal meth and that he was waiting for him to arrive home in order to harm him, the affidavit read.
When Cliburn was questioned, he was able to provide an alibi for his whereabouts and was cleared as a suspect.
Ruiz was detained for public intoxication.
Authorities later noted that Salas had dark marks around the bruises on her face, which are suspected to have been caused by a ring which Ruiz was wearing during the time of his arrest, and was later collected from his property.
Blood splatter was discovered on the walls near the rear bedroom and hallway of the home as well as blood smearing on the doorway leading to the bedroom, the affidavit read. In the same hallway, large amounts of Salas’ hair leading to the kitchen area was also found.
Near Salas’ body, a pillowcase containing four different shirts and bra was discovered with the articles of clothing being covered in large amounts of blood stains.
Authorities believe Ruiz cleaned himself up prior to the officer’s initial arrival, according to the affidavit.
The document goes on to state that Salas’ niece was also interviewed and admitted that Ruiz had punched and pulled her hair multiple times but never reported the assaults because she feared him. She also said Ruiz threatened Salas, saying that if she left him he would kill her family in front of her and then kill her, the affidavit stated.
The initial autopsy report indicates that Salas’ cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and body.
