A Hidalgo County grand jury has indicted a 60-year-old Pharr man who is accused of killing his brother in April while robbing him of $100.
David Sandoval was indicted last Thursday on charges of capital murder and tampering with evidence.
The indictment alleges that David killed 66-year-old Ruben Sandoval on April 20 with a pickaxe during a robbery.
Pharr police found Ruben’s body just before 5 p.m. on April 21 at Memorial Park in Pharr, where responding officers reported he was lying in the bed of a truck covered with a blanket, according to a probable cause affidavit, which stated investigators observed Ruben to have multiple head injuries.
(Read more: Pharr PD charges man with brother’s death in ‘violent attack’)
At a news conference after David’s arrest, Pharr police Chief Andy Harvey said that investigators believed David put Ruben in the bed of the truck and drove around a while before dumping his brother’s body and the vehicle at the park during the lunch hour on April 20, and then walked home.
Ruben had been reported missing earlier that day and the brothers’ family members told police they suspected David was involved in the disappearance, according to the affidavit.
Police caught up with David at around 8:40 p.m. on April 21 in the 800 block of West Hawk, which is about four blocks away from his residence and arrested him after a short pursuit.
An unidentified witness seen at David’s house on the day Ruben’s body was dumped at the park told police that David confessed to her that he had harmed his brother for $100, according to the affidavit.
David remains jailed without bond on the capital murder charge while he has a $10,000 bond on the tampering with evidence charge, court records show.
His attorney, O. Rene Flores, filed a motion Monday seeking a bond on the capital murder charge and a reduction of the $10,000 bond to $2,500.
Flores also filed a motion asking the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office to provide him with written notice if prosecutors are not intending to pursue the death penalty as a sentencing option should David be convicted of capital murder.
The capital murder charge carries a punishment range of life without parole or death by lethal injection.
An arraignment date for David had not been entered into the court record as of press time.
David’s roommate, 53-year-old Pharr resident Roel Pecina, is also charged in the case.
Pharr police arrested him on a charge of tampering with evidence over allegations he helped David wash off blood from the floor.
He was indicted on the charge Aug. 12 and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, court records indicate.
A probable cause affidavit for his arrest alleges David confessed to Pecina that he harmed his brother, causing Ruben’s death.
He remains jailed on a total of $52,500 in bonds on the tampering charge and on a charge of failure to report a felony involving death.
Pecina faces a misdemeanor complaint over the failure to report a felony accusation.
