SAN ANTONIO – As closing arguments were to begin Monday in the trial of a man accused of his estranged wife’s murder, 379th District Court Judge Ron Rangel declared a mistrial.
The decision to issue a mistrial stemmed from evidence from San Antonio police that was turned over to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office over the weekend. The defense asked for a mistrial so they could go over the new evidence.
Guadalupe Contreras is accused of the August 2017 murder of his estranged wife Elizabeth Contreras.
Testimony during the trial revealed that Elizabeth Contreras disappeared on Aug. 2, 2017.
On Aug. 5, 2017, her stepsister, who had a previous relationship with Guadalupe Contreras and has children with him, found a blood-stained T-shirt and pair of shorts in a laundry hamper in her home.
The defense tried numerous times to object to the bloody clothes being admitted as attorney Charles Bunk argued that they were illegally obtained by police.
“Right now, there is no evidence he was legally inside the home,” Bunk said on Friday.
Rangel overruled the defense and allowed the evidence to be shown last week.
The state later showed an image of Guadalupe Contreras wearing the exact same T-shirt and shorts seen in surveillance footage that was obtained.
While the time or date of that image were not given on Friday, it was shown to establish that they were Guadalupe’s clothes.
Despite the mistrial, the case can still be tried at a later date.
If found guilty, Guadalupe Contreras could face a maximum punishment of up to life in prison.