SAN ANTONIO – A man has been arrested after brutally murdering his next-door neighbor and burning the body, San Antonio police say.
Baltazar Castaneda, 39, is being charged with murder, according to police documents.
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Officials said on Feb. 27, the San Antonio Police Department and the San Antonio Fire Department responded to a house fire and found the body of a dead man near the front door.
The following day, the affidavit said the Bexar County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on the man. The autopsy showed no signs of smoke inhalation, but it did show obvious signs of trauma, police said.
Through further investigation, video footage from a school across the street from where the house fire happened shows a next-door neighbor, Castaneda, approaching the victim on his porch.
While on the porch, the video footage shows Castaneda brutally assaulting and killing the victim, according to the affidavit.
The video also shows Castaneda allegedly moving the victim’s body inside the victim’s house and setting it on fire, the affidavit said.
Castaneda was seen removing all his clothes and throwing them into the fire to remove evidence afterward, according to police.
On March 7, officials searched through the scene and found Castaneda’s clothes he intended to burn, the arrest affidavit said.
Arson investigators obtained a warrant for Castaneda’s arrest after a witness came forward and identified him through the video footage, police said.