Bio

Jose Santellan Sr. was born on March 8, 1962. Not much is publicly known about his early childhood or family life. Growing up, he had a turbulent youth which shaped his future. He faced various issues, including a long history of criminal activity.

In March 1987, when he was 25 years old, Santellan was convicted of burglary and received five years of probation. His probation was revoked in July 1987 after he was convicted of assault. He was sentenced to two years in Texas Department of Criminal Justice and was paroled a year later.

After his release, he returned to a life of crime. In September 1988, he was arrested for criminal trespassing, which involved a violent altercation with his girlfriend. He faced more charges, including assault and resisting arrest, in the following months. Santellan continued to have issues with the law, leading to more arrests and convictions for violent behavior.

In July 1991, he was convicted of escaping from jail through violent means and was sentenced to 2-4 years in prison in Michigan. He was paroled in 1992 and eventually moved to Texas. Once in Texas, he continued his cycle of violence, facing multiple charges in state custody, including assaulting guards while in prison.

Murder Story

On August 22, 1993, Jose Santellan confronted Yolanda Garza in the parking lot of Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg, Texas. She had just finished her shift as a nurse assistant and was walking through the lot with a co-worker. As they separated, Santellan approached her, and they began to talk. A witness watched from a distance but could not hear their conversation. She later saw Yolanda scream, "Think of my kids!" just before two gunshots were fired.

After shooting Yolanda multiple times, Santellan loaded her body into his car and drove away. A hospital housekeeper, who saw Yolanda bleeding on the ground, rushed back to get help. When she returned, Santellan was placing Yolanda’s body in the passenger seat of his car.

Santellan drove for several hours before arriving at a motel in Camp Wood, Texas. There, he took Yolanda's body into his room. He engaged in various sexual acts with the corpse and poured perfume on it to mask the smell of decomposition. He also wrote letters to family members, asking for their forgiveness.

On August 24, police arrested Santellan at the motel. He confessed to the murder and explained that he had taken Yolanda's body so he could "be with her and spend some time together." He had previously fought with Yolanda in July 1993, which led her to resign from the hospital due to concerns over her safety.

Following his arrest, Santellan was indicted in April 1994 for capital murder while in the course of attempting to kidnap Yolanda. At his trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to death in March 1995. On April 10, 2002, he was executed by lethal injection in Texas.