Bio

Santos Minjarez was born on August 28, 1971, in Bexar County, Texas. He had a ninth-grade education and worked in construction and general labor before the murder case. Before Rosa Rosado’s murder, Minjarez already had a criminal record. He had served time in Texas for theft, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and burglary of a home with intent to commit theft.

Minjarez was released on parole on December 21, 2000. A few months later, he became involved in the kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, and murder of Rosa Rosado in San Antonio. The case also involved two co-defendants: Ramon Torres Hernandez and Asel Abdygapparova. Hernandez was later executed in 2012. Abdygapparova was convicted separately, but her conviction was later overturned, and she later accepted a plea agreement.

Murder Story

On March 31, 2001, Rosa Rosado disappeared in San Antonio, Texas, while she was on her way to work. According to court records connected to the case, Santos Minjarez was with Ramon Torres Hernandez and Asel Abdygapparova when they saw Rosado near a bus stop. Abdygapparova later told police that Minjarez grabbed Rosado and pulled her into the car. Hernandez was driving, and Abdygapparova was in the back seat. Rosado was forced into the vehicle and later had her head covered with a towel and duct tape.

The group drove around before stopping at a motel. Court records state that Minjarez told Abdygapparova to take money from Rosado’s purse and use it to pay for a room. Rosado was then taken into the motel room. Authorities later said Rosado was beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled. After she was killed, her body was buried in a shallow grave near the University of Texas at San Antonio area, close to Loop 1604 and Chase Hill Boulevard. Abdygapparova later led police to the burial site and to the motel connected to the crime.

Police arrested Hernandez during the early morning hours of April 6, 2001. Case records state that Hernandez later gave a written statement saying he and Minjarez decided to rob Rosado after seeing her near the bus stop. Hernandez claimed Minjarez was the person who sexually assaulted and murdered Rosado. Santos Minjarez, Ramon Torres Hernandez, and Asel Abdygapparova were all charged in connection with Rosado’s abduction, robbery, sexual assault, and murder. Texas prison records list Hernandez and Abdygapparova as Minjarez’s co-defendants.

In March 2003, a jury convicted Minjarez of capital murder. After the jury answered the Texas death-penalty special issues, the trial court sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later affirmed his conviction and sentence on direct appeal.

Minjarez continued to challenge his conviction through post-conviction appeals. On October 1, 2008, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his application for habeas corpus relief and dismissed a later filing as an abuse of the writ.

Minjarez was never executed. Texas Department of Criminal Justice records show that he died in custody on January 14, 2012, while still on death row. His co-defendant Ramon Torres Hernandez was executed later that same year, on November 14, 2012, for the rape and murder of Rosa Rosado.