José Baldomero Flores III (Texas Rangers)
AUSTIN, Texas - A man convicted in the murders of two San Antonio-area women has been sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
41-year-old José Baldomero Flores III pled guilty in a Bexar County courtroom earlier this week to the killings of Heather Willms and Esmeralda Herrera.
The Texas Rangers say this sentencing closes an Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program (UCIP) case nearly two decades old.
Heather Willms (Texas Rangers)
In February 2005, 21-year-old Heather Willms failed to show up for work as a waitress at a Leon Valley restaurant, says the Texas Rangers. She was found sexually assaulted and brutally killed in her home and her killer had attempted to burn her body to remove evidence.
Investigators had identified Flores, who was purportedly a friend of Willms, as a possible suspect, as his DNA was found on her body, along with DNA from an unknown person, according to the Texas Rangers.
However, the case eventually stalled, says the Texas Rangers, and Flores was never charged.
Esmeralda Herrera (Texas Rangers)
Over six years later, in March 2011, 30-year-old Esmeralda Herrera was found dead in her San Antonio apartment, in a manner similar to Willms, says the Texas Rangers. Her apartment has also been set on fire.
The San Antonio Police Department investigated and arrested Flores for the murder, but the prosecutor in the case had ruled there was insufficient evidence for trial and Flores was released, says the Texas Rangers.
The Texas Rangers UCIP began working on the Wilms murder in 2015 and ultimately the Rangers were able to identify the unknown DNA from her body.
In November 2016, Flores was arrested for both murders and almost six years later, Flores was given life sentences in both cases.