South Austin man, woman involved in 2020 murder plead guilty to lesser charges: DA

AUSTIN, Texas - A South Austin man and woman involved in an August 2020 murder have made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to lesser charges.

The Travis County District Attorney's office says 25-year-old Walker Kaatz and 38-year-old Kristie Cardenas pled guilty this week to charges of tampering with evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse during a pre-trial hearing.

They both had also been facing murder charges for the death of 32-year-old Nicklas Wayne Kinslow.

Kristie Cardenas, left, and Walker Kaatz, right, pled guilty this week to charges of tampering with evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse during a pre-trial hearing. (Austin Police Department)

In August 2020, a caller told police Cardenas took her into the backyard of a South Austin home where both suspects had been living. The witness was shown where Cardenas's ex-boyfriend, Kinslow, was buried behind cement and cinder blocks. The witness told Austin police the murder victim had been abusing Cardenas.

According to court paperwork, the witness also reported that Cardenas told her "it happened" inside the house and that Kaatz had shown her drag marks where they removed the body from the home and told her they had "bleached" the marks, says the warrant.

Two charged with murder of man found buried in backyard of home

An autopsy was performed by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office and the cause of death was determined to be multiple gunshot wounds.

The woman spoke with officers and, according to the warrant, told them that Cardenas said during her visit that she had paid to get the man out of jail and when he was released, he had assaulted her.

Kaatz told detectives that he had seen Kinslow assault Cardenas several times since he was released from jail about two weeks prior, including strangling and dragging her by the hair, according to court paperwork.

South Austin Crime and Public Safety