SAN ANTONIO — A Texas man is accused of killing his next-door neighbor and then burning his body when he set the home on fire, authorities said.
According to Bexar County online court records, Baltazar Castaneda, 39, of San Antonio, was arrested on March 7 and is facing charges of murder and arson.
Castaneda is accused of killing Richard Amesquita, 58, of San Antonio, on Feb. 27, WOAI-TV reported.
Officers with the San Antonio Police Department, along with personnel with the San Antonio Fire Department, responded to a house fire and found the body of a man, later identified as Amesquita, near the front door, according to KSAT-TV.
Investigators originally believed that Amesquita had caused the fire via cigarettes, but his daughter called authorities on March 4 and said her father did not smoke, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from a school across the street a few days later. At about 9 p.m. on Feb. 27, a man later identified as Castaneda knocked on the victim’s door, according to the newspaper.
When Amesquita came to the door, the two men allegedly fought. While on the porch, the video footage appears to show Castaneda assaulting and killing the victim, KSAT reported. The video also shows Castaneda allegedly moving Amesquita back into his house and setting it on fire, according to the television station.
Castaneda was seen removing all his clothes and throwing them into the fire to remove evidence afterward, police said.
On March 7, officials searched through the scene and found Castaneda’s clothes inside the home, KSAT reported.
Castaneda was arrested later that day, court records show. His bail was set at $400,000.
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