SAN ANTONIO – Verbal abuse of a woman by Matthew Winkleman, a man witnesses described as "a drunken bully," sparked a shooting that left Winkleman dead, prosecutors told the jury.
The remarks were part of the prosecution’s opening statement in the murder trial of Alberto Delatorre.
The trial began Tuesday in Felony Impact Court.
“He fires three shots,” prosecutor Ryan Wright told the jury during opening arguments in the murder trial of Delatorre. “One hits him in the back as Matthew Winkleman is running away.”
Wright called the shooting “cold blooded murder.”
Carl Matthews, 49, was there that Feb. 12, 2015, night as several people gathered in the parking lot of a Northeast Side apartment complex.
He said that Winkleman was drunk and hurling insults at a woman. “He wanted to fight me,” Matthews said as he described the victim’s behavior that night.
He said that he saw Delatorre, who he described as “a Mexican guy” with a gun in his waistband.
“The Mexican guy showed me a gun and said, ‘Man you don’t know me, you don’t know me and leave’, and I left walking,” Matthews testified.
A second later, he said, he heard gunfire.
“The Mexican guy shot him, shot Matt,” he testified.
Matthews described Winkleman as “a bad guy and a troublemaker who was always drunk.”
Defense attorney Mike Sawyer said this is a case of self-defense, defense of a third party, and not murder.
Referring to Winkleman, he said, “He’s the one that set all the events in motion by being the bully that he was, attacking the woman.”
A second suspect, Rodney Walker, 30, was with Delatorre that night. He too is facing murder charges and is awaiting trial.
Delatorre’s trial will resume Wednesday before Judge Laura Parker.
A guilty verdict could mean life in prison for Delatorre.
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