SAN ANTONIO – A man arrested in connection with a South Side murder told witnesses that admitted to hitting and killing the victim with a bat, according to his arrest affidavit.
Victor Sigala, 51, was taken into custody Monday and charged with first-degree murder, Bexar County court records show.
The victim, identified as Eric Tellez Perez, 39, was found unresponsive at an abandoned home around 1:30 p.m. on May 8 in the 8900 block of Prairie Hill. The affidavit states Perez was pronounced dead at the scene with severe trauma to the back of his head.
While investigating the crime scene, court documents show that officers were contacted by a male neighbor who lives across the street.
The neighbor, who had “visible facial injuries,” told SAPD he and Perez were involved in an “altercation” earlier that morning. Officers later obtained a warrant for the neighbor’s home and seized a DVR recorder connected to cameras facing toward the crime scene.
During investigators’ search of the neighbor’s home, the warrant states that Sigala was found sleeping inside.
At this time, it is unclear if the male neighbor and Sigala are the same person.
Found in the footage
According to the affidavit, SAPD’s Digital Forensics Unit provided a SAPD detective with footage from the DVR five days after Perez’s death.
On the day of the murder, the DVR footage shows three masked men entering the home where Perez was later found dead.
One suspect carried an aluminum bat and a second suspect carried a metal rod, the affidavit states. According to the footage, the third suspect did not appear to be armed.
Sigala, according to police, was the only suspect to remove his mask in the camera footage. SAPD identified Sigala as the same individual captured on the surveillance footage entering and exiting the crime scene with a bat.
‘I hit him with a bat’
On May 21, a witness, who identified themselves to police as a “close friend” of Sigala, told SAPD that Sigala spoke with him after he returned from the home where Perez was found dead.
“I hit him with a bat,” Sigala allegedly told the witness, per the affidavit. The witness also claims Sigala knew “He (Perez) wasn’t moving” after the alleged attack, according to investigators.
Surveillance footage of Sigala returning to the neighbor’s home across the street from the incident corroborated the witness’s account, but police said the witness was unable to identify the other two suspects seen on video.
Second witness comes forward
Another witness told SAPD that they spoke with Sigala a few days after the murder at Palo Alto Park. According to the witness, Sigala allegedly admitted to killing Perez.
“I hit him first,” Sigala allegedly told the second witness. “I knew I killed him.”
The witness also told police that Sigala said the other two suspects also assaulted Perez.
Sigala was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on a $250,000 bond, court records show.
More recent crime coverage on KSAT: