SAN ANTONIO – A judge has declared a mistrial in a grisly murder case involving a man who was beaten to death with a baseball bat and whose body was dismembered and burned on a barbecue grill.
A jury deliberated for four days in the murder trial of 34-year-old Gabriel Moreno, but they could not reach a verdict. Moreno is among three people accused in the killing of Jose Luis Menchaca, 35.
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Prosecutors said the murder was in retaliation for a drug deal.
San Antonio Police Department Officer Enrique Serrano testified that on Oct. 6, 2014, he and Detective Barton Borgens had a search warrant for a home in the 400 block of Hillwood Drive.
Serrano said that, when he and Borgens were checking a room, they noticed a detached garage in the back.
"I did smell something like a rotting flesh smell," Serrano said. "And that kind of alarmed me right away."
Serrano and Borgens testified they found the dismembered body of Menchaca in the detached garage.